The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-28
POKER GAME GAVE HIM
"A CHANCE TO ESCAPE
Condemned Negro Puts Off His Execu-
ton Three Weeks.

Condemned Negro Puts Off His Execu-
ton Three Weeks.
The hanging of colored man in the
District the other day brought to my
mind the only execution that 1 ever
saw, that Of George Fletcher, a muir
derer, down at Noagles, about fifteen
years ago." said an Arizona man re-
siding in Washington. But it wasn't
so much of Georges finish that I was
thinking of as the funny way he made
his escape from the Noagles Jail a
couple of weeks before he was due to
take his final walk.
Fletcher had killed a couple of
prospectors for the dust they had on
them, and the posse had to put up a
pretty hot chase after him before they
finally shared him in the Antarita
mountains. There was a dead case
against him, and he himself made no
bones of the fact that he had slaughter
ed the pair Of prospectors. and so he
was condemned to death in pretty short
order. George had been a friend Of
the warden of the Noagles Jail, Jim
Evans, and so when Jim got charge
of George he made it pretty easy for
the murderer, seeing that George was
scheduled to cash in at so early a day
One night a couple of weeks before
Fletcher's day of doom three of War
den Evans crOnies dropped in at the
Jail for a little game of draw. They
played at a table placed at the head
of the main corridor, near the Warden's
office, and the table was SO placed that
George Fletcher could watch the prog
reSS Of the game from his cell.
dan hi
had been playing for an hour or so.
when the warden observed that Fletch-
er was watching the game with rath-
er Wistful eye. He wanted to make
Fletcher'S last days as easy and COM
Portable as possible and so he said:
Want to sit in awhile, George?'
az sure do replied Fletcher CRATE
fully.
"'AI right, son. said Warden Jim,
and he got up from the table, unlock
ed the cell door and let George out.
The prisoner had about 500 in gold
that his desperate mates mad sent to him
to make his Jail life comfortable, and he
produced a canvas bag, bought a stack,
and was soon swinging along enjoying
himself and mOnopoliZing all the luck from
the moment that he sat into the game.
After about an hours play Warden
Jim got up and said that he'd just go
through the jail and do his locking up
for the night, and then come back and
his task.
: You boys go ahead he said in de-
parting for another portion of the jail,
and I'll be back directly
The warden hadn't left the table for
more than three minutes before one of his
cronies fancied that he detected Fletcher,
the prisoner, in the act of picking up a
card from beneath the table. He Jumped
up and strobe around to the prisoner
place, and there ne saw a whole bunch
Of good cards at Fletchers feet.
SO you're dishin' 'em out t. y'seIf
are We, We Onnery ombreyr yelled the
Warden's chum, and straightway he and
the other two men grabbed Fletcher alto
gether and incontinently dumped him out
OF the window of the warden's office, COM
pletely forgetting in their excitement and
wrath over his cheating that he was a
murderer under sentence of death They
didn't remember that fact until ten min
uteS later, when Warden Jim Evans re-
turned from his tour of the Jail and burnt
them up With cussing for their crazi-
ness.
Fletcher wasn't slow to get next to a
good thing when it came hiking his way.
and the manner with which he Struck out
and only hit the high sand knobs was
a caution to elias. 1t took three weeks
for the posse to spring him again and
when they at length took him he was far
toward the middle of Death Valley and
almost delirious from the lack of water
They nursed him back to life, returned
him to the Nogales Jail and in due time
he was executed. He was not allowed to
mingle up in any more poker games while
awaiting his final piping out, ether
Washington Post.