The Jailbreak of John Dryden
A notorious burglar exploits a local jail's lax security by disguising himself as a visiting evangelist to walk out the front door.
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.
John Dryden, alias Hawthorne, alias O'Neill, the notorious housebreaker, who made a daring leap from a train while being brought back from the Walla Walla penitentiary, coolly walked out of the county jail yesterday. A party of evangelists who hold services at the jail were admitted to the corridor, and when the missionaries left, Dryden simply walked out with them. The jailer, opening the doors, was fooled by Dryden’s assumed sacerdotal character. The escape was not noticed until evening, when the night jailer found a lay figure made of clothing on the cot in Dryden's cell. Three other prisoners eventually revealed the method by which Dryden made his exit.
“Dryden's assumed sacerdotal character was sufficient to deceive the turnkey.”
Jail breaks often reveal the underlying stresses and human failings of the justice system. While security protocols have evolved significantly, the gap between bureaucratic routine and human cunning remains a constant theme in Seattle's history of incarceration.
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