Waterbury Democrat., 1900-10-29
KILLED HE KEEPER.
Two Colored Prisoners Attempt
 ed to Escape.

one or the Pr1SonerS Fell Into the
 Yard Adjoining the Prisongand Was
 Instantly Killed-Bclieved That Woman Furnished the Prisoners With a File to Saw the Bars-Keep-
 CT Had Been Relieved of His Reyol- yer and Keys.
 New York, Oct 29.-Two colored prisoners, in an attempt to escape this morning from the prison attached to the seventh district court in West Fifty-fourth street, killed Keeper Hugh McGovern, 51 years old, and probably fatally injured George Will son, o9 years, old, q ''trusty" wno had evidently tried to aid McGOvern. One
 of the prisoners, Arthur Flanagan, es-
 capped, the other. Frank Emerson, fell into the yard adjoining the prison, and
 was apparently instantly killed.
 The prisoners were together in a cell on the first tier on d level with the fourth floor of the prison. They
 sawed. two bars in the lower part of the cell door and got into the corridor. They went to the nearest window about six. feet from the floor and sawed one bar at the bottom, showing it out and getting through. In doing
 this, it is supposed that they encoun- tered McGovern and Wilson, killing
 one and wounding the other. How this was done is not known, as Will son cannot give an account of what happened. The escaping prisoners
 used their bedding TOT a rope and
 swung from window. Flanagan sue
 ceeded in swinging to the roof of q
 car stable adjoining, but Emerson fell headlOng to d pile of rails, where his
 body was later found with the skull crushed in.
 The men must have escaped early, but the fact was not known until
 after , a. m. At that hour Keeper John Brady while making a tour came
 across the body of Keeper NIcGovern in the corridor of Tier No l. It lay face downward in pool of blood, with
 q great wound in the head. Nearby lay the prisoner. Wilson, who was
 still grooming. Brady called ill a po
 liceman and an ambulance was called
 from Roosevelt hospital ... The surgeon said McGovern had been dead some time. He said Wilson
 would probably die, but took him to the hospital. Wilson is 59 years old
 and for two years has been in the pris on self-committed, as he had no home. He acted as q trusty and had the con
 tidence of the officers. They believe he was hurt while aiding McGovern. Emerson was under bail of 5000 on two charges of burglary. Flanagan, who had been employed as q steward in a fashionable restaurant, was also
 under heavy bail for burglary
 It is the belief of the attaches of the prison that n woman who on Sat
 urday evening came to the prison to see Emerson, furnished the tile with which the prison bars were sawed | through. The same woman had prior | to that time secured a lawyer for Elm
 erson. When the body of Keeper Me | Govern was searched it was found l that his keys and revolver had been
 taken from him. It. is the belief of his colleagues that tine keys were talk
 en from him with the intention on the
 part of the desperadoes to make their
 escape through the doors. Their de- sign being thwarted, they returned and made their way out of the win-
 dow by letting themselves down by
 means of the improyised rope.
 When Emerson was taken to the police station house at West Sixty eighth street, on the night of his ar | rest, October 13, he removed his shoes and then called Doorman Coghlin to the cell. The latter answered the call suspecting nothing wrong. As he opened the cell door Emerson sprang
 at him and brought the heel of one or
 his shoes down upon the door man $
 head, cutting it open. In the strug-
 gle which followed, it took the com bined efforts of several policemen to
 subdue the colored man.