Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-30
PRICE, ZEBLEY'S SLAYER
Cont ii nusr1 from page I


Asked why death watch bad not been
placed on Price and why he bad not been
kept in solitary confinement, the guard
said according To ctstom he had been
permitted to exercise twice a day, and
| this WAS one of the exercising periods,
which explains his presence outside Of
his cell
HOW TRUSTEES woRK.
Tho warden explained that there rs
n gang on the workhotrse farm that has
to be fed there Usually tr1sties carry
! the food from tho workhouse in the
mornings, but sometimes they come for
| it h, the evenings, while there are four or
| five working about the workhouse who
get their meals separately from the other
prisoners Suddcrs mistook Price for
one Of these TRUSTEES, oil being garbed
alike.
The warden today was making rigid
| investigation at the wof khone, but evi-
| IDENTIFY had not satisfied himself IS to the
person responsible for the escape OF Price
Price was convicted of the murder of
patrolman Thomas l.. Zebley This
officer and Patrolman Harry &. Pierce
and John Manfredo went to the Prize
horne, at Sls East Sixth street on Novern-
her -. 10 arrest the Price brothers IN
TatHneFtl1n Win iAfDhl 6fibb
down Zebey and alsO fired two bullets
into Pierce 9 shoulder. then fed He was
captured the Same day in Chester He
was tried thrce weeks later and sentcnoed
to be hanged on january 9. John Price,
one Of the brothers, who was present Mt
the shooting. was found guilty and sen
tenced to 20 years.
GOVERNOR TowssEHp INVESTIGATES
Governor Townsend vas NJ thc work
house last night and nj once began an
investigation on his own account to deter
fnine where the responsibility for the
escape belongs
The manner of the Negro escape was
far from clear when the police and de-
tectivns started out on the hunt for him
The officers did not even know now
hong he had been gone At first an i'm
preston got around that the murderer
Ind been out al day and the police found
il difficult under the circumstances 10
determine where TO begin to look If
tho fellow had an aii-dav start II was
plain that he must be far from the city.
Onc of the first things done by the police
vas 10 wire lookout, together with a
detailed description tn All nearby ciSlcs
and towns IN an effort 70 intercept the
fugitive Detcctivrs and policemen were
hurried away in every direction IL auto
mobiles and on trains and trolleyE
With two railroads convenient n the
Negros nHe. II IL thought more than
likely that he canght tram, but which
direction Of courso nobody could do
more thsn guess
WALKED OFT WITH BAG or r-orR.
II was established lest night that Price
was let ont th" hg gates At the entrance
by X II ~nadard, chief clerk lie IN
sisted that All the blame be put upon him,
50 Il was stated. rather than upon Warden
Crpee According To the most reliable
information obtainahle Price was allowed
To walk out with a bag of -four on his bark
A lot Of TRUSTEES we're carrying Gour out
II the yard Why the doomed murderer
should have been put II this work calls
for especial exclamation
According u Suddard Price passed
ont of the gate just like the others with
a sack Of flour hiding his face from view.
Almost rs soon as he got out 0f the gate
the Negro dropped the sack and ran.
The bag waa found iving on the ground
around the corner IF the west wing
The time Of the escape has been fixed
at sos The men missed Price when
they checked UP on the prisoners follow
ing the evening meal The warden snd
III his deputies were thrown into a panic
by the discovery Frantic search around
the institution inside and outside revealed
only the bag Of -four Price had used AZ 4
means 10 cover hls escape
i VAS about f. clock whcr Chief
II Police Black rereivcd from Warden
Cr.s, the Information Price had gone
The chief was about to start home for ms
supper Instead he rushed out all has
men in an effort 10 head of the Negro.
OUTSIDE HELF.
Price must have secured the clothing
which he wore out of the prison from out
side help He had No cap or heavy roat
IN his cell Tie emerged dressed IN these
Went IL the Sforeroom on the basement
floor procured thc bag of -four and left
the prison carefully muffied 4 PRISON
guard returning from the shops on his
way TO the dningroom saw MIN crossing
the man hal but did not suspect him.
Price vas confined Ia cell on 3 tier
OF twenty The entrance To The tier and
the doors 70 the different cells are all
controlled by levers IN n box JUST outside
the entrance u the tleT. Il Is physically
impossible - open the door Of any cell
or tie door of the tier By any other means
except these levers. The mastcr-boX
Is locked hY q combination At night. bat
Is left open IN the daytime Anyone
who knew the mechanism Of the levers
could work them
According 10 those who investigated
the case, either the cell and tier doors
were left open BY a careless guard when
the otaer mca ON the tier were freed
for sapper or Price had confederate, who
helped hun get cut.
After passing the Isl TWO doors Price
went through the door leading from the
east wing Of the prison 70 the main cor
riior Tins door WAS also locked An
other passage leading from the corridor
gave access to the lower floor and store
rooms where the -four Is kept From the
main corridor 10 the outside entrance Of
the prison there were two more doors to
be negotiated These were watched by
the warden and chief clerk in the executive
Offices
Price Was last seen. Is lar is csAn be
learned, shortly before ) u clock By DIR
" Il Stock lfO6 West Fourth street,
who Inspected he prison IN the absence
OF DIR William H. kraemer. the work
house physician.
According to DR. Stock he made the
rounds with a PRISON Jrustv Standing
outside the door OF Price cell, the truSty
asked, How are you feeling. Lem
The prisoner answered Pine DR..
Stock declared last night that he had
good view Of the prisoner 5 face at tins