The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1914-01-23
THREE PRISONERS WITH GUNS
MAKE DASH TO FREEDOM,
KILLING FOUR MEN.
CONNECTS THEN SLAIN BY GUARDS
Judge Thomas, Of Muskosee, a Pen
Visitor, Shot Dead--outIaws Take
Girl Operator With Them
From office, but Free Her
When They Turn to
Fight Guards.

panic this afternoon. Three convicts
made a sudden break for liberty, kill
ed three prison officials and a form
er Judge, seized buggy, dashed from
the prison, gave battle with six shoot
ers, and were slain. A crowd Of
guards jumped upon horses and chas-
led the fleeing desperadoes, finally
killing them after several volleys OF
y bullets. The entire McAlester police
force hurriedly strapped on its guns
and ran toward the prison. One hun
dred and fifty convicts in the yard
started mutiny that the guards sup
pressed promptly. The 1900 men in
the cells beat upon the iron doors and
Joined in loud wierd yells.
1t was all over in half an hour. The
bodies of the outlaws were picked up,
the dead within the prison were col
lected, the posse of guards returned,
Ahe $50 men inside were quieted, the
1900 in the cells again sat down and
stopped yelling, the policemen of
McAlester relaxed into their custo-
mary swagger and strobe along their
peaceful beats, and the guards at the
prison returned and began anew their
monotonous patrol along the walls.
Shortly after o'clock when a riot
call electrified the policemen bedlam
of noise and gun shots broke loose at
the penitentiary. BY fifteen minutes
to the institution with its big popu-
lation of murderers, robbers and
forgers was as calm as a ward school
after the bell rings.
Seven men were killed and three
wounded in the outbreak The dead
are:
Patrick Oats, assistant deputy war
--den.
! F. c. Godfrey, guard.
H. H. Drover, superintendent of the
Bertillon department.
John r. Thomas, of Muskogee, form
er United States district and circuit
Judge, and once member of congress
from Illinois.
China. Reed, sentenced to two years
for horse stealing.
Tom Lane, Pauls Valley, sentenced
to five years for forgery.
Charles Koontz, Comanche county,
sentenced to forty years for man
slaughter.
The wounded are:
John Martin, turnkey, shot through
cheek.
G. L. Wood. guard, shot through
arm.
Mary Foster, telephone operator at
the prison, shot in the right leg.
Reed, Lane and Koontz had secured
six shooters. They shot Martin, the
turnkey, took his keys and started to-
ward the office. Oats jumped to his
feet at the office door and began to
shoot. A bullet from one of the pris-
oners felled him. fusillade of shots
followed. One killed Bertillon Officer
Droyer. as it went through an office
door. Another fatally wounded God
frey, the guard
Entering the office, the men saw
Judge Thomas and shot him dead.
Miss Foster was the only person in
the office. She was terror stricken,
but did not faint
Perhaps II was not gallantry that
silenced the volleys of bullets before
the girl, too, was killed. Perhaps each
waited for one of the others to act,
reluctant to shoot a woman. Or per-
haps it was because they saw they
could make use of her that she was
spared when every other person in
sight was moved down by their bull
let's.
The desperadoes took her with them.
If they did this to keep the guards
from shooting, they failed in their pur-
pose. For as soon as they had run
into the prison yard. dragging the
young woman along, a volley of bullets
from the guards on the walls sized
over their heads and one struck Miss
Foster in the leg.
In front OF the prison stood horse
and buggy In which Warden Dick
rides to his office every day. The
three men jumped into the buggy and
whipped the horse into gallop
All the guards that could be spared
from the task Of handling the up.
roarous prisoners within the walls,
mounted horses quickly and hurried
after the fleeing men, only few
hundred yards behind the swayins
buggy. All along the way they kept
up their Intellectual fire.