Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-02

LNO An
w WHILE Lanny was assisting DR..
n Burt In dressing Nance Bel
aANP den's wound, Dan Mcnamara
w sat in his plain little living
room and read the story OF
mer escape from San Quentin. 1t APP
scared that throughout all OF Sunday
Afternoon two men, in a motor boat,
had been anchored in the cove of Point
San Quentin. apparently flSnlng LOT
striped bass, which abound at this par
ticular point on San Francisco Bay.
There were other boats anchored there
also-eight in all. The guard at the
entrance to the women'S quarters had
observed them, but as they were q
common sight, he paid no attention 10
trom. until, about 4:30 pm, just be-
fore locking-up time guard in one
Of the lookout towers on the hill had
telephoned him that q boat had ap-
preached close to the shore.
The guard had thereupon stepped out
Of his kiosk and around to the rear OF
It, which faced toward the beach, less
than thirty feet distant. He had
shouted at the men in the boat and
warned them to be of, that they were
not permitted to approach that close,
that they were within the dead line.
To this the men replied that they
couldn't help it; that their motor had
gone dead, and that the tide had set
them in; that they we're trying to make
repairs and would be OF as soon as they
could.
While the guard was in the rear Of
his station engaged in this conversation,
Nance Belden had approached the gate,
kicked of her shoes and, digging her
toes into the quarter-inch wire mesh
OF the 16-foot gate. had scrambled to
the top with incredible rapidity. She
was just climbing down the outside of
fha 0ofn vuyhaT tina ri I'm the fnWnT
on the hill saw her and Immediately
telephoned to the guard at the main
gate, also to the guard arguing with
the men in the motor boat. Upon hear
ing the telephone bell ringing in his
station, that guard had walked back
into 1t: at the same time, keeping the
kiosk between her and the approaching
guard, Nance Belden had dashed down
to the beach and commenced swimming
rapidly toward the motor boat, the mo-
tpr of which instantly started and the
boat commenced edging III to pick
her up.
When the guard in the kiosk, APP
priSed of what was taking place, ran out
with rifle in his hand and shouted
TO Nance Belden to come back or he
would shoot her, machine gun in the
motor boat promptly came into action
against him. He had not been hit but
q shower of bullets had Spattered the
ground around and in front of him and
another burst had gone over his head
and through the sentry box. The guard
had fired once at the Belden woman
and hit her. but Immediately thereafter.
fearful Of being killed, he had thrown
himself nat on the ground.
%The guard in the watch tower on the
hill had then brought his machine gun
into action. His first burst had been
short and drew answering fire from the
machine gunner in the boat. Although
uhe range was 400 yards, the first burst
from the motor boat tore through the
wooden watch tower, which rather dis
tracted the aim Of the guard there.
Nevertheless, the latter stuck to his gun
and continued to fire, scattering bullets
around the swimming girl and Into the
boat.
The men IN the boat did not hest
tate, bit came on through the hail of
bullets. The escaping prisoner had in
the meanwhile either sunk or dived; at
any rate, widening tinge Of red APP
peared on the water. She was down
about 80 seconds, then her head
emerged close to the boat, and she
swan with one arm to the side Of 1t. A
man reached over and grasped her un
der both arms and jerked her into the
boat, which instantly turned put on
full speed and raced away, close past
two other boats Fearful of killing in
rocent people, the guard in the watch
tower held his fire until the escaping
boat was in the clear. Then he and
the guard in another tower came into
action again. But q target moving at
aspeed Of IS miles an hour Is not easily
hit. The fire was either over or short.
and the boat did not stop. When 1t
WIS out of range 1t turned and in the
rapidly fading light Of the Winter day
headed up into San Pablo Bay, running
close to the south shore to avoid the
chop of the waves in this shallow ex-
panse Of water. They ran without
lights.
While the course they had taken
would seem to indicate a desire to run
up Carquinez Straits TO the Sacramento
or the San joaquin rivers, land and
escape in q waiting automobile into
Central California, the warden realized
that his quarry was not lacking in in
would realize that the telephone is
faster; that the roar OF their motor
must betray them mile away. He had
therefore taken the precaution to notify
the chiefs Of police of Pittsburg, Mar
tinez, Sausalito, Richmond, Berkeley,
Oakland and San Francisco, leaving 20
these the task of notifying intermediate
points. The warden had suspicion
the fugitiveS would double back to San
Francisco, particularly since the girl
was wounded and must be hidden in
order TO receive medical attention
And here she Is" Dan Mcnamara
muttered. "Cripes, what a womanl
Lord, how love woman with brains
and courage! Just little, simple mat
ter OF taking pains and taking risks
She didn't go into the dining hall for
dinner with the other prisoners. Smart
Knew she couldn't make a fast swim on
a full stomach. Smart enough to notice
the warden's oversight in failing to fill
IN with barbed wire topping that l8-inch
space at the top Of his gate. OF course,
they figured they needn't bother with
that. because no woman could climb
16-foot wire mesh fence. anyhow: and
If she did, she'd only drop down into
the waiting arms of the guard. who is
never absent, night or day. But Nance
Belden knew she could climb that fence
barefoot; she knew she had 80 seconds
to do IL and a drop on the other side
from the top of the gate. Her job was
TO induce the guard TO turn his back
and her friends in the boat did that!
She knew she'd been seen from the.
watch tower on the hill and the guard