The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-12
.CONVICTS PLOT
TO MAKE ESCAPE
Scheme Is CoDcoctsd by Des-
perate Men at Penitentiary.
ALL GUARDS ARE ON ALERT
PLAN Is BETRAYED TO ONE OF
THE PRISON OFFICIALS.

q TIRED to unusual en6eavers by
~ the escape of convicts from the
Folsom prison in Catalonia. a
clique Of desperate criminals in the
Utah penitentiary is planning an es-
| cape by a similar method. according
to information received by DR.. A. =.
Young Of the penitentiary from certain
friendly and trustworthy convicts. Full
details Of the Folsom affair have
reached the Utah convicts, despite eff
/ forts of the officials, and the success
| of the California prisoners has awak-
| ened a desire to do likewise among
some Of the lOng-term men in the Utah
| institutions.
1T is impossible TO keep particulars
/ Of such affairs from the cOnvicts." said
l DR.. Young, in talking of the matter
| yesterday. The TRUSTEES outside the
walls get hold of all the details and
! they are thus rapidly communicated
/ TO the men inside. They all know about
/ the Folsom business now and we are
/ overlooking nothing that might give
/ them a chanc0 TO initiate the California
! convicts. 1 first heard of il several
! days ago from a eonvict whom 1 have
| been Goctoring, and who save me
warning of the matter He kept repeat
! ing it to ne day after day, but I did
not pay much attention to il, thinking
| he exaggerated the Importance Of what
/ he had heard. He was always quite
| earnest, however, ard 1 did not ignore
/ his warning entirely.
Particulars Of the Plot.
/ To-day lie came 70 me again with
! further particulars and told me enough
e mo
/ was med5tated. He mentioned Gray
1 the man who killed Mccormick not
/ long ago in the prison, as one Of the
! ringleaders. Cray we know to be
/ desperate man. He wGs sentenced to
eighteen years as an habitUal criminal,
/ ard we look upon hir rs one Of the
/ most dangerous men in tha prison.
4 am now convinced that there IS a
! scheIse ON foot to UVerpOWer us some
/ day and make a break, but from the
I construction of the Utah penitentiary
/ there is scarcely any hope of its being
/ successful. The Utah penitentiary IS a
/ walled penitentiary with double gates
/ The locks on these gates are operated
! by a guard from without the walls
/ The convicts could not in any possible
/ way reach him TO OVerpoWcr him and
/ open the gates themselves. The only
i power they could gain over him WOULD
| be to seize some of us inside ana by
/ threatening to kin Us induce him 10
! omen the gates. OF course none of US
would order him to let the men out,
and even should they kill US they
] would be no better off than before
/ The.y would stiH be within ne walls
/ with certain punishment awaiting
i them.
Cannot Reach Locks.
! ..There is absolutely no way by
| which they could reach the locks them
! selves. as the guard in charge of the
J levers is protected by a wall scarcely
] less impenetrable than the walls OF the
/ priSon themselves. SO we do not eN-
/ pect an escape, although an attempt
would not surprise us My convict
friend has warned me not TO enter the
corridors without q knife TO defend my
self but his warning in this particular
will be unheeded. None of us ever think
| of entering the prison with knife or
pistol upon our persons. This would be
/ pIavipg right into the hands of the
/ convfcts. who would secure possession
I of the weapons in some manner ana
J thus put us at a greater disadvantage
! than they are likely to do by catch
I ing US unarmed.
I'VE have learned by experience not
to take weapons inside. Some expert
pickpocket would take them from US
without our knowing it and like
/ flash it would be passed from hand TO
/ hand and put where we would never
/ find it So the COnvicts might as well
give uD whatever hope they have OF
+ getting weapons from the guards or Of
fcials. for no weapon ever passes with
in the gates,
Use Religious Societies.
Il learned incidentally the other day
of a plan of escape some of the plain
| clothes convicts have under consider
alton. They hope to utilize the visits
I of religious societies for their pur-
/ pose. We are advised of the scheme
and are satisfied it Will not work. They
plan to conceal AN accomplice or TWO
D. in one of the bathrooms. Then some
convict is to invite a.. couple of visitors
TO step inside the bathroom. As soon
as they enter the men inside viii take
care OF them for the time and two con-
Yicts viii attempt 20 pass out with the
visitors The number of people in the
party Will be unchanged and they are
j relying chiefly on this and their plain
( gray clathes TO enable them to escape
: the guard at the gate.
They are not likely to do this. Wis
{ itors are always locked in between the
I double gates, both entering and leav-
ing. Each face is carefully studied by
I a guard as the visitors come in one by
one. They are also let out one by one,
J and if one of the convicts, whose faces
are all well known to the man at the
gate, manages to sneak out without
the guard spotting him he is a lucky
fellow. Being forewarned Of these two
schemes we are forearmed, and do
not expect a single man to escape by
| either method
Although DR.. Young is convinced both
plans viii fail of fruitiOn. the guards
at the pen are doubly alert these days.
Some of them. with the experiences Of
! the California officials before their
eyes, feel very much like a man stand
ing over a dynamite blast might be
expected to feel, but they are all vigi-
liant and determined that the Folsom
affair will not be duplicated in Utah,
despite the fact that it is under con-
sideraton by hardened and desperate
criminals who would stop at nothing
TO accomplish their escape.
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