The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-27
Plot 10 Free 81. Louis Forgcr ut
Riverside Penitentiary Dis
covered by Accident.
LONG TUNNEL UNDER PRISON.
Elaborate and Expensive Plans for
Frccin" Plass az Boyd Would
I.r Rcscucrs Supposed
to BE -. L0uiSaHS.

Pittsl.urg. July .5-One ur the boldest
and most systematic plans for the release
Of one or more prisoners from Riverside
P'nityUtlary vas thwari.L to-day by acct
dent, The first Theory advanced WHEN the
matter WIS discovered seemed ~ point to
th- rclca-, .,T Alexander B'rkman. the An
archisi mo j. s. rvin- "a w'n;y-two-yrIrS
sentence for the shooting Of II. =. rick
daring the biz Homestead strike. in 1sse.
hut the cnnrlusigr reached Tonight !y Iii
rector NIUtn -: the Allegheny Police Depart
n-rt is that the real ohisr: wss To SECURE
the Freedom Of thu notorious real estate
swindicr Adolph :lass. Known better as !.
{. Boyd. formerly of -. louis. who is scry-
ing g, s''ycp-y yours sruj,Uct ia the p"uitcu-
tlary Tor his mj-'i-'.ls.
Detective Thomas Il. ", puade 90 Fit =
burg who WAS Instrumental Ia congictiEs
PlaSs, or Boyd. said Tonight,
''NJt only was Boyd from Il Louis. but
q quartet OF friends. who. IN 1875. tried 20
rescue him from the Allegheny County Jail
were from s. Louis. and he l. Vusitly" that
tups, who bought the house near Reversible
fenitaEuary an! began iauu,iinG are the
"d -. Louis gang. composed 81 John Bry
All. alias Graham. EoyE~ wife: another
another man.
This opinion Is shared by the pittsbur-,
police officials. and psany reasons are brought
forward TO confirm the theory. Among
th"s. are the facts that Boyd IL wanted IN
nearly ,.e:Y state in the Iuiuu on char- 8
VI real estate sw;Ud!Js. has cuufajcratss all
over the country, and l. accounted one Of
the Wcaithir~t prisoners in IivvTSide IL IS
argued hist Eerkman's f:iends could no. .,f-
ford the expensive OUtiT ahi"h Was u Il
tn tais instance. and their resources could
not possibly equai those Of Boy1s coa.ed-
yrat.S.
The plan b. which the rescuers hoped to
reach thu inside al the prulf-uriary walt
was by tunnel fJG:u the cedar OF a house Oh
Sterling =,r,,t. ncariy opp. SITE. one II the
4 tts. Their WORK ~ :ru.tTkabi- ,ursIi
rrIHs the obstacles 10 G- overcome. luvrS-
uSaJiOn to-day showed That Il was over 1t
;cet ioirs. hn. heVauss Of it, zig-zag char
a'ttr hau not Reached the Prison wall.
one Ji tae officers, who crawle'! - distance
CT III feet II The DARK p-l-sT ErNay was
compelled t. return before reaching its end,
by reason Of the foul gases arising. From
this u IL inherited that the tunnel had tapped
a sewer. Director NuJh. however. believes
that the dead body Of ore Of the tUuHe.yrs
VIII De discovered tomorrow when the tun-
iei is opened from the surf1cc. lie thinks
the man WAS overcome 10y gases and that
his companions fled.
The eiuhu!af- Arrangements that had been
made Tor completing the tunnel ana for pro-
EialLg for the safety IF the dangers are a
source OF Amusement to the authorities. An
electric he'll. connected with the entrance To
the tunnel IN tSr cellar. Was Usau IA giving
the workers and the watchers AN instant
signal III case Of ALARM and an air uump
hdd been USED 10 keep the tuHue: free from
gas II Is estimated that the electric plant
ana DINER apparatus used cost the wouIe-be
HbeT2j0fS a. least SEES.
on March Is last Thomas Brown. who rep
resented himself as a Chicago solicitor. pur-
chased from joan e. l.GEst.tt who is an
engineer in the leniteHIiary, the house at
y Sterling street tor xil.y, I;iyiris $zJi down
ana Agreeing 10 pay the remainder In In
Stdllments- Soon afterwards. Mas. Brown,
h. A..
MS biotheF-Ih-!itW. moved int" tn house
amt operations were probably begun at once.
The Misses L"tit!d and ysuni, Mccarthy.
WHO lived just opposite IN" hrUS-. had their
suspicious aroused hectIse OF the small
quantity IF furniture going Into the sup
posed nome II the new family, and ls the
lat that the principal article taken iu was
% piano During the occupancy ot the house
the shades were always down, but the
piano was rarely silent. Mrs. Brown played
ana sang almost constantly. During the
intervals when there was M music ;he
Misses Mccarthy heard At grinding, Whlrring
noise. which gave them the impression that
tn. ETOwaS were always grinding coffee.
Their suspicious Of Cr1.kedncs> Were con
iltnsG when they saw 4 load 81 galvanized
PIP" "NG TOAD OF luihh"F taken MO the
h"ilSe. They called tn" attention II the
! oli-- TO the place. but no charge could be
made against the occupants
TIE Browns left the huus. ON the night Of
July ) leaving word 10y Nr Inrgflti that
they were going 10 New York. uut would re-
turn OH jniy a |. pay tn hrst insialiment
on tie house. Their failure to return led
to an Investigation by Mr.. Langfirt. with the
result given above.
The theory is that the Browns were fright
eHed away, because all OF the apparatus
was found in the house. with the exception
OF The digging tools. which Director huth
Thinks are IN the tunnel with jhe body Of
tEc digger.
The scheme by which PlISs or Boyd Sc
cured Il fortune by robbery was most bold
He seemed supplied with much money and
bought several pieces II property, paying
average. al One-tWPutietL down.
Against these properties there were heavy
ana PiaSS forged satisfactory
papers showing that th" mortgages had
been lifted. ON property apparently unincum-
bered he was able to borrow heavily and
quickly. In four dRys he collected $1,000
and WIS I'm the aC: of selling another $1,000
when arrested ON May q. 1895.