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ESCAPED FROM SING SING.

New York, October 11. At three o'clock in the morning of OiUbu 7 the e, ntthioitd nei wiii<=tl( of the finous oil ng Prison, thirty miles up the Mudfoii f oui New York began to scieech jike i «-oul in agoiu l? n m wis filling in ton out" It 1 ished the pii=on wills In i dming wind tint howled among the trees ind the pnson windows through the lion bus with the full force of a gilt But high above the shriek of the tempest thf sin ill slunk (1 the »uen continued iwakciung from the i rleep seventeen hiincned ol Net \oik's most dingeious onmimls li'iboied \ ltlnn the pii'on w IIU ind ending its warning thiough the sto in to «\ ej hamlet within a radius of five miles. Toi ten minutes tlie whittle =eie lined its me=s An e*< ipe had been milt from the gun pi nitenti in romess th it had long boasted ol the. sccui t\ ot its bolts and litis, ind the whistle gue notice to etei\ c6n--.tibl" ind sin nil within heirmsr tn be on the w itch with loaded gun The distinl guild's formed inVvtmed img moie ol 1 «s complete stretching aw t\ beyond the pnson an 1 i scoie of "wtTdeis from the pnson it *e~li b at through the 1 ind in eteit li i l ection But it "was useless rue JiLlng con victs hid bioken horn the 'stionjiold sailed the wall md li id succeeded in the most despente d l«h foi freedom eiei known m the histoi> of the. peni tentiai\ The leioids show whit the\ hid lo gain In lli*»n flight The nen wele ' Big Bill ' Gieen lged 29 sentenced Much 1909 tot highway fobhei \ to foui md ahilf yens Tsi doie Blum igod 20 sentenced Januirt 1909 foi larceiu to ten >eirs Joseph ■White lged 22 stitencel Tebiuin 1909, foi lohbery to t n years "\\ altei Buiiigin, iged 23 sentenced July 1908, for and blickmailto foui teen yens Robeit aged 23 sentenced Novembei 1909 foi liicem , to in indeterminate penod not less > than two and a-half years arid '■ ho more I tb m foui yens and ten months

The escaxie was made, not from the prison cells, but from the administration building, within the prison yard. Sing Sing is overcrowded, an<l for some time the second' floor of the administration building, formerly used as a chapel, has been utilised as an improvised dormitory. One hundred and ninetyfive convicts sleep in the room. On the night of the escaue they were guarded by two warders, Ed. Foley and Ferneau Drum. The dormitory is 114 ft. long and- 70 ft. wide, with rows of military cots extending from the walls. Foley's position as chief guard was a raised dais that formerly was the chapel altar. He sat at a desk, connected . bv telephone with the main office of the prison. Half a dozen incandescent lights burn throughout the night, and Foley from his position could see every prisoner constantly. Drum was the patrol guard. His duty was to inarch up and down the floor between the rows of cots, wearing rubber shoes so that be would not disturb the prisoner's sleep, but keeping a watch for any whispered conspiracy that might be hatching. Opposite the platform is a small room, formerly the retiring room of the clergyman, but now used- as a lavatory. On the night of the escaue everything was as quiet as usual within the dormitory, except for the rattle of the windows caused by the storm and the noise of the whistling wind. There had been no cause to suspect any of the prisoners. About one o'clock the convict Blum left his cot, as the rules permit, and entered the lavatory. Then, presumably according to a prearranged plan,, concocted nobody knows how. Green followed him, which the regulations allow. A word about Green, who was the ring-leader in the escape. He is a man of desperate character and of gigantic strength. He measures onlv sft. 7in.. but carries a weight of 18st 21bs. He is one of the champion strong men of the State, and it is saiel that nobody really knows the power of his muscles, for he has never shown their full capacity. While serving his sentence he had managed to gain the favor of tlie prison-guards by acting as spy upon his fellow-prisoners. It was believed that prison life had taken the spirit out of him, and he was considered, one of the most docile of the convicts. But developments that night showed he had been misjudged. A moment or two later after Green and Blum had entered the lavatory Green returned. He approached the guard. Drum, pointed to the ante-room, and whispered:—

