The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-11

was at least three feet higher than the
road outside.
He saw that II he burrowed straight out
rs would emerge In the road Just outside
OF the wall, where anybody might see him.
SO, with his five feet Of tunnel completed
he started straight down. and never stopped
until he had completed it for distance Of
six feet. Then he started out again to-
ward the prison wall. lining his tunnel as
he went and stamping down tho dirt in
the cellar as fast as he took 1t out.
At this juncture q remarkable thing
happened. James had manufactured his
tools from the scraps he could smuggle
into the cellar from the tin shop without
| being seen.
1t was a remarkable collection Of imple-
ments, and no visitor to Clinton Prison
should 60 away without seeing the glass
case In which they are now kept. Tiny
trowels. little shovels, iron bars, very
amateurish looking Ratchet and number
OF other things. including a short-handled
but fairly large spade, make up the COL
lection. How he got the spade Is, and
probably ever will be. mystery.
1t may have been that certain other con-
victs saw him sneaking away with scraps
OF metal. or the story he tells himself, that
they heard him stamping down the earth
In the cellar, may be true, but It is fact,
nevertheless, that three other convicts
! found out what he was doing, and by the
mysterious method OF communication used
In prison served notice on him that they
were In on the play or they would squeal,
James had never planned to share his
! tunnel with any one else. but he had no
alternative now. The men who discov-
cred his secret were Ed Kennedy, John
Collins and John Elliott, one of them q
lifer like James, the others twenty-year
| men, who had already forfeited their COM
! mutation time.
After two and half years Of work James
, had got under the wall Of the prison, only
to find that he would have to take others
with him, and thus increase the risk, or give
1t all up. Forced to let these other men
In with him. James decided to make some
use Of them.
The toughest part of his work had ar
rived. He must remove the stone. crawl
through five feet OF tunnel, drop six feet
and crawl to the prison wall, fifteen feet
further along, every time he wanted to do
any work. II any one came in while he
was there all was lost, for he could not
| replace the stone while he was inside.
| James hit upon q scheme to minimize
the danger of detection, but to carry it
! into effect he had to have bell. He got
the bell all right where he got it is as much
mystery as where he got other things
that he used, but he got it, also some fifty
yards Of strong Irvine.
| Every time he went into the cellar to
work he carried the bell with him. One
end of the Irvine was attached to the bell
and the other end was in a secret place in
the shops. where any one OF his three con-
federates could pull 1t without being no
ticed. How the Irvine was entirely hidden
from the keepers is not known, but James
has confessed that he used bell in this
way. and the bell and Irvine were found in
the cellar after the escape.
The moment one OF the three In the shops
saw move on the part Of q keeper that
looked ominous he would pull the Irvine.
and the jinglng bell down in the tunnel
would warn James to get out at once. Time
and again James had just got to work
under the prison wall when the bell rang
The alarms OF this kind were more often
false than not, but James always needed
them promptly. On several occasions he
got out Of his hole just in time. On one
occasion, he says. he didn't get time to
place the stone over tho opening before
keeper came into the cellar, but the keeper
overlooked the opening in the dark, and as
soon M he went away James put the stone
in place again.
Tn,s little by little this clever desperate
worked until finally one day he ran his
tunnel right up against the brick wall OF
the sewer which runs through the main
road Of Dannemora. He broke into the
sewer and found himself at the foot OF
a manhole.
But the manhole was guarded by st ron
gate Of iron bars; and, besides, 1t opened
up right In the middle of the road. It
was necessary to Der the bars back &c get
past the ranhole, and this was dor two
weeks later Ivy James with an iron bal
which he secured in the same mysterious
way tina, later he got his other tools.
Following the sewer he came up to an i.
other manhole in field just opposite the
prison. There he forced another iron gate
and crawled up to daylight.
| James could have gone out then, but
didn't. His plans were far from COM
plete.
He had tunnelled his way to liberty
but there were other things to be done;
so he returned to the cellar. put the stone
In place, and for the next few weeks went
into the tunnel only twice, and then merely
to shore up certain weak spots 10 had
found.
AS soon as possible James let his con-
federates know that the tunnel was done
A whispered oath was taken by the four
that no one should attempt to go before
the others, and that once out they would
all stick together.
James then gave each man share OF the
work OF preparation. He agreed to SNUG
gle into the cellar and make into clothing
a lot of blue jeans. He assigned one OF
the other men TO make, In the tin shop
a large tin cone and tin flask in which
they could carry water
All OF these things were to be smugged
into the cellar and secreted by him. Al
four prisoners then agreed to smugglt
into the tin shops after each SHal cer1a all
amount of bread and corned beef.
The plan was carried out perfectly. The
tin cone and water flask wore made, and
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