ESCAPED PRISONERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1902, Page 2

ESCAPED PRISONERS.

FROM WANGANUI GAOL.

HEAVY WORK FOR THE POLICE

CAPTURE OF THREE OF THE ES-

CAPEES,

McDonald, moores and how-

ARD CAJGHT

STORY OF THE CAPTURE

HOW THE ESCAPEES FARED.

Four prisoners, awaiting trial, escaped from Wanganui Gaol on Monday afternon. They assaulted the two warders in charge, and locked them up in cells, and then got away, the other warders being absent with working gangs. The Wanganui " Herald " says:—" The following will indicate briefly what happened: The prisoners in the gaol yard were, at three o'clcok, ordered inside by Warder Steele. Amongst them were four awaiting trial —McDonald, on a charge of burglary at Bunnythorpe; Moores, cattle stealing at Feilding; and Thurston and Howard, robbery from the person at Wanganui—these being- the ring-leaders and who were the escapees. No sooner had the prisoners marched inside the gaol than McDonald and one of his mates made a savage assault on Warder Steele. handling him brutally about the throat, and having knocked him down, secured him in one of the cells after which acting-Warder Redmond was overpowered and also incarcerated. The four prisoners abovementioned then took leg-bail, three of them making towards the sand-hills in the direction of Castlecliff, and the other, striking out on his own account, crossed the river in a boat of some description, landing on the Putild side, making for No. 3 Line, 'as it transpired subsequently. Tt may be mentioned that the gaoler (Mr. Beasley) was at the time away from the gaol on business at the Courthouse, and as soon as possible he was apprised of the occurrence. In the meantime one of the prisoners not implicated in the plot picked up Warder Steele's keys (which had been dropped in the scuffle), and, having opened the gaol door, ran across to Cook's Gardens, acquainting the warder in charge of the prisoners working there. While this was going on, Warder Steele had succeeded in breaking the cell ■window, and, having attracted the attention of a prisoner working in the gaol yard, the matron was summoned, she bringing the gaoler's keys, and the warders' were at once released. Another prisoner promptly telephoned the police, and every available member of the force was at once in pursuit." Yesterday's "Wanganui Herald says:—"From the moment the matter was reported on Monday afternoon every available man on the station I was practically on duty without a | break until last night, when those engaged to the northward were successful in running three of the menMcDonald, Moores and Howard—to earth near Kni Iwi. Every possible outlet from Wanganui to Waitotara on the one side and Turakina and Mangamahu on the other was guarded, and the intervening open country thoroughly scanned. The first intimation of the whereabout of the three men was furnished to Sergeant Dwyer by telephone message by the stationm'aster at Kai Iwi, who told him that one. of his suri'acement had seen three men in prison clothes come fjom the direction of the beach and cross the railway line about a mile this side of Kai Iwi. All men within call were at once despatched to the scene, both on horseback and bicycles, with the result that a successful capture was effected. The force at Kai Iwi included Constables Hughes, Clouston, Campbell and Ward. Acting on the information telephoned to the station, they made further inquiries in the locality, and heard that the men had crossed a big ridge about a mile beyond the hotel, towards the beach. They divided Clouston and Hughes making for the further side of the ridge, Constable i Ward going to the top, and Constable Campbell walking up the front. Wh.cn Constable Ward reached the top he noticed a lot of thick scrub in a small gully some distance away, and he ! beckoned to Campbell to go up the gully. Constable Campbell made straight for the scrub, and a littlq investigation revealed Moores lying down flat in the undergrowth. As soon as Moores heard Campbell he rose and made a dash through the bushes. The constable called to him to stop, but as he declined to do so Campbell let loose his six-shooter and fired over the man's head, at the same time calling to Ward to come down. Moores, who had dropped, then put up his hands and Campbell looked round and saw the other two in the bushes. These he covered with the revolver, while Constable Ward handcuffed them. The arrest was effected at about 5.30 o'clock. "The men said that as soon as they saw the police, and especially wher they heard the .revolver crack, they knew the game was up, McDonald saying that 'it was no good any man trying to clear when the "barker" spoke and "Seddon's halt" (meaning the order to the police to bail up) was sounded.' A vehicle was sent out to convey the party into town, and captors and captured reached, the police station at abou,t ten minutes to nine. All looked fagged, but the escapees specially so. They were barefooted and bareheaded, and had not had anything to eat since leaving the gaol until that evening. "They were naturally disappointed at their capture, and McDonald said they would never have been 'nabbed' if Moores had not shown himself on top of the ridge overlooking the hotel. "At the station they made light of their actual escape, one of them remarking with grim humour, that 'the warders went down like ninepins,' and if Gaoler Beasley had been there 'they supposed he would have been locked up as well,' as they rushed straight for his oflice. Their trouble was that they could not get the key of the storeroom to tit the door, and they said that they had wasted nearly half an hour in trying to get clothes. After leaving the gaol they made for Castlecliff, and along to Kai Iwi beach, spending the night in a big swamp. They avoided every habitation, and every sign of life, not caring-, as one of

them put it, '"to make a call in this uniform."

Not being able to get any clothes, and hearing the din increasing—'the incarcerated warders shouting and whistling, and the other prisoners rushing about —the quartette thought it was "time to get" (to quote the words of one of the captured trio), and they accordingly made a bolt for it. "There was a terrible row going on," said one of the men, "and we thought you fellows (meaning the police) would be over at any minute." The men declared that the escape had not been premeditated. The trio said they knew nothing of Thurston's whereabouts. Tie. had, after leaving the gaol, gone "on his own." It was suggested that perhaps Thurston had friends in the district, whereupon the youngest prisoner cynically remarked that "you can get plenty of friends when you have money in your pocket." "But Thurston has no- money," said an officer, to which Howard replied "I don't know so much about that." When Constable Campbell fired the shot, a Maori, Avho had accompanied the party, in the capacity of guide, saw Moores fall as if shot, and immediately danced arid shouted "Kai toa, kapai," meaning "serve you right, glad." Moores, however, was not hit, Campbell taking care to fire above him. Concerning Thurston, who is still at large, the latest information is that he passed through Foster's farm on Monday nig'lit, and was tracked by Constable Clark' past Fordell. There, however, the trail was lost, the man having apparently run to cover for the day. The locality is well guarded, and the officers are confident of securing him. Two of the escapees are men with previous convictions, and one is recently from the other side (Queensland), and is suspected by the police of being "a man with a history." The fact that four prisoners, presumably desperate men, were at large occasioned no small amount of excitement throughout the district, and it may safely be said that as an instance of gaol-breaking the affair was one of the most sensational that has occurred in the colony.