The Somerset reporter., 1904-09-29
Prisoners at Large,


vestigation showed that they had sue
ceeded in unbsrring the inner corridor
| in which they were customarily confAed
and had escaped through window on
the High street side of the building by
saving off and bending to one side one
of the iron rods in the grating.
During the present session of the
supreme judicial court the Jail had been
In charge of Deputy Sheriff Chas. F.
Dunbar of Madison but 1t was Mr..
Lang's custom to visit the cell room
every night to change the prisoners from
the cell corridor to the several cells as
signed to the use of each, to lock the
cell doors for the night and to see that
all the arrangements of the building and
inmates we're properly attended to. 1t
was on this visit that the absence of the
| four men was discovered.
The cells are arranged in two rows,
facing each other, with corridor be-
tween, the cells and corridor being en-
closed in a steel cage around which a
walk or outer corridor extends for the
entire circumference of the room. The
prisoners were allowed the liberty of
| the corridor inside the cage, during the
day, but were confined in the cells at
night. The bar which secured the cage
door and prevented the inmates from
getting from the cage corridor to the
outer corridor, terminates in a nteel box,
within which it Is secured by heavy
| paddock This paddock is In place, dur
| ing the day, but is not looked as 1t ia in
side the steel box above mentioned,
to which the keeper alone has the key.
lock was in it's proper place when he
last visited the Jail but when investiga-
tion was made it was found in the bot
tom OF tho steel box, and 1t Is evident
that Mr.. Dunbar either failed this time
| to place it properly or the men had been
able to introduce wire through small
aperture in the box, about three feet
above, and threw the paddock from It's
position releasing the bolt to the Gage
door.
Once in the outer corridor the prison
ers cut through the iron bar, as above
described and made their escape. A
hack saw made from strip Of steel re-
sembling corset spring, was found on
the floor under the cage and may have
been the tool used, although it seems
likely that they must have had a better
instrument to do the work as smoothly
and as quickly. One theory Is that
Lester Fish, one of the men who escaped,
who had been allowed the run of the
outer corridor at times. had cut through
this bar at some previous time. Fish
| was one of the youngest inmates of the
Jail, about eighteen years of age, and
had been allowed outside the celia more
than the older prisoners. He had an
opportunity to do tho work on the win
dow grating, if 80 disposed and he may
have taken advantage of it.
The aperture made In the grating, af
ter the out bar WAS bent to one side, is
but seven and one-fourth by fifteen inch
es and must certainly have been a tight
squeeze for the largest of the men, who
weighed about one hundred and eighty
pounds. Near the window were found
the leg taken from jail table and An
| iron window weight The table leg had
been used as pry In working on the
| bar, and the window weight may have
| been intended to serve as weapon if
they had chanoed to be interrupted
One Of these men, York, while doing
time in this Jail several years ago, had
cut into this same bar slightly on both
sides and the incident was known to the
sheriff then in charge of the jail and las
been known to Mr.. Lang. 1t had not
been repaired because its strength had
been so little impaired and the prisoners
were, for the most part, kept in the cage
and out of roach Of the windows. The
grating, OF which the bar In question Is
a part, is built into the brick work of
the wall In such manner that the en-
tire grating and adjoining wall will have
to be torn out and rebuilt to make the
repair.
OF the four who escaped Robert Nc
Lain and John Jenkins were undoubted-
| ly the chief plotters. They had just
been brought here from Thomaston, at
the expiration of time served there for
another crime, and we're to be tried here,
next Deoem Der, on charge of breaking
and entering a jawelry store in Fair
field, several years since, for which they
had already been indicted. Lester
Fish and Milford p. York were minor
offenders, doing time for larceny.
Every section of the county was noti-
| fed Of the matter at once and officers
and constables were kept busy in all
directions, through the night and all day
yesterday but thus far no trace Of the
escaped men has been found.
To assist in the apprehension Of these
men Sheriff Lang has issued the follow
ing description OF them Robert Nc
Lain, As years old, tall, pale complexion,
bald, has sandy moustache; John Jen-
kins, pal of MoLain, not 80 tall, has
sandy moustache; Lester NJ. Fish, boy
IS years old, five feet, eight inches in
height, has lost left eye; Milford P.