The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-04-17
a ooNvlars CLEVER euae
igaeranee fhrausA "hieh lia Missaa uAis
hls Aite. hat lsataesl Liherty

a
aIa aise. hut tlataea L,herty.
When the present oldest inhabitants
1T sung sing were hoss, there were no
Walls around the prison, as there are
nov, The oonViot's only satisfaction ia
winter MAS the chance it gave him for
making a dash upon the Zoe for liberty,
Ia those far back days the wintera were
uniformly rigorous. commencing early
Al November aud continuing until late
M March, Every season 1t used to he
Ianiliar sight g. SEQ the guards cut ON
the ice, some distance FROM the shore.
patrolhng regularly prescribed beats and
having sentry boxes, ia which they took
refuge IN stormy or exceedingly cold
weather, Sometimes convict messengers
went cat 70 the guards 10 bring them
their lunch or an order from the warden
1t wason one of these visitations of con
Wet 90 = guard that the frozen bosom of
the Hudson presented an animated scene
The guard. like most of those who had
Ice beats, Was provided with skates. that,
should occasion arise, he coula chase in
an etfeetual manner and have AN advan-
tage over n fleeing convict having only
his shoes To depend upon,
The guard in question was oircling
about, cutting pigeon wings, rings,
figure Fights and all the fancy figures,
when he suddenly stopped III front Of the
convict messenger who had come out to
him, a young. athletic fellow, and in
quired if he could cut those figures on
the ice.
The convict said he never had u pair
OF skates ON in his life, Nothing would
20 .sl- II
slippery blades ON his feet. He said he
had been brought up in the south, whore
they do not have any skating. When he
came To New York, he was too old to at
tempt to learn anything requiring so
much skill. He thought it was neces-
sary TO grow up with it as a sort of sec
ond nature.
The guard told him he had missed
half his life" in not learning to skate and
offered to give him little preliminary
lesson. lust for the fun of the thing" TO
relieve the dreary monotony of guard
duty.
The convict expoStulated and said it
was no use; he would have TO be carried
back TO the prison hospital on stretch
er with broken head or broken bones
if ne tried any such performance.
While this conversation was taking
place, the guard had taken off his skates,
and as he unbuckled the last strap he
told the convict TO strap them ON his
own feet, and he would hold him and
give him q lesson in the graceful art.
The convict obeyed and soon hal both
skates on his feet. Then came the fun
for the guard He would let go of the
convict every few minutes and let him
tumble and scramble back as best he
could TO his feet. They both laughed
merrily over the sorry attempts of the
novice.
This had gone on for 10 minutes,
when, like flash, the convict dashed off
over the smooth surface of the ice, no
longer novice, but complete master of
the art. He had been pulling the wool"
over the guards eyes and pretending not
TO know how to skate only to get
chance to get the skates on his feet iii
order to reach the inviting woodland on
the opposite side of the river.
Away he sped, like shot from rifle.
The river was frozen solid to Rockland
county, opposite. The guard was dunn
founded. he gazed in blank amazement
for period long enough to make any
thought or pursuit hopeless. de hred his
carbine, but that only had the effect of
warning the other guards of the situa-
ton. They, having skates on, gave
chase, but it was Of no use.
The convict had everything to gain
and sped away like the wind. Before any
systematic pursuit was instituted, his
figure was quite a distant speck upon the
horizon. He effected his escape. 1t was
for long time spoken of as one of the
cleverest and most daring escapes in the
history of the prison.-New York Times.