Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1910-11-12

that of William Green from Sing sing
a short time ago.
When the delivery is described as
that of William Green, it is not for
gotten that four other convicts es-
capped with him. But it was Green's
delivery and not theirs. His was the
conception, his the execution; the
other men simply accepted his invita-
ton to go along with him when he had
made the way, beaten down the keep
ers, and, in the presence of 195 con-
victs. spent 20 minutes in leisurely
carrying out his plan.
But for the crowded condition of
Sing Sing prison he could not have
done it-at least, not in just this way.
A man of his determination and IL
genuity would probably have found
some other. For, as a wellknown
prison official said to a New York
Times reporter:
well, the Brooklyn bridge was
opened in 1888, wasn't it? And after
that the transit conditions in New
York had to get to the point of unen-
durability before another bridge was
opened, didn't they? And your Sub
way was opened only when the ele-
waited railroads were absolutely I'M
it? And your subsequent subway and
other transit improvements have come
only when the patience of the public
was taxed to the last notch, haven't
they?
That's the answer. You can't get
a reform in New York state until con-
ditions have become positively I'M
bearable. It's no use to point out the
advisability of a reform; you've got
to prove that not wheel can be turn
ed until the reform is enacted Other
wise you won't get it,
New Prison Projected.
In 1907 a commission was appoint
ed to relieve the congestion in SirS
Sing prison. 1t recommended BeaI
Mountain as a site for new prison,
and work was commenced 1t went
on for two years, and then ]. Pier
pont Morgan, Mrs. Edward H. Harri-
man. the Rockefellers, and other rich
people got together, bought up the
surrounding land, and presented it to
the state as a park, with the proviso
that no part of the ground should be
used for prison purposes.
The state accepted the gift, with the
conditions, and that put to naught all
that had been done in the meantime
in the way of relieving the Sing Sing
congestion and made it necessary to
begin all over again.
This escape of Green's was moro or
less of a novelty The usual course
has been to make rush. But Green,
in the most leisurely manenr in the
world, attacked the two keepers in
charge of the dormitory, laid them out,
then took out a saw which he had Sc
cured somewhere, sawed at window
for 20 minutes, invited his fellow-con,
victs to join him, was reinforced by
four of them, dropped out OF the win
dow, and disappeared
Few Get Away.
Warden Frost said to Times re
porter that in his incumbency there
had been six deliveries at Sing Sing
and in five cases out of the six the
convicts were caught before they were
out of the prison precincts-that was
a case in which four men made a rush
In another case, in which two mer
rushed the guards while they were al
work in the kitchen, the men were
caught before they had been gone
three hours.
The historic instance of an escape
from Sing Sing was in 1898, wher
Roehl and Pallister escaped. 1t was
an unfortunate escape for them, fol
few days later one of them shot the
other in a quarrel and then commit
ted suicide. But in the meanwhile
they had baffled all the efforts of the
state to recapture them
Pallister and Roehl lay in wait fol
Hulse's partner, John W. Murphy, lie
him into the death house. and shut OIL
him the heavy, ironbound oak doc
that shuts the corridor from SOUND
and sight. Then they pinioned ant
-disarmed him and thrust him int,
Roehrs cell and locked him in
Refused Their Freedom.
After that Roehl and Pallister open
ed the cell of Carlyle w. Harris, tn
medical student who murdered hi
wife. and offered him freedom. Harri
declined it. They made the same Of
fer to two other murderers, both @
whom refused. In each case Roeh
and Pallister. having received the re
fusal, locked the cell doors on tn
doomed men.
Roehl and Pallister broke through
skylight, hoisted themselves to tn
roof, dropped easily to the GROUND
scaled a twelve-foot fence, got down t
the riverside, and showed OF in a sma
boat The scene of the escape wa