New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-20
Leader of Sing Sing
Fugitives Hit as
His Gun Fails
SIX FLEE PRISON
IN AUTO TRUCK
Guards Cap Aids Escape
Rockefeller Bids Men
Help Searchers

The customary quietuds Of Pocantico
Hills. the estate Of John D. Rockefsllsr
was broken last night by the tramp OF
feet and revolver shots, when . posse
Of prison guards, reinforced by armed
caretakers of tho estate, beat over al
most every foot Of the walled-in acres
in a hunt for six conviets who escaped
from Sing Sing prison yesterday in IN
auto truck
Mr.. Rockefeller, who returned few
days ago from Cleveland. gave per.
mission for the man hunt to proceed
when informed by tho guards they
believed tho men were In hiding On his
Guards Track Fugitive
The search hardly had started whom
a group Of guards saw q man walking
along the Putnam Railroad tracks towA
ard the depot, about q quarter Of .
mile from the Rockefeller homo. They
recognized him by his walk as "Iks"
Curtis, one Of the fugitives, who drove
tho truck in which the escape was
The guards ordered Curtis to halt, At
the same time covering him with theis
rifles and revolvers. The convict
out gun, but 1t caught in his
shirt. As he struggled TO release IL
several rifles cracked and two guards
blazed away with revolvers. Curtis
crumpled up on the tracks with a bull
let in his abdomen.
He was placed in an automobile and
rushed back to the prison hospital,
while the guards, confident that the
other men lay concealed somewhere
in the bushes on the thickly wooded
estate, continued their
search almost all night. Flashlights
cleaned and went out in the shrubbery
ike so many firefies as the hunt went
on.
Purchases Are Clews
The prison authorities suspected tho
men would make for the Rockefeller es-
tate. as its great size has Afforded a
temporary retreat for other fugitives
in the past. The guards obtained their
first clew from the keeper Of grocery
who said five men had entered his place
earlier in the evening and purchased
some cigarettes and chocolate. Curtis
was identified as one Of the party.
Some cigarettes and two bars OF choc-
olate were found in his pockets.
1t is believed Curtis had been sent
bv the others to find out when the
next train for New York would pass,
and was on his way 10 the station to
make inquiries when the guards inter-
cepted him.
All of those who escaped were mem
bers of the Mutual Welfare League,
founded by former Warden Thomas
Mott Osborne, and the flight was exc
cuted with well conceived precision, as
if in protest at the ending OF the Os-
borne regime.
Taking advantage OF heavy ram,
ne prisoners, one clad in a long rub
per raincoat and a guards cap iour
,oncealed in what appeared TO be a
,uge tool chest placed on the truck, and
he sixth. in prison uniform, acting as
Iriver. rode through the southern gate,
,assed through the streets of Ossining
and. abandoning the machine on the
outskirts, walked away in the direction
# Briarclif.
Up TO Welfare League
The escape, the largest in point OF
numbers in many years, occurred an
1our after Calvin Derrick, acting war
len, had come to New York. Mr.. Der
rick, who took charge OF the prison
,nly this week, upon the resignation OF
Mr.. Osborne, hurried back to the prison
and, summoning the executive commit.
zee of the Mutual Welfare League, told
hem the escape was up to them"
There seems TO be little doubt IN the
mind of the acting warden. the men had
aid from inside and outside.
Coming as it did so soon after the
departure OF Warden Osborne, whose
was due 20 criticism direct
ed at him by the administration be-
,ause OF a number OF recent escapes, II
IS believed the prisoners feared the
abandonment of Osborne's reforms and
A return 70 conditions such as exist at
Clinton and Great Meadows.
AS soon as he was informed Of the
occurrence James NJ. Carter, State Su-
OF Prisons, immediately
ordered the suspension Of the guard at
he gate. who permitted the truck TO
BASS, and announced IL IL was not found
ne "privileges enjoyed by the inmates
we're workable" different policies
would be pursued.
Guards Cap Dupes Sentry
II was ten minutes after IL o'clock
in the morning when Richard Hilsnd,
guard at the southern gate, saw the
truck approach. On the drivers seat
was a convict in the dull gray garb OF
the prison. A large box rested behind
the drivers seat, and back OF this
stood a man in a rubber coat. A
guards cap, the visor dripping water.
was pulled we'll down over his face,
to shield him from the
driving rain. The driver was also hud-
died UP, with head bent over against
the downpour. As the machine slowed
IN. the man in the rubber coat raised
his hand and shouted. "All right"
IL is an almost daily custom for the
truck to be driven 70 the village be-
fore noon for load OF Gasolene.
nothing amiss, Hiland swung
the gate open and waved his hand:
When the truck had passed he notices