Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-28
THE HAskIN LETTER
~yAneBrEAkERs
by FREpER1c J. HAskIN

mefous 81 late. One man miracu-
fousfy departs from jail with three
fellow-prisoners. and no Clue IS
found. AT a reformatory several de-
sertfons lead 70 the suspicion that
a Key Is being circulated among Che
inmates. And there are Similar
stories In the papers almost every
day. They Suggest that jaii-break-
fng Is A frequent occurrence.
We put the question VI to Earl
budding. head Of the Prisoners Re-
lief. Society, and got this ~reassuring
answer:
There Is no great n from
escaped ~convicts. There are four
million inmateS in penal institutions
In this country. Half a million men
women, boys and girls are convicted
| of some .offense every year, and as
many more are freed from prisons.
| Compare these big figures with the
average number of. escapes a year.
which is almost five hundred
Five hundred convicts break
| away, but DR.. budding explains that
| where even fifty years ago they
might have stood q fair chance OF
| permanent freedom, today they are
| often retaken Immediately. A COM
pafatfvely few years ago e, refugee
| had a chance to cover his tracks and
lose his identity IN the time it took
to notify sheriffs and spread word
OF the escape. Now cables, the tel
cphone,. railroads, even afrplanes, II
necessary. can be called on to speed
in pursuit.
TJf ne is not taken at once. the
cdhvict's manner betrays him. Pub
lefty may have gone ahead of him,
ne fears, and 50 he is wary of every
one he meets. The man across the
lunch room table who inquiries be-
tween bites Of a sandwich where he
works may be a detective. A police
man looks at HIM and he Is thrown
into a panic. Eventually he gives
himself away IN his Efforts to, be in
conspicuous.
Nearly. every day." says pr. Dud-
ding, "one Or more men of this type
come, to me for help because the
There was a typical case just a few
days ago The man came in and
asked to talk with me. He kept
looking al me, trying to decide
whether he could trust me with his
secret.
"'Weil.' I said to him. when did
you escape?'
The blow nearly knocked him
over. He had no idea he showed his
fear. so plainly. Then he looked re-
lieved. We talked the matter over,
and / showed him that the only
thing to do was to go back and finish
his term. Then he could walk the
streets a fret man. You aren't free
now / told him. You don't dare
talk to any one
That's true.' he said. But IL I
go back I'll be put in irons. and I
was a trusty.'
No, not If you give yourself
W.. / told him. L Will write to the
superintendent and explain that you
are coming back voluntarily. and
ask him to give. you your old place"
q, The man, agreed. and ,here~is the
surprising part of the story. to one
who does not understand pris-
ons and prisoners as DR.. budding
does. The man was not put under.
guard Or h~andcufed. DIR. budding
told him TO come back at a certain
time. When he came, ne was given
a ticket,to the Jail town and a letter
which Had been obtained from the
superintendent Of the prison saying
that he was travelling by permission
of the prison authorities. The con-
Wet was to- carry this letter, with
him. for he was, wanted by the
police and, might have been arrested
on his way. This man did not make
any attempt. to use either the letter
or the. ticket to escape. The adven-
ture was over for him.
Something like this happens about
a hundred times a year Escaped
prisoners from ALI parts of the. coun-
try come In to an ONCE of h Pris-
oner's Relief Society or write to DIR.
budding to know what to do. He
tells them, as ne told the, man just
mentioned that they canpot expect
to live hohorably or in peace Until
they have been freed. by the state,
and then. when he has theirNpermis-
sion. he does what he can to make
the return to prison easy. for them.
conyiNce any one who has appealed
to him OF the wisdom Of this course
even in Gases of escapes from life
imprisonment.
He Lost His Nerve
Such ar instance occurred when
DIR. budding was on a western, trip
some time ago A man read In the
newspaper of the work OF this DIR.
budding, who had been a prisoner
himself, and came to see him. The
man explained that fifteen years
before he had, in a fit OF anger. kill
IlG ID 6ANCl INV - Oot
served only a few months when
friends, who were indignant at. what
they felt "a an Unjust sentence,
helped him to, escape. He went west
and built up q business and q, name
for hihiself. But the shadow of fear
was always worrying him. After
consulting DR.. budding. he went
back to the prison. He served four
years and was pardoned.
AS DR.. budding says. escapes of
any. kind are rare, and the romantic
escape. from prison at least. IS sell
dom heard of any, more. William
Hohensoiiern, interned in a Dutch
castle, apparently never thinks of
putting poison in the guards after
noon tea or of b~urrowing his way
out Of the grounds of his estate, as
any htgh,spirited mpnarch used to
do In like circumstances. Louis
Napoleon got out OF. q similar awk-
ward situation quite naturally by
strolling out Of prison disguised in
wVrkmap's clothes. and carrying a
plank on his shoulder.
Stili more ingenious was the fam,
blood, but his exit from a prison cen
over the room where the dreaded
Inqutsition met is one of the most
famous escapes In history. Casa
novass escape has been spread out
over several volumes. The most
amusing incident is that in which
he desires to. send a, crowbar to al
feliow-priso1er. He planned to- con
ceal, the crowbar in a big Bible, hut
1t stuck out a few inches beyond the
covers. so he arranged with the jail
ler-who was either naturally or in
tentlonally half-wittedAto carry a
idfsh' OF macaroni and the Bible to
,hisa friend. The platter, was very.