The sun., 1908-04-07
SING sing COULDN'T HOLD HIN
,rOL LiSLi FOOLS THE WHOLE
TORtE, HIS CELLNATE AIDING.
latter Answ cred Roll Call for the Hlgh.
va, Robber while lie Hid, and when
Nght Came over the vail He went
other Conucts Cheers Heard Afar.

Nlgni came ONeF lne wan tie Weul
other Conncts' Cheers Heard Afar.
ro.egh Lasala. who was scnt up from
his citv 10 Sing Sing prison on December ~
,,t 10 serve not less than eleven year, and
nat more than fourteen years and eight
month, for highway robbery got ont Of
Sing SIng prison some time on Sunday night.
n vss7 until the rollcall yesterday morn
logths' hrs absence was discovered. At that
tine tre convict had good many hours
star and Il may take a long hunt to find
him
las night Warden Frost, Who had re.
fused an day TO admit that the man had
escaped suspended two keepers indefinitely.
Thev are Thomas Gossin and Lawrence
Nlrphv They had reported on Sunday
morning and again on Sunday night that
IaSaa vas In his cell when he wasn't. As
result a. the investigation that has been
started Il may be that some Of the rules Of
ths PRISON may he changed.
several men have tried to escape from
sing sing, hut not many have succeeded
riuuk little Frenchman serving a second
term tefind the old gray walls to do it In as
neat vay as could be imagined. Appar-
sntly all y needed was the requisite amount
Of daring Iasala climbed over the north
vail with the simple aid Of a board and
from The top made q jump Of twenty feet
n the ground, free. They found the board
yesterday morning, and they also found his
footprints in the soft earth outside the wall.
Thst IS the only record he left Of his de-
parura. and by the time this was found
Tho h'tle Frenchman. by jumping a freight,
could have been far away.
tasaa IL really half French and half
Italian, but the Italian in his speech and
manner is almost indiscernible. He is
only q years old light and wiry. with
brown ewes and hair and with big scar
marking the top Of his prison shaved head.
When he got away he wore overalls, but he
probably got rid Of those IN hurry after
he escaped
Jaala is said 10 have remark ed TO the
policeman who arrested him last December
ths, he thought he could beat the game;
but thar is a common boast Of prisoners.
Once up there he took bis place with the
hundreds Of other conviots and nobody
psld any particular attention 10 him. He
vac SCI. 10 work in the wagon shop, the
nearest shop 10 the north wall, ana he had
q chance every day TO study the barrier
with the guardhoLses on top and figure
how a man could get on the other side Of
them most Of the men who have tried
10 get away looked at the river, separated
only by a ten foot iron fence. Some who
have tried It that way have died there.
The brick wall looked easier to Lasala
As a man who had been in prison before
hs had got prison routine down to minutes
and seconds. He know too that at night,
when the prisoners we're all locked up,
there wasn't man on the top of the wall.
Also il was plain, it seems, that Sunday
Vas the one day 10 try the trick. because
on Sunday there is no work in the shops
and the big yard is practically deserted.
With all this knowledge however. the
ittle Frenchman couldn't have made his
remark able escape without one piece Of
luck That was In getting a cellmate.
Sing Sing has pretty large population
Tow There are 100 prisoners and 1900
cels. In the doubling up new men are
but in with old timers because few Of the
litter try 10 escape. Lasala got in with one
ci these veterans The name Of his cell
mate couldn't be learned yesterday because
THE and all other details Warden Frost
tred 10 withhold
The prisoners in Sing Sing are formed
in companies, one comanpy to a gallery
The normal complement Of company Is
fifty men. but there we're siXty-two men
n Gasalas. All these men march together,
work together and have the same keeper
"a rule.
A i3O on Sunday morning Lasala's
company was called for breakfast On
he way 70 breakfast the men take their
cel pals and march down into the yard
10 wash them. The place where this is
done ls on the extreme westerly side OF
the yard, alongside the iron picket fence
which bars them from the river. There is
little pool there and the men wash their
pals and leave them there until their
return From this place the men march
10 the mess hall, where they eat breakfast,
and then, on Sunday mornings, TO chapel.
They do not get out again on Sunday.
Following chapel they get food enough for
the res Of the day 70 carry back 10 their
cells and are locked up at 10 O'Clock to stay
mtl $50 Monday morning.
laS"l7s first move toward freedom
eems 70 have been made az tne washing
pool where the sixty-two men in his COM
Lany we're watched by only one keeper A !
few feet away from this place there is a
NV VI fNDlIS anu a luUlDfI sltu' ADpdI-
emily they are not watched on Sunday. nor |
are they locked up. il being taken for |
granted that the prisoners are in their cells. |
What lasala did apparently was to drop |
ot While his company was at the wash |
piace walk into the wagon shop, where he |
worked On weekdays. doh his drab Jacket |
snd put on his oyeralls and cap, which the |
men leave in the regular closets in the shops. |
! 10 did this in the day time he surely ran
ne rlss N being seen from the walls for a |
man walks there with rife all day on Sun |
day As on week days. but on Sunday. with !
me Vorkshops and lumber yard deserted |
vas comparatively easy for the convict
10 sneak around the buildings keeping his
eye on Tho man on the wall, But he couldn't |
lave tackled the wall until night.
Noho1y. apparently, noticed that a man
vas missing from his company after the |
pals had been washed nor was his absence
tote1 as tho men marched back into the
lnson proper and were locked in their
teIs
After the keeper throws the lever which
ocss all the cells in tho gallery the prison
Nles require him 10 have a roll call each
nsn answering from his cell. 1t was here
0si mo Frenchmans cellmate aided him,
,at7enng for Iasala as we'll as for himself
Nhfn 'ta roll call is over the keeper hands
hls slip to the head keeper and this slip
s'eu 10 another keeper TO check up.
ma means a second roll call. Both men
gus report every man accounted Tor in
" cel. That il what Cossin and Murphy
FfarertIv did.
Yesterday mornings roll call Iasala s
Tlmai'. deciding apparently that the
tfnahrnan had had sufficient time 10 get
ael away # he hadn't been caught, an
Nefd only for himself. This was quickly
NIporc7 10 Head keeper Connaughton
inl 10 Warden Frost and the hunt for
lGsss began
has always been customary 10 blow