The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-02
LOST JOHN REED.
Now He is Looking for New
Job.

the governor and the prison board has
concurred in the ACTION of Warden
Bridges in the discharge of Officer Alb
bott
! The report charges Abbott with gross
carelessness in the exercise Of his
duty on the occasion Of the escape and
also upon other times. Particular EN-
| phasis is laid upon the fact that Alb
| bolt passed through the streets Of this
/ city with his prisoner unmanacled, aft
| ter being cautioned by local patrolmen.
| The complete report follows:
Boston, Dec /, 1898
| To His Excellency Roger Wolcott, gov
ernOr of Massachusetts;
Dear Sir-Pursuant to the provisions
of chapter 42S of the acts of 1893 we
beg leave to report to you on the es-
cape from custody Of John Reed,
| prisoner in state prison, serving COM
bined sentences of II to IA years, while
| in the custody of officer Abbott,
Waterman of said prison, at Worcester,
on the night of Oct. 80.
We have taken the testimony Of
Warden Bridges, Deputy Warden AL
| len, officer Abbott, Sergt Walter M.
Drohan Of the Worcester police. Dep
uty Sheriff Abbott A. Jenkins, Deputy
Sheriff Edwin p. Heath and William
i A. Gile, who was Reeds COUNSEL the
| testimony will be submitted to you Il
| desired. We have also conferred with
| Herbert L. Parker. district attorney for
| Worcester county, and with others
| whose testimony we did not think Of
sufficient value to take.
| 1t appears from the testimony, that
| a writ of habeas corpus was issued
! from the Worcester court, directed to
! the sheriff of Worcester county or his
deputies, or the warden of the state
prison TO produce the prisoner, John
Reed, at Worcester for trial on an in
dietment then pending there. This
writ was brought to Boston late We'd
nesday night, Oct %, by two deputy
sheritfs of Worcester, They were told
Dy telephone from the state prison that
II was not desirable to let Reed out so
late at night, and they presented them
selves at the prison at an early hour
on Thursday morning, and after a. con
ference II appearing that the warden
DESIRED 10 send the prisoner in charge
OF ms own officer, they returned tc
worcester. rs We are informed bv the
attorney general that it is the dlItv Of
the warden in such cases to keen the
prisoner IN charge Of one Of his own
0fncers until surrendered to the cou,,t
L
on Thursday, they telephoned from
worcester that the ~risoner would NOT
De needed until Friday morning. Reed
was sent to Worcester in charge of on
Ger Abbott on the 4 o'clock train on
4 Thursday afternoon.
Ihere is some conflict of testimony
between the warden and the deputV
warden on the one hand, and Ofice1
ALoott on the other, as to the directions
/ q c tn
the prisoner, whether he should be ia
Ken to the jail to spend the night. Az
any rate, when they arrived in Worces-
Ter, ABBOTT testifies that they got into
a mack, and he told the driver to take
them TO the nearest hotel, which hap
pened to be the Sherwood house. ar
irving there about half past 5, Abbott
says, for the purpose of getting sup
per. Ihey did NOT get supper, but tele-
phoned to Mr.. Gile, the prisoner
counsel, that Reed was there, and de-
sired an Interview with him. Mr.. Gile
apparently arrived OF the hotel between
and o'clock in the evening. and ac-
cording to his testimony, stayed until
about 10 o'clock, and, according to Alb
notts testimony, until after -. Ac-
cording to Officer Abbott, finding that
they could not get anything to eat al
that hotel, he and the prisoner and the
proprietor of the Sherwood house went
TO the Lincoln house in Worcester for
the purpose Of getting supper They
were met on the street by officer Dro-
haE, and there is no evidence that Reed
and the officer We're manacled
| The night was passed at the Sherwood
house, and there was no communication
with the jail, or attempt to place the
pfia 1ncr in the Jail for custody The
next day Reed was arraigned in court
ana. according to the statement Of Mr.
Parker, Abbott was told to have Reed
back in Worcester on Monday after
noon, and according to the testimony
of GLE and Abbott, was told to be there
NJ inday morning. They returned tc
Boston on the 2.20 train, and the time
when not in court was apparently spent
either in consultation at Mr.. Giles Of
fee. or at the hotel.
Mr.. Gle came to Boston on the same
train with the prisoner, and on arriv-
ing in Boston went to the house Of cor
rection in East Cambridge to see som,
witnesses for Reeds defense and ar
range with Abbott and the prisoner tc
meet them at Clark's hotel in Boston
where Abbott and Reed went on the
arrival of the train. Mr.. Gile appar-
emily arrived at the hotel between
and o'clock, and returned to Worces-
ter on the $50 train, and Abbott re-
turned with the prisoner to the state
pIISOiis arriving SoAllCN ltSt0 bCtA CSi
and s, though the exact time is MOI
known.
On Saturday, Abbott reported to the
warden and handed him a letter from
Mr.. Gile to the effect that he, Gle, de-
sired the prisoner in Worcester on Sun
day night for the purpose of preparing
his defense. Abbott testified that he
told the warden at that time that they
had passed the night at 4 hotel The
warden testified that he was extreme
ly busy at the time, owing to the i'll
ness of his clerk, etc, and that he did
not gather anything more than that
they had been to a hotel and supposed
that the prisoner had passed the night
in Jail. The deputy warden, who has
more immediate charge of the arrange
ments for letting prisoners out in such
cases. testified that he understood from
Abbott that he had reported to the war
den that they had passed the night al
a hotel, and therefore made no obiec-
lions, though he thought the proper
| place would have been the jail.
The prisoner was again taken to Wor-
cester on Sunday afternoon on the
o'clock train. Arrangements had been
made with the knowledge of the war
den that the prisoner should meet his
| wife at the station IN Boston before
| going to Worcester, but apparently she
did not appear. though some friends
of Reed were there by whom a mes
sage was sent to her. They went to the
Sherwood House again, il apparently
being. understood that Mr.. Gle was to
go there that evA.sina tor consultation.