Sailor Jack Escapes City Jail Through Sawed Window
A prisoner known as 'Sailor Jack' saws through the bars of his cell and vanishes, leaving a gaping hole behind.
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.
Marshal Graham reports a bold jail delivery. John Melville, better known as 'Sailor Jack,' was found tending a boat for a Mr. Furlow and was placed in the city jail yesterday afternoon. Chief of Police Loughary had prepared extradition papers, as Jack is charged with sandbagging a man for $140. However, when the Marshal returned to the jail to lock the prisoner up, he found the bird had flown. One of the bars in the window had been sawed off and the sill whittled away, making an opening about ten inches wide. The window is some twelve feet above the ground, and there is little doubt the man was assisted from the outside. George Miller saw one of his boats missing this morning, which gives color to the theory that Melville made his escape by water.
“One of the bars in the window of the building and nearly been sawed off and the sill whittled away, making an opening in its widest part of about ten inches through which the prisoner could squeeze himself.”
Jail security has certainly evolved since the days of hand-sawing window bars, though the 'escape by water' remains a classic motif of Aberdeen's maritime history. While the specific lockup mentioned is long gone, the struggle between a transient population and local policing remains a constant theme in the city's civic life.
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