The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-03-30
How Joe The
Phantom Broke Jail.
BY DAN QUINN,

Butts, sometimes kno Wn as Joe the
Phantom, has been arrested al Cal
cutta. Butts is wanted for the rob
berry OF &6. 600 worth of diamonds at
Manchester In company with his
wife, who is we'll known to the police
Of both England and the Continent as
wild Willie" Butts put up at one
of the principal hotels of Manchester.
This was fourteen months ago. Butts
pretended that he was an American
millionaire. After three weeks at the
hotel, during which he had succeeded
In establishing q reputation for i'm.
mense wealth, Butts went to q jeweler,
whom the clerk of the hotel recon-.
mended, and ordered him to bring up
q large assortment of set jems and
diamonds from which his wife was to
make selections. The jeWeler brought
the diamonds to the hotel and exhibited
them to the woman and Bats In their
apartments. The woman at last de
cided to take O necklace Of diamonds,
with pins, bracelets and rings to the
46 600. Having made the selection
sac took them with an arch air-Butts
having jokingly demonstrated at the
amount-and put them in a bureau
which stood against the wall. Butts
then went to the Office, saying that he
would return at once with the 96, 600.
The woman and the jeweler remained
in conversation. Some time elapsed,
and, as Butts did not reappear, the
woman left the room ostensibly to look
for him. At the end of fifteen minutes,
neither returning, the jeweler became
alarmed and forced the drawer of the
bureau, where the jewels had been
placed. They we're gone. The trick
was soon disclosed. Butts had long
before cut through the partition, and
could go into the adjolning apartment
and take jawels from the drawer at
the back. This he had done. Search
was made, but no trace of Butts or
the woman could be arrived at. The
arrest in Calcutta, the news whereof
has just arrived, is the first heard of
him since tie Manchester robbery.
He called himself Peter T. Tyndall
while in Observation-Disclosures Paper.
On readingthe above / was reminded
of a story concerning the e~nterprising
Butts, told me several years ago. l
will write it as it come to me.
You want me to tell you how ice
Butts, alias J De the Phantom, breaks
jail7" The speaker was John Larney,
alias John Dolan, alias Mollie Matches
I'm DO it; although for a hard, close,
crooked in-and outer, Mollie Marches
ia getting rather gabby lately. Joe
Butts is an Eoglish thief, and about as
fiue a worker, too, as ever worried
Sc3tlapd Yard. They use to call Joe
The Buzgloak.' l don't know why,
except they tell queer stories about
hIm and how he used TO do a midnight
trick az grave robOing, However that
may be, l don't know. he wasn't deal
ing in no shrouds nor CLfin handles
when l knew him.
1T was In a big Northern city Joe
gets Jagged. He starts TO DO an old fel
low who is to draw Dig money out Of ii
bank. ice and a pal shadow the man
his .0rsw, about $4,000. and start
over to one Of these hugh desks by the
wall TO count it. Joe tries the drop
trick with him. It's easy and its sure.
About the time the party has thumbed
half through his stack of bills, Joe
taps him on the shoulder. Joe hao
stood at the desk making a fake o.
writing q draft, when the man comes
up to count his stuff. joe taps him all
1t once on the shoulder, az l say, and
points down with his penholder at the
floor.
beg pardon, there's a $50 bill on
floor o. course the man stoops to get
it. There Ain'ta man on earth who
won't. When he s~traightens up the
81 coo he's been counting is gone.
Butts pal swipes it from the other side
the moment the party ducks for the
| $40 bI1l, seer
Its at this point he does a surpris
ing thing. He grabs Butts Naturally,
you'd think he'd turn after whoever
took the stuff This would give Butts
a show to fiji. But, no; this man grabs
Joe and yeils like a tiger.
"'He's got my money HES got my
81 600, he says. l think he was rat
tied and really thought Joe grabbed II
| himself.
But, anyhow he made a big roar and
swung to Joe, and before Joe could