Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1907-05-20
AConvict' S Scheme.


man refused to sell, and In his anger
and chagrin the rich man made a fe-
tonous assault. This was squarely
proved, and, although with his money
he made 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 defiant spirit, began kicking ut
once and In 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 vowing vengeance.
He determined to get revenge for
what he called his indignities. In pris-
ON he had but one friend, and that was
the doctor. He made friends with this
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 at time As a rule,
such a man would soon have been
fired, but In this case he was friend
OF the governor of the state and had A
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 be
was allowed to pass everywhere, the
same as the regular man. 1t was Oh
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
We're treated in the hospital, in their
cells, and the substitute made sanitary
inspection OF the kitchen and other de-
partments. He made friends with
turnkeys and with prisoners and was
voted a 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 900 convicts, and nearly
100 were lifers. Among the others
were robbers. burglars and generally
desperate characters-men who would
not hesitate moment to take life to
get beyond the bars. We were short
handed, and every official had to exer-
else the utmost vigilance. One day in
the chair shop pulled a 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
l managed it so that ne 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 certain number OF
conviGts looking to give something
away for their own betterment, and
their information is seldom worth
needing.
This man had not been talking to
me Ave 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 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 revolv-
ers had been struggled In for the con-
victs, and the leader was a highway
robber under long sentence. The off,
cials 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
fred and the 600 men to scatter.
Once In possession Of the particulars.
you can believe I lost no time in 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
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 1t had.
The convicts realized at once that the
plot had been betrayed, and from that
moment to daylight next morning there
were yelling. screaming and curslng.
There was no getting out OF their cells.
but they iuade the night hideous and
acted like 30 many wild beasts. Their
cells were not unlocked next morning.
and neither did one Of them have a
mouthfui 10 eat. As matter Of fact.
they wers kept uRder lock and key and
without either food or water for forty