The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-03-06
A HOLE IN THE ROCK
The Story of an Attempted Es-
cape From Gibraltar.
BURROWING OUT OF PRISON.
The Wonderful Secret Work That Con-
viet Realff Performed In the Teeth Of
Constant and Systematic Supervision
by His Jailers.

life sentence on the towering rock OF
Gibraltar for scuttling his ship for the
sake OF the insurance money. The
governor told the story Of Realff's at
tempt 10 escape:
"That fellow led a rowing life-a
daredevil that obeyed every impulse,
good or bad. And yet for three whole
years / found him "A model prisoner
At first he was employed as carpen-
ter, and a little later we put him on
the harbor works. But suddenly to
this wild nature came an unquencha-
BILE thirst for freedom. At that time
Realf was In charge OF all the labor
ers' pick handles and wheelbarrows In
the Rosa quarry, where he was In
stalled in n little lcan-to shed against
n hollow In the mighty cliff. Every
report put before me extolled the
mans good behavior
"Well, every afternoon at the work
ing party Of conyicts would form up
and return TO the prlsOn-which, as
you know, contains some OF the tough
est characters OF both east and west
and an officer would go to Realffs
shed to unlock him and bring him
along with the rest.
"But this afternoon the door was
opened I'm vain. Realf was not there.
And yet twenty minutes previously he
had been seen through the little win
dow when visited by the chief warder.
lie had even answered to his name as
he stood planning at his bench in dark
recess. He was gone, how or where
not soul knew. Unquestionably the
shed was locked on the outside, and
the lock had not been tampered with.
And there appeared no other exit ex-
cept the door, nothing but solid rock.
The little shanty was ransacked, emp
tied, but without result.
could the man, wondered, have
discovered some secret recess? You
know the whole rock Is fairly honey
combed with holes, both natural and
artificial, like Gruyere cheese. Alarmed
at the results such an escape would
have on the morale of my dangerous
gangs. | had torches brought and per
sonally examined every nook and cram
ny of the cliff against which the shed
was built. Then my best officers went
over il all with hammer and crowbar.
But no, nothing but solid rock. Now
for the floor. 1t was level and fairly
smooth just covered In places with n
little loose shinglc
"'Brng me a bucket OF water /
cried with sudden inspiration. When It
came, / threw il carefully out, and we
all watched. More and more! We
fairly inundated the floor and shouted
with excitement as we saw il ebb al
most as swiftly rs we poured.
"Mere absorption was impossible
The rock was not porous. There must
be a cave or tunnel below. The man
hunt was growing hotter now Rclent-
lcssly we traced the cbbing streams to
n dark and distant corner where | had
to get down on all fours to crawl un-
der massive rock shelf. Here the
last tricklc disappeared.
Like Il fash our crowbars were at
work. and, 10, big block was pricd
up, revealing dark gulf below. | ap-
preached ii cautiously. Now, Rcalff,'
l cried stcrnly, its all up! We've got
you!
There was no reply. My chief
wardcr polcd n pole down and found
a depth of eight feet. He and two
giant subordinatcs got out their re-
volvers, seized lanterns and swung
themselves in as ticklish a job rs
routing out wounded tiger from his
lair. We above waited long and
breathcssly. Suddenly faint shout
Travelled up 10 us, followed 10y sounds
OF desperate struggle I'm the cavern.
BY and 10y back they came, with Realfr
securely handcufred. Lowering ropes,
we hauled him up, battered, but smil-
Ing.
He faced his disappointment with
rare pluck, flashed smile on me and
said, Better luck next time, colonel
"That was the end OF four long and
patient years of cndeavor. think he
discovered the pit shortly after he
was first put in the shed. And he had
not oIL enlarged IL with n scrap OF
iron and the patience OF another Baron
Trench, but he had also extended Il
laterally, no doubt hoping for ultimate
escape to the sea 10y the subterranean
passage.
but even this i'm any event was only
the first stage. RcalG's provision went
much farther. He had actually built
himself boat out Of nondescript
scraps OF canvas, old sacks and odds
and ends OF timber IL was n marvel
of constructive skill, yet surely none
but desperate man would think OF
committing himself To the Mediter-
ranean or Atlantic I'm such crazy
skiff-a mere tiny coracle barely capa-
blc of keeping n man anoat Of course
he felt sure that once launched he
would soon be picked up 10y some
passing craft I'm the crowded strait Of
Gibraltar. and he had a story ready
for his saviors as well as provisions
for himself or these last he had
abundance-chieny biscuit and salt
pork-laid by bit nv bit from his m