The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-01
SAWED HIS CELL BARS IN TWO.
SHERIFF ROMAN TOO ALERT FOR a
JAIL BREAKER.

| Three Iron Bars Cut on With n Case
Knife NOtched Like n saw-The
! sheriff watched From Colonial
Park at Night Until He Located
the PrisOner-He Was Changed TO
Another Cell and His Plans Frus-
trnted.
1t is a cold day In midsummer when a
jail bird gets ahead Of Sheriff Roman.
To the sheriff himself is due the credit
of thwarting a member of the county's
household who FOR several days has been
| Systematically planning his escape.
For more than a week the sheriff and
his jailers on duty at night have been
giving their attention to a suspicious
scraping that has been going on within
the jail. The sheriff heard the noise first.
He feared something was going wrong,
but did not dream that there was a sys-
tematic movement by which the jail birds
hoped to gain their liberty
The shrieks and cries of Jacob Franck,
the lunatic sailor, would not allow the
noise to be clearly heard. The sheriff,
however, heard enough of the scraping to
know that there was something going on
that was not down on the programme.
He listened several nights, put the might
Waterman on notice, and told him to keep
a close lookout to ascertain where the
noise was coming from, but nothing was
learned.
The crazy sailor makes so much noise
at times that it is difficult TO hear any
thing else in the Jail. Even in his more
passive moments he is muttering to him
self and while this noise is going it is
difficult to detect anything in the way of
whispered conversations among the pris-
oners.
Two or three nights ago Sheriff Roman
decided he would make personal investi-
cation of the mysterious scraping. He
went out in the Colonial park beside the
jail and stood concealed in the shadow
of a tombstone. Finally he saw a man
standing up against the window sill of
cell in the Jail, and he knew at once that
this was the man who was making the
noise. 1t was after II O'Clock and the
rules of the jail require the prisoners to
keep quiet after o'clock and usually be-
fore that time they are all asleep He
watched the fellow in the window awhile
and saw him disappear. Soon afterwards
he heard the scraping. He felt assured
that he had spotted his man and that he
had located a bird that was planning es-
cape. He notified the night Waterman to
make his last tour through the jail for the
night and to come back to the jail door
and slam it with heavy blow, but not
TO come out. This was for the purpose Of
deceiving the prisoner, VINO was suspected
of trying to cut his way out. But II prov
ed of no avail, for when the night watch
man went back through the cells bare
footed and tiptoeing everything was as
still as death itself.
The next night, Sheriff Roman once more
stationed himself in the park and heard
the scraping, as if somebody were sandpa-
pering the walls of cell. It was in the
cell where he had seen the man the night
before. Whenever Franck, the lunatic,
would shout he could hear the scraping
more vigorously than ever and he knew
then that his suspicious were correct. He
went inside and told the night Waterman
to prepare another cell and to go at once
to the cell in which he was quartered and
take the prisoner out. 1t was then nearly
midnight. The night Waterman obeyed
his orders and after the prisoner was TAX
en- out of the cell it was found that he
had cut three iron bars by saving upon
them with a case knife, the blade Of which
was notched with gaps like saw. The
man had been using soap to prevent the
knife from squeakng.
If he had cut three more bars he could
have gotten out into the corridor of the
Jail, but il would have been necessary for
him, even then, to have cut through sew
eral more bars before he could have es-
capped. II he had been caught in the cor
ridors by the keepers he would have been
shot In all probability as a man in the
act of escaping, unless he should have
submissively given himself up
The prisoner is j. W. Branch, alias ].
o. Warnock, who is being held in the
Chatham county Jail for safe keeping. He
Is accused of horse stealing in Montgomery
county, and was brought to Savannah to
be kept until the trial takes place. He
is a white man, and seems to have a
number of influential friends in Montgom-
cry county. IL is not known whether he
was brought to Savannah for safe keeping
to prevent his friends from attacking the
jail or whether il was from fear that his
enemies might make an attack on the jail
to punish him.
PRODUCE DEALERS HARD TIMES.