The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1919-02-21
ALLEGED WHITE
SLAYER GIVES
OFF|CERSCHASE
GEORGE BURkHART, WHO EScAP
ED NASHVILLE JAIL, SHOWS
UP IN COLUMBIA.
DREW GUN ON NEGRO WORKMAN
Man Said to Be Desperate Character
Eludes Officers After Aliehtns
From Train at Coal Chute in the l..
& N. Yards.
Thursdays Daily Herald.

, George Burkhart, a desperate char
/ acter who escaped from the Davidson
county Jail Tuesday night, was in Co
!, lumbia last night and after a hide
and seek chase through the l.. & Y
railroad yards succeeded in eludine
the officers. Late this morning he had
not been caught but it is thought that
he is still in or near Columbia, all
trains on which he could have depart
ed having been searched by officers
Burkhart was held in Nashville on
a charge of abduction and violation
of the Mann white slave act, for which
/ he was arrested in Nashville last Fri
\ day night at rooming house where
he and a man named Charley Sanders
had stopped with two young girls from
Sheffield with whom they are said to
I have spent the night at Columbia
hotel, the girls having registered as
! sisters of the men.
! Burkhart boarded the Columbia ac-
i commodation Wednesday afternoon at
/ Carter's Creek with ticket for Co
lumbia. He got off the train at the
coal chute in the yards and was pick
| ing his way around the Y with a
fiashlight when he was observed by a
yardman. The sheriff's office was call
ed and while waiting the arrival of an
officer the trainmen set a watch for
| the man. A negro set out to head him
off was confronted with an 'eight
inch gun when he approached Burk
hart and was compelled to give him
directions. Deputy Sheriff John
Cheek, Constable VIII Goad and Pa
trolmen Stages and Hight joined in
the search but by the time they reach
ed the scene he had eluded them.
Burkhart is known in Columbia and
was recognized here Friday night
when he passed through Columbia in
company with Sanders and the two
girls. He is said to have been a
switchman in the railroad yards at
Sheffield. His home was originally in
Lawrence county, it was said.
The Nashville Evening Americans
story of how Burkhart escaped from
the Davidson county jails follows:
The prisoner secured an iron pipe
lying around the building and pried
the bars loose.
The steel bars had been sawed
through some time ago when four pris-
oners escaped. and had been repaired.
The repairing left them in weaken
ed condition. >
The escape was made while Joe
Wright, Jr., jailer was on the top
floor locking other prisoners in their
cells for the night
Burkhart was a federal prisoner,
and according to the rules of the jail,
those prisoners are allowed freedom
of the Jail corridors during the day.
When Wright went up to the top floor
to lock the cells, Burkhart descended
to the ground floor by way of the rear
staircase and effected his escape.
An iron shutter, evidently fallen
from the Werthan Bag building, found
inclined against the fence enclosing
the Jail building, explained how the
prisoner had scaled the fence.
The prisoners absence was not no
ticed by Wright until he had return
ed to the ground floor and counted the
prisoners. Other prisoners at first
said they knew nothing of the escape.
One finally admitted seeing the prison
er going down the back stairs. This
delay is thought to have allowed Burk-
hart the necessary time to get away.
A large touring car belonging to the
escaped prisoner, is being held by the
county officials.
Burkhart and c. d. Sanders were ar
rested last Friday night in boarding
house on Fourth avenue, north. Two
young girls. giving their ages as IL
and II years, were taken in custody
at the same time.
Federal officers were notified and
after an investigation charged the
men with the violation of the white
slave act.
Sanders made no attempt to escape.
deputy sheriifs says. Burkhart had no
I s- l. ;r