Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-31
PRISONERS ARE INGENIOUS
Rival Monte CristO and Libby Prison
I'm an Attempt to Escape
Jail.

Four convicts OF San Quentin CCaD prison
recently planned for them a regular Monte
Cristo escape by means of diving suits
constructed by themselves. But had 1t
been Monte Cristo he would have sue
ceeded. Dumas would never have been 50
careless as to allow his heros plans to be
discovered and frustrated. The attempt
suggests in patience and logged persever-
ance the thrilling old tales told IN the
memoirs OF silvio Pellico and Casanova or
the daring escapades OF certain prisoners
of war. like Baron Trenck or the union
soldiers who dug their way out Of Libby
prison.
The wonderful tale OF the prisoners In
the Chateau d'If secretly digging their way
to freedom for fully a year with no other
tools than an improvised chest, a knife
and a wooden lever and the miraculous
escape of Edmond Dantes through being
pitched into the sea sewed up in the wind
ing sheet OF his dead comrade no longer
appear farfetched when compared with the
recent jail breaking attempt at San Quentin.
The four convicts In question were Rupert
Downes, serving a nine-year sentence for
burglary; J. B. Blackwell and Perry Hale,
serving ten-year sentences each for rob-
berry. and William Brown, with three years
still to serve for burglary. All four were
hard case convicts recently transferred
from Folsom prison. Their plan was GER
tainly an original one and has added an
other chapter to q long series OF thrilling
escspades.
Il really resembled certain other escapes
famous in history insofar as II required
wonderful combination Of ingenuity, pa
thence and reckless daring. Though 1t was
on the verge Of execution when It was
frustrated the chances were from the start
all against It's success It's discovery was
accidental but it was the sort OF accident
that might reasonably have been expected
One day Robert Jones, a suhforeman of a
construction gang of eonvicts engaged In
ieveling the cemetery hill which runs down
the bay at San Quentin. while walking
along the beach stumbled upon q dirty
yellow bundle under the exposed roots Of
q tree The bundle had apparently been
washed up by the waves. When Jones
undid the bundle he found It to be an I'M
proved submarine contrivance for swim
ming under water evidently constructed
by the ingenious hands of prisoners. It
was q swimming suit worn somewhat like
the famous rubber suit worn by Captain
BoYnton when, he fastened a harmless
torpedo under a British battleship in New
York harbor only It was not made Of
rubber.
II was a canton flannel shirt, coated on
the outside with resin and wax and pro-
vided with a headpiece Of the same ma
terisi, with a small pane Of glass over the
face and a breathing tube with a spigot
and plug. There were sleeves ending in
water-tight mittens and belt guards at the
waist 30 that with the aid OF tourniquet
the suit could be made absolutely air-tight
The guard replaced the bundle and in
formed the prison warden. Watches were
set on the convicts belonging to the con-
struction gang. A guard with u powerful
field glass was placed at McRaes point.
where. unseen by the convicts, he could
keep this strip of beach under observation.
Two days later another diving suit. al
most identical with the FIRST, appeared in
the same spot. Two days after that an
other and finally a fourth. Four prisoners
were observed lowering around In the
vicinity OF the hidden suits.-Portland ore
Konian.