The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1898-09-20

sTEADaAf"c DARING ESCAPE sRo,.
SAN QUENTIN PRISON.

1t is one thing to catch ,hief and IL
is another thing co hold him 3r-'u9
meeting Of the chiefs Of police O I'll th
larger cities o, ne United strtee arr
Canada, which occrrree 10 Mi, ,rufeA
, there were "reminiscences o. remarkablc
captures and of escapes which 0orde eC
closely upon the mir cu.ou
The mos. remarkable csc; pc rom
/ prison that can recall, " srit william
a Pinkert1n, 'wtl ,ha Tranl-
Stoadmen flom he San Quertir prison
But j. u not ell you about il, or Lero
is John Glass, who carr1. Steadmal
and sent him beck 20 San Cuelin
Chief Glass pinohed the b own in
perial on his under lip relecyively Tor
a momont hefore he responded &c th,
looks Of inquiry bent upo. Lin by hoso
not familiar with tho story
9TH escape 90 which yo' ,far. 'ir-
kerVon, was nate "lter 3eI cndmJl
to ,'al luendl and no, befo.e we
not he 40 tIhrte onl 30 ge Ailr cftcr
thai last wonderful bror',. aud o .ei
the ruth, : hr~e Leve .rker 10 nyse
mach cr1dit for nking him nc ;'me
did, .or it was 90 a cousi6er bio So~reo
: Q Mrt,3 oi gool 70 tcNo. Ycu seq, We
We = US. az that .ime keopi-s 1lr eyes
ope of brnk robbie. by ,he lome OF
BAR es, who lad Gol9 in,o one OF The
Op lks N, .here 3ovaLe1 tho ore man
who happened 20 b) alone IN the place
Cs he lime. locked him no IN tho vault,
and ,hor coolly walked ouJ of The Janlr
st, I f.N -f,, g ~
oould got his hands on.
"One BAY man answering f. osey
the description ws had Of BoI-3e sep
ped off tho cain nb Les Angelic. 77e
took him iu Oow ol once, juS 4onhd
wo did not havo The bird wo We q after
However, we managed 10 hold him
long enough to lnd out ;hay he wa
Frank Steadman who had become nc
torious even at that time a. succassiu'
Jail breaker He had four or I've escapes
from prison in southern Indiana credit
and had still seven years to do at the
Illinois prison; had also been ., San
Quentin, and had escaped from here
with five years unfinished
"Steadman was machiuist by pro-
fession, and q burglar by inclinatioD.
When he was sent back 10 San Quentin
to finish his time, he was put 10 work
with other convicts in the engine room.
II was here that an iden came into his
brain that for absolute daring and feor-
lessness was typical Of the man. lie hud
noticed that every evening at the time
the men working in the engine room
were lined up to be marched away, the
machinery was stopped at exactly the
same moment lie had observed as well
that "a window leading TO an adjacent
roof was not far from the top of the big
driving bell of the engine. From that
! roof it was possible TO reach the outer
wall of The prison Beyond the wall
| was freedom. He had escaped so many
! times that his mind reverted again and
again To the window high up ON the
wall OF the engine room. Apparently it
was beyond all possibility of being
reached No ladder was 70 be obtained.
Had such thing been even standing
in place against the wall, TO break
from the line aud scale il with oatlike
dexterity, although the work of but
few seconds, he well knew would be
futile, possibly fatal Bullets travel
faster than legs, and the guards We're
not bad shots But desperate deeds de-
mand desperate means. Some minds
may work with an ingenuity born of
despair, but Steadman' was of differ
ent calibor His plans were the out
growth of steadfast optimism.
zone day there came to him as If by
inspiration the thought that the big belt
might be the means of carrying him TO
his goal. He found that il was impossi-
bic to count the revolutions Of the driv-
ing wheel, hut there were lacings in
the broad belt, which he wa- able to
distinguish as sort Of blur as 1t passed
a given point For days and days he
counted, aud in his cell as night he
spent his time in calculations. He dis
covered the exact number Of revolutions
the wheel made per minute. III earned
also by constant observation just now
many times the belt went round after
the engine was shut down.
"One evening, when the line hnd
been formed as usual a. the close of the
days work and as tho uig wheel begar
To lose it, mqmontnm. suddenly con
Wet sprang from the line, leaped TO th'
belt, with outstretched arms grnpplinG
both edges Of the broad leather lie haC
calculated well the strength that woul'
be required, for the terrific wrench die
not loosen lis grasp Outward and up
wald he swung until he cached tn
topmost point Of the circumference Tn
nicety Of his calculation had reaped it
revyfrd The belt stopped He 'eaped Y
his fee,, sprang through the wi4dol
nd was gone before convict O gre q
had recovered from their asto .'-.,pait
.Ie caught up guard's coay ahc hi
dropped from the wall and got awi y i
the dusk ~ he evening l an incline
J to believe that as a mathematical p1opc
sition that was about as pe-.eos +, ptec
Of work us any man ever accomp' p'-.'et
And did he get away witho1
, captures? some one asked.
) mo, rm almost sorry 70 ny, be a.
not, " answered the Los Angeles che
- ''for that ought by rights % be re e
nouement of such story, which cor
bines SO much of daring and G. ]ye~--esi
Steadman was taken again in sho
time and put TO work at his ole Jo'
There are bars over that high windo
above the big drive belt now. Not lon
after this Steadman cut and nearly Iil
ed one Of the other cOnvlcts and Is no
4. af..naa =