Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-04-18
NEEDLE USED TO | SEVER BARS FOR
 ! NEW MONTE CRISTO
'Scape of Convict Shows Abil. ities Dumas Hero
 Lacked

VI
 ount of Monte Christo was a dub
 breaking jail. Dumas endowed
 s fictional prisoner with remark
 ble patience, perseverance, daring
 nd resourcefulness. Lotion. the
 esh-and-blood convict, possessed all
 hese Characteristics, and in addition
 hd provided himself with needle Of
 hest steef from the prison shirt fac Abry. N contest with Lotion and 4hat little needle. the steel bars and
 4que walls of the death house of the ehitentiary. and of the prison nrop- f, did not suffice. Lotion brought $ Is patience, perseverance. daring and 8Asourcefulness, and the needle into lay and went away from there He $ Nent away shoeless, stockingless and atless. in raging blizzard. clad on- #A in a striped suit that could De Dotted as convict garb from mile fray. but he still is going. William ! smith. another convict who intenced &@ benefit from Lotions exploits with iae needle. however, was not so for and is back in the death House. and Smith were not placed NA the penitentiary death house be- they were under sentence o1 Heath, but because their general GUS $ aness made it advisable that they ae segregated from the other inmates NM the prison. The death house hap Xaened to be untenanted and 1t was handy place in which to segregate HTAem. For the purpose of humiila- |5 Son they were required to wear < &Stripes. and to make their plight fore uncomfortable, and therefore fore punitive, they were deprived f shoes and socks. The death house complete structure built within he prison proper. so person shut D in the death house is confined in prison within q prison. Steel and lone are the chief constituents of
 3Dth prisons.
 Used Needle to Cut Steel. Confronted by the formidable ob- ! fecies intervening between Lotion
 nd liberty, the Count of Monte i Shristo probably would have routed ut the remainder of his days in dur lnce. the imagination of Dumas to
 ne contrary notwithstanding. Not $b Lofton-not to any noticeable xtent-
 In the deathhouse cell to which Lof- 4 An and Smith were committed Is avatory which has 8 drain which en- ars through a hole in the hard steel j Sal of the cell. which hole is-or aSather was-covered by sheet Of teel much softer than that of the SalI. Against this softer steel Lof- Sn pitted his perseverance and the x,ny needle from the shirt factory Eith infinite patience he scratched at he steel with the needle. When he secame weary he had Smith spell hlm | the delicate but toilsome labor. a Eventually the needle cut through | Ae softer steel and the plate was eparated from the wall of the cell. she convicts tore the toilet pipe sunder by main strength, removed he plate which had encircled it. and < sfawied through the resulting aper- hre.
 They found themselves in the cor ador of the death house leading to lie steel door connecting with the aain corridor of the prison proper. ztill utilizing the needle, Lotion pick h the lock of this door and the pris- hers were free from the death Souse's restrictions, but still within fte HidIu pUiiuiiS VI tHc PSHisS Iary.
 Du. Way Through Ceiling. Unobserved, except possibly by Ether convicts who did not betray hem. they scaled the triple tier of ells and hid between the top of the ell structure and the ceiling of the kll-house. This ceiling is not of Reel and they experienced compara- Svely little difficulty in cutting thru with the handy needle, obtaining | sccess to the attic of the prison. ! breaking hole in the slate and con kete roof of the building, they merged upon the roof. A spring Nizzard-cutting wind and stinging now-was raging. They hesitated letween braving the weather, clad sniy in flimsy prison blouses and FoEsers, and returning to the com k5Arative snugness of the attic. "Naw''
 aid lotion, to Smiths suggestion
 hat they return to the attic, Were
 n our way. Let's go."
 Go they did. It was a long drop |4 rom the prison roof to the ground, Iut they risked it and alighted with
 but injury, first, however, casting
 own some ancient bedding found in
 he attic. The prison yard was de-
 lerted. Occasionally guard, muf- { led against the cold, patrolled the ' igh wall surrounding the yard. Be- { ond the wall and the guards lay
 reedom-the freedom of a hostile
 own and an inhospital, snow-buried
 esert-
 Sealed Prison Wall.
 Boldly now-it was improbable that
 he guards would pay attention to
 ersons moving across the yard when
 he driving snow, friendly in this re-
 pect at least, concealed the fact that k3uch persons wore not the ordinary
 3rab convict garb, but the tell-tale
 tripes of convict disgrace-the fugi-
 lives secuted through the compound
 omeone carelessly had cast aside lar of iron, perhaps fragment from
 naterial used to repair prison bars.
 Ind this Lotion found. He bent it
 KtO hook, fashioned a rope from
 Se fragments of bedding salvaged
 the attic. attached the rope to the
 Ook and with Smith training him,
 hoyed to position in the lee of the
 all.
 When next the guard patrolling
 he wall passed, Lotion cast the hook
 Ind it grasped the top of the wall.
 giftly he swarmed up the rope. paus-
 d for an instant on the wall, and
 aped the dozen feet to the ground <l o~1