Evening star., 1939-07-27
Discovery Of Car
Shifts Convict Hunt
To West Virginia
Guords' Clothing Found.
Another Automobile
Reported Stolen
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
CHARLESTON, w. Va, July 81
Discovery of an abandoned automo-
bile which contained prison guards
caps and shirts suddenly shifted the
search for seven escaped Federal
prisoners into this area today.
1t c. w. Ray of the State police
said the clothing in the car, found
in South Charleston, belonged to
prison guards who were overpowered
yesterday near Thornburg, Va, by
7 of the % convicts they were trans
ter1ing from Atlanta to the Lewis
burg, Pa, Prison.
The fugitives had last been re-
ported near Rapidan, Va, where a
posse had searched futilely through
the night for them.
West Virginia Sedan Stolen.
The abandoned car bore Virginia
license plates and shortly after it
was found State police reported an
old sedan was stolen in South
Charleston.
Still later, Kentucky officers said
they fired on another car which
failed to stop at their command on
bridge between Kenova, w. Va,
and Catlettsburg, KY, so miles west
of here.
In the car found at South Charles
ton were one set of handouts, two
pistol holsters, uniform coat, two
guards shirts. two guards caps, two
shirts which apparently belonged to
convicts and one pair of convict
shoes.
Hunted Car Described.
The State police described the
missing West Virginia car as a Nash
with West Virginia tags No. 116-791
and motor No. A4819O. 1t was a
1928 model sedan, olive green in
color
An all-night vigil and search over
wide area in the mountainous sec
ton near Culpeper, Va, failed to
| reveal any clues as to what route
the prisoners took.
State troopers, Federal officers
and volunteer possemen guarded
/ AhSlANdyO Vic lllSlll dllO
the early morning hours without re-
ceiving any reports on the fugitives.
A heavy fog early this morning
hampered the work of the searchers.
Capt. G. j. Nicholson and a detail
of 10 men from the Federal REFORM
atory at Lorton took four blood
/ hounds to Culpeper to join in the
hunt.
Highways Blocked.
/ All roads between Cu1peper and
Charlottesville. Fredericksburg and
Orange were blocked, and in Rich
mond Maj. Roy P. Bishop, assistant
State director of motor vehicles. said
| patrols were being maintained on
highways from Roanoke to Rich
mond to Washington and back
down the valley"
AS patrolmen and other police
officials began to move cautiously
into the area, the fugitives were
believed to have been surrounded,
and park police on the Skyline Drive
were asked to aid in the search.
Volunteers armed themselves with
rifles from the Culpeper Post of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The escaped prisoners were men,
bers of group of % being trans
ferred from Atlanta to Pennsylvania
Fifteen of the men did not join in
the break.
After beating the guards, the
seven prisoners drove the bus over
side roads until they commandeered
an automobile owned by Mrs. Ruby
Lee Thurston of Guinea, Va.
Mrs. Thurston was released un-
harmed after being forced to ride
several miles in the bus, which was
trailed by the automobile.
Three of the guards beaten were
treated for superficial injuries at
Fredericksburg. They were Clinton
E. Campbell w. E. Godschalk and
H. Glenn Cunningham. Chris A..
Laurson, officer in charge, was driv-
ing the bus when the attack oc-
CURED.
Authorities listed the escaped pris-
oners, with their sentences, as:
Charles F. Cole, Chattanooga,
Tenn, three years for transporting a
stolen car in interstate commerce;
Gerald Montague, Paducah, KY,
three years for automobile theft;
Luther Morris of Paducah, KY, five
years for post Office robbery; John
Gibson of Big Stone Gap, Va, four
years for passing counterfeit coins;
Hugh Penny of Big Stone Gap, four
years for stealing from a railway
boxcar; Walter Smith of Cincinnati,
three years for breaking into a post
office, and Raymond Walker of Co.
lumbus, Ohio, three and half years
for automobile theft.