The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-12-28
BREAKING IAIL.
An Ez.convict Tells How IL Is
Done

An Ex'Conyict Tells How 10 Is
Done. =
During The terms Of penal seryituds
which have undergone ! have on sew
cral occasions witnessed the excite-
ment caused in prisons by attempted
or actual escapes. ftfthcfmore. |
have had chats with men who have
escaped and have not been recaptured
for weeks. and they have confirmed the
fact that in the majority Of cases at
tcmpts TO escape are not premeditated,
but arc. done on an impulse.
A man secs a chance, and II he Is
game" he has try Perahps, too.
in the twinkling OF an eye, he gives tho
| tip to fellow prisoner, and, without
thinking for single moment Of the
serious adventure they are about TO
undertake, they are of.
And when one attempts Mt escape
has been made, Others generally fol-
low In the same prison, for II becomes
q sort Of mania for the time being.
The prisoners become most elated up
on hearing that an attempt 70 escape
has been made. The prison is Instant
ly in commotion- wbistlcs blowing,
bells ringing and. all work suspended.
All the warders are eager TO share in
the task Of recapture, for a reward Of
f5 Is given 10 the man who brings
the prisoner, back. 1
IL is not generally known that three
days have to elnpse before the hunt is
given up TO the civil police. For three
days and nights the warders have no
rest. They receive extra funds for ex-
penses, and are sent of after finishing
work at night in different directions
coming back 20 work IN the morning,
As matter of fact, most captures
are made by civilians coming upon the
khunted by accident. ] remember man
who was away three days, and was
considered to be still in the woods, but
who had actually, IL afterward trans
PRED, got clean out Of the districe
within six hours Of his escape. A porter
going, without any thought of the run
away, 10 truck Of goods awaiting
transmission to London from Bodmin.
in Cornwall, to see If IL was properly
covered, in case OF rain, detected the
fugitive concealed among the goods,
had chat with this man some
time after his recapture, and he told
me That in another Ave minutes he
would have been well away. He had
na naged to get in Communication with
some friends at Basingstoke, at which
place he meant to leave the train,
whether IL stopped or not.
Although most attempts at escape
are done on the impulse Of the mo-.
ment, it is wonderful what lot OF
possible ways of escape are talked
over by men who never have the least
intention, and in good many cases
the courage, TO make the attempt And
II is not Improbable that these siiggesr
tions aressetcd upon BY others when an I
opportunity suddenly presents itself,
although few minutes before the
prisoner entertained not the least idea
Of making an attempt.
The press, by the way, often helps
en- escaped prisoner 10 evade capture,
as their reports regarding the prisoners
Whereabouts are frequently wrong.
This was specially so when King and
Soar escaped from BorstaI. King TOLD
me himself that he slept safely in Lon
don upon the evening of the day OF his
escape, although the papers published
SO much about the prisoners being
seen together in different CARDS and in
different parts of the country for days
afterward As matter Of fact, King
and Soar parted immediately after
their escape.
A prisoner generally likes compan-
ion with him when be ries TO escape,
and in the case Of smart cracksmen
every effort is made to prevent them
getting in touch with one another BY
secret codes and signals however,
couple Of men. with patience and care,
can mako their arrangements, although
in the case OF Wilkinson, the man who
escaped from Portland about three
years ago, it took him many weeks to
get into communication with COM
panion.
A prisoner is in no way disheartent 4
az q rule, by his failure to escape. No
looks upon the attempt just as an out
slider would regard any particular kind
of undertaking that may have failed
lie is proud Of the Distinctive dress
which he is compelled to wear, and
which denotes an attempt to escape,
and very little malice Is borne By The
toward him, as a rule. For
the cleverest attempts to escape are
made By men who, III other
respects, give very little. trouble.--Tit-
Bits.