The Jailbreak That Never Was: A Seattle Jail Security Crisis

Jailer Lackey yesterday prevented what he believed was a planned delivery of the jail. Several days ago there was an alarm that the jail was being tampered with. Nick Moran, a man who has been in the city jail for nearly two months on a charge of vagrancy, was caught in the act of sawing a hole through the floor of the front cell. This put the officers on their guard, and they were certain that he was making a way out for others besides himself. Very fortunately, the cells were in such a condition that the officers were able to watch the movements of the prisoners. While the prisoners in the cells were engaged in making their escape by crawling through the floors and the ceilings, they were interrupted by the officers. On inspecting the cells of Nolan and Thomas, who are awaiting trial on a charge of robbery, it was found that they had dug a hole through the brick wall from their cell into the front hall. Both of these men had been supplied with small paper on the inside, so that they would not be seen by the guards. On projecting their search through the jail, the officers found other evidences of a plan for a general delivery. In the cell of the murderer, there was a ball of iron, weighing five ounces, that had evidently been prepared for use on an officer, no doubt for use upon one of the officers. A heavy iron weight was also found in his cell. In one of the outer cells was found a chair filled with brick and mortar taken from the interior wall. A pair of shears that had evidently been used in tunneling, a short iron bar, pieces of pipe, and other tools were found secreted in various places about the jail. There are so many tough characters in the jail now that Under-Jailer Lackey will remain on duty all night to prevent any attempt that may be made at an escape.