The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-28

.Jail-B

Warrington. D. c.. Dec. q. -Pris-'
On escapes sesn 70 b unusually
numerous Of late. One man mirac-
'ulously departs from Jail with
three fellow-prisoners. and no cine
10 found. At . reformatory several
deeertions lead to the suspicion
thar . key d bsing circulated among
the Inmates. And there ara similar
stories almost every day. They
suggest that jail breaking 10 . ne
quent occurrence.
We put the question up to Earl
Budding, head of the Pfis0ners'
Relief society. and got this reas-
suring answer:
There Is no great menace from
escaped convicts. There are four
million inmates in penal institu-
tons In this country. Half mil
lion 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 each year.. which Is almost
ave hundred"
Five hundred convicts break
away, but DR.. budding explains
that where even 50 years ago they
might have stood . fair chance Of
permanent freedom, today they are
often retaken Immediately. A COM
| paratively few years ago . refugee
had . chance to cover his tracks
and lose his identity in the time It
took to notify sheriffs and spread
word of the escape. Nov cables.
the telephone. railroads. even air.
planes. II necessary, can be called
on to speed In pursuit.
II he 10 not taken At once. the
convict's manner betrays him. Pub
licity may have gone ahead Of him.
he fears. and SO he is wary OF
every one he meets. The man
across the lunch room table who
inquiries between bites Of a sand
witch where he works may be de-
tective. A policeman looks ut him
and he is thrown into . panic.
Eventually he gives himself away
in his efforts to be inconspicuous.
Getting Back In.
NEARLY every day." says DR..
budding, zone or more men Of this
TYPE come to me for help because
the situation is too much for them,
There was q typical case just q
few days ago. The man came in
and asked to talk with me. He
kept looking Z me, trying to de-
eide whether he could trust me
with his secret
"'Well,' I said to him, when did
you escape?
| The blow nearly knocked him
over. He had no idea he showed
his fear 90 plainly. Then he look
led relieved. We talked the matter
over, and showed him that the
only thing to do was to 70 bach
and finish his term. Then he could
walk the streets . free man. You
aren't free now told him. You
don't dare to talk to any one
That's true he said. But IL
90 back I'll be put in irons, AND
| was trusty.'
j, No. not il you give yourself
. Iup,' told him. I will write tt
the superintendent and explain
that you are coming back volun-
tarily, and ask him to give yor
lyour old place."
The man agreed, and here is thu
. surprising part of the story, to on,
who does not understand PRISON.
| and prisoners, as DR.. budding does
The man was not put under guart
Tor handcuffed. DR.. budding toll,
him to come back at certain time
When he came he was given tick
: ct to the Jail town and a lette
which had been obtained from tn
superintendent of the prison say
ing that he was travelling by per
mission Of the prison authorities
The convict was to carry this let
ter with him, for he was wante,
by the police and might have heel
arrested on his way. This MAJ
did not make any attempt to W
either the letter or the ticket +
escape. The adventure was owe
for him.
i Something like this happen
about a hundred times a year. Els
4 capped prisoners from all parts @
. the country come in to an ONCE G
J the Prisoners Relief society O
write to DR.. budding to know wha
to do. He tells them, as he toll
the man just mentioned, that the
cannot expect to live honorably O
!. in peace until they have bee
freed by the state. and then, whe
he has their permission, he doe
what he can to make the return t
prison easy for them. He say
: that he has never failed to COZ
vince any one who appealed to hill
of the wisdom OF this c0urse-eve
a! in cases Of escapes from life in
prisonment.
4 He Lost His Nerve.
5 Such IN instance occurred whe
+ DR.. budding was on q wester
l. trip some time ago. A man read
4 the newspapers Of the work Of TIL
e Dr.. budding. who had been a pri.
+ Toner himself. and came to see hin
e The man explained that Is yeal
s before he had, in . At of ange
+ killed girl who refused to MARI
him. He was given life imprisol
Il ment, but served only a fe
c =