The Portland daily press., 1894-03-07
CONVICT DAWLEY, c. L.
Some Elaborate Engineering in an
Ohio Penitentiary.
SCIENTIFIC METHODS USED IN
DIGGING A TUNNEL.

1t Was Provided With a Stump to Collect
Water and Had Progressed Well To-
ward the Prison Wall Before Its E1-
istence Became Known to the Authori-
Man of Prominence in the Outside
World.
Columbus, O., March 6.-Premature
discovery Sunday frustrated one of the
most skillfully devised schemes for
escape in the annals of the Ohio Peni-
tentiary. George Dawley is serving a
six year term from Marion county for
forgery. He was received March II, 1S93
The fact that George is wanted in Iron
ton and Cincinnati for similar offenses
made himsexceedingly anxious to leave
the prison without meeting a sheriff
with new warrant on the outside.
Dawly has been man of some conse-
quence, is civil engineer by profession
and has number of accomplishments.
He was once. city engineer of Chillicothe,
and laid out the city of Wellston. Last
summer Dawley-was on the outside one
day superintending the running of a line
of water-pipe, and escaped by wading
the river. He was shot at seveval -times
by the guards, but got away, and was
only recaptured after long chase. Since
then Dawley has been working in Pat
toms hollow-ware foundry. He was used
as a sort of general utility man, and his
comings and .goings about the shop
buildings were not as closely watched as
those of other convicts.
Dawley's work bench was out of sight
Of the guards station. This gave him
the opportunity of which he was in
search. The shop is on the east side of
the prison enclosure, and Dawley was on
the east side Of the shop. He cut hole
in the floor beneath his bench, which he
concealed by cunningly devised trap
door. There is no cellar under the shop,
and Dawley sunk perpendicular shaft
five feet deep and two feet square imme-
diately under the hole in the floor. The
mouth of the shaft was concealed by
board covered with dirt. At the bottom
of the shaft Dawley dug a room four or
five feet square and well braced. This
was his toilet room, tool room and store
house. From this point he started to
tunnel under the wall thirty-six feet
away He began on December 10, and
"at the close of business" Saturday he
had dug eighteen feet. Early his diff
culties were increased by his striking
water, and accordingly he rnnneled on
slope and dug "sump" in the room,
into which the water was drained and
was baled into kegs. HIS tools were d
broken iron shovel and trowel, and a
wooden contrivance shaped like a snow
shovel. He would make an "undercut,"
thrust in the wooden shovel, and cave
the dirt down into it and drag it out.
AS in all such cases, the serious
problem was what to do with the dirt.
Dawley solved this by loading it into his
two kegs; these he would lift to the floor
and cover the dirt with scrap iron.
Then, when opportunity offered, he
would carry the kegs up stairs and dump
the contents into disused stack. He
nadia pair of old shoes and suit of over
alls in his "room," which he would slip
on when he went to work, and which
kept the earth stains from revealing his
operations. A few days ago the sus-
picions of the offiials were aroused, and
they made an investigation, which
disclosed the above facts. Dawley, when
he learned that his scheme had been dis
covered, was much depressed. He told
the officials all about his plans, and in
sisted that he had done all the work
alone. The officials, however, assert that
the connection of at least two others
with the plot is known, but they refuse
to give their names at present. DaWley
SAYS it would have taken him three or
four DAYS to finish his tunnel and break
through on the outside of the big wall.
One thing that especially puzzles the
officers was the possession by Dawley OF
gasoline lamp, such as street faklr
uses. This would indicate that some
night work had been done in the tunnel,
| and by others than Mr.. George Dawley,