Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-30
ESCAPE EVIDENTLY
CAREFULLY PLANNED
Some Person, as Yet Unknown,
Had Unlocked Corridor
Gates.
WAS GONE SOME TIME.
WHEN HE WAS MISSED
Took Advantage of HoU When
Most Prisoners Wee IL
Supper

Ieinucl Price. doomed murderer O
Policeman Thomas J. Zeb'ey. who was
= have been hanged on January 3 al
ne New Castle county woTkhouse
escaped from the workhouse il broad
.iaylight yesterday afternoon
Carrying a sack Of -four on his shoulder
he Negro walked on out the main gate
ike a tusty, dropped the burden and
He'd.
He is still at large after police and
detectives here and elsewhere have spent
s sleeplcss night searching everywhere
for him Fear that the Negro had a
much better start than AZ first supposed
lncincs some to the belief that he was
already far from Wilmington when tho
hunt began.
\ reward Of $500 for the mans rc-
capture was offered bv the trustees Of the
workhouSe Governor Townsend viii
probably offer a separate reward on be-
half Of the State
In addition 70 the $500 reward offered
hy the trustees Of the workhouse. Governor
Townsend today offered an additional
reward Of 81 900
The tlrst definite clue to the possible
whereabouts Of Price came this morning
about O'Clock. when ii VAS learned that
e+iC ANtAIb E}st%l ift1tt Af6AhtSl III tic SHOW
ip the Landcnberg branch of the b. q o.
railroad as far as Falkland, where the
racks werc lost He is thought to have
1T the railroad 1t that point.
immediately after Il had been learned
at Pricn had gotten away Warden
]tsert Cross won't to Media. Pa. here
les father, John Winner Price, lives,
+ WAS unable to locate him. Later,
Ataever, the father WAS located at Media
Detective Sergeant Green and State
detective Mccoy They had a talk
with the old man. who sald he knew
nothingNof his sons escape and declared
he would not haFbur hlm If he should
come there. The detectives searched
the house, but found no trace Of the man
wanted, returning to Wilmington at ?
o clock this morning.
WARE NOT RESPONSIBLE
In one Of the early morning reports
of PT1ce escspc there was a paragraph
that cast reflection on Rev John w Ware
of 6l9 Windsor street, colonel minister
and undertaken, who had been Price 5
spiritual adviser, intInating that Ware
wss concerned with the escape of the
prisoner as q confederate
This mputatlon was enphatlcaliv
denied later IN the morning by Warden
Cross. Chief of Police Black and Detective
Sergeant Green, following a thorough
Investigation. They said they were salts
fed that Ware had nothing to do with the
escape He visited Prlce yesterday after
noon, but q guard was present all the
tune the two were talking and nothing
occurred that could ID any way connect
the Negro minister
After long secret session with Governor
Tow nsend the board OF trustees adjourned
without any statement, 10 examine the
warden and others at the workhouse.
concerning the sensational escape of
Prioe.
The trustees of the workhouse are T. +
Allen Hilles, president; J. Frank Ball, /
secretary, Horace l. Dilworth. treas
Irer; Daniel Corbit, vioe-president; |
Clifford ]. Scott.
The States reward viii Drobabiy be |
oosted unless the murderer Is soon caught. |
Many officials think the 81 900 Insufficient /
for any length of time That sum was |
fixed bv the governor at the suggestion |
Of Attorney General ReInhardt.
A report was current at noon that /
Pr1cs had been captured at Newark, but /
Ehs was denied
STATEMENT BY THE wARDEN.
'T am satisfied said Warden Cross
today, when asked for d statement con- +
cer1ling the escape of Price, that Price (.
mad confederate inside the prison.
''Was it 8 guard or any other attache
Of the workhouse?" he was asked.
mo, am satisfied 1t was not" he
replied
Then who was it?
'It was evidently prisoner"
Asked whether he suspected any
particular prisoner, the warden said he
sas not prepared To make q statement |
10 that behalf.
Price knew that 25 or so trusted prison
ers were kept at the upper farm about
two miles away They consisted of
men whose health required fresh air and
those who cared for the stock and did
the farm work These men, practically
IN the status of TRUSTEES, frequently
-aJne TO the main building for supplies,
which they carried to the farm
Price, the warden said. wts securely
ocked In the exercising corridor with
The other prisoners. Somebody opened
The door, which could have been done by
throwing lever, which permitted the
prisoner TO walk in the main corridor.
The warden said this could have been
lone by prisoner, though it was not
Known who did it.
Once in the main corridor Price walked
N back to q point near the kitchen,
passing the open kitchen door where two
guards and two prisoners were at supper.
Reaching point beyond the kitchen he
picked up bag Of -four and started out
oward the front door with it Chief
1lerk Sudders, who acts as door man when
he other man is at his meals. saw Price
oming, and, thinking he was trusty,
,pened the door and let him out, the Ne
ros face being hidden by the bag Once {
utside Price dropped the bag and fed.
OaH&lnaasa x~~~S