The record-union., 1897-05-30
Breaks Out AfreSh Within the Walls OF
the State Penitentiary.
Desperate Conflict Between Guards ana
Prisoners.
A Resort to Firearms by the Officers
of the Prison Necessary before
Order Could be Observation-Disclosures
Trouble Anticipated.

SAN QUENTIN, MAY 29.-Nlne rllle
shots fired this afternoon into the
corridor of the dungeons formed the
prelude to a short but desperate hano-
to-hand fight between seventy OF the
most dangerous convicts in San Quen-
tin Prison and fifteen of Warden Hale
guards One of the guards had ms
head cut open with a brick, but num-
Der of the 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 -he en-
trance to their place of confinement
with fourteen heavy iron cell doors, re-
inforced with a rack of balls and
chains, and had torn down the brick
partition between the cells and provid-
ed themselves with weapons in the
shape of bricks and chains.
The dungeons" where tO-day'S trou-
BILE occurred are situated under the old
hospital, and consist of fourteen big
cells. seven on each side of a corridor
The partitions between the cells are Of
brick, as are the pillars in front TO
which are attached the heavy iron
door At the entrance of the corridor
is a massive iron gateway, inside Of
which is a heavy wooden door
Howling like hyenas, they stormed
the door with broken chains, hammered
it 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 be-
fore these human 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
snarling at the bars of their cage than
human beings.
''Fire!" yelled the Captain of the
guard.
The fusillade belched forth from the
wall, and between the cracks of the ri
fles, the sound of the bullets could be
heard as they struck the door of the
corridor within. Fourteen shots were
fired, and the convicts retreated rap
idly before them. They were not yet
conquered, however, for when the iron
door leading to the dungeons was
opened for the purpose of ascertaining
whether any Of the convicts 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 keep
ers, and vowed vengeance as they were
driven to their cells.
But the great revolt, however, is far
from broken. The 120 men who re-
fused 70 work in the jute mill seem to
grow more aggressive under punish
ment. Warden Hales policy is to
starve the convicts into absolute sub
mission, and then starve them for pun
ishment. He has ordered the officers
not to fog the convicts or play 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
lows. They are in sympathy with
them, and Will help them TO stand the
siege. Those in durance show no signs
of weakening and the prospect grows
serious every hour General r. H.
Warfield called on Warden Hale to-day
and informed him that the militia was
in readiness to respond to call at any
time Hale said that Tor the present
his guards could handle the malcon-
tents.
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, viii have a salutary eff
feet. as the prison barred veterans
have a wholesome dread of that home
of hard work and rigid discipline No
extra guards have as yet been put on.
but those on duty now are working
double shifts, and if the trouble con-
tinues reinforcements will be necessary.