Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-11-01
REMARKABLE PRISON BATTLE

REMARKABLE PRISON BATTLE
Fight at RawIins, When Prisoners
Made Break for Liberty.
There was a time-and not so very
long ago, either-when Cheyenne, now
the staid and respectable capital Of
Wyoming, was famed far and wide as
the wickedest spot in America. 1t was
were so frequent they passed almost
unnoticed. The six-shooter was the
only code Of law that was enforced.
But in all its days of disrepute and its
nights Of terror Cheyenne never en-
dured such a reign of lawlessness as
that which put its neighbor, Rawlins,
on the map about a week ago.
What happened in Rawlins is unique
$50 inmates Of the state prison lynched
one Of their number, a negro. He had
assaulted woman 7S years old, who
had endeared herself to the prisoners
by her kindness and her good deeds.
The negro probably would have been
lynched If outsiders could have gotten
at him, 1t is said, so the convicts' swift
Justice seemed likely to be unpublished.
But their act, once accomplished, had
a psychological effect on these Gagged
men.
Prisoned men, like wild beasts in
captivity, are animals Of primitive pas
sion. These convicts at Rawlins tast-
ed blood when they lynched this man.
Also their act showed them an amaz-
ing thing; something they had not sus-
pected-that they were more powerful
than their keepers.
A cageful Of tigers Is kept in subjec-
tion by fear. Once that fear Is gone
the man with whip and revolver is
lucky to escape with his life. Nothing
kills fear like blood lust. Therefore 1t
is no wonder that the $50 convicts in
their cage Of stone and iron muttered
and plotted all through the days that
Immediately followed the realization of
their strength. They were as furtive
and whispering as tigers creeping and
crouching ready to spring.
The 1ynching was October 2, the
mutiny started ten days later. Led by
Butch" Dalton, murderer and out
law, twenty convicts dashed out Of the
prison stockade and fed into the rough
hills back Of It. They were pursued In
effectually by some Of the guards. This
showed the less resolute among the
remaining prisoners that escape was
more than possible. Early in the af-
ternoon Of Saturday, October 13, par
ty Of life e-termers, led by Antonio Pas
cuale, a Mexican, overpowered the cell
house keeper, took his keys and releas-
ed their comrades. Every prisoner will
ing to risk a battle with the guards
made a rush for the gates. What hap
pened inside the prison walls after that
is not known, except as to general re-
suits. Probably 1t is better that 1t
should not be printed in detail.
Their backs against the gates, fight
ing for their lives, stood handful Of
guards. They were like the trainer in
the cage when his wild beasts have
tasted blood, but there were none with
hot irons to prod back the ferocious
animals. The guards had no thought
Of getting outside and saving them
selves Three Of their number lay dead
at their feet. The living keepers were
of the stern, cold, fearless type Of the
old west. They stood face to face with
300 men, most Of them armed with
cleavers, knives and pistols All that
the world outside the walls knows OF
that desperate battle that ended in
driving the convicts, cowed and ter
rorized, back to their cells, was what
they heard-a fusillade Of shots, a
bedlam Of shrieks, and yells Of rage
and agony that lasted half an hour and
then diminished until now and then
the silence was punctuated at long In
tervals by the crack Of revolver.
Then the prison was still. The beasts
had been driven back into their cages.
Victory in every battle. little or big,
hangs in the balance for a moment.
One side or the other falters. If the
convicts had the courage to grasp their
chance the moment 1t presented itself,
they might have left the prison ten
antless except for its dead. But they
were stunned for moment with the
prospect Of liberty, and in the end the
old instinct Of obedience asserted It
self.
But bitter as was the battle inside
the walls, the ferocity Of those who
escaped and dashed into the streets Of
the little town was almost beyond pic
turing. Rawlins Is place Of about
1000 population. The principal thor
oughfare faces the railway station
and runs parallel with the tracks. Hills
and rolling prairie are round about
Rawlins, and the foothills Of the Con-
tinental Divide form the rim Of the
bowl that touches the horizon.
The twenty convicts who escaped In
the first days outbreak fled mostly to
the hills. Some, weaker spirited, or
with the habits Of long confinement
overpowering them, sought burrows in
the town. Seven Of these who were
captured were found In cellars and
outbuildings, and the eighth was run
down while fleeing breathlessly afoot
across the prairie. The other twelve,
fully armed, were not heard from ex-
cept in the way Of distant firing later
in the day, when they attacked ranch
and stole some horses.
The second score that broke out the
day following, led by the Mexican out
law, were bolder and better armed. To-
gether they dashed down the main
street brandishing their guns and
knives. They knew exactly where
they were going. A few citizens tried
half -heartedly to stop them, as men on
the sidewalk rush out and wave their
arms at a runaway horse. The con-
victs did not deign to pay attention to
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