Manchester Democrat., 1910-11-09
Feu Regain!
Liberty
Once Doors
ofSing-Sing
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.MAEW YORK.-Escapes
@A from prisons are BY
lf no means rarity, and
80. will not be until
fSAoa aG plucky and energetic
IsS.y criminals have passed
>,,N5 from the earth; but
& kS1SSRH there probably never
k<GfS was more daring and
romantic escape than
that of William Green from Sing Sing
short time ago.
When the delivery is described as
that Of William Green, 1t 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-
tion to go along with him when he had
made the way, beaten down the keep
Sers. and, in the presence Of 1876 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 In
genuity would probably have found
some other. For, as well.known
prison official said to New York
Times reporter:
well, the Brooklyn bridge was
opened in 1888, wasn't 1t? 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-
vated railroads were absolutely un-
able to carry the passengers, wasn't
II? 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
/. reform in New York state until con-
ditions have become positively un-
bearable. It's no use to point out the
advisability Of 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 commission was appoint
cd to relieve the congestion in Sing
Sing prison. It recommended Bear
Mountain as site for new prison,
and work was commenced. It 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 1t to
the state as 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 1t necessary to
begin all over again.
This escape Of Green's was more 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 saw which he had Sc
cured somewhere, sawed at a 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.
e 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
case In which four men made a rush.
In another case, in which two men
rushed the guards while they were at
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 1893. when
Roehl and Pallister escaped. It was
an unfortunate escape for them, for
q 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 for
Hulse's partner, John w. Murphy, let
him into the death house. and shut on
him the heavy. ironLound oak door
that ahuts the corridor from sound
and sight. Then they pinioned and
disarmed him and thrust him into
Roehl's cell and locked him in.
Refused Their Freedom.
After that Roehl and Pallister open
ed tho cell of Carlyle w. Harris, the
medical student who murdered his
wife, and offered him freedom. Harris
declined 1t. They made the same Of
fer to two other murderers. both ol
whom refused. In each case Roehl
and Pallister. having received the re
fusal, locked the cell doors on the
doomed men.
Roehl and Pallister broke through 6
skylight, boisted themselves to the
roof. dropped easily to the ground
scaled twelve-foot fence. got down tc
the riverside, and showed OF in small
boat. The scene Of the escape wa,
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on A JAPANESE WARSHlF