The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1912-07-18
SEARCH FAILS TO
REVEAL PRISONER

NEW YORK. Special.-The Tombs
officials are now positive that George
| Wilson, burglar, eN-cOnVict, second
| story man, highwayman and robber,
| who suddenly appeared through a
| manhOle in the prison yard Sunday
| night, took a revolver from a keeper
and vanished, is no longer in the
Tombs.
The officials have come to this con-
| cluSiOn after a most thorough search
in all the hooks and byways of the
prison for the man, who was await
ing trial for the theft from the wife
| of Frederick l.. Taylor, a lawyer, of
her engagement ring. This search of
| the prison tends to bear out the sto-
| rleS of urchinS, as told Monday, who
said they saw a man scale the wall
| near the Bridge of Signs and escape.
| Warden Fallon thinks Wilson had
| outside aid.
SO a general alarm was sent out
for Wilson'S arrest by the police.
Monday night DeDuty Commission
| er of Correction William j. Wright
and Warden Fallon. of the TOmbs.
! announced that Keepers Edward
| Crudden and Francis Kelly had been
suspended and would be placed on
| trial for neglect of duty in that they
permitted Wilson to make good his
| escape.
| +. Hoolihan. who was assaulted by
| Wilson after he suddenly appeared
through the coal hole in the prison
yard, would also be called upon to eX-
| plain his conduct in connection with
the matter. The trials of the keepers
| will he held in the Tombs.
| During the search Monday of the
! Tombs for Kitson the keepers knew
| ate man, who had a 3S-caliber re-
volver i'm his possession. 1t was not
| until late in the afternoon that the
| search inside of the prison walls was
| abandoned.
Commissioner Patrick II. Whitney
and Deputy Wright also searched the
prison. Both agreed with Warden
/ FallOn that the day and the night
| keeper in charge of Wilson should
! be held responsible for the mans es-
cape.
They Tell Now What He Did.
! 1t was generally believed in the
Tombs yesterday that Wilson got away
in this manner:
! He occupied cell on the eighth
| tier. During the afternoon the pris-
| Oners were taken from their cells and
allowed TO exercise by walking around
the corridors of the prison block.
Crudden was then on duty. At the
! usual signal given at 3 o'clock the
prisoners returned to their cells. Then
the cells were locked and the rules re-
Quired that a count be taken every
evening after the prisoners were
locked in. Whether crudden did that
IL not ktlOWH- NdTuen anon DeileNGS
that Wilson did not return to his cell,
but secreted himself in the corridors
At p Nj. Crudden was relieved by
Kelly, the night keeper. 1t was Kelly's
duty TO count his prisoners at that
hour. Had he done so, the warden
says. he would have found out that he
was one man short and the search
would have started Immediately.
| There is a utility shaft in the center
Of the prison block. This shaft runs
hA -,
roof. 1t contains the sewer pipes as
we'll as Ventilating pipes. There is
a heavy iron grating around the shaft.
This should have been locked. but was
open Sunday evening. There is just
space enough for a man to squeeze
into the shaft. Wilson no doubt did
that. In that way he slowly slid down
from the eighth floor until he reached
the cellar.
At =. NJ. n man was seen in the
coal hole by the engineer of the
ITombs. He called out to the stranger.
but received no reply. When the engi-
neer started to look for the man he
was gone. From the cellar Wilson
broke through "A wooden partition and
into another coal hole, which connects
with n chute that leads to the prison
yard. Wilson climbed through this
chute ana into the yard, where he saw
Keeper Hoolihan. In the coal hole
wilson had picked up two iron bars
lie was armed with these when he
attacked Hoolihan and took his re-
volveT away from him.
Inose who made the preliminary in
Nesugatlon Monday hold that Hooli-
nan should have seen Wilson when he
emerged from the coal-hole and should
never have permitted the man TO take
him by surprise.
once free in the ward and armed
with the two iron bars, Wilson who is
an expert secOnd-story man, scaled the
prison wall and landed uder the Bridge
/ of Signs.
Trial OF the Finger Prints.
| nnSer print expert was brought
TOOK ringer print Impressions all along
all his.
The prison officials profess to see in
/ the escape of Wilson an impera tive de-
mand FOR more keepers. There were
1 nearly seven hundred prisoners in the
Tombs sunday night, and yet there are
only eight keepers on guard all night
, long.
1T is true" said Deputy Commits
| sloner Wright Monday night. that we
| need more keepers. We cannot gel
them unless we have the necessary
money allowed to US by the Board OF
Estimate. That is where the whole
trouble lies. But as far as this escape
is concerned, / feel that it is up to two
Keepers at least to explain how this
man got away. If they had done Their
full duty there would have been no es-
cape"
, Wilson is of Swedish extraction
twenty seven years old, feet 81
inches in height, weighs 143 pounds
and is tattooed on both arms with the
America hag and beneath that the
= word Liberty"