The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1908-10-22
AMONG PRISONERS.

A Frustrated Attempt to Break
Jail-Jas. W.Davis to be Tried
After Five Years in the Insane
Ward at the Penitentiary-A
Small Hard Wad in Jail With
Alleged Murderers and Other
Malefactors.
If Jailor J. H. Floyd had neg
lected to keep a watchful eye on
the prisoners in Jail Monday
night, long before day Tues
day six prisoners, four of
them charged with murder,
would have made good their es-
cape. Without undue trouble or
effort, either. And while one is
If ing it might as we'll be said
at once that if the jail had been
properly constructed the prison
er that escaped some time ago
would be still confined and the
men and boy who came so near
escaping Monday night would
have made no progress at all with
the instruments they had to
work with.
They were working only with
a small piece of wire, and with
that instrument they had, when
discovered about nine o'clock, re-
several brick from the
wall and were making excellent
progress towards making a hole
large enough to crawl through,
and the rest would have been
easy. You see, the jail wall is
built with sand mortar and it
would not take particularly pa
tent worker to remove enough
brick, working with almost
at all, to make his
escape from the large room up
stairs where these prisoners were
confined.
They are safe enough for the
present, however. When he dis
the attempt to escape Jail
err Floyd rounded up the whole
bunch and put them in the steel
cell in the center of the room,
and it is hardly possible for them
to break out of that.
Deputy Sheriff J. H. Floyd
went to Raleigh Tuesday and re-
turned that night with Jas. W.
Davis, formerly of Saddle Tree
township, who was lodged in jail
to await trial for assault on his
wife and for resisting an officer
some five years ago. The offense
was committed in 1903. The
plea of insanity was made-it
was before brain storms, ct
cetera, became popular, too-and
Davis was sent to the State pen
itentiary at Raleigh, where he
has since been confined in the
ward for the criminally insane.
the superintendent of
the penitentiary notified Sheriff
Mcneil that Davis was again
clothed and in his right mind and
that Governor Glenn had order
ed him back to Robson for trial.
Wherefore Deputy Floyd went to
Raleigh after him and brought
him to Jail here.
Archie Campbell, colored, who
lives at Raeford and has had
trouble with his wife, was
brought to jail on a peace war
rant Tuesday night by Deputy
F. J. Adams.
One of the prisoners who tried
to escape Monday night is a
white boy about ten years old.
He seems a rather bright boy
and also a hard wad. He was
brought to jail Friday night. At
first he gave his name as Law
renee Bari ED and afterwards
said his fathers name was
Grimslay. It is charged that
three or tour weeks ago Law
renee secreted himself in Mr..
Shaw's store at Lumber Bridge
and was locked in when the store
was cioseo. During the night
he appropriated a few articles
and left, but was captured the
next day and most Of the things
were recovered. A lady in the
community took pity on the boy
and offered to give him a home
and send him to school, which
offer was accepted. Lawrence
attended school for about two
weeks, but at the end of that
time he tired of the simple life
and left incontinently with some
$13 of the lady's money. When
overtaken in Fayetteville Law
renee had blown in all the
money except 81. He was taken
back to Lumber Bridge and the
mayor of that town decided Law
renee was too tough a wad
for him, so Rural Carrier Carl
Howard brought him to Lumber
ton, and now he languishes in
jail among murderers and other
malefactors. Which is a very