Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-11-04
Diagram of the Escape at Sing Sing.

quite near that where Green and his
followers fed the other night
All clues were found false, and no
attempt to capture the men proved
successful. But while on their way
down the river they quarreled, and
one of them shot the other with
Hulse's pistol and then committed sui
eide.
Escapes from Sing Sing have not
been very frequent, and no concerted
Ja1l-breaks have been successful. Be-
fore the tall iron fence was built along
the river front prisoners sometimes es-
capped over the Hudson ice in winter.
shaped helmet out of felt obtained
from a hat factory operated in the
prison. He fiOated out into the river
with 1t drawn over his head, drifting
with the tide for a mile, when he land
ed and made good his escape
Almost Gained Liberty.
Two men were caught once under a
load of barrel-staves a contractor was
hauling away from the prison yard. A
guard stationed on the Ossining bluff
noticed that the horse was straining
harder than usual in making the up
hill trip and ordered the load thrown
Off
Alfred Walker, who was once a
prison contractor, had a flowing beard
prisoner made up beard like his
and drove out of the prison in the bug
gy in which he had just driven in,
none of the guards suspecting him. He
was overhauled mile away and re-
captured. Another prisoner, in the
days before the close supervision and
the practise Of patrolling the walls, at
tempted to ride away on saddle
horse on which a contractor named
Anthem MURRAY had ridden up to the
prison. The horse was shot from un-
der him and he was captured.
The most remarkable Jail delivery in
recent years, before Green's adventure
was recorded, was q thing that hap
pened in Sing Sing On July % last.
The sudden sight Of an open gate,
unguarded and within easy reach,
stirred an unprecedented wanderlust
In the hearts Of several hundred pris-
oners. Twelve had the courage Of
their convictions and broke for lIber-
ty, but of these eight wavered and
turned back when bullets from repeat
ing rifles in the hands of assembling
guards began to kick up the dust
about them. The four who kept going
enjoyed period Of hunted freedom
lasting for fifteen minutes in the case
OF three of them and an hour for the
fourth.
Two Hours of Excitement.
The break occurred at $50 o'clock
and the next two hours were the most
exciting of any in the big prison since
Warden Frost took charge. up to the
time Of Green's flight The warden
himself was in the prison yard when
the guards began to shoot from the
north wall, and he assumed command
Of the situation, ordering that the
north gates be swung to and every
prisoner inside marched as speedily as
possible to his cell
All work was shut down, and while
the guards pursued the four prisoners
outside the 1882 prisoners remaining
that was the number then, in this
prison built to hold 1.200-were locked
IN their cells, from which they could
hear the rifle shots and speculate up-
on the fate Of the four who were miss
ing.
1t was not due to the craftsmanship
of the guards that the prisoners were
recaptured. One Of them ran a dis
lance of 800 yards under fire and fell
from exhaustion. Another made for
an ice house in the fat north of the
prison wall, and succeeded in reaching
1t. only to be discovered by a search
Ing party as he was attempting to
crawl under the floor A third made
clump Of bushes 400 yards away In
spite OF the bullets that spattered
around him, and was hunted out Of
his hiding place.
The fourth had as exciting an ex-
perience as any dime novel hero could
wish for. He worked his way along
the prison wall directly beneath the
guard towers, where he was In eesv
range. scaled stone wall that was
higher than his head, braved q maze
OF railroad signal wires in leapinx to