The Janitor Who Foiled a Ten-Man Jailbreak in Ellensburg
Prisoners had almost tunneled out of the county jail when a janitor sleeping in the sheriff's office heard the scraping—and made a promise they believed.
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.
ELLENSBURG, Wash. — An early-morning jail break at the county jail was narrowly averted by the vigilance of Janitor Elwood. In some manner the prisoners had secured a piece of iron and, with the use of table legs and other improvised tools, bored a hole in the wall. A few more minutes of work and the ten inmates would have been at liberty. Janitor Elwood, who sleeps in the sheriff's office, heard the noise made in digging and went outside to investigate. After calling the sheriff by telephone, he found the hole in the wall, and informed the diggers that the first man who poked his head out would be shot. Sheriff Thomas arrived in a few minutes, and the prisoners were returned to their cells.
“He informed the diggers that the first man who poked his head out would be shot.”
In 1903, a county jail's security depended on a janitor with a telephone and a convincing bluff. The story has the makings of a Western—except the hero was a man who normally cleaned the floors. Modern corrections facilities rely on sensors and steel, but the essential lesson remains: the weakest point is often the wall you didn't think to check.
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