Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-10-01
TO FREE AN ANARCHIST.
HOW A WOMAN'S CURIOSITY UPSET
AN INGENIOUS PLOT.

Thrilling Account of the Attempt to Re-
lease Berkmann, who Is Confined in the
Allegheny Penitentinry for Shooting II.
c. Frick During the Homestead Strike.
The Pittsburg correspondent Of the
Chicago Record. writes as follows:
Woman's curiosity-responsible for
many things-led to the discovery of
the tunnel by which Alexander Berk-
man, the anarchist who shot Henry
Frick during the dark days of the
Homestead strike. expected to crawl
to freedom. Had Miss Jennie McCarty
not been so curious to know something
about new neighbors it is possible that
Berkman would now be at liberty.
The western Pennsylvania peniten-
tiary stands OH the north back of the
Ohio river in lower Allegheny. On
three sides of it are houses, some of
them being within 30 feet of the prison
wall. Sterling and Refuge streets meet
at right angles at the southeastern cor
ner of the prison. Miss McCarty lives
on the corner of Sterling street, and
almost directly opposite is a two-story
brick house at No. 2S. From a sentry's
box on the top of the 35 feet high pris-
on walls officers of the penitentiary
could look into the windows at No. %.
The house is owned by ]. w. Langfitt.
an engineer in the penitentiary.
In the middle of May man giving
his name as Thomas Brown and his
address as Chicago agreed to purchase
the house from Langfitt by paying
500 cash and agreeing to pay the re-
mainder in installments of $3.50 every
two months. OF course every woman
in the neighborhood heard of the sale
and all We're curious to see the new
neighbors. The latter We're four or
five men and one woman. All the fur
niture they had was Il few chairs, Il
table or two, Il lounge, some cots, a
couple of large mirrors and some rolls
of mating. The day following their
arrival piano was delivered at the
house by a local music firm.
y wagonload of lumber and several
hundred feet of galvanized iron pipe
about 2la inches in diameter was also
unloaded and the stuff carried into the
yard behind the house. There are
women in every Heighborhood who see
everything taken into house by new
residents. 1t was thought shed was
to be erected and new spoutng put on
the house. Miss McCarty, living oppo-
site with her sister, had been "keep-
ing line" on the house for ten days,
and remarked that their new neigh
bors were peculiar people.
They seemed to keep the front door
locked all the time, and the woman
was always open. She was the first
up in the morning in the neighbor-
hood and the last to so to bed at night
and played the piano continuously.
If the postman had letter, the gro
GERS boy some vegetables or the milk
man was delivering bottles of milk, it
was the same. Everything was handed
to the woman through the window.
The front steps and pavement were
never swept, and the woman appeared
to do nothing but play the piano. and
her voice, n rich soprano. could be
heard all over the neghborhood.
well, l don't know, but things look
mighty funny said Jennie McCarty
one night in June while she and some
neighbors were enjoying the music
"That piano wouldn't be going all the
time if 1t wasn't for n purpose. | hon
estly believe those people are building
a tunnel under the street to blow up
the penitentiary."
Langfitt, prison engineer, who owned
the house, was sent for, and the day
following the door was opened.
Warden Wright and the other prison
officers never allow themselves to be
surprised at anything prisoners may
do, but what they saw in this house
daZed them. In the front of the eel
lar was a closet about six feet square.
In the bottom of the closet was an ex-
cavaton six feet long and two and u
half feet wide. The hole led under
the foundation of the wall and out un-
der Sterling into Refuge street. The
tunnel was explored as far as the
guards could go. but foul air In the
hole drove them out.
After making sure that there were
no men in the tunnel the party ex-
plored the house. In pantry on the
first floor was found an ordinary blow
fan, by which air was forced through
galvanized pipe into the tunnel. At
tached to the ro,! of the fan was a
leather belt, and this was also around
large buggy wheel, between the
spokes of which was handle used to
turn it. Each revolution of the wheel
! caused the fan to revolve and blow air
into the pipe. The latter ran along the
roof of the tunnel, which at no point
was less than two feet deep and wide.
In the front room of the house stood
the piano. On the wall alongside of
the instrument was an electric push
button. The wires from this also led
into the tunnel. The latter had been
properly braced. or shored. the wires
being neatly tackled to the woodwork