Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-04-05
ESCAPED FROM JAIL.
THE CLEVER SCHEME THAT WAS
WORKED BY ONE CROOK.

He Wanted . Certafn Book. and He
dy. and Its Title Proved 60 BE Pc
culiarly Appropriate.
The recent escape from the parish
prison" said secondhand bookseller
on the old side who has almost as
many "reminiscences as he has vol
umes, reminds me of a very curious
case of jail delivery In which l was
an accessory before the fact. was
never arrested for Ii. but don't OBJ
ject to telling you the story.
''One day in the summer OF 1895 n
good looking well dressed man strolled
into the shop and said he wanted to
get something that would Interest his
old mother. whom he described as very
religious and fond of antique books.
I'VE picked out dozen or SO togeth-
er, FoN's Book of Martyrs Pilgrims
Progress Mather's Sermons Of Occa.
sion. Pusey's Daniel the Prophet' and
among others quaint. massivciy
bound volume called The Friend In
Affection They We're all Interesting
old copies, ia, my caller told me he
would IKE TO submit them to his moth.
er before closing the purchase and Of
fercd TO leave a $50 bill as security.
That was agreeable TO me- and he
carried away the lot. Next day he re
turned and brought back three or four
OF the books. among them The Friend
In Affection which he remarked laugh
ingly had given his mother the blues
The others he paid for. and have new
er seen him again from that day to
this.
almost o week after his visit. how
ever. thin. prim, precise. elderly lady.
a typical spinster from head to toe
came i'll one afternoon and began look
ing over the shelves. Presently she
ran across the same old Friend In Ar
hiction' that had Jared SO badly In the
,ther trade. and. much to my gratifi
cation. she purchased IL on the spot.
Ii was exactly the thing. she said. to
give consolation 10 an unfortunate per
son Of her acquaintance who was then
in great trouble. | was glad to get rid
of the book and let her have Ii for a
couple of dollars.
Fully tHonth afterward was
amazed TO receive visit from a big.
sns s.,~sssr~ nsrsdac,s h,%sss =.
what ] knew about it,
The book had suffered since saw II
last One of its thick covers was rip
ped open. and sticking inside was a
small steel file. The story the detective
told me was certainly extraurdinary
III seems that noted northern crook
had been in Jail in II small town up thu
'oGntry on IA charge OF bank burglary
ana being n very smooth rascal had en-
listed the sympathy of philant hropic
old lady of the place who had "A fad
for prison reform He persuaded he;
that he had thoroughly repented. an,.
she used TO visit him regularly and
bring him tracts aud deIicacies
Among other things he told her thai
while broke In New Orleans he had
sold all of his belongings. Including n |
keepsake from his mother-a volume |
called The Friend In Affiiction' He
gave her my address rs the plac.
where he had left the precious relic
and worked on her feelings to such an /
extent that she promised to secure the /
tsook for him the first time she visited
the ctttty
How SIC discovered and purchased |
it you aIread .>A7ow. On her return sh.
carried II straight 70 the jail and while |
ordinarily all gifts for prisoners wer.
closely examined. this iady's high char
acter made such precau tion seem un
and she passed in the volume
without question
a few days later the turnkey found
a barred window neatly sawed and the
bird flown. He also found The Friend
In Affection lying on the floor. and in
one of the massive covers were several
saws and the file ! have mentioned
Of course the phiianthropic old lady
was Immediately questioned. and her
hysterical replies led TO the visit OF the
detective. but nothing ever came Of the
quest The fugitive Is supposed to hav,
left on an outbound steamer-at any
rate he was never caught
What about my hrst customer did
you ask: Oh. he was undoubtedly the
pal who pian ted the saws."-New Or
cans Times-Democrst