The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-02-07
A! DASH FOR
! LIBERTY
Murderers Escape
a pittsburg
Jail.
WARDEN'S WIFE
HELPS THEM
Three Guards, Two Injured, We're
Put Into CeIls-Escapss
Get Long Start.

PITTSBURG. Pa. Jan. 30.-Edward
and John Biddle, awaiting execution in
| the county Jail for the murder OF gro
Ger Thomas D. Khaney, of Mount
Washington, overpowered the guards
at o'clock this morning and escaped.
Both prisoners had been provided
with saws, with which they cut the
bars in their cells. The prisoners oc-
cupied adjoining cells on the second
range They evidently had assistance
from the outside, as both were armed
with revolvers
Shortly before o'clock one of the
Biddles called to James McGeary, who
had charge of the outside gates, and
asked for some cramp medicine in a
hurry, saying his brother was danger
ously sick.
McGeary FASTENED to the cell with
the medicine, when John Biddle sprang
through the opening of the cell and
seizing the guard around the waist,
hurled him over the railing to the stone
floor beneath, a distance of sixteen
feet
Edward Biddle joined his brother i'm
mediately and both, with drawn revol-
vers, hurried to the first floor, where
they met Guard Reynolds and shot
him.
There were but three men on duty,
and the third one was on the upper
ranges. He was ordered down at the
point of the revolvers and the three
guards We're put in the dungeon.
The keys were taken from Keeper
McGeary, and the two desperate pris-
oners had a clear field The only per-
sons who witnessed the escape were
prisoners who could not interfere or
give an alarm. The Biddles went to the
wardrobe. wher ethe guards kept their
clothing, and each put on a new suit.
They then unlocked the outside gates
and passed out into Ross street. The
escape was not discovered until the
daylight guards came on duty at
o'clock. They were informed by pris-
oners where the night guards had been
put and they We're soon released from
the dungeon and sent to the homeo-
pathic hospital.
Warden Peter K. Soffatt has author
lied publication of the allegation that
his wife is responsible for the furnish
ing of the revolvers and saws to the
Biddles, which enabled them to escape.
In her infatuation for the handsome
desperate, Edward Biddle. 1t is alleg-
ed that she has left her husband and
her four children and, 1t is supposed,
is to meet the escaped convicts at a
place agreed upon.
Solicit was the only person admitted
to the Jail since last Sunday Yes
terday afternoon she visited the Bid
dies during the warden's absence.
Last evening she retired at 9 o'clock.
She told her husband that she was
going to visit a sister at Mcdonald,
and that she would retire early, so
that she could get an early start. War
den Solicit was about the Jail until
about u o'clock. He retired TO his
room, which is separate from Mrs.
Soffett's. shortly before / o'clock When
he awoke this morning he asked for
Mrs. Solicit, and was Informed that
she was absent. Later, when the details
of the escape became known, he tele-
phoned to Mcdonald, and was informed
that Mrs. Solicit was not there.
Warden Solicit Immediately made a
frank confession of his suspicious.
The ruse of the Biddles was a clever
one, and was carried out with great
success. They sawed out the bars Of
their cells, John cutting out three in
his. Edward, being the larger man, .
found it necessary to cut out four.
Nothing suspicious was noticed in
the actions of the two prisoners, nor /
was anything wrong discovered when |
the day guards went off duty yester !
day afternoon. The murderers evident |
" sawed the bars during the night, |
using what appears to have been soap !
to Geaden the noise and reduce fric- |
ton.
The escape is as unparalleled as is
their record for crime throughout this .
The police all over the city .
are searching for the fugitives. While ,
it is not thought they have gone far, !
the shrewdness of the two criminals
is such that the police have a hard
problem to solve in their recapture.
The two guards injured will probably !
recover. The bullet wound sustained |
by Reynolds is not regarded as dan |
gerous. The physicians have been una |
bic to ascertain as yet the full extent |
of McGearys wounds. His head is |
badly confused, but there are no signs
that his skull was fractured by his ,