The Princeton union., 1896-09-24

| LIZ WdSs uUC svGIys lOuS dls 1lICTIy.s
Stealing a gentleman's watch inLeices-.
ter Fields. he was stopped and cap
tured, though he was ingeniously shout-
ing stop thief" with all his might.
EdgewOrth Bess was also arrested on
suspicion and the two were placed in
strong ward Of the new prison In
Clerkenen The free and easy manner,
In which prison discipline was then
conducted is apparent enough. for Jack
was Immediately supplied with the nee
by friendly visitors. After filing an
managed to let themselves down into
the court yard, twenty-five feet below
and then to scale wall more than.
twenty feet high.
A month Or two later, with great in
| gratitude, he broke open the house of
Mr.. Kneebone. the kindly tradesman
/ who had befriended him when lie was
| Il child. and this robbery soon brought
him back to Jail, for Kneebone conf
| pialned of his loss to the aIl-powerful
iona than Wild, at once the greatest
!, thief and the greatest thief -taker of
1 tie time, WHO carried eli. ON d very ex-
] tenslye scale. the business of receiv-
ing and restoring stolen property, de-
! ducting a considerable percentage for
ms trouble from beth the owner aud
1 the thief. Indeed, Non. esis sceris to
! aayr pursued Sheppard for his un-
] grateful Conduct to- Kncnhone. He
and his companion, Blueskin. had con-
| cealed the plunder in stable near the
Horse ferry. Westminster, and in a
con1idinS moment they showed the
place to an acquaintance, Willian
Field, who promised to take the stolen
1 goods off their hands This lie was
kind enough to do by breaking open
| the stable IN the hight and CARRYING
off the contents, and then giving in
| formation as to their whereabouts to
Jonathan Wild Sheppard was imme-
| diately apprehended and committed to
| Newgate, and at the next session he
was convicted and sentenced to death.
| With the helr. lo%e~5e-, of Bess and
some other women, he sawed away
one Of the spikes of the door and man
| aged to thrust himself through and
| escape, though some of the Keepers
| We're actually in the lodge at the time
After few days retirement in the
| country he returned to the familiar
neighborhood Of Clare market and
| Drury lane, to which he appears to
have been partial, perhaps on account.
| of the ease with which he could there
carry on his business unrolested. Nor
was this surprising, for, at a much
later date the parish of st. Mary-le-
| Strand boasted only three watchmen
and two constables on. duty every 9TH
er night; while the watchmen of st.
| Clement Danes were in the habit Of
spending most OF their time drinking
in a cellar near Arundel street. In
safety, therefore, he went about, and
quite openly, for he was recognized by
/ many people who were, however.
afraid to interfere with him. He was
| finally captured by the keepers of
NeWgate. on Finchley common, in
which retired spot he had just taken
up his abode.
Alarmed at the genius he had shown
in escaping, the keepers placed him in
a ward known as the CASTLE where he
was handcuffed and heavily ironed,
and his chains fastered to staple in
! the floor. On Oct Is, at 2 O'clock, the
warden who came with his dinner, ex-
| amined the handouts and chains and
| found. them secure. When he did his
rounds next morning there was pile
| of bricks and mortar in the room, but
no Jack! He had worked off his hand
cuffs and, with crooked rail which
| he had picked up on the floor. had
opened the paddock which fastened the
chain to the staple. But the difficulties
| Which he had still: to overcome might
have filled with lespair even prison
er escaping for his life. His original
plan was to get up the chimney, but
the aperture was llockad by an iron
bar. So he was forced to pick away
the bricks and mortar until he had
made q hole into the room beyond
Even then he had five or six strong
and bolted doors to break through be-
fore he could reach the leads. and his
progress was so slow that Il great part
of his work had to be. done in the
dark. The leap from the leads to the
next house was so dangerous that he
was forced to go Lack to his cell and
fetch his blanket, Which he fastened
to the wall by means of a spike lie had
broken off the chapel door. He was
| thus able to descend in safety and,
after waiting on the roof until mid
night. he slipped unperceived down the
| stairs and into the street.
This marvellous escape, unfortunate