The Man Who Tried to Break Out of Jail (And Failed)
Chester Collins, a convict serving time for assault, was caught trying to escape the Thurston County jail in January. He escaped, fled to Shelton, and immediately got into trouble again—landing him back in the Walla Walla Penitentiary.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The determination of the board to increase the output is to supply employment for a large number of prisoners crowding the institution at this time and also to supply a big demand for brick all over the Inland Empire, by reason of a large amount of building going on. A kiln is nearly ready to be burned and is expected to be ready for the market shortly.
The number of convicts in the prison was increased today by the arrival of two from Mason county, brought over this morning by Sheriff Forest. One, Chester Collins, will serve 10 years for assault with a deadly weapon, and the other, John Coss, will serve eight months for the same offense.
Collins was convicted of attempted robbery. He is the man who spent time in the Thurston county jail in January under the name of George Wilson. His time expired late in January and after his release he watched his chance and tried to deliver the other prisoners in the jail, but failed. He promised to leave town at once and did so, going to Mason county. Got into Trouble at Shelton.
He had no sooner arrived in Shelton than he got into the trouble which has landed him in the penitentiary. He attacked Harford Clarke about 10 o'clock one night holding him up at the point of a revolver and demanding he had on his person. Clarke when arrested no gave his name.
Collins's mother resides in Tacoma, Washington, present at the trial of her son in Shelton this week, being nearly broken up over his conviction. Collins is said to have served time in the penitentiary before from Pierce county.
The other prisoner, John Coss, was convicted of assault with intent to do bodily harm. He got into a row in a saloon in Shelton about a month ago and inflicted a scalp wound with a pocket knife on the head of a logger named James McKinney, whom he had never seen before.
This 1903 report highlights the chaotic nature of early 20th-century justice, where prisoners could seemingly walk out of county jails upon sentence expiration and immediately commit new crimes in neighboring towns. It mirrors modern concerns about recidivism and the gaps in the justice system that allow offenders to slip through the cracks between jurisdictions.
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