The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-21
A REMARKABLE PRISONER.
He Slammed Inconsistencies While
Ammonia was Given Him.

Ammonia Was Given Him.
From the St. Louis Globe-D emocrat.
Sam Murphy, a negro, was arrested re-
Gently while apparently unconscious and
secured his liberty BY clever piece of
acting. Between and o'clock one morn
ing William Burke, porter, saw a great
big negro carrying away a case of twelve
pairs OF shoes, whichlh bad been left on the
sidewalk preparatory tie shipping. Burke
caught the man anu q light ensued, dur.
ing which the negro eheWed a chunk Of
flesh off Of Burke's hand. The porter seiz-
ing a small iron bar struck the negro over
the head with It,. The thief dropped to
the sidewalk, limp and apparently lifeless.
The police were notified, and the presum-
ably unconscious body was taken to the
city dispensary in an ambulance.
DIR. Kearney examined him, gave him
ammonia to smell and examined him again
and then told the officers that the man
was shamming, that the Inconsistencies
summoned and the negro was taken to the
four courts, where he was loclSel in a cell
in the central police station
He lay on the stone floor two hours with
out moving a muscle, only breathing gent
ly and silently. Capt. O'Malley watched
the man for long time, and then struck
nam on the soles of his shoes repeatedly
and persistently, but tounb avail. The cap
tain was sure the man was not shamming
He was taken back to the dispensary and
Dr. Kearney sent him to the city hospital
ammonia was placed over his mouth and
nostrils, and he was compelled to breathe
the fumes. 1t seemed to have no effect up
on him. Drugs with long names and worse
tastes were forced down his throat until
the hospital pharmacy's stock Of restora-
tives had been tested His clothes were
stripped of, and he was patted all over the
body, each pat making a loud sound and
necessarily a painful sting yet the patient
paid no attention to it. His arms and legs
were shaken until it was thought that the
joints would become loosened. For over
six hours every breath he took inhaled
ammonia. When the physicians would raise
his eyelids the eyeballs would be turned
upward SO that the pupils were hidden
AT o'clock the patient muttered a few
words, from which it was learned that his
name was Sam Murphy; then the uncou-
sciouS state returned, and ii seemed as
profound as ever At 8 O'Clock the phYsi-
clans and attendants left him for a few
minutes to go to dinner. They had not
Murphy climbed down from the glass-top
operating table and put on his clothes He
tried the door, but ii was locked He tried
to tear board from the partition, and
finding that impractcable, put his shout
der to one end of the partition and showed
the whole thing down. lie then walked
over it and got to a window, but it was
locked. He broke out the sash and climbed
through He ran across the yard to the
high board fence surrounding the hosDi-
tai, and climbing over it he was at liber-
ty. sas -
His escape was not discovered until the
hospital physicians saw the wrecked par
themselves. 1t is thought that Murphy
will be a very sick man because of the
quantity and variety of drugs and medi-
cineS given him.