The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-26

old Yuma prison rand yltyed ito tell the
tale, but probably the most daring,
attempt at wholesale delivery ever made
In any. penal institution in the United
States was that which took place there
one October morning IN 1887, Old resi-
dents of Yuma and men who have spent
and >lawlessnes still talk about that des-
peratesnefferts for freedom The tsuperin.
tendenti of the penitentiaryh at the time
was Thomas Gates, who killed himself
ters9 one morning, in the rear of brick
building, he was set upon by four pris-
oners The attack was made within the
range of the armed guards on. the walls
The heroism displayed by supt
Gates on that stirring occasion, when he
received wounds which left him a per-
manent physical wreck, is matter Of
'At the peril Of his own life he COM
manded the guards to fire, and the order
was instantly obeyed., AS the reports
were waiting for the signal to make
united bolt for liberty, ran from their
workshops to {, the prison office, where
they knocked the guards down, pounded
them into state of einsensibility and
seized a quantity. of rifles and revolvers
stored therein for emergency use. TWEEN
of the laundrysand kitchen to assist their
fellow convicts. but were kept back by
armed guards. 81 =
Meanwhile ahe guards on the walls
the rebeHious conyicts with deadly effect,
and the ten or twelve guards in the prison
yard and shops threw themselves into the
breachsto foreStaH the efforts of the 9TH
er prisoners tof take part in the uprising
Shots were exchanged between the guards
and conv1cts at range OF less than
twenty feet Finally g. dozen of the
prisoners. seizing "a favorable opportunity.
dashed outsider the walls and still armed
with rifles and reyoivers, started to run
for Yuma. There. was only one Calling
m hA lie ,f
the time, but never was a death-dealng
machine so accurately and effectively
worked; Assisted by another guard with
a Winchester which discharged a ball ever
third second, the manipulation OF the Cat
ling brought down nine of the absconding
prisoners The other three. appalled, by
the fate of: their brothers, threw up their
hands In sign OF submission and In this
manner walked back toethe prison yard.
A LIVELY FUSHLLADE.
Here, the mutiny continued to rage. for
the all,cenquering Gatftng gun could not
be trained upon the mutineers because of
the angle at which it had to be operated.
Only rifles and reyolyers could be used
For several minutes there was a terrific
exchange of shots, few sof which went
astrayazT Three guards and five prisoners
fell dead almost at one another's feet
and threes prisoners were MANNED for life.
One guard was shot through the body five
times. but he lived for several years. At
last thescartridges in the lconvlcts' wea-
pons were exhausted, E-and they were
forced toathrow up their hands and SUBJ
NIT to being marched into their cells
- Since the prison was established only
one man has succeededfin getting out and
crossing the wilderness Into old Mexico.
This was half-bred Mexican, whose
grandmother was an Apache esQuaw, and
his Indian blood. stood him In good stead
in scooting over. the desert and leaving no
telltale track hAhind, although pursued by
bloodhounds and sharpsheoters. 1t was In
1883 that the hAifsbreed got away, some
time before the ,thorough equipment Of
Yuma prison with firearms. The convict
was life prisoner. and was sent to Yuma
for murder andahighway robbery. Outside
the prison walls she obtained a gun from
a confederate.
Some months after the haIf-breeds es-
cape a party ofmfning prospectors dfscov-
cred the rema1ns1of man attired in the
shreds Of a Yuma convict's garb in the
foothills over thefborder line between the
United Statesnand Mexico. It was the
body Of the hah- f1reed, who had undoubt-
eddy starved tosdeath in the desert