"A man sick in there. He's pretty bad." Then he turned hack into the lavatory, Drum following. The door of the lavatory is thick and noise deadening. As it swung to after Drum had entered, Green turned suddenly and struck Drum on the temple with his fist. It was a terrific blow, delivered with all Green's strength. Drum fell without littering a sound. Green caught him in his arms and laid him auietly on the floor-. The warders inside the prison arc armed only with long truncheons, no firearms being allowed them for fear they might fall into possession of the prisoners. Green drew Drum's truncheon, . ; and. struck him several times on the head, sending the guard into long oblivion. The time of the assult was measured in seconds, Green, leaving Drum .a huddled, bleeding heap, walked guickly into the dormitory. The other guard, Foley, had heard indistinct sounds coming from the lavatory, but he did not suspect the true reason. As Green entered the dormitory Foley had risen from his seat, and was walking down the steps of the dais to investigate what was going on. Green met him-, and before the guard could guess the real purport of the convict's advance, Green's fingers were round his throat. i Then Foley knew. He struggled desperately, but Green had him at his mercy. The guard was hardly more than a toy in the grasp of his powerful convict. Foley wtisted and turned, trying to drow his club, but Green held hiur, and, exerting his strength, Green threw Foley heavily on the floor. The keeper's head struck the edge of the platform and slightly dazed him. Green took advantage of the momentary respite, and. drawing a handkerchief from Foley's pocket, he gagged, the warder. Then, nicking him up in his arms, he carried Foley to his cot arid wrapped a blanket tightly round him. Foley rested on the cot as helpless as a mummy.

"While the fighting was proceeding, the other convicts in the room did nothing. They sat up in their beds, watching the struggle, but made no attempt to help either of the contestants. They were silent, stolid witnesses of everything from tart to finish. They did not even leave their cots, and as Green flung Foley on the bed no crowd gathered about. The prison discipline reacted automatically on the battalion of felons. Prom under the mattress of his couch Green dragged a long string of .rough Manila hemp cord,' such as is used in tying heavy packages of naper. It was the same kind that is kept in the nrison store-room. How Green secured l it is a mystery. His own prison work was in the laundry, where his strength was utilised in turning a" mangle. Using part of the rope. Green tied the warder securely to the bed. He wound and,rewound the rope, knotted and rektiofted it, arid when he had finished Foley was helpless until outside assistance should release him. Green once more raised his mattres* and drew forth a finely-tempered saw. Tt was found afterwards in the lavatory. It was one of the. kind used in thp prison machine-shop for cutting through metal. How Green obtained it is as unknown as how he got the rone He shook'the saw before the eyes of Foley, who, recovered from his fall, could see eyerythiug. Then Green dressed, and T saw, in hand, he moved to the lavntovv. -At the door he turned and .snoke his first- words since the work of escape began:— "Boys," he said to the other convicts, "anybody who wants to can leavo tonight. I'll bo back soon."

The prisoners made no response, and Green entered the lavatory, where Blum had remained, . watching' the micunsdoii's "DrliiiV., ' In the lavatory is a window; protected'-;l)y ii'on : bars ]]in thick'.'. Green beg'ari)!ta saw through the middle liarv "'TTicisef itr : the .dormitory could hear tlie'rasp of the saw against tlie iron. Foley, tied to his hod, heard it, but was powerless. Drum, unconscious at Green's feet, was so injured that he could have done nothing had consciousness returned. One hundred and ninety-three convicts in the dornuton continued then silence. Foi neuh twenty minutes the sawing contin icd Then (he bar was cut through it tlie bottom Green grasped the se\ereel end, md, using all hi.4 strength, he' tvlsted the iron to one side, leaving a cleai spice of Win as the doorw to hbeitS Then Green and Blum enteied the doimitory. As Blum diessed, 1 Gieci spoke again to his fellow-convicts —I

