NEW SOUTH WALES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 852, 14 September 1864, Page 5

NEW SOUTH WALES

DARING ESCAPE FROM THE COOMA.

LOCK-UP,

The Mona?'uMercury, 19th August, says:—-

On Sunday evening, between six and seven o'clock, the inhabitants of Cooma were alarmed by a report that two prisoners had effected their escape from the hovel that is known by the name; of O'iown gaol. The rumour was soon discovered to be quite true, and it was also ascertained that the prison breakers were the two men who had been apprehended oa the 13;h of last month, by constables Morton and Saunders, at, Adtminaby, an! who had been remadded from week fc> week on suspicion of bei^g the parties who murdered two hawkers in Victoria in A'ovember last, 'i'he names they gave at the time nftheir apprehension were George Riley and James cmitti, bat Smith, afterwards state 1 his nsme to be William Dean,. and ii!<y said his was John Cook, The escape, so for as we Inve been able to-obtain particulars, appears to have been effects;! in the following Hianuer:—Thf escapees were in a cell where several other prisoners were confined, among whom is one William Iveed. who is undergoing a, sentence of three mouths for illegally vidh>s a horse. Since Beed's cozfiaciaent his wi'e has bsea allowed to see him and converse with hlitt occasionally, aad en Sunday "she was permit'sd to talk with her husband in the cell. '■ n that evening the acting gaoler, as uwial, had seen that the two prisoners who afterwards escaped were securely h".uclcußed. liming the whole of Sunday one of them had feigned sickn;ss, and did not rise from his bed, whilst t^e otb.fr me, joined by one or more of the inmates of the eel', amused iii-nselfby Kinging very loudly curing the latter part of the afternoon. It has since b:ea found cut that while tbp singing was going on, the prisoner, who pretended to be unWfiU. was bu?y removing the stones at the prison— buildiug near to where he was lying, and, on inspecting the cell. afterwards, a. large hole was discovered, amply sufficient tondtuit of a man. passing through he.d only one raore stone beea displaced. The scting-gaoler found, planted in thy celling of the cell, a broken shfav blade, which it is quite clear had been used for the purpose of removing the stone and plaster However,, it seeros that the one stone spoken of impeded the progress of the work, and the gaoler beiujr in. and out of the room, it is presumed theardsf* gave up the. attempt for fear c-f being1 detected. Immediately before dusk, Mrs Heed was informed that she must retire, and the aciing gaoler opened tha cell-door for the purpose of tettlup- her out, when one oi the prisoners rusneel upon- M.r irwin, an<], dealing him a h.svy blow in the stomach, knocked him backwards, when the other prisoner followed, am) both ran up the bill behind the prison. Irwin soon recovered hitnselF, seize i his revolver, and staited after them. He oeared them within twenty yards, and called upon them to stand, but they took no. heed, and the acting gaoler fired. At this time he heard one of the prisoners say, '' That was near my cur, he will shoot us, >J to which, the other repiied, '■ You follow my track and there's no fear o'you." The first prisoner referred to did hoc act upon, his male's suggestion, and-thsythen took contrary directions, one going round the spur of the range behind the lockup and the other making for the road leading to Kian'Jra from the old Lord Raglan public hou?e. The ajtiig gaoler having fired all his shots ineffectual! v, turned back and made the best of his way to tha police barracks to give the alarm, and senior Sergeant O'Donohoe, Sergeant Lentkell, Constables'Carroll, Saunders, Ford, Lynch, and some others whose names we cannot ascertain, were soon in pursuit. The report of the discharge of firearms soon excited the attention o several of the townspeople, and Mr fdor.tague acd others st.ar.te 1 out to inquire what was the m itter. Mr Montague, on hearing that two prisoners had got away, galloped over the range in. .the direction of the Dairyman's Plain, under the i impression that the men. -were handcufteu, and that he uiiaht overtake them. He soon returned to the lock-up not having seen anything- of them. Constable Carroll then asked Mr Montague to iecd his horse to a young man named Thomas Holyhead, an ostler in the employ of Mr Solomoa, an Abe request was immediately complied -with. Carroll and Ho'yhead roae oil along the road be,hind Levy's old store, and, when ueaving the top of the hill, the latter noticed something moving in, the bushes a shoi t distance from the roadside. Ha c died Carroli'd attention to it, saying; it looked like a bird ; bat it turned out to be the prisoner known as iiiley or Cjok, who having observed his pursuers, was eudeavori«a; to liyle his face with bis coat. Carroll immediately presented his revolver and told iiiley he woiild shoot him dead if he dared to stir, at" the same time discharging one of the chambers in the air.' He then dismounted and secured his prisoner. A crcrwi soon gathered around, and Ri!ey was safely. lodged in the lockup. The place v,-h.-.re he was retaken is nofc more than 800 or 409 yards from the prison ; ana it is strange that he did not try to Ret away, as he hat! plenty of time to do so between "irviug's giving up the chaseand the hour of his being retakenMeanwhile, the prisoner Smith spem-^ta have made good use of his opportunity, for, although' careful search was raade for hourcLaftor^saj wards. A 1? traces of Jfrn- co'uW. be foaki, and it is csuppoeed that, layered by the rough, nature of the ranges with which that part. of Coomit is sur-. rounded,'he was successful in ■finding a hiJin£~ placa. On Monday'morning the search for Smith, was renewed, every member of the force that cittld be spaced b-ing ovdered ou that particular duty. In'the evening about seven o'clock, they returned unsuccessful, and were hardly out of their saddles before Mr Thomas Tozsr, of Arable, arrived in town with news that he bad seen the escaped prisoner near the White Hook, Arable, about an hour and a half before. Three men. were soon mounted and started to the place named; but the bird had Hows, and we believe the trcopers are still trying to trace, although, s> far, unsuccessfully.