Evening star., 1896-03-21
ENTERLINED WITH MILK.
n Jaflbfrd's Letter That Did Not Come
From HIS Sister.

Snfibird's Letter That Did Not Come
From His Sister.
From the st. Louis Globe Democrat.
On recent stormy night a number Of
gentlemen. Willing awav an hour or two
In cafe. were entertained by Mr.. James
Morrison. who is on tour Of inspection in
this country. He had but recently arrived
from England, where for over twenty-five
years he has been identified with the work
OF caring for convicts in one of the largest
prisons in the British possessions. Speak
ing or some of the Incidents of his life In
that capacity. he drifted into a recital Of
the tricks many and ingenious. which the
conviets resort to from time to time I'm
their efforts to outwit the guards and effect
an escape
On one OCCASION" said the venerable
guard. Il had charge of tier No. IL. 1t was
nlled to the limit with longtime prisoners,
ana at Its furthest end several cells had
peen set apart for those serving life SEN
tehces One OF these prisoners a rough
looking chap. but as keen as a razor, had
given us a great deal Of trouble, and when
he was placed under my care i was es-
peclally admonished to keep a sharp eve
upon him. as he had already caught two
other Keepers by his tricks. and had done
much mischief before they had got the up
per hard Of him.
For weeks he vas as ouia+ as n,ousa
even refusing the usual CONSTITUTIONAL or
half hour Of exercise In the corridor I sup
pose he thought he had me off nv g,,arS
one day after supper had been served-in
the Engiish prisons We serve this meal at
o CLOCK In the eyening-and while 1 was at
another part of the tier busy receiving
some supplies he began his first bad break
on my good book
After i had finished receiving ard re-
celptlng for the supplies and getting them
l,Ito place took up my regular beat down
the tier again, and when i had finished be-
gan closing the outer cell DOORS securely
padlocking them
Il had peepei in through the little win
dows of his cell door and found him sitting
quleliy on the edge of his little cot. reading
book that had that day been sent him as
present from his sister-this was Christ
mas eve-and. after ordering lights out
fastened his door and went on to the
next. 1hls, No. TO- was next and occupied
by 'trusty.' As started TO close his door.
he stepped to the opening in the grating
ana asked to speak few words with me.
hese Few words startled me. He had
heard No. y saving bars. Could he hear
such sound through forty-eight inches of
stone wall that divided the cells? No. he
heard the sound that attracted his attention
thrcuGn the narrow slit of a window that
served to light his cell. With an all right
to let him know I understood 1 slammed
the great "olted door with bang the vi
hration from which must have been heard
in No. IS cell, and passed on down TO tho
ehd oil the corridor, finishing locking up
Removing my shoes, / climbed out on the
guard gallery, and. after proceeding eau
uousiy for distance, was directly over
the window of the cell occupied by No o.
Listening intently for a few moments r
could hear the soft 'slish slish slish' of Tho
steel saw that, with keen teeth was slow
~ put surely eating its way through the
steel ba-s below. and hurryiny back I sent
the quiet alarm to the outside guard: then
taxing my keys, / went quickly TO the 9th
er ead oil the tier and unlocked and threw
open MS cell door. at the same time tuin-
ing the rays OF my lantern full upon him.
he was in bed according to orders but
as MS clothing had not been removed The
ruse was too thin L had assistance b,-
M this tine IN the person of the supervisor Of
my section, and. after We faG placed nine
safety In another cell. We began an invesli-
cation. which resulted in the discovery that
Inree bars had been cut clearly through
lhen We found the finely tempered steel
saws senrered in the mattress of his cot
FINALLY my eyes fell upon the book he
mad been roa1ing, and upon examining IN
carefully l found that the edge of the bind
ing was loose. L tore The book apart and
discovered the whole conspiracy rT-
Inc saws had been pasted up in the
hirdng of the book, and there ] found a
letter which L had passed in to him that
very DAY, AMI as Ii had the o. X of the
governor Of the prison on its face SHOWING
that 1T had beer read ard its contents Oil
clally examined 1T did not arous. any sus-
piclon IN my mind. but. upon reading it
now, was struck dumb to find that IL
gave NO. = the tip as to wnere the saws
We're ma in the cover OF the book, and OF n
er pointers that never should have reach
ed him.
Well. the letter was turned over IA tba
governor ard Ire put the expert examiner
on it, who discovered that the first lines
We're written in ink. while the alternate
lines We're written with milk which would
be invisible until rubbed over with dust
when they would show as plainly as the
! ink lines"