The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1900-01-25
ODDS FEARFULLY UNEVEN
Colored Janitor Stood BraveIy BY
Sheritf's Side Until Fight
Was Won.

The DeKalb county Jail at Decatur,
Ca, was the scene of a terrible fight
Saturday night between Sheriff Talley
and eight of his prisoners who made a
bold and desperate attempt to escape.
In the fight the sheriff used his pis-
tol, and Edward Flanagan, the notori-
ous double murderer, was shot.
Among those who took part in the
attempt at Jail delivery were George
Bankston and John Pendley, the men
who were mixed up at one time In the
murder of Policeman Ponder at At
lanta.
Flanagan was one of the leaders in
the assault upon the iailer. and held
as q weapon the heavy paddock which
had been sawed from the Jail door.
The affair was one of the most ter
rife hand-to-hand fights that ever oc-
Cured in a prison between jailbirds
and prison keeper, and but for the
fact that the sheriff acted with the
greatest GOODNESS and bravery, some
noted and desperate prisoners would
now be at large, and among them the
notorious Flanagan.
The sheriff was assisted by his ne
gro ianitor, Jim Smith, and it was the
negro whom Flanagan attacked, trying
to brain him with heavy paddock.
The striking feature of the Jail SEN
sation was the fact that the knife with
which the lock was sawed or filed was
owned by Hiram Sharpe, the man who
brutally murdered his wife near Litho-
MIA about q month ago. With this
part of the story comes the statement
from the sheriff that few moments
before the fight with the prisoners,
Sharpe secretly armed himself with
heavy iron bar, an act the significance
of which was not realized until the en-
counter was over.
The attack upon the sheriff was sud-
den and without a word Of warning.
Eight prisoners, all charged with grave
! crimes, sprang upon him as he passed
the cell door. The sheriff thought the
door securely fastened and when he
saw it swing open and the eight des-
perate men rush upon him, he backed
off few feet and cried out to his ne
gro janitor to stand by him. The ne
gro, displaying remarkable bravery,
stood his ground.
For several minutes the fight lasted.
The prisoners were endeavoring to
beat down the sheriff and the negro,
for If this could have been accom-
plished, nothing stood in the way OF
their liberty except run through an
open corridor and 8 dash through the
residence portion of the Jail which had
only unlocked doors.
The sheriff knew the situation and
he struggled with his assailants with
q determination to conquer or be
trampled under foot.
All the while, the negro janitor
stood by the side of his officer ready
to go down with him.
For q while the sheriff could not get
an opportunity to draw his pistol,
which was in his hip pocket. When
he finally did, he pulled loose from
the prisoners and backing quickly to-
ward the outer door he began to fire.
The negro janitor dropped to the floor
to keep from being shot. The sudden
ness: of the firing dismayed the pris-
oners. Flanagan reeled and fell. A
bullet had struck him. Three shots
were fred, and that was every bullet
the sheriff had in his pistol, and It the
prisoners had known this they would
not have retreated as they did into
their cell. The retreat was what the
sheriff looked for.
He jumped through the corridor
door, slammed it to and fastened the
lock. The fight was over. The sherit.
and his loyal janitor had won the day.
The iailbirds were safe.
This was the second time within two
months that Flanagan had attempted
to break jail. The last time he seized
the sherif's child and made dash for
liberty. He knew that as long as he
ran with the child in his arms the