The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-11-15
WITH MILK AND DUST
AN INGENIOUS WAY OF lNTERLlNlNe
A JAILslRD'S LETTER.

Neatly Hidden story Iold Dy veteran
English Prison Keeper.
On recent stormy night number OF
gentlemen, Willing away an hour or two
In "A cafe, were entertained by Mr.. James
Morrison, who is on "a tour of inspection
i'm this country. He had but recently ar
rived from England, where for over 20
years he had been identified with the work
OF caring for conviots in one of the largest
prisons in the British possessions. Speak
ing of some of the incidents of his life in
that capacity, he drifted into recital OF
the tricks, many and ingenious, which the
convicts resort to from time TO time in
their efforts to outwit the guards and eff
feet an escape.
"On one OCCASION" said the venerable
guard, II had charge of tier No. 12. It
was filled to the limit with long time pris-
oners, and at its farthest end several cells
had been set apart for those serving life
sentences. One of these prisoners rough
looking chap, but as keen as a razor, had
given us great deal of trouble, and when
no was placed under my care was espe-
cially admonished to keep sharp eye up
ON him, as no had already caught two 9TH
er keepers by his tricks, and had done
much mischief before they had got the
upper hand of him.
''For weeks he was as quiet as mouse,
even refusing the usual constitutional,
or half hour exercise in the corridor. l
suppose he thought he had me off my
guard one day after supper had been serv-
ed-in the English prison we serve this
meal at O'Clock in the evenlng-and
while was at another part of the tier,
busy receiving some supplies, he began his
first bad break on my good book.
after L had finished receiving and re-
ceipting for the supplies and getting them
into place, took up my regular beat down
the tiers again, and when had finished
began closing the outer cell doors, secure
ly padlocking them.
- had peeped in through the little win
dow of his cell door and found him sitting
quietly on the edge of his little cot, read
ing a book that had that day been sent
him as present from his sister-this was
Christmas cve-and, after ordering lights
out, l fastened his door and went on TO
the next. This, NO. TO- was occupied by
a 'trusty.' As l started 10 close his door he
stepped to the opening in the grating and
asked to speak a few words with me.
Those few words startled me. He had
heard No. 81 saving bars. Could he hear
such a sound through As inches of stone
wall that divided the cellsY No; he heard
the sound that attracted his attention
through the narrow slit of window that
served to light his cell. With an all right,
to let him know l understood, slammed
the great bolted door with bang, the vi
bration of which must have been heard in
no 9's' cell, and passed on down TO the
end of the corridor, finishing locking up.
Removing my shoes, l climbed out on the
guard gallery, and, after proceeding eau
tiously for distance, was directly over
the window of the cell occupied by No. g.
Listening intently for few moments,
! could hear the soft 'slish, slish, slish' of
the steel saw that, with keen teeth, was
slowly but surely eating its way through
the steel bars below, and hurrying back,
l sent the quiet alarm to the outside
guard; then, taking my keys, / went
quickly to the other end of the tier and
unlocked and threw open his cell door, mt
the same time turning the rays of my Ian
tern full upon him.
"Ho was in bed, according to orders,
but as his clothing had not been removed,
the ruse was too thin l had assistance
by this time in the person of the supervi-
sor Of my section, and, after we had placed
80 safely in another cell, we began an in
vestigation which resulted in the discov-
cry that three bars had been cut cleanly
through. Then we found the finely tenn
pered steel saws seCreted in the mattress of
his cot.
Finally my eyes fell upon the book he
had been reading, and upon examining 1t
carefully found that the edge of the bind
ing was loose. tore the book apart and
discovered the whole conspiracy.
"The saws had been pasted up in the
binding of the book, and there / found a
letter which | had passed in TO him that
very day, and, as it had the %. X of the
governor of the prison on its face, show
ing that it had been read and its contents
officially examined, it did not arouse any
suspicion in my mind; but, upon reading
it now, was struck dumb TO find that it
gave No. o the tip as to where the saws
were hid in the cover Of the book, and 9th
er pointers that never should have reach
ed him.
"Well, the letter was turned over to the
governor, and he put the expert examiner
on it, who discovered that the first lines
were written in ink, while the alternate
lines were written in milk, which would
be invisible until rubbed over with dust,
Wnen IDty WOulu huOW as plbluIy us buo
ink lines.
"The message in ink was, to all appear
ances, an innocent letter from sister,
whose hope and faith in man had not been
altogether shattered by her brothers Grim
inal career, and it readily passed the ex-
aminers. NO. g., however, knew better,
and, when the sisters communication nc
companying the present OF the book had
been read, he simply rubbed his fingers
over the walls or floor of his cell, and then,
carefully passing them over the face of the
letter, had brought TO light the message
from his pal outside the prison. The let
ter read thus;
"HoME, Dec. "a.
"UNDER COVER, Dec. "a.
"DEAR BROTHER WILLIAM:
"HULLoA, OLD PARD:
"It IL just year since you saw me.
"And you won't be jagged this Xmas day.
81 send you nice book;
inside OF its Skin are the cutters.
and you will find a marker, too
that will give you the fish line.
81 saw the governor about the pardon,
but you must crack your way out,
and 1t is useless TO hope. Your loving sister,