The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-16
Had Made Hole in Wall of County Jail When
 Discovered,
USED STEEL FROM THEIR
 COTS ID LOOSEN BRICKS
Prompt Action of Guard R. R. Rainey and Deputies Morrow and Reeves Prevented Escape-Webb Is
 Under Death Sentence.

Tim Webb and Bob Stone, negroes, con- fined in one of the murderer's cells in the county tail. tried to effect an escape yesterday morning about o'clock, but their purpose was defeated by the night guard and jailer
 Webb is under sentence to be hung for killing Policeman W. P. Walton and Stone Is charged with the murder of Convict Guard Thomas at the Coalburg prison.
 The cell in which the two negroes were confined is located just above the war den's office.
 Yesterday morning about 2;SO o'clock R. R. Rainey, the inside guard, heard slight noise, seemingly coming from the rooms above the warden's office, and in- to which the cell occupied by the two men opens. He ascended the steps lead ing to this room but the sound had ceas- ed In a few minutes he heard the noise again and this time he crept noiselessly up the stairway and into the room. He readily ascertained that the noise came from towards the cell in which Webb and Stone were confined. He advanced  hole through the brick wall just on the left of the cell door. The guard at once comprehended the situation-the negroes were boring through the thick wall with the intention of making a break for liber- ty. Immediately calling Deputies Nor row and Reeves, who were in the build ing, an investigation was made The door of the cell was opened and the negroes were transferred to another cell.
 Had Dug Hole.
 Upon examination it was found that the two men had stripped one of the cots of the iron braces and with these they had gouged Into the, cement covering tho brick and then the mortar holding the bricks in place. When the effort to es- cape was discovered the negroes had made hole in the wall fourteen by nine and half inches from the interior of the cell, and an opening five by two ipches into the room. The officers estimate that in an hour more the negroes would have succeeded in making an aperature large enough to crawl through.
 In the cell the officers found several large wire nails, and these had probably been used also in tearing away the plas- tering. Two wooden slats, usued in the construction of the cot which was torn to pieces. were found bound tightly to- gether, with heavy padding at one end. It is supposed this was used to hammer into the clustering the nails, the padding preventing the action from making a noise. If the two men had succeeded in getting out of the cell it was their evil dent purpose to go out of the main door of the prison. To accomplish this it is thought they intended to make a noise upstairs to attract the inside guard when they would strike him down upon his en- tering the room. If the jailor or others in the prison heard the noise and follow ed their fellow officer, the negroes could have taken them by surprise as they ascended the stairs. It is very probable the negroes had this plan in view, as with the officers out of the way they could secure the key to the iron door leading from the jail hallway into the office of the warden. Arriving here they would be free.
 Cell Lined With Steel.
 The cell in which the men were confined was recently lined with sheet steel, with the exception of a part near the door. It was here the men used their efforts to break through. Between the door and the wall, about half way, a pipe goes through the cell. It would have been a tight squeeze for the men to have made their exit. but it would have been possi- ble.
 The room Into which the cell opens is occupied by a white woman, Francis Murray. and the officers are inclined to think she knew what was going on in the cell, as it is stated a blanket was found near the small hole, evidently placed to deaden the sound of the falling bits of brick and morter. When the plot was discovered the woman is said to have been sleeping soundly. She denies know ing anything in connection with the at tempt to break jail.
 An appeal had been taken in Webb's I case to the supreme court, where 1t is now. Stone escaped from Coalburg sev- eral months ago and 1t Is alleged he shot and killed Convict Guard Thomas The