Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-01-03
Prisoner, Giving Name of "E. G.
Smith, Escaped from Ben
ington Jail.
LEFT WOMAN BEHIND HIM
Tic Pair had Been Held for tIIcrcJ
Attempt 20 Pass u FORCED Check
MN Made Double Key from
Broom UnnGlc--No Clue
Where lie Went.

Y
Ais name as ~. G Smith" ana who with
woman who claims TO be Mrs. Smith.
has been confined in the county ilil here
since October I charged with forgery.
celebrated tho dawn OF the New Year this
morning by walking out Of jail and disap-
pcarns in the darkness.
smith effected his ro,casc by means
o. double wooden key winch he manu-
ta"turod out OF y piece Of hroomhandlc.
v %" man and the woman. outside of
Joseph 'ranston, who served "a ten days
sentence for intosication. have been tho
only prisoners IN the jail for several
months They were allowed the range of
u" women's quarters. which are small.
md were not locked into their cells at
night as the door leading out of the jail
Is secured by two large bolt locks on the
outside OF the grating
Shortly after ! O'Clock this morning
CALLER Arthur Russell was awakened by
the barking Of his fox terrier. lie at once
put on his clothes ana went into the pris-
orers' quarters to find 1irs. Smith weep
ing and crying as though her heart would
break because for COMPANION had desert
ed hcr. The outside door was open and
smith had disappeared.
smith wac apparently willing that
his means of escape should he known for
h" left tho wooden key with which he
unlocked the jail door behind him. He
mad whitfield n piece of broomstck eight
or nine inches long thin enough to enter
tho large locks and on each end he had
SHAPED Il KEY. The locks are rather COM
Jiirat"d. entirely different ana the keys
for thom contain a large number Of
notch"s on both sides The wooden key
was tried this forenoon ana was found
T. he capable OF unlocking both locks
Smith" had probably not been gone
half an hour when his escape was dis
covered, but as he left no trace Of the
direction he tool. the officers had no clue
to follow. There We're large number
Of people on the street during the night
ana after the alleged forger's escape be-
came noiscd about several men remcm-
bored seeing man who answered 10
Smiths description come one Of the
court house building. 1t was believed
that he might have taken the midnight
train north hut this was scnrchel at
Manchester without finding any trace OF
the wanted man.
Tho man and the woman were arrested
at Manchester September - by DEPUTY
Sheriff y. j. Convey on the charge of at
tempting to pass forged draft and en-.
dOrscmeut at the First National bank al
North Bennington on the previous Friday
The woman presented the draft which
was drawn in favor of T.. c. Smith and
signed by A. NJ. Smith & CO.. a well
known firm OF produce dealers in Boston
The draft was drown on the Fourth Ma
tIuual bank of Boston and was endorsed
on the bank with the signature of Adams
d Howard Adams & Howard conduct a
general store nj Arlington. While tho
woman was talking with Cashier Hall Of
II" bank the latter was called up on the
telephone 10y some one purport!ng TO TO
Nj Adams ~ Arlington. The person on
the telephone stated that Mrs. Smith
would call 70 cash draft and that the
draft and endorsement were all right
Cashier Hall had his doubts. however. re-
gardng the enforcement and the voice
over the phone neither of which he be-
lieved belonged TO Adams and declined
10 cash the draft. The woman left the
bank with the draft.
smith" had, however cashed two
checks in Pawlct and Arlington. These
were made out TO f. c. smith and
Sl"I'u ny a NJ Shllth d Cos ana both
~cr" rendered In payment for con-
signments Of farm produce. In both
instances the checks We're larger than
tho amounts needed in payment for
the produce ana smith" was given
tho balance in cash. The pair after
th"ir arrest AT Manchester were
brought hero for hearing and the real
+. G. Smith, who is employed by his
father, y. NJ. Smith, was brought here
as a witness. The man and woman
were held for the grand jury. Since
his confinement neither the man nor the
woman have in any way given the
authorities an opportunity to learn
their real names. II is believed by
Sheriff Wilson, however, that the man
has lived for some time at Amherst,
h. S.