The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1907-07-12
AConvict' S Scheme.

copyright, 1907, by P c. Eastment.1
A rich man coveted a certain piece Of
ground belonging to a poor man. He
wanted the land to get the poor man
out Of his neighborhood The poor
man refused to sell, and in his anger
and chagrin the rich man made fe-
| lonious assault. This was squarely
proved, and, although with his money
he made a great fight Of it, he was sent
to our prison for two years If he had
come like other prisoners, it would
have been better for him, but he came
in a defiant spirit, began kicking at
once and ia a day almost had all the
officials down on him. When he refus-
ed to work or abide by the rules and
regulations, he was punished, and there
was war between him and the warden
for long months. There was sufficient
outside influence to secure his pardon
after fourteen months, and the man
left the prison vowfng vengeance.
He determined 20 get revenge for
on he had but one friend, and that was
the doctor. He made friends with the
doctor because he lent the latter mon
ey. 1t was no secret in the prison that
the doctor was given to drink There
were occasions when he was drunk for
two or three days ut time. AS rule,
such a man would soon have been
g
of the governor Of the state and had
political pull. When too much under
the influence Of drink to attend to bust
ness, his place was taken temporarily
by doctor from town. We got to
know this substitute of course, and he
was allowed to pass everywhere, the
same as the regular man. It was on
this substitute that the rich man work
ed after his release The town doctor
was in pecuniary difficulties and was
offered $4,000 to carry certain plans
through. What he did was to work
upon the weakness of the prison doc
tor and keep him drunk more than
half the time for three months None
of us had the least suspicion that any
thing wrong was going on. Convicts
were treated in the hospital in their
cells, and the substitute made sanitary
inspection Of the kitchen and other de-
partments He made friends with
turkeys and with prisoners and was
voted q good fellow.
1t took him three months to perfect
his plans, and but for little slip he
would have brought about the biggest
mutiny and the greatest prison deliv-
cry on record. We then had in the
prison over 600 convicts, and nearly
100 were lifers. Among the others
were robbers, burglars and generally
desperate characteristic who would
not hesitate O moment to take life to
get beyond the bars. We We're short
handed, and every official had to eXer~
else the utmost vigilance. One day in
the chair shop pulledsl careless pris-
oner back from a saw that would have
certainly inflicted a fatal injury. IN
return for this when he had recovered
from his scare he asked to speak a
few words to me in private that night.
I managed 1t so that he was taken
from his cell and brought to my room.
| did not anticipate that the interview
would amount to much. In any prison
there are always q certain number of
cOnvicts looking to give something
away for their own betterment, and
their information is seldom worth
needing
This man had not been talking to
me five minutes when l felt my hair
trying to stand on end. The substi-
tute doctor had not only had false
keys made to the several wickers, but
had planned a general outbreak with
the convicts. No one single convict
had been left out Those who had at
first refused to join were forced in by
being told that they would be killed.
The revolt was to take place next
morning as the men rose from the
breakfast tables to march into the
yards and to the shops. Fifty reTOlv-
ers had been struggled in for the con-
victs, and the leader was a highway
rObber under a long sentence. The Off
Gals were to be shot down or locked
up, the cOnvicts were to resume the
citizen clothing stored away, and what
loot could be found was to be evenly
divided. The prison was then to be
fired and the 600 men to scatter.
Once in possession Of the particulars,
you can believe l lost no time III mott
flying the warden. He in turn bestirred
himself. The cOnvicts had been locked
in for the night. A guard of four men
visited the cells in rotation, and they
not only found the revOlvers, but q
great many other weapons. The rule
of the prison was to search every cell
every third day, but this had been neg
lected, and the substitute doctor knew
that ii had.