The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1911-07-10
gDV. West CRAsEs
BAD MAN 48 HOURS
AND NABs HIM
OREGON Executive Pursues EsceFed
Convict Alone 10 Protect New
Penal system Which Give.
Others Chance. To Reform.
Hundredst Of Prisoners Applaud
When He Brings Back Man Who
Had Thrown Him Down.

PORTLAND Or. July II, SAY
eoyernor. Jess Hail has Skipped ana
ne whole country Is wild.
GOV. oswald West laid down q nst
fun OF papers and looked up AZ ma
private secretary.
so Jess ran away, did ne ne 70
marked casually = 80 Il 49,
rYes. and a lot OF the farmers are
saving that comes from turning pau
men loose without guards under TINS
new parole system.
sOh. they are, are theyr Well, !
rtiess we had better 60 out and get
less Hall. The governor opened q
Z drawer and took out something thar
seemed heavy and business-like. he
TANNED 4 siouch hat over his ears
!, and started out the door.
.sWhere are you going GOVERNOR
called his secretary,
,Tm going after Jess Hal" retorted
hia excellency over his shoulder
~But there are six poses out now,
that delegation from Portland Is COM
ine this afternoon, and he's q bad man
anyhow
Goodbye called the governor.
After Is hours OF search through
the wild country, Gov. West, alone,
sleepy and tired, came upon Jess Hall
IN q clump Of underbrush; Jess Hail
bad man. armed and asleep.
rBetter wake up, Jess, and come on
hack said the governor, shaking the
bad man. Jess rolled over, yawned,
saw who Il was, and rising. replied
meekly;
"Snre, governor, I'm sorry ! threw
yOu down. but I wanted to see my
mother and 20 years was to long to
walt. I'd got there, too, II that feeble
minded horse hadn't travelled the first
night IN circle and wound UP at the
insane asylum about two miles from
the pen"
Now Oswald West didn't 60 out to
capture Jess Hall TO make a grand
stand exhibition Of himself. He didn't
think or the danger to It. For Gov.
West Is putting into effect the mos
revolutionary system yet advocated
for, dealing with penal prisoners, and
the escape Of Jess Hall was stirring
up and soaring the state, until the
governor feared public sentiment
would compel him to forego his guard
less, open-air, farm labor program for
the hundreds OF Oregon prisoners.
And so. In justice to the hundreds
who were eager to take the chance he
offered them TO learn trades and be
decent. Gov. West preferred to hunt
Hall for IS hours than TO have him
escape utterly. or get In q wrangle
with some deputy sheriff and I'LL the
ofIlcer full Of bullets. to the Injury OF
the governors penal reform system.
There n q $50 reward offered by the
state for every captured convict; the
cnthusiastic ofticials Mt Salem wanted
70 melt this $50 In gold into a medal
and give II to the governor.
You viii do nothing Of the sort,
won't have H." said West. But from
now on I'm going to offer $500 dead or
$50 alive for every convict that breaks
his parole and throws down his fell
lows. he added grimly. "Jess will also
spend his time In the stove foundry.
instead OF In the fields from now on"
The most remarkable thing about
the whole melodrama was that the
prisoners. bad men. gun men. slug
gers. thugs In police pariance, rose
en- masse when Hall ran away. and
the entire .penitentiary wanted TO offer
. purse for his capturel
Did you ever hear Of convicts before
getting mad because q fellow prisoner
beat itsf Did yon ever hear OF con-
yicts wanting to offer rewards for the
capture Of their feliowsi That's how
much Gov. Vests prison reform pro
cram has changed things In few
months
The governor gave us square deal
and Jess threwcus down. Wait TIL we.
set him back In here" said one of the
buriieet or the old timers.
We'll. what do You think about yc'
new program by this time 2" inquired
q critic before West left his man hunt.
without guards. working In the
open fields and sleeping outside the
cells at night Just two men have rrr
away this year said Gov. West. I'VE
had 10 escape from cells, guards, stone
barricades and all in the same period
last year What do you think about
II sirfr
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