Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-10-11

tain the remains of the late senator,
while the other will be the final rest
ing place, of Mrs. Hanna.
STORY OF SHERCLIFFE'S ESCAPE.
Sheriff Crane Tells Of How Sherclitfe
Got Away Fourteen Years Ago.
Fairfield, Oct. 1O.-The recent efforts
| of the jefferson county officials to ar
rest Frank Shercliffe, the noted dia-
mond robber at Logan put eX-Sherin
| S. s. Crane in reminiscent mood. Mr..
| Crane was sheriff of Jefferson county
| at the time of the robbery of the Lock
ridge station, March 20, 1890 Shercliffe
and Pullman, the latter the pal Of the
noted criminal We're promptly caught
| by Mr. Crane and put in the Jefferson
county Jail. The Jail was an old one
| and, as Mr.. Crane expressed 1t, You
could almost dig out of it with jack
knife" The men almost escaped once,
and fearing another attempt, the shef-
| iff wished to have them taken to Fort
Madison for safe keeping. Judge Trav-
is denied the privilege, but said they
might be removed to any Jail In the
district that Crane considered safe.
Crane chose Mt Pleasant ana
Shercliffe, or Charley Norris, which IS
his right name, and Pullman were &C
cordingly taken there. The stories OF
/ Shercliffe's escape from that place are
many and varied, and Shercliffe was
really very much hurt because they
were not told correctly. According to
Crane, who was in Mt. Pleasant at the
time, the circumstances were as fol-
lows:
The Henry county sheriff, his deputy
and boy were all away, and the only
people remaining at the Jail were the
sheriff's wife and daughter. Pullman
| did not have a pretended fainting fit
as reported. The girl went to take
bucket of water into the prison for the
prisoners use, Shercliffe caught the
edge Of the bucket and tipped it so the
contents ran into the girls face before
she could close the door. In the ex-
citement which followed he escaped,
but Pullman who was standing right
behind his pal, was not quick enough.
Pullman was returned to Fairfield,
and about six weeks afterward escap-
ed. Apparently some one on the outside
assisted him, probably Shercliffe.
|
Crane was on train, a man unknown
! to him, who claimed to be banker,
asked him If Shercliffe had gotten
away from him. The sheriff explained
! the circumstances, and the Fellow sald
he thought he could aid in the recap
| ture A short time after this as Crane
was starting for Mt. Pleasant with an
| insane patient he received a message
| from constable in Rhodes, Marshall
county, saying that Shercliffe, or as he
| was then known, Morris, was at that
place. Crane sent back word to arrest
him, saying that he would come at
once, and mentioning the fact that
| there was a reward Of 500 offered for
his recapture. Upon his return to Fair
| field Crane found another message
from the same constable which read:
eff you want your man come and get
him.
Crane took the train to Nevada and
drove the twenty miles remaining
The constable refused to go with him
to where he claimed Morris was, but
pointed to a meat market telling
Crane that the proprietor was the
much wanted criminal. The sheriff
found the owner Of the shop was 4
brother of Morris, and not revealing
his identity, prepared to leave. AS he
was leaving the village an unknown
man accosted him, calling him "sher-
| iff." Mr.. Crane politely replied that
there must be some mistake, and start
ed to drive on. The fellow stopped him,
saying that the bluff wouldn't work.He
then proceeded to tell the sheriff his
| (Crane's) name and what his business
in Rhodes was. "Your man isn't here"
he ended, "but If can find him I'll let
you know"
Not long after the stranger notified
Crane that Morris was serving a short
term in the Fort Madison penitentiary,
which proved to be the one which he
has just finished. To this day Crane
does not know who the mysterious
stranger was but supposes he was a
Pinkerton.
Probably the only photograph ever
| taken of Morris was taken here by the
order of Crane. When the escape at
| Mt Pleasant occurred number OF
prints Of this photograph were made
and circulated all over Iowa. When
Crane learned that the criminal was In
prison he sent the warden descrip-
ton and asked If a man named Nor
ris answering the description was con-
fined at that place. The warden re-
| piled that there was no Morris IN the
| penitentiary, but man who gave his
name as Shercliffe was there, who an
swered the description. He inclosed
| photograph for which he asked
prompt return, as it was the only one
he had. The picture proved to be one
of those Crane had sent out. He went
| to see Shercliffe, who, among other
things, expressed himself as being very
sorry that the story of his escape from
the Mt. Pleasant Jail was so greatly
exaggerated. "They said I hit the
girl" said he, Shut I didn't I would
have gone back and rotted before I'd
have done that"
Tho giving his age as 10 when first
caught by Crane his temples were gray
when the sheriff saw him in the peni-
| Tertiary. This was probably caused by
confinement, Shercliffe naturally being
| very restless.
Crane said Morris and Pullman were
model prisoners, neither ever giving
any trouble, and very polite. They are
known in Cranes family yet as
"Charley" and Harry" and every
thing regarding them is eagerly read
by these friends. So it was at every
place where shercliffe was confined.
His winning ways won him many
friends who never forget the polite