The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-03-10
Escaped by Poker Game.

The hanging of a colored man in the
District the other day brought to my
mind the only execution that 1 ever
saw, that of George Fletcher, a murder
er. down in Nogales. about fifteen y5ars
ago." said an Arizona man residing in
Washington, according to the Wash
ington Post. But it wasn't so much Of
Georges finish that 1 was thinking as
Of the funny way that he made his es-
cape from the Nogales 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 slaugh-
tered 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 Nogales 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 al 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 pro-
gress of the game from his cell.
"The warden and his three cronies
had been playing for an our Or so,
when the warden observed that Fetch
er was watching the game with a rath-
er wistful eye. He wanted to make
Fletcher's last days as easy and COM
Portable as possible and so he said to
the prisoner:
Wan to sit in a while, GEORGE
ct sure do replied Fletcher. CRATE
fully.
".An 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 had sent to
him to make his Jail life comfortable
and he produced his canvas bag. bought
a stack. and was soon swinging along,
enjoying himself as 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
sit in again when he had ACCOMPLISHED
his task
You boys go ahead he said in de-
parting for another portion of the Jail,
and I'll be back d'rectly.'
The warden hadn't left the table for
more than three minutes before one OF
his c%ronies 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 prisoners place, and there he
saw a whole bunch of good cards ly-
ing at Fletcher's feet.
$50 you're dishin' 'ern out t. y'self,
are ye, ye Onnery ombrey!" yelled the
warden's chum, and straightway he and
the other two men grabbed Fletcher al
together. and incontinently dumped hin
out Of the window OF the warden's Of
flee, completely forgetting in their ex-
citement and wrath yer his cheating,
that he was a murderer under sentence
Of death. They didn't remember that
fact until ten minutes later, when War
den Jim Evans returned from his tour
of the jail, and burnt them up with
a cussing for their craziness.
FLETCHER wasn't slow to get next to
a good thing when it came hiking his
way, and the name with which he
struck out and only hit the high sand
knobs was a caution to elias. 1t tooi
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 delirous
from the lack of water. They nursed
him back to life, returned him to the
Nogales Jail. and in hue time he was
executed. He was not allowed to min
gle up in any more poker games whils
awaiting his final piping out. either"