The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-09-26
N ! | !! r L: WITH
LIFE Of FUGITIVE
.... f... .,.| -. .tr e.
Adams Now Seems Con-
tent to Serve His Pris-
..>.. on Term
WATCHED BY KEEPER

| weary With leading the life of a
fugitive and anxious that he may be
taken soon to the state penitentiary
to begin his sentence Of nine long
years, Clarence E. Adams, robber Of
the Adams Express Company, Ian
guishes in the county jail, spending
his days under the watchful eye of
his jailer and mis- nights locked in
the "crazy'' cell, as the inmates of
the county bastile. call it.
Since his return from New Mexico,
Clarence Adams has been confined
\ in the corridor Of the first floor,
where he can be watched by the
/ Keeper. Nevertheless, even his
1 1ailers do not expect that this ex-
traordinary criminal will make a
4 third attempt to escape the punish
/ ment that has been meted out to
/ him. He seems to await the coming
Of the Moundsville officials with forti-
/ tude and states that he will begin
life, anew behind the walls of the
penal institution.
There is much sympathy even
| among the officers Of the law for
Adams. Shielded by friends after
his recent escape from the Kanawha
county jail, he was at last turned
over to the officers through the
treachery Of a relative. After his
| escape friends in several states gave
| him aid in making his way to the far
1 I,1t C0lo
that had been written to his wife and
revealed his hiding place to the
| officers.
Adams, while still looking in bad
| health is much better than when he
! made his escape from the county jail
| where he was confined for several
| months. At that time the long con-
! finement behind the iron bars had SO
weakened his delicate constitution
that he was barely able to make his
escape. Since his return he has told
Jailor Melton how his recent attempt
| to escape was successful.
1t will be remembered that Adams
made his exit from the Jail about 6
o'clock one evening through a small
aperture in the window, from which
he had sawn a bar. From his own
| confession, it is learned that the
work was accomplished with the use
| Of small portion Of small saw
which he easily kept concealed from
! the jailer. He was working with
| this instrument when a federal pris-
! oner, also placed in the jail, loaned
him knife from which he made a
saw.
| The work Of saving the bar on the
outside Of the window continued for
several days before there was any
| success. Then in one day he ripped
| two locks from the inside covering
| of the window and was a free man.
He made his escape through the rear
| yard Of the jail, down Virginia
street, up the river bank, across the
Lowell street bridge and caught a
| passing Kanawha & Michigan
| freight train which bore him to Ohio.
| Adams says he was too weak to take
! to the woods and believed that he
would be captured before he left the
| train, but fortune seemed to favor
| him and in Ohio he left the train,
making his way after a walk Of two
days to the home Of old friends
secured employment with the Santa
Fe railroad and was making good
money. His health grew better and
he was satisfied to remain there, lost
to all his friends, but the thought Of
his wife and children in Ohio almost
drove him mad and through friend
in the middle west he carried on a
correspondence with his wife. He
was arranging to bring her to him
when relative discovered a letter
and placed the officers on his trail.
The friends Of Adams say that all
is not bad in him. A man, they say,
who surrendered his liberty, for his
family is deserving Of their sympa-
thy. His one violation, that Of rob
bling the express company of $4,000
all Of which has been returned, is
the transgression responsible for his
sentence Of nine years. A guard
from the penitentiary is expected to
arrive in the city at any time to
take Adams to Moundsville. 1t is
not believed that he can survive his
sentence.
Adams has denied that it has ever
been his intention to resist arrest
and laughs at the idea of his being
a desperate man who would be shot
before surrender to the officers. He
told Jailer Melton that it had always
been his intention to give up peace
ably to the officers although he
lprized his liberty and attempted to
keep away from the arms Of the
law,