OCR Interpretation

The Stark County Democrat. (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, June 29, 1900, WEEKLY EDITION, Image 1

Image and text provided by Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH

Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028490/1900-06-29/ed-1/seq-1/

What is OCR?

Thumbnail for

it&& (tixxxmiv Jlemcrmtt
Auditor's Office 5-1-99
Hole Had Not Been Fixed From Escape of
Three Others Recently
One of Them the Horse Thief That Has Given Sheriff Zaiser n
Great Amount of Trouble and Who Escaped From Him
Once Before The Other the Massillon Young
Man Who Was Accused ot RapePar-
Y ticulars as to How the Deed
Was Accomplished.
Two prisoners made their escapo
Wednesday evening about 5:30 oYlork
trom the county Jail. Their dash to
liberty remained undiscovered nearly
half an hour, until a prisoner, who said
he missed the men, Informed Sheriff
Zaiser through a note which he handed
to a servant girl. The fellows pursued
the same methods In gaining their free
dom which was observed by three pris
oners who escaped during the evening
of May 31st. The sheriff Immediately
"Jnstltuted a rigorous search for the
escaped men, but no trace of them was
secured. The police also were notified
and the officials In surrounding towns
were called up by long" distance tele
phone and requested to make every
effort to recapture the men. Deputies
scoured -the country round about, hut
the men hod seized upon the opportuni
ty with eagerness and probably hid
themselves or got so far away from
the jail that search for them would
result unsuccessfully, at least for the
night season.
The escape of the prisoners was made
In daylight, and at an hour when pedes
trians were still passing along North
Court Street, and the fact that they
were not discovered making their exit
from the Jail window remains as a sort
of a mystery to the Bherlff and his as--if
st ants.
The window through which Evan
"Wallace, Frank Moore and John Flynn
had made their departure' from the
corridors of the Jail, was used by the
men who escaped. The bars which had
been sawed out nearly a month ago
had not been replaced, although pre
cautions had been taken by the sheriff
Inside of the Jail that no other prison
ers should escape thereby. The open
ing which the other prsloners had made
through McLean's cell also remained
without having the bars replaced or
repaired, and this also assisted the men
In their dash for freedom. Once out
side they easily made their way from
the building where they might elude
such pursuers as may choose to hunt
for them.
The men who made their escape were
Samuel Shortland, who was charged
with horsestealing, and Edward CK1
lagher, who recently was apprehended
at Massillon on a serious charge. Nei
ther of the men were under Indictment,
although their cases were to have been
heard at the oncoming session of the
grand Jury. The men were seen within
the prison walls at supper time, which
at the Jail Is at 5 o'clock, or shortly
thereafter. The first Intimation which
the sheriff had of their escape was
through a prisoner named Brodfleld,
who stated that he did not see the
men gain entrance to the cell, but miss
ed them vv.hen he arose from a table
S'here he had been writing a letter. Ho
aid he Immediately wrote a note and
had It dispatched to the Bherlff, Inform
ing him of the occurrence. The Jail of
ficials are somewhat perplexed and are
somewhat dubious as to Bradfleld's
story, believing that he really knows
more than he wishes to tell concerning
the escape of the prisoners,
The cell through jvhlch the men es
caped was the one occupied at one
time by McLean, through which three
prisoners sawed their way to liberty be
fore, by removing bars from the rear of
it with saws which were afterwards
found In the Jail. The cell Is known as
No. 4, and the sheriff stated that since
the previous escapade of prisoners he
l kept It constantly locked. There were
live cells in the lower part of the Jail
i which remained In use, for
there were five prisoners to be lncarcer
i ated In cells, the remainder having
their grating and blind or outer doors
locked, as they were unused.
About 6 o'clock Wednesday evening
the sheriff's servant hanCd him a let
ter and at the same time a note, which
she stated had been given her by a
prisoner named Bradfleld. The sheriff
opened the note Immediately and
scanned Its contents. It contained the
Information respecting the escape of
the two prisoners. He quickly ran to
the jail office and calling assistants
in he Ordered the three remaining pris
oners who were in the middle corridor
of the Jail lacked up, and search was
instituted, for the two missing ones;
Examination was made of the cells
and the outer door of the cell next to
the prisoner Bradfleld, and used for
merly by McLean, showed that It had
been tampered with. Light was brought
hi and in the blind or outer door locU
y was found a bole about two inches in
uiumuitsr, BUHivicuuy mrc tur'u. jjeroup
to, reach inside, disarrange the looking
lever .and open It. The door was flung
open and the grating door Inside was
.examined. The Jock in this 'door also
v ... , U i , . . J
had been tampered with In the same
manner. But it appears that the men
had been unable to open It In that man
ner, and two portions of the steel bars
In the lower1 part of the door were saw
ed through, leaving an aperture large
enough for the men to pass easily
through. The remainder of the story
