The San Francisco call., 1906-05-27
EXCITING
ESCAPE. Of
PRISONER
Desperate 0utdoes All
Heroes Of Juvenile
Fiction.
Man Said to Be Edward
Cucrin Breaks From
Devils Island.
Woman, Indians and Two
Plotting Comrades
Figure.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LONDON, May 26. = A prisoner
against whom extradition proceedings
are being taken by the French govern
ment, is being watched night and DAY.
If he really is the notorious ha"dIu
Guerin, there is no doubt that ne Is
one of the most dangerous crlmlnais
alive. So far he has not admitted that
he is the man, although the police are
quite confident of his IDENTIFY
Guerins life story is remarkable AZ
ter serving several sentences of imprison-
ment he was convicted of blowing up
by dynamite the strong-room OF the
American Express Office in Paris, and
was sent to serve life sentence at
Devils Island, the desolate and pestllent
place near Cayenne, where Dreyfus was
confined.
The story of his escape, as told to an
old confederate, reads like the adven-
lures of the hero of boys book of
adventure. Already, if we are to be-
Iieve the convict's own story, he wss
planning to escape when on the outward
voyage to Cayenne. His first move to-
ward regaining his liberty was to get
on friendly terms with warders wife,
a matter which he complacently alleges
was not very difficult, the fact being
that lie is a remarkably handsome man.
Through her he obtained money from
friends in Chicago, where he has spent
a good many years of his life, and pres
emily he contrived by means of the same
friendly agency to be ordered, together
with two other prisoners, from his cell
near the military headquarters to a spot
at the extreme end of the island.
Soon after their arrival here the three
man escaped to a swamp not far from
the sea shore Meanwhile dead body,
supposed TO be that of prisoner, was
found on the island and was identified
by the authorities as that of Guerin.
The funeral took place. a wooden board
with the name of Guerin on it was put
over the grave, and the name of Guerin
was expunged from the records of the
convict settlement Like the hero of the
silver King" he was free to start in
life again.
PLOT OF COMPANIONS.
But first of all he had to effect his
escape to the mainland, task of extra
ordinary peril and difficulty. The three
men had food. water supplies and money,
and Guerin had a revolver. With some
rough tools, which they had also brought
with them, the confederates, working
night and day, made sortSof boat by
scooping out the trunk of a fallen tree
as well as some paddles.
When their "dug-out" was ready they
embarked one dark night and set out in
the direction of Dutch Guiana. Dutch
Guiana was a long way off, but the men
dared not land at any place within two
hundred miles of their place of captivity.
They took it in turns to do the padding
and to sleep. Then Guerin noticed that
his two companions would whisper to-
gether when they thought he was asleep,
and he noticed also that they were quite
willing to paddle while he rested. He
kept his ears open, and heard them
planning to murder him and rob him
of his money. Guerin lay still in the
bottom of the vessel, gripping his re-
volver, and when his companions crept
toward him with knives in their hands
he pointed the muzzle at them The
men were alarmed and were ready to
promise anything if he would not shoot
He simply ordered them to go on pad
ding while he sat in the stern of the
boat with his finger on the trigger of the
revolver.
For three days and nights this con-
tinued, if the convict's own statement
can be credited until at last they landed
half dead from fatigue and loss of sleep.
Guerin inediately left the two Others
taking with him all he could lay hands
on and leaving them exhausted in the
bottom of the dug-out.
CAPTURED BY INDIANS.
At length free Guerin started tramp
ing northward. but how long the jour-
ney lasted he had no idea, for in the
course of it he lost all count Of time.
He was captured by a tribe of Indians,
but at the end of four days he sue
ceeded once more in making his escape.
Another day and night of wandering fol-
lowed, and then he found himself at
Paramaribo, in Dutch Guiana, in such
a dreadful state that he describes him.
self as having been "a bag of bones.
rotten with fever" There he managed
to subsist for a time, and taking ship
from Georgetown to New York, arrived
in the latter city without a penny in his
pocket.
Afterward in Chicago he talked freely
with his old associates on the subject of
his extraordinary adventures, and he
ridiculed the notion that the French
Government would ever attempt to Sc
sure his extradition
When you're dead on their books" he
said, you are dead all over, and they
are too polite to think of extraditing a
dead man." Recent developments have
shown that in this Guerin was mistaken,
even although it should prove after all
that the English police have been at
fault in identifying him with the man
at present in custody here. Doubtless.
the mystery of the mans identity will
speedily be cleared up with the aid of
the French anthropoxnetrical service.