Evening star., 1952-11-01
Ohio
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kContlnueo from F1rSC PageO
Hunt. Morgan and his raiders es-
capped from the prison. How, no
one knows for certain. Bribery
secret orders from Secretary OF
War Stanton, and tunneling have
been advanced as the method
used by the daring Confederate
leader.
The breakup Of the rebellion
was held up an hour by the flash
ing knives of a dozen caSe-hard-
|ened convicts, who bull-dozed 600
fellow prisoners into keeping up
their defiance.
Possibly 100 diehards fingered
in the courtyard after the mutiny
had fallen apart, eventually fore
ing guards to bomb them out with
tear gas.
Along the Spring Street side OF
the four-block penitentiary, well
after the big shouting was over,
some convicts-like enraged bulls
beloved and broke windows.
Guards stifled their yelling with
shotgun blasts that tore through
the jagged window openings.
The outbreak, primed by series
|of other uprisings in prisons across
the nation, came in the mess hall
at dinner time. Like a flash fire,
the mutiny spread through 1000
convicts, nearly one-half the
prisons 4.000-odd population.
The first act Of the Halloween
drama was brief. Eight hundred
of the original 1000 convicts
quickly agreed to return to their
cells. That left 1900. Guards
thought the back of the rebellion,
staged to protest food the convicts
called "slop" or worse, had been
broken.
Just as quickly the second act
started-an uncontrolled riot by
1900 convicts in the face of a total
guard force Of IS. Fire after fire
mushroomed under the matches
Of the scurrying convicts.
One was the mess hall. where
f1rst-act violence smashed equip
ment and furniture. Similar
wreckage later Uttered the audi
torium and the kitchen.
At one time. about three hours
after the riot started, Warden
Ralph w. Alvis said. Nearly every
major building is burning out of
control"
Firemen, baked by the mass of
convicts and the slimness of the
guard force, tried Intellectually to
fight the sprouting blazes from
rooftopS and wall ladders.
Fire destroyed five buildings
the commissary, the Catholic
chapel, the laundry. the person.
mel building, the prison hospital.
Fire and vandalism seriously
damaged the auditorium, the mess
hall and the kitchen.
Had Improvised Weapons.
The convicts, including some of
the hardest characters in the Mid
west, armed themselves with meat
cleavers, sharpened spoons. files,
knives, anything that would MAIN
or kill.
They smashed windows, even
the stained glass windows of the
Catholic chapel. They jeered at
the guards. They screamed curses.
The mob roar was punctuated by
the cries of stir crazy prisoners
in locked cells around the rim of
the courtyard.
Two hours before the end, 400
more convicts lost their nerve and
sneaked back through the burn
ing buildings to their cellblocks.
Flames shot into the sky 200
feet in huge putfs, providing shiv-
cry excitement for thousands Of
Columbus citizens who had gath
cred downtown for a traditional
Halloween celebration on the Ohio
Statehouse lawn.
Traffic was jammed for blocks
for hours.
In a little while, 200 more con-
vlctS gave up and returned tn
their cells. That left 600 still
roaming around and huddling
around small bonfires.
Tear Gas for Holdouts.
These were the men bulldozed
TO the last by the knife-wielding
fanatics. who finally succumbed to
the pressure of $50 peace officers
and prison guards. Even then
several score holdouts forced the
use of tear gas.
Penltentiary officials made ready
today to move 200 prisoners to
other Ohio prisons.
Warden Alvis said the transfer
was necessary to meet the emer-
gency created by the destruction
of the commissary. mess hall and
kitchen.
Warden Alvis said his staff got
one Of the damaged kitchens into
partial operation this morning
and the convicts were being fed
in one dining hall that was oper-
ating.
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