The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-10-14
JAIL BIRDS TRY TO FLY.
They Come So Near to Liberty and Yet
Miss it So Far.

With ten minutes more time. or
little more bravery. Jim Booker the CON
demned murderer and eight other negro
prisoners now in Jail here would be free
men.
They came as near escaping yester
day morning as is possible without get
ting out. They sawed, priced and broke
their way out of the steel cage and had
practically sawed one of the bars of the
window grating in two when day broke,
and they were discovered
The instruments used were small
hand-saw and two files. The cell in
which the nine negroes were confined
was at the south end of the Jail. and
contained three cells. The second one
of these cells was the one chosen for
the work of escape.
AT night the prisoners are never lock-
ed in their cells, but are allowed the
freedom of the steel cage enclosing the
cells This made the task comparatively
easy. With the saw they sawed an
iron bar by means of which the cells
are locked and unlocked from the out
side. In this way they secured two
levers, one a bar bent at one end and
about two feet long, and another bar
and nearly five feet long.
The next thing was to get out of the
cage. This exit they effected from the
second cell by filing. saving a piece of
the iron cage nearly in two and break
ing it with the improvised crow-bar.
Two other steel bars running lengthwise
were severed and three bars extending
from top to bottom were cut in two. This
left il hole about 1X2 feet through which
the men crawled.
How many went through is not known.
JailCr King started into the jail ut $50
O'Clock to prepare for giving the prison
ers breakfast. AS soon as he opened
the block door he noticed that the gas
was turned almost Out-twO jets were
out and the other was very low. And
just in front of the door, on the floor,
were the tools and pieces of iron with
which the prisoners had been working.
Just why they had been brought around
from behind the cell and placed there
cannot be surmised.
Knowing that some prisoners were
certainly out of their cells, and fearing
they might attack him, Mr.. King lock-
ed the door and went out into the Jail
yard to see if he could find there any
sign of anybody's having escaped. He
found none, to his great delight and sat
isfaction. Going back into the jail he
went to Il cell at the northern end of
the Jail and asked Il prisoner named
Kiser what had been going ON. Kiser
told him some negro prisoners had been
spending the night breaking out of their
cell. and had then been trying to get
out at the middle window, at the north
end of the Jail. They had quit work
only as King had come into the jail,
Kiser said. Still fearing an attack,
King made no further explorations about
the jail, but went out and sent for some
policemen.
When they came about o'clock, and
an investigation was made all the pris-
oners were in the cell as if nothing had
happened, and as none of them would
tell any thing it is not known exactly
which one of the nine negroes planned
the escape and led in its execution 1t
is believed, though, that it was Jim
Booker, who is under sentence of death.
All the others are in for short terms and
would have little to gain by making their
escape. They are:
Jim Booker. convicted of the murder
of Mehala White and sentenced to be
hanged.
Job Taylor Chas. Glover and G. w.
Alexander, United States prisoners for
selling liquor in violation of the revenue
laws.
c. ii. Branch, Franklin county
prisoner, sentenced to six months in jail,
sent here because of the insecurity of
the Franklin county Jail.
William Mcintyre, charged with as
sault with deadly weapon.
Allen Bell, charged with larceny.
John Henry Harrington, charged with
false pretense, awaiting trial at the
January, 1899 term of Wake Superior
court.
George Hunter, criminal insane per-