The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1900-09-29
TO FREE AN ANARCHIST.
HOW A WoMAN'S CURIOSITY UPSET
AN INGENIOUS PLOT.

| ~ ShG oOHA0otONN
The Pittsburg correspondent Of the
Chicago Record, writes as follows:
Woman's curiosity-responsible for
many things-led to the discovery Of
the tunnel by which Alexander Berk-
man, the anarchist who shot henry
Frick during the dark days Of the
Homestead strike, expected to crawl
to freedom. Had Miss jennie McCarty
not been so curious to know something
about new neighbors it is possible that
Berkman would now be ut liberty.
The western Pennsylvania peniten-
tiary stands on the north back Of the
Ohio river in lower Allegheny. On
three sides of it are houses, SOME Of
them being within 80 feet Of the prison
wall Sterling and Refuge streets meet
at right angles at the southeastern cor
ner Of the prison. Miss McCarty lives
on the corner Of Sterling street, and
almost directly opposite is two-story
brick house at No. %. From sentry's
box on the top of the 80 feet high pris-
on walls officers Of the penitentiary
| could look into the windows at No. %.
The house is owned by J. W. Langhtt,
an engineer in the penitentiary.
( In the middle of May man giving
This name as Thomas Brown and his
address as Chicago agreed to purchase
the house from Langftt by paying
$3.50. cash and agreeing to pay the re-
mainder in installments Of $3.50 every
two months, OF course every woman
Ia the neighborhood heard Of the sale
and all were curious to see the new
eighb bors. The latter were four or
men and one woman. All the fur
slfure they had was a few chairs, a
liable or tive, a lounge, some cots, a
couple Of large mirrors and some rolls
of mating Tliesda5 following their
arrival 4 plano wassde deiiyered at the
house BY q local music frm.
a wagonload OF lumber and segtsral
hundred feet OF galvanized ilipe
| about 2ssz inches in emetef also
unIosded ana the Stun carried into the
yard Dehind tFle house. There are
women in eyerF nelghborheod who see
everything taken into q house By rev
PRESIDENTS. Il was thcught a shed sFas
to be erected and new spouGlng put on
Ifhe house. Mss afcCarty, Hylng ofpo-
EsIte with her sister, had been keep
3ing line, onsthe house for ten days;
and remarked that their new neigh
bors were peculj people.
They seemed TO keep the front door
locked oil the fine, and the woman
1 sat skss pianosbg the window which
was always open. She was the first
mp in the morning in the neightor-
hood and the last to go to bed at night,
and played the piano continuouss
If the postman had 2 aEsaeter, Liter the gro
GERS baEs6me vegetables or the milk
man was delivering bottles of milk it
was the same. Everything was handed
to the woman through the window.
The front steps and pavement were
never swept, anG the woman appeared
to do nothing but play the piano, and
her voice, q rich soprano, could be
heard all over the neighborhood.
"Well, 1 don't know, but things look
mighty funny" said Jennie McCarty
one night in June while she and some
neighbors were enjoying the muse.
''That piano wouldn't be going all the
time if it wasn't for purpose. I hon.
estly believe those people are building
a tunnel under the street to blow up
the penitentiary.'
Langftt, prison engineer, who owned
the house, was sent for, and the Cay
following the door was opened.
Warden Wright and the other prison
officers never allow themselves to he
surprised at anything prisoners may
do, but what they saw in this house
dazed them. In the front Of the eel
lar was closet about six feet square.
In the bottom of the closet was an e%-
cavation six feet long and two and a
half feet wide. The hole led under
the foundation of the wall and out un-
der Sterling into Refuge street. The
tunnel was explored as far as the
guards could go, but foul air in the
hole drove them out.
After making sure that there were
no men in the tunnel the party ex-
plored the house. In pantry on the
first floor was found an ordinary blow
fan, by which air was forced through
galvanized pipe into the tunnel. At
tached to the roll of the fan was Il
leather belt, and this was also around
large buggy wheel, between the
spokes of which was handle used to
turn It. Each revolution of the wheel
caused the fan to reyolve and blow air
into the pipe. The latter ran along the
roof of the tunnel, which at no point
was less than two feet deep and wide.
In the front room of the house stood
the piano. On the wall alongside Of
the instrument was an electric push
button. The wires from this also led
into the tunnel. The latter had been
properly braced, or shored, the wires
being neatly tackled to the woodwork
holding up the roof, and the iron pipe
also held firmly by hooks. An electric
bell was found in the tunnel, and the
reason for the existence Of the push
button was plain. The woman, seat
ed at the piano, without stopping,
could press the button and alarm the
men working in the tunnel should dan
ger arise Over the piano was large
mirror and another W at the woman's
back. Without turning her head she
could see people coming along the
street from either direction, and at the
n.>>o +;,,,o Uatcb tho cpptry o,, 4bo