The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-09-30

PRELIMINARY TRIAL.
Testimony Of Officers at the jail
Brings Out Some New Facts.
WHAT MAN WITH CAKE SAYS

The cases OF Michael J. Roach and VIII
liam Collins. charged with having nesfi-
gently allowed Topeka joe" the alleged
Williamsburg bank-robber, to escape from
the city ian on the night of September %,
were called IN the Police Court yesterday
afternoon at o'clock. and, after>hsarilis
the testimony for the Commonwealth ana
the defense, Justice Crutchffeld d1seharsed
both men The evidsnce submitted 6rouShs
to the attention of the court teW tacss
that have not hitherto been pub4!shs'ts.
The e,za,nira ton was a joint one
The first wit!.ess calls;l was Deputy-SeT-
geant f. NJ Noble, wno Explained the
duties of the guards and deputies at the
city Jail, especially the guard who was
on duty at that institution at night he
said one. of these men was supposed to
watch the iron gate on the right side OIL
the building. While the other made the US
usal round. in order to see that al the
coils were locked and in proper condstfon-
When the colored side was reached, one
guard was supposed to be stationed at thGi
iron gate Of that department, whAe the
other made the customary eNailliittt-o'li
Mr. Noble added that one of these guards
were supposed to be on duty in the yard
near the iron gate on the white side at
all hours of the night, and said that one
of them was upstairs in the cff1ce ana tlie
other on the bridge. near the entrance 10
the woman's department. Wnen Joe eS
capped I would be impossible for either of
them TO see what was going on IN the
c.ll-yards from either Of these positions.
GUARDS ENTIRE JAIL.
In reply to q question by My Smith,
Noble
said that these men had to guard the en-
tire iail, and could inspect the female de-
nartment from time to time If they We're
so disposed He also testified that ali
prisoners who had been N Jail any length
of time knew about how long 1t required
for the guards to make the ROUNDS or the
cells This he said, consumed from TWEEN
=, to thirty minutes Being asked f It
was the duty of the night guards to search
the cells in the jail. Mr.. Noble said that
1t was not, as tnis duty dcvolved upon the
day men.
CARRIED CAKE TO JOE.
Thomas Smith. former guard at the
iail. testified that ne served short time
as guard under City Sergeant Smith, hav-
ing given up his place August laih- tie
was there when Topeka joe was incar-
cerated, and visited the jail twice atter
severine his connection with the institu-
ton.
Did the Sheriff who brought Topeka
.Joe', to Richmond jail ask that he should
be especially watched?" Commonwealth
Attorney Richardson asked the witness
HE did; ifle said the prisoner was a
noted character, and would have to be
watched very closely.
M-. Richardson then asked the witness
if he saw the prisoner after he ceased to
be a guard Smith replied thai ne saw
"Topeka Joe" on the occasion OF both OF
his visits to the Jail.
"D;d you carry him anything during
either of these vis:ts?" inquired the Com
monweaIth's Attorney.
Yes. sir; carried him piece of cake,
replied the witness Mr.. Roacn sa" the
cake, and so did Mr. Collins. Mt Collins
had the keys, and opened the iron gate
for me. He also accompanied ne to the
cell door and saw me give The cake to
Topeka Joe.
WHERE KEYS WERE KEPT.
Mr.. Richardson interrogatcd the witness
as to where the jail ;.es-s were kept, eN-
cant when IN use by the turnkey or others
In authority at the prison Mf. smith an
szyaretl that he had seen the keys hang
, ing each morning from the Old whipping
| post in what is called the vesribnle to the
ia.!. In this connection he was asked II
he had ever seen these keys in the pos
session Of any of the prisoners Of the jail
His response was that Ire had only seen
them in the possession Of some OF the
! TRUSTEES.
Are these TRUSTEES locked up at night?
the commemorative Attorney asked.
Sometimes they are and sometimes they
are not The cooks are never locked up
in extremely hot weather.
On cross-exam.nation by Mr.. Smith, the
witness declared. that there was nothing
| in the cake which Should not have been
| in it, and Turnkey Tate was called as the
naxa n-t5slle5s.
REPEATED THE ESCAPE.
| Mr. Tate IS the man who repeated
| Topeka Joe,s performance by escaping
! from the jail himself with the aid of Rap
| Iey.s implements in eight minutes. Mr.
| Tate testified that Guard Collins, ona o.
| the accused. went to West Point the day
before Topeka joe got out of jail re-
| turning, to Richmond about $50 o'clock IN
| the evening.
DO you know that he went TO West
| Posrt2'' the Commonwealth attorney in
CURED.
| 4 know that he said ne had been there
| the witness answered. II never heard
| him say where he was at the exact tine
| that Topeka Joe es.aeeG can scale
that wall as Rapley Dc. n eight minutes
| myself ami believe he would have got
TEL. away no matter who lad heen on duty
at the jail. # the guard en- dirty had been
Standing al the IRON gate It would have
been impossible for the prisoner to have
gotten aWaGr without beng seen, but aS;y-
| body can get out of that jail. It IS dan
! gerotis for ore grari 20 so through those
/ cell yards At night unless the other
guard IS close at hard to protect him IN
/ the event OF m outbreak. Those cells ara
50 dt,apidalett that a man can stand IN
| No. 5 a9gi set materials or small articles
sre-si a prisoner noel Nes 16,
| This testimony in ralt expifined the
presence of ma asesials with wEich 'Tepeka
| jos naale his implements of eseas1a. Wit
| ness Tate said that it had been learned
that three blankets, two he'd ticks aud threa
Tor four bucket handles we're miss ng, and
& tf1afh hfhnsa 5fr, have