The herald., 1897-05-30
Defy the Officials at San
Quentin
DUNGEONS ARE DEMOLISHED
AND THE GUARDS PELTED WITH
BRICKS
A Few Rifle Shots Reduce the Strikers
to Submission Without Loss
Of Life
Associated Press Special Wire.

Associated fTeSS 0peCldI Wire
SAN QUENTIN, May 29.-Nine rife
shots fired this afternoon into the corri-
dor Of the dungeons" formed the pre-
lude to a short but desperate hand-to-
hand fight between seventy of the most
dangerous convicts in San Quentin
prison and fifteen Of Warden Hale'S
guards One of the guards had his head
cut open with brick and a number Of
convicts were pretty roughly handled.
but nobody was killed, or even seriously
hurt.
The convicts had dug their way out Of
their cells, had barricaded the entrance
to their place Of confinement with four
teen heavy iron cell doors. reinforced
with sack Of balls and chains, and had
torn down the brick partition between
the cells and provided themselves with
weapons in the shape Of bricks and
chains.
The dungeons" where today's trouble
occurred are situated under the old hos
pital and consist of fourteen big cells.
seven on each side of corridor. The
| partitions between the cells are of brick,
as are the pillars in front, to which are
attached the heavy iron gateway. in
side Of which is heavy wooden door.
Howling like hyenas, they stormed the
door with broken chains. hammered 1t
with bricks torn from the sides of their
cells and threw themselves against it
with all the fury Of wild beasts. The
door creaked and bent before these hui
man battering rams, and it seemed that
it would fall.
The iron door bent before them. The
captain Of the guard decided that the
moment for action had come.
Make ready" he called to the sharp
shooters.
But the men behind the door were
now almost hysterical with fury. They
seemed more like enraged animals
enarling at the bars of their cage than
human beings.
"Fire!" yelled the captain of the
guard.
The fusilade belched forth from the
wall, and between the crack of the rifles
the sound Of the bullets could be heard
as they struck the door Of the corridor
within.
Fourteen shots were fired, and the con-
They were not yet conquered, however,
for until the iron door leading to the
dungeons was opened for the purpose
of ascertaining whether any of the con-
victs had been killed, the felons rushed
at the guards, and had to be beaten
back with pick handles before they
would submit. Even then, with the
rifles aimed at them from the walls and
the gatling guns trained on them from
the hillside just beyond, the desperate
men, like savage but cowed bulldogs,
cursed their keepers and vowed ven-
geance as they were driven to their
cells.
The great revolt, however, is far from
being broken. The 720 men who re-
fused to work in the jute mill seem TO
grow more aggressive under punishment.
Warden Hales policy is to starve the
convicts into absolute submission and
then starve them for punishment He
has ordered the officers not to- fog the
convicts or to place the hose on them.
All of tonight the 700 mutinous con-
victs kept up the yells and shrieks that
have made life at the prison hideous
since the rebellion. The outside con-
victs have been detected in a number
of cases in the act of passing bread and
opium to their doubly incarcerated fell
lows. They are in sympathy with them
and will help them to stand the siege.
Those in durance show no signs of weak
ening, and the prospect grows more se-
rious every hour. General H. R. War
field called on Warden Hale today and
informed him that the militia was in
readiness to respond to call at any
time. Hale said that for the present his
guards could handle the malcontents.
Before any further steps are taken in
the way of inducing the convicts to re-
turn to work, twenty of the worst men
are to be transferred to Folsom. This
it is expected will have a salutary eff
feet, as the prison-scarred veteran has
, wholesome dread of that home of hard
work and rigid discipline. No extra
guards have as yet been put on. but
those now on duty have been working
double shifts and if the trouble con-
, tinues reinforcements will be necessary.
Hanna Makes Denial
WASHINGTON May Ex-senator Hanna