Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-24
|CONV|CTS DEMAND
WARDEN'S CUSTER
Ohio Prisoners Defy Guards
as Tense Situation Arises
as Result of Fire.
Continued From First Page.)

!
the guard room and near the scene of
| the fire, two convict orators were adj
| dressing 600 convictS on the lower floor.
| All were congregated at the rear of the
block. One speaker, colored, was heard
| TO shout "they have already murdered
more than 300." Only two guards were
in these blocks.
It was reported by the dining room
staffs that all convicts had refused to
| work.
One threatened disturbance was
averted quickly by guards early this
| morning after a group OF prisoners
working on the night shift in the prison
/ coal house deserted their posts.
The prisoners, at first reported In q
defiant mood, returned quietly to their
jobs as soon as the guards approached
them.
As the disorders in the idle house and
yard continued, investigators OF the
disastrous fire of Monday night re-
opened their hearing in the prison
record office, within 100 feet of the gate
leading into the prison proper.
Edward M. Sass, one Of the prisoners
who aided in rescue work, was the nrst
witness called before the investigating
board body. He told the board 1t was
about 20 minutes from the time he first
lcdTIeU Vi Lie llTe uIlGll 1lC Woo ACACooSd
from his cell by convicts.
Without waiting to find the cause Of
the fire-and thus fix blame, If any
State officials, led by Gov. Myers v.
Cooper, started consideration Of plans
to relieve crowded conditions at the old
prison. One step toward this end, the
governor indicated after conference
with members of his cabinet and
Warden Preston E. Thomas, will be the
two, cfn - 81, 1vft IN
London prison farm. Some were re-
moved from the prison yesterday.
The program also calls for speedy
completion of two new cell blocks at the
penitentiary as well as rebuilding Of the
flre-swept G and H houses, in which
last Mondays fire had its origin.
While the States investigation has
brought forth various individual opin-
ions, 1t has failed thus far to reveal how
the fire started. Most of the witnesses
before the board of inquiry devoted
their testimony to suggestions as to how
more of the prisoners might have been
rescued from their locked cells. These
included a statement by A. E. Nice,
chief of the Columbus Fire Department,
that none would have persisted had the
prisoners been released as soon as the
fire was discovered. He charged that
rescue efforts were delayed by guards
inside the walls, declaring this was
shown by the fact that the alarm was
Following testimony by Warden
Thomas that no fire protection was
provided at the cell blocks, State We'll
fare Director H. H. Griswold announced
that eXtinguishers had been ordered
placed in the cell houses. AS an extra
precaution. he said, guards would be
placed In the top tiers.
Explanation Of Shots.
Mystery surrounding the firing Of
two shots during the fire was cleared
up today, when Warden Thomas re-
ported q guard had shot q revolver
to sound an alarm of fire. -
Guard Sergt. Lewis Bostetter Of Co
lumbus informed the warden that
Guard Guy r. Porter of Mount Ster-
ling fired the shots while he was at
ranges, in which the convicts were
killed while locked in their cells. There
Is no prison telephone connection in
the ranges. Porter. noticing the smoke,
desired to attract attention. He fired
John H. Hail. 72-year-old captain Of
guards, issued statement today de-
nying the charge made by guard that
he had refused to issue keys so that
pIlSOucIo AulSLiI NC AClSaoCo nun s,oIt
cells in the fire which took 316 lives
at the prison Monday night.
Thomas Suspends Guard.
Suspension of one penitentiary guard
and a recommendation that another be
suspended, was announced at the prison
today by Warden Thomas.
Immediate employment of 25 addi-
tional guards at Ohio Penitentiary was
authorized by State Director Of Welfare
Griswold.
OF the many prisoners who were In
jured and taken to the hospital, all but
IA had been released today and had
returned to their companies. The IA
continued in critical condition, II being
victims Of pneumonia.