Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-24
that the plant" of these two robbers

that the plant" of these two robbers
| was in Hartford.
The next morning I looked in a pos
| tai guide and found there were 20
| Hartfords in this country. and they
We're scattered in different states clear
across the continent
| To try and visit all of them IN turn
would take long time. So started
out that day to try and find out
where Collins came from when he
originally arrived in the mountains.
It took me three days to learn that he
lived formerly somewhere down
East" That was as near as could
get to it. but ! decided that 1t would
be web to begin in Hartford, conn.
One Of the detectives working on
the case was a good fellow. aad took
him into my confidence and told him
what l had found Together We went
10 Hartford. Conn, and there we,
searched without result until it oc-
CURED to the detective that maybe
the scrap of paper was the tail end OF
letter written by a person whose
name was Plant. To make long
story short. We did find man named
not Plant, but La Plant; he was a
stepbrother of Collins, and 81 his
house both Collins and Rudolph were
captured and 81, 900 of the stolen
money was recovered. They were
brought back to Missouri and lodged
in the city jail at st. Louis because 1t
was thought the jail in Union would
not hold two such desperate men for
long
iFheY had been in jail only a little
While when Rudolph made one of the
most daring escapes ever known. That
Jail at the old Four Courts has large
circular court in the center with a
skylght roof so feet above the floor.
once "a day the prisoners are turned
into the court for exercise. one day
Rudolph and Collins started a rough-
dtumble fight, and while il was CO.
ing on and the attention Of the guard
WAS diverted by it Rudolph climbed up
the iron Orders and rods to the sky
light kicked out pane of glass.
wriggled through to the roof and ran
along its narrow ledge IS feet above
the ground In full view of persons on
two streets. made a jump of Is feet To
another roof and 20 feet to the street.
A messenger boy was passing on a
bicycle. Rudolph pulled the boy off.
mounted the bicycle himself and rode
10 miles through the streets and es-
capped to the country.
You can only imagine the excite
ment caused by this escape. The Gov
ernor offered a reward and the Pink
ertons offered another for his cap
ture, but for upward of a year Ru-
dolph was at large.
William Pinkerton, chief of the
great detective agency, declared that
the world was not big enough to hide
Bin Rudolph, the murderer of one
of Pinkerton's best men. He had a
theory that Rudolph would be sure to
return to safe blowing and that he
would be sure to be captured some
where. And SO for a year William
Pinkerton kept on his desk a picture
of Rudolph and he made arrange
ments to have the picture of every
safe robber captured in this country
and Canada mailed to him, and each
morning Pinkerton looked over those
pictures and compared them with the
photograph of Rudolph.
One day there was among the pho
tographs one of a man named Gorney,
who had blown open a safe in the de-
pot at Louisburg, Kan, and had been
sentenced to a term in the Kansas
Penitentiary in Lansing. The moment
Pinkerton saw that picture he recog-
nized Rudolph. The upshot of it was
that Rudolph, under the name of Cor
ney. was found at work in the coal
mine at the prison. He was fully
identified and was returned to Union.
Mo. where both he and Collins were
tried, convicted and hanged. AS Ru-
dolph walked upon the scafford n
priest went to him but Rudolph
spurned him with:
mo prayers for me. l die game
And that is the end of the tale
which, if you like. you may call How
Il scrap of burned paper hanged two
men.'-Kansas City Star