was easily added, for the hole In the
rear of the cell, sawed by the former
escaping prisoners, still remained open,
and the bars which had also been sawed
from the window remained the Bame as
before, and were not repaired. Only a
closed window remained as the last
Impediment to the men, and they eas
ily raised this and then squeezed their
bodies through the opening and climbed
off the window sill outside and swung
themselves down to the walk below.
Just when the men tampered with
the locks In the doors or did the sawing
of the bars from the grating door, re
mains unknown and will probably re
main a mystery. Upon close examina
tion of the lock of the blind door, It was
dlscovererd thagfa piece of paper of
the same color as the paint which cov
ered the outer door had been pasted
over the hole In the lock, which would
deceive almost any one passing along
the corridor, and . this probably ac
counted for the fact' that the broken
lock had not been discovered before.
The holes in the two locks In the
doors appeared to have been made
with some small bar or thin chisel. The
appearance of the ragged edged hole
Indicates that the bar had probably
beentjplaced In the key hole In the lock
and then the bar pulled outward and
the thick metal covering pried outward.
The bar In the outer door was easily
pushed back so as to effiict Its opening.
The grating door lock did not respond
to their efforts, and discerning the
cause to be above, they naturally dis
covered that the shoving bar, used to
lock the cells at night, or when they
remained unused, had been pushed for
ward and the door could not be opened.
They then directed their attention to
the bars of the door and producing
some saws they severed two of the
bars Just below the center of the door.
This afforded them an opening proba
bly fourteen Inches high and about a
foot wide. The escape was then easily
maae through the hole In the rear of the
cell and the opening In the bars of the
A News-Democrat reporter called at
the Jail shortly after .the reported es
cape of the prisoners and was conduc
ted through the corridor and to the cell
through which the two men made their
escape. The outer door naturally re
mained open, for the lock had been de
stroyed by the men who had tampered
with It. The Inside grating door was
Just as It probably remained when the
men sawed their way through It. The
door was still held by a bar, but the
lock had been broken and a large hole
had been made In the outside portion
Just where the key holo formerly was.
A thorough search was made In the
corridor and other places for the bars
which had been removed from the grat
ing door, but they were not to be found
at that time. There was not even a
speck of metal upon the floor which
would Indicate that the men had Just
recently tampered with the locks In
the door.
The natural conclusion of the sheriff
as well as others who examined the
operations on the cell doors, Is that the
work was, probably done quite a while
ago, and that as the blind door remained
unopened, and everything appeared all
right frorn tho outBlde, through the
pastjng of paper over the large hole
made by the prisoners, the fellows were
waiting a favorable opportunity to
make their escape. They were certain
ly aided by other prisoners, It Is be
lieved, for the men had been assembled
in the large or. hall room of tho lower
portion of the Jail during the evening at
supper time, and all five had received
their portions of the food and disposed
of It. It was after the supper hour that
the men got away, and at a time when
the sheriff himself was known to be
engaged at the discussion of his even
ing meal, and when no attendants were
probably within hearing distance If any
noise should result from their escape.
The escape was well planned and It was
a remarkably successful one consider
ing the risks which the men endured
in jumping out of the outside corridor
window and entering upon a street In
daylight which was vraveled by men.
They were not presumed to be waiting
the ,nlght season, to make their escape,
as they woujd be locked within, their
cells about 7 o'clock, and the chances
would likve to be .taken, jbef ore that
hour or not at all. It bm been custom -
i jSK
nry for tho sheriff or his assistants to
visit the Jail every evening at a speci
fied hour and lock the prisoners In their
cells with both the shoving bars and
the door lock, precautions taken at all
The sheriff had not made an exam
ination of the Interior of the cell Wed
nesday evening, but said he would wait
until Thursday morning and daylight,
when a thorough Investigation would
be made. He stated that he tried the
south corridor door, to unlock It, but
that tho lock did not yield to tho Inser
tion of the key and turning It, and he
is of the opinion that the men had
tampered with that lock, but that they
were probably frightened away and
paid no more attention to that door, but
directed their attention to the McLean
cell, through which a large opening
had already been made through rear
A News-Democrat reporter convers
ed with the prisoner Bradfleld, who Is
said to have first discovered the de
parture of the men. He said:
"I was seated at a table In the hall
writing a letter from the dictation of
a fellow prisoner. Both Shortland and
Gallagher had been with us. I did not
pay especial attention to them until I
got through writing, when I found
they had left the Jail through the Mc
Lean cell. I never saw them working
