Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-12
Gill Unlikely 10 GET
Public Hearing Until
Escapes Are Caught

Escapes Are Caught
Continued From First Page.)
his suspension. asked for "a bill OF
particulars in sufficient specifica-
tion," and repeated his request for
an open hearing.
2. The Commissioners announced
they received the Welfare Boards
recommendation for Mr.. ellis dis
missal, including transcript of the
jailbreak investigation hearing.
Prison Guard Questioned.
3. The Welfare Boards Institu-
tons Committee continued to in
vestigate all phases of the penal
system and called in for questioning
Officer Ulysses S. Sims, the guard
responsible for the two recaptured
colored youths.
4. United States Commissioner
Needham G. Turnage ordered held
to the grand jury Mrs. Catherine
Davis, II, of the TOO block OF Ninth
street Sc, accused of smuggling
four saw blades into the jail, and
Lawrence A. Howard, suspended
guard, charged with two counts OF
attempted extortion.
5. Police showed no particular
concern in running down a Dis
trict Jail prisoner released in a mis-
taken identify mixlIp
Mr.. Kogod said Mr.. Sims would
be questioned about a disparity In
the time he said the youths escaped
and the time they told police they
left the Jail.
The escapes. Carl Brount and
Percy Russell Brent, both II, were
taken in a cabin by a squad of
police led by Inspector Robert j.
Barrett. The officers. assisted byI
Detective 1t. Frank Lane of Mont
gomery County, were forced to
abandon their cars and walk more
than mile over a rough trail.
Flooding the cabin with four
powerful spotlights, the police
ordered the fugitives out. Also found
In the cabin were two men and a
woman who were not arrested.
Brount and Brent told arresting
officers they had spent a week saw
ing one Of the 24-inch bars OF the
jail's juvenile dormitory with table
knife stolen from the dining room.
just before that, they had started
whiting on the soft metal with an
other knife, which the II boys in
the cell were allowed to keep be-
cause one had birthday cake, they
said. 1t was taken from them the
night Of December 3, when Metro
politan police staged their shake
down raid at the Jail.
The boys told police it was 2:30
IN. the first time they saw a clock
after emerging from the Jail via a
sheet rope last Sunday. Time of
the break tentatively had been fixed
at between $40 and $50 am, since
Officer Sims said he had counted all
II boys in the cell at $40 am.
Notice Violated Regulations.
In his answer to Welfare Director
Huff. Mr.. Gill said he had been ad-
vised by counsel that Mr.. Huff s
letter informing him Of his suspen-
sion had not complied with Civil
Service rules and regulations either
in substance or in the fact it comes
from you rather than from the Dis
trict Commissioners" u
Mr.. Gill said the only two charges
against him he could read from the
Institutions Committees report,
adopted by the Welfare Board,
were "Q) that the inability of the
resident superintendent of the Jail
to perform his full duty is due in
large degree to Interference by me
and Cd that have made no recon-
mendation for change In the
Board Of Public Welfare rules ap-
plicable to penal institutions.
He said since he did not know
what those charges meant, he re-
quested them withdrawn as being
"unintelligble," that he be restored
to duty or supplied with a bill of
particulars so that he may have
full opportunity to answer same and
prepare my defense"
In the event Mr.. Huff still finds
his letter of December 6 constitutes
proper recommendation for dis
charge, Mr.. Gill asked him for the
desired specifications and an ex-
tension of time for at least 10 days
beyond the December Is date al
lowed for answering the original
charges.
Under the provisions of Civil
Service Rule XII, Mr.. Gill said, he
was asking the removal officer or
officers for a full and public hearing
before men who understand pris-
ons and prison administration.
Seeks Access to Records.
He asked for access to all official
records available to him as general
superintendent, that all "hacksaws
and other instruments" uncovered
at the Jail during shakedowns since
November Is be preserved and made
available to him when he made his
answer, and that the two control
cells in the east wing of the Jail be
maintained to show the damage by
prisoners.
! Mr.. Gill also requested an oppor-
tunity to examine and copy the
statements of witnesses likely to
support any charges against him
and the privilege of confronting
those witnesses at the hearing.
The Institutions Committee yester-
day questioned James Benjamin
Lloyd, 81, colored, who on Monday
told Chief Justice Bolitha j. Laws
he feared returning to the Jail be-