The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-03-21
UNEARTH A PLOT.
Plans for Wholesale Jail De-
livery Are Discovered.
Prisoners Were to Kill Jailers
With Iron Clubs.
AND WILHOYT
Convicted Men Leaders in Bold
Plot for Liberty.
Officers Locate Weapons and Nip
Scheme in Bud.

Plans for a wholesale Jail delivery,
including the murder of the officers, il
| this became necessary, was discovered
/ late last night at the county jail. Fur
| ther search this morning made 1t GER
tain that two men are the ringleaders
| Long and short iron bars, some OF
| them to be used to pry cell doors from
their hinges and others as clubs with
which to attack the officers. were dis
/ covered hidden in cells in the dollhouse
! on the second floor. George Latham
and Floyd Wllhoyt are charged with
being the ringleaders of the conspiracy
Latham has been imprisoned in the
| lower dollhouse and WilhOyt is on soil
tary confinement. Latham is serving
six months sentence for breaking
away from an officer and is wanted in
| Springfield, Mo-. on a penitentiary
charge Wilhoyt is awaiting transpor-
| tation to the penitentiary on the charge
of stealing a watch out of the vest
| Island depot.
Iron Bars Found.
Two three foot lengths of angle iron,
| heavy enough to kill an OK, two six
foot lengths Of the same iron, one four
foot length of round cot iron, and one
short piece OF the angle iron were
taken from the cells of the two pris-
oners.
These weapons were obtained by the
destruction of one of the heavy iron
cots built in the cells just recently. The
breaking up of the cot must have taken
the strength of several men and long
continued work and hammering, as it
was securely riveted and the bottom
was wired with extra heavy wires.
The two end pieces. it is believed,
were for use as weapons while the
side lengths were to be used in prying
the cell doors from their hinges. There
were four short braces torn off also,
only one of which has been found.
These are over a foot long and could
he used off6CfiVplv as Clnh9
1t has been comparatively easy
matter for the prisoners to hide their
weapons in the dark high air shafts
from which the officers dragged out
the tools intended for their own
slaughter.
Aside from the heavy irons. two re-
volvers and a quantity of acid was to
be delivered into the Jail some time
this week before the attempted de-
livery
George Latham. it had been learned,
has passed a number of letters in the
dead of night to an accomplice on the
outside. This has been done by SHOW
ing letters on the end of a broom stick
across the space between the inner cell
of Latham and the Jail wall and out
through the jail bars, where the win
dow has been left-open for ventila-
ton. Latham has now been trans
ferred from that cell to another one
deeper in the cell room where he is
watched closely. A search for sawed
bars will be instituted today.
Looking for Sawed Bars.
'It is a hard matter to detect sawed
bars after they have been soaped
over" said Jailer Hank Bayless, ION
account of the darkness and the many
places around under the hunks where
they might work.
well never go to the penitentiary.
Watch u.s. is reported to be the re-
peated statement of the two men
charged with the plotting. These
&c 70 fhA nk1
prisoners.
Gilbert Carter and Herman Thomp-