The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-09-26
CONVlCTS ESCAPE,
D c Mu phy, Ma dsrsr of c pes,
Ore IT Ther.
w. Il COLLINS TRS OTHbR
Saved Steel PHson 00a, e.on
is Sing~s ard Sca!sd 'ha
State P :s>n Wd!;s.
Their gerui.Y.
Ike Columbia S a,e, a FciGar, sa

Their !rgsrui.Y.
Ike Columbia Safe, a FciGar, says:
At leas, cpe OF the most Dc,cd cor
vie.s in the Stale Prison here has sue
ceeG, 1 ia uakiug his escspe, sud gcine
cut he was secomran;ea oy sn1ther Of
some note. The men were D G. Nur,
Ihy, he .hi!e man who vas convicted
ot TIE assassiOa;ioa OF County Treas
u:,r Ca?es Of Orargeburg some years
ego, AMI Y II Cc,E3s, white burg,
la ef ~ =! s!u,a;ior, who 5s< bsco
Asp& n the c,?: win Murphy. These
TWO uen src supposed u have cleared
,!.e pri>on building a1d :re wa: Of
he prison grounds about II clock
W:Gnesday D;ghi. There aaS no lux
ling of the aecurse2ce vrtil yesterday
ma5uiDg and therefore, the men had
aood start on theirpursaers.
Tie escape wss SIS ingeniG Us as /:
was daring. 1t is or, seldom that gris-
>ners attempt 20 Saw on. OF the mas
s,ve rock aud steel cages in which they
are kept et the Safe prison, 6u: once
sld arhile they co II in corsanUation
Of plans conceived fer months. Every
superintendent nss had 10 endure tie
.u-pri>e of prisoners saving their way
eu, Of p1i on, and The instance ycsltr
day vas merely Supt Griti,h's dose Of
the same medicine that other super
intendents have had TO take from time
to tin e. There was brain behind the
scheme and thst it was carried ous sue
cess;uily shows that the prisoners were
no odiDsry men.
TIE last instance Of saving out was
that of Red, the famous nu'alto
burglar, some years ago. His deed still
stauGs at the head Of the list for bril-
liancy of conception and execution. He
accom- pli>hed over an over again in the
course Of his escape what zine men out
of ten would have unbesjtatiugly de-
clared absolutely impossible. When he
heard of the latest case yesterday he
smiled and sai& he had no desire to re
peat lis attenpt,o escape, for be had
only two yeaGs more to serve, and bad
been ,reated so good that be believed
he would come back again. He is 10"
foreman of the carpenter shops.
TIE latest escape is not unlike that
Of Red" in some particulars. The
convicts were abost three weeks sgs
transferred from the new to the od
main building, the former being nov
in course, Of reconstruction. All the
cells cf this building open on steel pi-
azzas running around the entire build
ing. The cells are merely holes in the
thick granite walls, the occupants be
irg kept secure by massive iron barred
doors opening on the piazzss These
doors sre hung OF heavy iron drop
hinges, are locked with indivlGus!
lccks from the outside, and besides
have 90 the top an inverted V shaped
piece of iron fastened so as to project
outward srG fall under a steel slide
that Of itself locks every cell when
dropped.
Murphy and Collins in some way,
either from the carpenter shop or the
mill, obtained ; jack saw. With this
powerful little instrument they com
pletely severed the massive iron pin Of
the top hicge Ct the door at its base.
They evidently pr:zed the door up
enough to give the jack saw entrance
This done they could yu!l the door in
ward sufhc;entiy to twist it around and
make au aperture large enough to
crawl through They had evidently
planned the whole thing cut. They
had other materials for tie !est Of the
escape work, as will te seen.
That they were perfectly confident Of
getting away may be seen frcm the
inscriptions left OF the walls Of the
cell, written on the vhitewash in large
letters with a piece Of charcoal Do
the right Of the Geor was this: God
will celiver; peace and good will to al
men.
Oo the opposite facing was this:
Out for South Anerica-W. H. Col
Inns, D. c. Murphy, Goocby, for We are
gone
Ca the wall inside the cell was this:
In Coo We trust; God be with you TIL
we meet again.
Their cell was the third from theend
Of the third tier al the southeast corner
of the building. Just to the north Of thu
cell not so feet away is guard post,
and electric lights burned al along the
side Of the building. The guard stays
a, this post save at intervals when ne
marches around the building Getting
their cell Gocr open Murphy aod Collins
no doubt waited until the guard had
passed around the corner Of the build
Ing. Convicts IN adjoining cells say
they beard some one on the gaogway
but thought it was the guard. The
men had no trouble IL reaching the
ground, Then by reason Of the ma
terial in the yard they could dodge
across safe,,r TO the west wall near tie
engine room aud mil. Between these
ivoi one cf the wall POSTS" Lead
iog up to it is vertical ladder from
which they could swing themselves to
the wall. Finger priuts showed that
they did this. Then they went along
,he outside Of the post aud walked
the wall to the engine room roof
Here again they displayed their fore
sight.
While busa;rg the post on the oue
side they canle lear icing caught
Mil! Watchmau Hix was coming across
the ward. He hearl so2e tin faos,
ard thinking it strange lie mounted the
ladder to the post. The escariOg
men must have been OILY few feet
away. Hearing nothing more aud see.
icr nothing lie went on to the NIL! and
punched his time clock .
Reaching the shadow OF the roof Of