Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-07-05


The leaders secured Dreiers revolver,
a black jack, keys and cap.
Unlocking the doors leading 10 the
main corridor Of the jail the men hur-
He'd down the iron stairway to the first
floor
There they unlocked the door leading
into the main office and second heavy
steel door leading into the jail yard.
The twenty-four desperate prisoners
scattered in all directions.
TWO PRISONERS ~,
REACH DRIER.
Ten minutes after the twenty-four had
escaped, Prster and Yates. two pris-
oners, wriggled through the opening
where the bars had been cut and reached
Dreier.
They united Dreier and unfastened the
gags. So tight had been the gag across
his face that when the gag was released
his face began swelling almost beyond
recognition.
The two prisoners carried Drisr to
the Office and were met on the stairs by
Captain OF Police Ray.
The Marion county jail was built in
1892 and at that time, the contracting
company offered a $500 reward to any
person who could saw the interior bars
Of the Jail.
Although there has been numerous at
tempts at this and a number OF escapes.
tho interior bars were never before
sawed.
The method used by the prisoners was
to heat the bars by use Of oil. signs Of
which were found in the cell rooms to-
day.
IMPROvIsE a
BLOW TORCH.
A tin sprayer used for disinfection was
employed as = blow torch to Increase
the heat
From some unknown source the pris-
oners had obtained a pair OF gloves,
which protected their hands while using
the hot saws.
They had been working at saving the
bars for at least three weeks, according
TO other prisoners who had feared TO
inform the sheriff.
Saving during the night, they would
Ill the crevice in the bars with SOAP,
thus conceaIing the marks OF the saw
m the daytime.
After one end Of each bar had been
completely sawed through, the prisoners
sawed partially through the other.
They had taken a heavy, weight. which
was used to balance the cell doors, and
with this as hammer battered down
the two bars, which broke of.
A long string wrapped around a short
piece Of heavy wire was found by Sheriff
Miller hidden in the cell where the bars
were sawed.
CONFEDERATE HUNG
SAWS ON END OF STRING.
According to the sheriff, the wire was
used as a weight and thrown out Of the
window, where confederates attached
saws to the string.
This string was then drawn In by the
prisoners.
This must have been done in the day
time while the prisoners were cleaning
the outside corridor of federal row.
This method has been used twice be-
fore since Miller has been sheriff, but
a Jail delivery was prevented by other
prisoners giving information.
Following the escape, Fred Heller,
hotel keeper, serving sentence on
charge Of operating a blind tiger, said
he believed that the men had been work
ing for at least three weeks cutting the
bars.
Heller is a cell boss and a trusty and
when seen today said that three weeks
ago he was on the third floor of the
Jail, directly over the cell from which
the escape was made.
'I heard a sound If someone were
scrapiug or saving some place near me-
said Heller. Il listened and then placed
my ear against a heating pipe which
was near the wall, but the sounds
stopped and 1 was not sure that 1 had
hard coma0na saving the hars"