A Wooden Gun and a Jailbreak: The Hunt for Thomas Blanck

The search for Thomas Blanck, the famous jail breaker, continues. The officers have not yet captured him. He was seen near Renton, and a woman gave a detailed description of him. He went to the place kept by a Mr. Bassett and asked for work and food. He offered cents in payment, the amount that he took from Night Jailer Yerbury. Before returning to the heavy timbers, Blanck told Mr. Bassett that he had a companion waiting for him on the hill. Later in the afternoon of the same day, a man answering Blanck's description met children on the road to Kenton and obtained food from them. Between 7 and 8 o'clock, a fellow that all the officers think was Ford was found in Dr. H. B. Bagley's barn near Kenton. He took to flight, and although shot at with shotguns and Winchester rifles, made his escape into the lowlands near Black River Junction. Sheriff Woolery was on his trail yesterday morning but lost the track in the woods. He was still in the country last evening, and news was expected at any moment of interesting developments. At the time of writing, only three of the nine men who got away have been captured. It was stated that Williams had been hauled in at or near Puyallup or Auburn, but developments yesterday showed that the captive was Frank Klinefelter, the horse thief. The prisoner was captured by a hunter named Hayes near Kent about 5 o'clock in the afternoon and kept at that town until yesterday morning, when he was brought to this city and locked up at the county jail. Following is a list of those who are still at large: The man Blanck; Frank Hart, the bunko man; Charles Williams, the alleged burglar; F. W. Brown, the counterfeiter; Willie Holmes, negro murderer; and E. H. Ford, alias Manning, alias 'The Smoke House Kid,' commonly called the 'Famous' burglar. How Klinefelter Fled. After Klinefelter was locked up in the jail, he told his story of the escape and subsequent wanderings until Hayes met him. 'When I saw that the jail doors were open,' said Klinefelter, 'I concluded that I might as well go. When I got outside the courthouse I left the gang and made my way through out to the lake and hung around the wharf at the foot of Yesler avenue all night. In the morning I boarded the steamer City of Renton and begged my way to the landing, which is some distance from the town, and made my way to camp where some Indians were living. There I got some Indian bread, which I found pretty good and tasted just like hard tack. It was pretty good. When I got around to it I made my way across the country to the railroad track and then went toward Kent. Part of the time I walked on the track and once got a ride with a man named M. Mack. He looked at me pretty hard as if wondering who I was. After riding some distance I got out of the buggy and started making my way to Kent where I was stopped. I do not walk out of a jail when the door opens.' Miss Nettie caught every peculiarity that Blanck has and missed only one point. She did not pay attention to the color of the hat her visitor wore. Mr. Bassett and Meredith followed Blanck up the side hill before the trail was lost. It appears, however, very probable that Blanck lay in hiding on the hill until the middle of the afternoon, when he came down to the road and got food from school children. This last information was obtained last night from the children. Every Outlet Guarded. The police are in the city only a few days. Sheriff Woolery was of the opinion that Blanck was still in the country. Word was received from a reliable party this morning that five or six shots were fired in the vicinity of Black River Junction about 11 o'clock last night. Who they were fired by or the meaning of the fight could not be learned. The officers at both Renton and Black River Junction were notified. It is probable, however, that nothing serious occurred, or Chief of Police Rogers would have had official notification. It may sound like a sensational story, yet it is true that Thomas Blanck, even while in the county jail, was planning to rob the Snohomish bank, if he ever got his liberty. He told one man, the only one so far as can be discovered in whom he confided, that if he could get out of the jail he would take a ship to British Columbia and on the way rob the bank at Snohomish. Many people who have seen the 'fake gun' think that the cylinder, barrel and handle were turned on a lathe and that it was smuggled into the jail. The reason for smuggling in a wooden instead of a real gun is this: If the job did not work, the whole matter would be thought of as a joke of only Tom Blanck, and if it did work a wooden gun was just as good as a real one. The board of county commissioners yesterday made an order affirming the reward offered by Sheriff Van de for the capture of the escaped prisoners. H. T. is acting as night jailer in place of Jerry Yerbury.