Imperial Valley press., 1913-08-18
HARRY X. 1HAW ESCAPES
FROM MAITEWAN ASYLUM

FISIIkILL. n l. Aug. iS.-Hlrry
h Thaw escaped from the Matteawan
Jsylum for tie criminal insane just be
fore o'clock yesterday morning
When seen last he was passing
Trough ~tOrmville. village thirteen
Eilc> from the hospital in a I0-horSn-
rover automobile going at 90 miles au
hour or more. Accompanying TIL"
larger machine in which sat ThaW VA,
another automobile which aided in the
escape. Five men at least We're actually
concerned in the escape besides ThaN
and an attendant Of the hospital. who
had charge of the gate through Which
Thaw walked has been placed under
arrest charged with aiding and ahet-
ting the escape.
The objective point of Thaw and his
dorny confederates was the Con
Geclicut state line. 80 miles away
and it is certain that they attained their
object So far as the authorities now
know, Thaw is speeding through Con
rccticut. Massachusetts or some point
ncrth in the machine accompanied by
the other.
Word of the escape has been phoned
and telegraphed to most Of the big
tcwns which lay in the direction Thaw
probably took. but no word of the
fugitive had been received up to a
late hour last night.
one Of the queer features of the sit
uation is that, even if Thaw is located
ard caught in some other state than
| New York. there is a great doubt in
| tie minds Of the authorities that he
| can be brought back to this state lie
! has legally been adjudged a public
menace, and for this reason he has
| been confined in MatteWan: hut he i
rot legally a slayer. As the matter
stands now there is good reason ID
| believe that Thaw will go scot free for
the rest of his life unless he attempts
to re-enter New York state.
The plan Of escape has been per
! fccted for several months. There Is
TO question Of that. Dr.. Raymond r.
| Z kieb. superintendent Of The asylum
believes that the method was planned
=. h,r Iao
superintendent since June. 1912. He
was appointed after the legal proceed
iLgs involving Thaw. which caused the
dismissal of Dr. John Russell. the for
mer superintendent, against whom tcS-
t!mony was brought that Thaw had
Planned to Use money to get away
The romance Of the escape involves
two high powered automobiles, four
young men. we'll dressed and open
handed. who spent several days pre-
ceding the escape in throwing money
around the bars Of the village of Bea-
con, formerly called Fishkill- on the
Hudson: then come carefully laid plans
which timed the movements Of the four
men in the automobiles and one other
man, a chauffeur, with machine like
precision to Thaw's movements: after
that comes a milk wagon entering the
hospital, as it always does. exactly at
! :I5: to complete the escape comes
either the stupidity Of an attendant.
or, as the authorities are inclined to
believe, his criminal collusion.
The milk wagon enters its regular
way, the attendant stands aside: Tha "
valks.4ut TO one Of the waiting auto
mobiles, is pulled in. and away.
Half mile down the road he was
transferred to the other high-power
machine to avoid any chance Of being
caught. The smaller machine trailed
along beside the big car to stand
ready in case Of an accident.
The immediate pursuit amounted to
pI actically nothing. The gateman
Howard Barnum, who has been arrest
ed, slammed the gate to when he saw
1haw enter the automobile. Then he
ran to the nearest telephone and gave
the alarm to hospital central. DR.. Kiei
was dressing when the word spread
| There were two automobiles in the
hospital. Four trusted attendants anf
a physician were packed into one anC
chased after the trail Of the fleeina
automobiles. 1t was twenty minutes
after the escape before this machine
had started. They followed the road.
to the Connecticut state line as a mat
ter Of form, but could not find any one
who had seen the fleeing machines g
by in any other town after Stormville
The other machine was sent to The
telephone central in Beacon, and from
there word was phoned to all the town.
between Mattewan and Connecticut