The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1908-01-23
ESCAPING CoNvicTs.
pszrQer Generally Causes Thor Rear.
rest.

eeUrQee Generally Causes 'ho'r Nss'-
rest.
Tho two convicts who recently es-
sapcd frim Princeton, Dartmoor. were
caught like most similar fugitives.
while having meal. The popular
haa-a natural one, much encourag-
cd by writer's of fiction-that such
prison breakers are captured while
hiding In romantic spots deep In the
wild moors Is seldom realized. IL the
men could exist In such localities the
chances are they would get away per.
manently; as 1t Is, famine forces them
90 seek human dwelling, where they
arc almost invariably secured
Il was 80 with the pair
referred TO - they were seated
At a meat tea, set before them by In
voluntary hosts, a Dartmoor farmer
and his wife, who, while granting
their petition for food, sent word to
the warders who Were searching for
them.
Another prisoner who escaped from
the same convict station was located
through much the same cause. He
had successfully crossed Dartmoor 10
the railway. where he succeeded in
secreting himself in passing rail-
way truck. Exhausted by privation,
he fell asleep and did not awaken un.
ill the wagon was uncovered at Pen
zance. There he might have got off
with reprimand rs mere tramp
who had rsked his life for rec
ride. but the vehemence with which
he declared his famished condition
aroused suspicion and he was detnin.
ed pending inquiry.
The fate Of convict who is said 70
have been the only man who eve" os.
caDed from Portland was somewhat
similar. After getting clear OF tho
prison by means OF panhandle In
gcniously used he hid In the neioA
boring quarries, where he lived for
nearly week upon bread he lad
taken with him. At the end of that
time. partly by swimming and partly
by creeping along Chest Bench, BE-
reached the outskirts Of Dorchester,
where he entered a clergyman's house,
helped himself literally to food and
substituted a clerical suit for his Cwu
arr0W-marked garmerts-all but one
little item. Then he walked out
among his felow-men, but he had not
money to buy food and was compelled
10 live on blackberries. Some days
lo,cr an intelligent constable, sul-
Yrised to observe a seeming clergy
man grazing upon bramble bushes,
approached to investigate, The fug-
ative was on the point Of satisfying
the policeman's curiosity when the
latter cIanced 10 notice that the
clergyman" was wearing prison
sacks. After that the game was up
But perhaps the most curious in
stance of escaped convicts being
braught back to durance vile owing
TO their appettes occurred at Park
hurst, where two men eyaded the
worders one night and, being at liber'
~. CHANGED upon a house where a
supper party had just risen from Ia
BILE They found the room deserted
and sat down to what was left OF the
feast, with the result that when they
Got up to go away tney were caught
without difficulty, simply because
they had eaten so much that they
we're incapable of doing anything to
save themselves.
Occasionally, of course, men get
hoo thrnnUb
other causes than those connected
with need OF food, Such cases are
few and far between; but one occurr-
cd some years ago, when convict
escaped from Borstal, near Rochester,
by getting through a skylight. From
there he dropped to the ground and
bTaGe his ankle, so that he could
hardly move, At daylight he was OBJ
served crawling toward a wood and
re-arrcsted.
A different fate overlook one OF
three who escaped from Princotown,
Ono was shot dead one only Got a
yary short distance from the prison,
while the third successfully evaded
his pUrsuers and reached Devonport
having meantime procured a change
az clothes. There, while walking
along the street a dog accompanying
policeman smelt at his legs, and
the man Was so "jumpy" that he bolt
Cd on the spot The constable, his
suspicious aroused, chased ana caught
him, with the result that he was TAX
en- back whence he had come.
But, on the whole, bolts and bars
are found less efiectuai than the fear
Of famine, which is probably the reas
or why the State prison of Represa
Cal, has neither tae one nor the 9th
er. If a convict tries to leave there
he NAV be ahot: II he gets off u /