The San Francisco call., 1901-12-27
SAW IRON BARS
AND BREAK JAIL
Frank Case and William
Kelly Secure Their
Freedom.
Mystery Surrounds Manner
in Which Escapes Sc
cured Tools.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call,
1l1S Broadway. Dec. 26

Ills Broadway, Dec. 26.
With a possibility of a life in prison in
mind Frank Case, who was awaiting trial
OH a charge of robbery, sawed his way out
of the Alameda County Jail and escaped
to-day With him went William Kelly,
burglary. The disappearance of the two
prisoners was not noted by the jailers un-
I'll late this afternoon. AS soon as their
absence was observed Chief Jailer Louis
Schoenau and Deputy George Taylor sum-
moned Sheriff Oscar Rogers and the trio
went about to investigate.
They found that two half-inch iron
bars across the top of the south or Grand
Jury corridor had been cut in half and
removed. Through the aperture Case and
Kelly had easily climbed reaching the
roof Then they pulled away couple
OF shingles and were outside the Jail.
Tracing the 1ugltlves down the outside
of the Jail corridor by way OF tall vent
pipes the Sheriff and his deputies followed
the trail through the jail yard to the south
wall facing Fourth street near. Washing
ton. On the outside was stretched long
ladder-like contrivance made of broken
mop handles and strips of cloth. 1t hung
over the edge Of the wall, dangling by an
iron hook made from q section Of q stove
poker.
This explained the way the men got
away, but the puzzle to the jaiers is,
Where did the implements come from that
the prisoners used to cut the bars?
Escaped in Daylight.
The escape was accomplished, according
to the Sheriff's theory, between and .
o'clock this morning. Case occupied a
cell with Charles Merrill, who was jointly
charged with his cellmate with the rob-
berry of q Chinese laundryman on Eighth
street bridge in October. Kelly had a cell
near that of Case.
barred overhead. The bars are the only
obstacle to easy access to the Jail roof.
Where Case got the saws and when he
cut the two bars is a mystery. 1t is sus-
pected he did the cutting yesterday af
ternoon while Christmas services were
being held on the main jail floor. The
singing would have drowned the noise Of
the saw on the iron.
When Case and Kelly were released
from their cells this morning at o'clock.
thinks the Sheriff, they quickly removed
them. Then they climbed through and
replaced the broken pieces with dummy
bars of wood. Only by testing each over
head bar was the change discovered. AS
quickly as the deceptive blocks were
found the way of departure was exposed.
The men took desperate chances for it
must have been daylight when they
crawled through the Jail roof, scrambled
down the vents for thirty feet to the
yard and then clambered over fifteen
case is desperate man." said Sheriff
Rogers tonight. HE has served one
term for robbery and If convicted on the
pending charge was in danger OF suffering
life imprisonment. L am satisfied that
only Case and Kelly We're in the plot, be-
cause Merrill, Cases cellmate, could have
gone, just as well as not He knew some
thing was going on. but he said to-day
after we found the men had fed that he
did not want to escape.
Second Jail Delivery.
1.-THE Job was q good one, and the es-
cape was clean enough. 1t was made In
precisely the same way that four men got
q n
/ am conducting as close an investiga-
tion as possible. We have no idea now
where the saws came from. All of our
efforts are at present centered upon re-
capture of the men"
The jailers have not found any of
the tools that We're used to cut the bars.
The pieces Of iron that were removed
were left behind. The Sheriff is con-
graduating himself that there was not a
general Jail delivery. He said it would
have been easy for all of the twenty-six
occupants of the corridor cells to have
made their way out had they known what
Case and Kelly had in hand. The Sheriff
has wired descriptions of the escaped
prisoners throughout the bay counties.
Kelly is 27 years old and was working
at the racetrack when he was arrested
on 4 charge of stealing saddles and blan-
kets from stables there He had been in
Jail since November II. Case had been
confined since October &c. He is about 90
years old.