All nho" w ilit to get out, come lions" ', '' It is i lbm h;k .We f ict tliat only three responded* tbf, the invitation —White, Branigrn, Jiud Borland Green took from his cot the iemamder of his rope and led Blum and the three recruits back to'thji laVntdiy H ilf-way then 1 , Green suddenly stopped ind returned to Foley He went tluough the warder's pockets, sec in ug£° in money. He also took the 'truncheon. Then lie walked lo the dais and out the telephone connection. Using tho truncheon, he marched ilon„ ihe length of the dontiitoi\ and knocked out all the incmdescent lights. Not a sound left tlie room. -Tlie*storm smothereel every noise. :"■.■'■ ;' :

The five how eaitered the lavatory. They dropped the.rope, which was long enough tb] bo'br'atde'd, from the windowto the grbiihjJ,-;.-a«distanee of 20ft. They slid dow-n the: i ! bpe, and were in the prison yard.':. Danger \of detection now was greater tliaiiiit had been in the dormitory. Three rsides of the yard are surrounded' bv 'a ! . Avail of masonry 30't high. The. fourth side abuts the' Hudson River,'Vwh'ere'- the wall is only 3 ; 't high, topped .b.yV'i'ron pickets. At each angle of the '.'\rnll, and on the river front as we'll, are:'sentry-boxes. They are like '"infiiiatiire' lighthouses, with glass look-out windows, circumscribing the boxes' at'tho:-height of a man' heael. The sentries',''.'ar'thed with rifles, thus have an liuohst.rutitjcd view in all directions. •;■. •'•' •-'■;• ■'■-"- >.■. -. The only liiie. of- - escape was over the river tvall. • 'To'; reach the wall, the five convicts' had •to pass within speaking distance of■-two /sentry boxes, but they got tojthb wall' unobserved. Two more sentries guarded :tlie river wall, but the prisoners': luck held! Nobody saw them. The rain; heating against the glass wiiu dows-bf'the sentry'boxes, blurred what little- view'-of creeping, shadowy forms there might have been in the dark night. The howling wind covered the inevitable noise the prisoners must have made in clambering over the wall. The convicts, prisoners no longer, dropped from the wall into the shallowshore water of the river, and waded, presumably, along the wall, directly under the' sentries. They must have done this, unless a boat was waiting for them to ferry them a mile across the Hudson. The complete disappearance of the prisoners causes a belief that a boat might have awaited them. It was one o'clock when the attack on the first warder was made, and it was half-past one whan the convicts got away. For an hour and a-half nothing occurred. The guard Foley remained tied to the bed, the other guard, Drum, lay unconscious, and the prisoners in the dormitory waited quietly for something to happen. Then, one of the convicts, a West Indian negro, named Rollins, decided to attempt to get away himself. The rope was still hanging from the lavatory window, and the negro let himself down. Once in the prison yard, however, he lost his way. He wandered round a few moments, and could not discover the direction of the river. It .was too dark for him to see, and as he crawled about, with the rain pouring on him, he became frightened. His courage wilted, and he began to shout. Seeing the outline of one of the sentry boxes, just above him, he jumped to his feet and called to the guard, telling him what had happened. The guard took the negro to the superintendent of the prison, and the alarm was sent out. Then the superintendent dressed, and hastened to the dormitory with several warders. They turned (in reserve lights, and found everything quiet as the grave. Ail the prisoners were feigning sleep. Every warder that could" be spared was sent out on the hunt, but although the search has continued without intermissiomthe fugitives have not been captured.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM19101205.2.4

Bibliographic details

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10629, 5 December 1910, Page 1

Word Count
2,180

ESCAPED FROM SING SING. Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10629, 5 December 1910, Page 1

ESCAPED FROM SING SING. Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10629, 5 December 1910, Page 1