The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-08-18
MACHINE WAS HEADED
FOR CONNECTICUT
Accomplices in Escape Were
Five Men Who Had Been
at Local Hotel Since Fri
day - Asylum Attendant
Was Immediately Placed
Under Arrest

absence for more than "a hours from
the Matteawan asylum for the Grim
inal insane had established little to-day
beyond the fact that he has escaped
and that the state of New York, in the
opinion of those qualified to speak, has
small chance of extraditing him That
he is beyond the borders of the state is
regarded as certain.
With the Connecticut state line but 80
miles from the walls of the asylum and
with Thaw and his companions travel
ing by automobile more than 90 miles
an hour, reaching Connecticut was mat
ter of 80 minutes or less. Whether the
slayer of Stanford White boarded a
yacht off Norfolk, Conn, was not borne
out to-day. No clues of him have been
found in Connecticut, nor were there
any clues of his having sped on toward
the Canadian border.
Howard Barnum, the gatekeeper past
whom Thaw darted, remained in jail at
Poughkeepsie to-day, but he maintains
he is innocent of implication.
Matteawan, N. ", Aug. ls.-Harry X.
Thaw, the slayer of Stanford White,
escaped from the hospital for the Grim
inal insane here at 7:45 o'clock Sunday
morning. A dart for liberty through an
open gate, dash into the open door of
powerful automobile that stood quiv-
ering outside, and fight like rocket
/ for the Connecticut state line, 80 miles
away, accomplished his escape.
He is still at large and the hospital
authorities feel certain he is outside the
state. Once beyond its boundaries, Thaw
is free. Only months, perhaps years, of
litigation can bring him back to Mat
teawan, and then only in one event, that
he be adjudged insane in the state to
which he has fed.
Five confederates manned the car in
which Thaw escaped and a big black
limousine which trailed it past the asy-
lum gate. The police have their de-
scriptions and the names under which
they registered at a local hotel Friday
night and are seeking them.
The hospital authorities believe that
Thaw has fed to the shore of Long Is
land sound and boarded yacht wait
ing with steam up, to rush him to
Europe.
A reward of $500 for Thaw's appre-
hension has been offered by DIR. r. +. G.
Kieb, the superintendent of the asylum.
Howard H. Barnum, the attendant at the
gate past whom Thaw flashed in his
break for freedom, is under arrest, and
ntb axnnat aH m tnllnxu n
the rigid investigation begun by DIR.
Kieb.
Escape Well Planned.
The shades were drawn in the dormi-
tories and the inmates were getting their
second sleep, when Thaw left his room
Sunday morning. He was fully dressed
The milkman's cart was rumbling on the
road outside as he walked through the
storeroom and into the outer court or
yard of the asylum grounds. Barnum,
sole attendant at the road gate, was pac-
ing back and forth when Thaw closed
the storeroom door behind him and ap-
parently did not grasp the significance
of Thaw's early rising.
Long years of residence at the asylum
and repeated declarations by Thaw that
he would never attempt to obtain his
freedom except by legal means had es-
tablished Thaw's status as a "trusty."
There was little out of the ordinary in
his appearance, even at so early an hour,
in the court yard, and if Barnum saw
him las to this no one, save the hospital
authorities, could Say, and they refused
to talk, he raised no question.
A six-cylinder touring car, black and
60-horse power, followed by limousine, |
also black, loafed lazily along the road
as the milkman drew near the gate. |
Thaw, standing few feet away, appar !
emily uneoncerned, waited till Barnum
unlocked the gate and swung it wide to |
let the milkman enter. At the same |
moment the two cars drew up on the |
further side of the road opposite the |
gate. and the touring car stood still, its |
engine throbbing.
As Barnum stepped aside for the milk
man to drive into the grounds, he heard /
the gravel crunch and looking up saw
Thaw flash past him straight for the
waiting car. With a shout Barnum leaped
in pursuit, but flying leap landed Thaw
safe within the car. The great wheels |
were slowly turning before the keeper /
had fairly reached the roadway. They /
were throwing up a cloud of dust before
he had gone p feet.
Down the roadway the cars sped in a ;