Arizona republican., 1903-12-17
PHoENIx. ARIZONA, DEC. r, 1903
The Tombstone Jail Break.

The latest :ail break at Tombstone will lead the people of the territory to wonder how long Cochise county pro- Although more deSperadoes are in dicted and arrested in that county than in all the the other counties co2lbined, less vigilance is exercised by the off cials than is seen in most peaceab,e communities. Prisoners escape from Tombstone jail'' has grown to be a fla miliar newspaper headline.
 Tuesday evening Burt Alvcrd and Bill Stiles, notorious highwayrnCn and train robbers, John James. a murderer. James Bennett, smuggler. Ton De- Priest, l robber and other criminals of less note. broke out of the county jail at Tombstone. Until few days ago Alvord had been confined in the jail at Phoenix for safe keeping, and Stiles in the jail at Tucson. for the same reason: but both had been taken to Tombstone for trial. AlvoEl had en- tered a plea of guilty 10 robbing the mails and had been sentenced to the penitentiary. The trial of Stiles was in progress. AIvord and Stiles are the most notorious bad men and the most dreaded criminals in Arizona toiay. Last summer when they were indicted and arrested after they had openly re- turned to Cochise county. many cid- ezns expressed doubt as to the fairness DF nf prON- because both desperadoes understood that their past crimes had been con doued in consideration of their turing Augustin Chacon into the hands of the law.
 Chacon was the most dreaded and most wanted despeIado of all, having committed many murdLs and having made his escape from the Solomonville jail after he had been sentenced to hang. Chacon,. Alvord and Stiles had been together more or less in Mexico. Captain Mossman, of the Arizona ran gers, laid plans for the capture of Cha con, and after long efforts established communication with Alvord and Stiles. They agreed to bring Chacon across the international boundary where Moss man could make the arrest. and they kept their word. MossInan. introduced 10 Chacun as a horse thief, met alone the three dangerous men and slept al night in their camp In the morning, aided by Stiles, he caught Chacol off his guard, and captured and manacled Maxfnan who d1tlN rn Solomonville and hanged according to law. The peace officers of Cochisel county were understood to have ap- proved in advance the negotiations between Mossman and and Alvord and Stiles. The criminals themselves cer- talnly thought they were safe, at last, and they came and went. openly and freely. The territory had been satisfied but the federal government had not, and federal indictments and arrests followed.
 These circumstances are reviewed as suggesting, possibly, a reason for the laxlty of the Cochise county sheriff and his deputies in guarding Alvord and Stiles. But the facts afford no excuse for the officers. nor can any other ac- certable excuse be offered. Once be- fore these men escaped from the Tomb stone Jail. To be sure, that escape was in the term of another sheriff, but the facts were still fresh in the mem ory of everybody. and the present sher- itf Of Cochise county could not have forgotten that his county and the ter ritory had been put to burdensome ex- pense in efforts to uecapture the ban dits. He knew. moreover, the despeI ate character ot the men. He knew that neither Alvord nor Stiles would willing ly go to the penitentiary, and he knew they would take desperate chances to escape. IL was his duty to exercise the utmost vigilance in guarding them while they were in Tombstone.
 The incident reflects discredit on Co., Chisc county and upon Arizona
 
 The Mysterious Senators.