Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-06-16
BROKE OUT OF JAIL.
Trio of Prisoners Remove Bricks
Tie Blankets Together and
Slide to Freedom.

Last Wednesday evening about
seven o'clock a bunch of fellows,
eight in number, congregated at the
Rock Island stock yards and held a
drinking jamboree right in the road
near the front entrance of the yards
Night officer Rima lives a short dis
tance away in Curtins Addition, and
when he was leaving his home to go
on duty he observed the crowd and
went over to investigate. In tile
meantime he telephoned Marshal
Johnson, who arrived shortly after
With B. NJ. Graham's auto truck. The
bunch consisted Of eight fellows, six
of them strangers here, and two To-
cal fellows, Jack Johnson and Rob
Donaldson. When officer Rima
reached the scene of the carousa1 he
placed the fellows under arrest. In
rounding them Up he slipped on one
knee in the cinders on the track, and
when he did Johnson made for him,
hut Officer Rima was up in an in
slant, and when he came up John
son went down and stayed down from
the effects of several good wallops
from the officers night stick. The
rest of the bunch made break for
liberty { st as Marshal Johnson and
B. NJ. 6 aham arrived. The latter
pulled gL Is on the fellows and five
of them yere captured, the others
making for the flat on the run.
The five prisoners were taken to
Jail in the auto truck, and one of
them proved to the officers he wasn't
drinking and was trying to pacify
the others and ae was turned free.
Donaldson Johnson, Ryan and
Calvin were ut in Jail. The latter
was put in cell in the cage and
Ryan was lie in the large cell Of
the cage. D, aldson and Johnson
were out side he cage room. Evil
IDENTIFY the Gag was not locked Sc
curely and no doubt they pulled the
iron bar back and let Ryan outside
the cage. At any rate, some time
during the night the trio escaped
from Jail. Bricks were removed
from underneath one of the windows
len the east side of the Jail, about
- 2ilssarieks gin heighth ard two in
length, making a hole just a foot
square The distance from the ce-
ment floor to the window sill is
about 21a feet, and it was in this
space that the hole was made. A
thin casing under the window being
torn off, which made the loosening
of the bricks easy. Blankets from the
cots were tied together and then Sc
curely fastened to the bars in the
window and the prisoners slid down
the blankets to freedom.
The fact of the prisoners escaping
in such a spectacular manner, nat
urally created some excitement
Thursday morning, and it was the
consensus of opinion of most people
to let them go and go as far as they
could, providing they would stay
away. The officers have been given
much trouble by Donaldson and
Johnson for some years past. They
had just finished 80 day sentence
for drunkenness about week be-
fore, and have been arrested for a
like offense many times in the past.
Thursday morning Calvin, who
was unable to escape, owing to being
locked in a cell. was taken before
Justice H. F. Barthell and was Sell
fenced to 80 days in Jail.
Donaldson. Johnson and Ryan
were seen by Decorah people at
Highlandville the next day. having
got that far during the night. The
Decorah parties. who saw them,
knew nothing about their escape at
that time.
AS the prisoners were only in for
d l,kenness, aad the fact that they
have given the officers so mu il
trouble, it was felt by many, itizens
that if they would stay away 1t
would be the best. In response to
this sentiment the local officers have
made little or no effort to appre-
lend them. The charge of breaking
Jail means a years sentence in the
county jail and a $500 fine. 1t would
perhaps cost the county in the neigh
borhood of $1,000 for the prosecu
ton and keeping of these three men
in Jail for year '0f course this
charge and possible sentence is hang
ing over their heads now.
"If we had had an honest census
five years ago Iowa would never