Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-10-23


Franzheim and Of Several Com
mittees, Appointed to Examine
the Jail-Had There Been One
Hundred Pris oners, Half Of Them
Murderers, All Might Have Es-
caped-The Sheriff Not to Blame.
The very handsome and costly Jail
Of Ohio county again demonstrated it's
insecurity, yesterday morning, just be-
fore six o'clock, when two of the most
important prisoners in the institution
calmly walked out and departed for
parts unknown.
1t was entirely owing to the selfish
ness of these two prisoners that the en-
tire criminal population of the building
did not likewise depart.
They might have done so, just as cas-
lily as not.
In fact, prisoner with ordinary COM
mon sense, and who cares to go to the
trouble, can get out Of the Ohio coun-
ty Jail at any time he should decide.
And this is not at all the fault Of the
Sheriff The fault lies with the Com
mittee on Court House and Jail of this
and previous Boards Of Commissioners,
who have been warned time and again
that the Jail was insecure, that it was
not properly fitted up from the start,
and the weak places have been repeat
eddy pointed out.
When the Jail was finished, it was
found that all the locks, both on the
cells in the cell-building, On the door
dividing the cell building from the
Office building, and those on
the doors giving entrance to
The building from the Court House and
the street, were identical, and one key
would open all doors After much in
sistance, the door dividing the cell
building from the office, or front, build
ing, was removed and another substi-
tuted. But it was change which was
practically useless, because the key
which fitted this new lock was exactly
the reverse of the key which fitted the
doors of the cells and of the outer
doors, and an observant prisoner, see
ing one and then the other, would
know absolutely, that having access to
one, he could easily make the other,
and thus open any door in the house.
ic ic hot 1Q6 n
cry of yesterday morning, as will be
explained in detail
It is the custom in most prisons,
even in penitentiaries, to allow certain
duties inside the cell buildings to de-
volve upon one, two or more prison.
ers who are known as TRUSTEES" They
are utilized as turkeys, and perform,
IN this capacity, duties which would
otherwise require the services of one
or more officers. 1t was and is so in
The Ohio county jail. There, up to
yesterday morning, the TRUSTEES" were
Jack O'Neill and John Savers, alias
John McCulloch, both burglars, one
sentenced to one years confinement,
and the other to twenty months.
Nightwatchman Devinney has charge
Of the Jail during the night, and until
six o'clock in the morning, when
Jailor Mccormack comes on duty. 1t
is the custom to leave the cells of the
TRUSTEES" unlocked at night, that they
may carry water to other prisoners
and perform like duties, and about
half-past five and from that to six in
the morning, they are given the key
n mr. n oh Will hn
duty of unlocking the master lock on
each tier of cells, throwing the lever,
and then unlocking each individual
cell, allowing the prisoners to come
out into the corridors. They then
lock the cells again, and retain pos
session of the key given them until
six o'clock in the evening, when they
lock up the prisoners and return the
key through the barred door to the
jailor or his representative in Office
This key should, properly, be for the
cells alone, and not to unlock any
other door in the building. AS a mat
ter of fact, this key unlocks every
other door, except the one Immediate
ly dividing the cell room from the of
flee portion of the building, and that
is where the chief trouble lies
AS has been stated, the TRUSTEES
have this cell key every day. They
also have opportunity to see the key
which opens the communicating door
between the cell building and the Office
part of the jail, and it needed but a
glance, on the part of quick witted
prisoner, to note that one key was but
the reverse of the other-that if the
two keys were fitted together. the in
dentations in the one would be fitted
by projections in the other, and that
the two would thus correspond. The
TRUSTEES" as we'll as other prisoners.
long in confinement in the Jail, also
knew, as a matter Of general knowl-
edge, that the cell door key, in the pos
session of the TRUSTEES" would unlock
every other door except the one divid-
Ing the two portions of the building.
This knowledge was bound to become
fairly well known throughout the in
stitution. in the course Of months. and
was handed down from one prisoner to
another.
This explanation of facts LAYS the
foundation for a description of the
modus operandi Of the escape of yes
terday. The two TRUSTEES" bad one
key every day. They had observed that
the other key, never in their custody.
was exactly the reverse of the one they
ho5 Thew OLE +Io+ I