Daring Escape from the County Jail
Two prisoners blinded the jailer with a chemical powder before stealing his weapon and vanishing into the woods.
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.
A bold break for liberty was made Sunday evening by the two prisoners in the county jail in Aberdeen. They were the notorious R. E. Lewis, under sentence of three years in the penitentiary, and Frank Henry, awaiting trial for grand larceny. Jailer Pettijohn brought their supper to them as usual and stood against the door. Lewis came forward apparently to take the meal, but instead threw a substance into Pettijohn's eyes, blinding him. Henry quickly seized him to prevent him from drawing the weapon he carried in his belt. They then stunned him by hitting him over the head, walked out, and headed up the hill, disappearing in the woods north of the city. They were spotted passing the residence of C. W. Goodell at a leisurely pace, carrying the jailer's revolver. Sheriff Carter has offered a reward of $500 for their capture.
“They were the notorious R. E. Lewis and Frank Henry... They then stunned him by hitting him over the head and leisurely walked out.”
Jail breaks were a common feature of frontier justice, but the specific mention of escaping into the woods north of the city highlights how rapidly the urban footprint of Aberdeen ended at the edge of the wilderness in the 1890s.
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