at the doors. I certainly would have
Been them If they had done It during
the day. I cannot say how they did the
work or whether or not they had
assistance. They never confided their
escape to mo or other prisoners, so far
as I know. Their cell is next to mine,
and I never saw them at the door of
the McLean cell."
Samuel Shortland was recently ap
prehended at Homestead, Pa., where
the sheriff secured him. He was
charged with horse stealing. A horse
was stolen about a month ago from a
resident of Minerva, named "W. F.
Kinney. Shortland had been In that
vicinity for some time, but his disap
pearance was noted the morning after
the horse was missing. It was thought
he had the stolen horse in his charge.'
Word was sent by the sheriff to various
towns and shortly afterward he re
ceived word from Hopedale, In Harri
son county, that the man was there and
under arrest, and that the horse and
buggy had been recovered. The sheriff
went there and took Shortland In
charge and locked him In a cell over
night In the city prison. There was no
other method of disposing of the man,
for there was no other place of con
finement within many miles. The sher
iff was reluctant In turning his pris
oner over to the authorities- for Incar
ceration there, but they assured him
that the building was safe and he
would not escape. The following morn
ing when the sheriff went after his pris
oner, 'he found' that Shortland had
broken open tho door and escaped.
Nothing was heard from him until in
formation was received from Home
stead, Pa., stating that ofTlcers had ar
rested him there. Shortland was plac
ed In the county Jail on June Bth, and
ho did not appear to be a very obstrep
erous prisoner.
Edward Gallagher was arrested at
Massillon and brought to the county
Jail May 31st, the day preceding the
evening when tho three prisoners made
their escape. He was arrested in the
west end city on the charge of rape.
His crime was detailed and published
In the papers of that date.
Three prisoners remained In the jall
after the departure of tho two men
Wednesday evening, Bradfleld, who
discovered their escape, a man named
Baldwin and another named Hughes.
Why they made no attempt to follow
the other men Is not known. The
sheriff Is convinced that the escape
was a prearranged plan among the
prisoners and that they certainly were
acquainted with the affairs conducted
by the men who escaped, It Is not be
lieved that tho breaking open of the
door locks or the sawing of the bars of
the grating door could have been ac
complished without the semblance of
noles, and the other prisoners are be
lieved to know something about the cir
cumstances. Said Sheriff Zaiser, Wednesday even
"As soon as the three men escaped I
called the attention of the commission
ers to the condition of the Jail. It was
arranged that as Boon as court adjourn
ed, and the prisoners disposed of, the
proper repairs would be made. My as
sistants and myself took all the precau
tionary measures toward averting es
cape through the cell In which the rear
bars had been removed, and kept all
the doors of unused cells locked so that
not the least opportunity should pre
sent Itself to the prisoners to escape
or In any manner work at the sawing
business. The men I believe had made
their escape an hour before I was In
formed through the note from Brad
fleld, and they certainly had the ad
vantage of a big start before the depu
ties were sent out. The prisoners cer
tainly muy know something about the
As to the manner In which the pris
oners secured the saws cannot be ex
plained by the attendants of the Jail.
The gre.V.ist caution ,1s observed In
preventing the admission of people who
might carry with them any appliances
and hand them over to the prisoners,
with which they could effect their es
cape. It Is the opinion of the sheriff
that the saws which severed the grat
ing bars probably remained In tho Jail
after the former escape of the three
prisoners, and that they might have
been hid at such a place which was not
searched or was not believed to be a
safe one for hiding them, thus deceiv
ing the officers.
The report of the escape of the two
men traveled rapidly over the city and
hundreds of citizens visited the rear of
the Jail and looked at the window
through which the men made their
egress. The excitement was only
equaled to the experience of the offi
cers on May 31st, at 6 o'clock In the
evening, when Moore, "Wallace and
Flynn made their escape. The hours
of the escape of both batches of prison
ers was about tho same, just previous
to being locked up for the night, only
the former escaping prisoners chose
a luter hour when dusk' had set In and
Court street was very little traversed
by pedestrians. The three men en
tered McLean's cell, which was then
open, squeezed themselves through a
hole made by sawing through bars In
the rear, and then made their exit
through the hole occasioned by the
sawing out of the two window bars.
The escape of the men was not known
to the sheriff then until probably half
an hour or more later when It was time
to lock the men In their cells.'
The following day a bundle contain
ing numerous saws and other materials
for jail breaking was seized by the
sheriff and the two pieces of window
bars also were found In tho corridor.
AH night the deputies searched, but
failed to find the men. About thirty
hours after, however, Wallace was re
arrested by Deputy Harvey Zaiser.
while the escaped prisoner was visiting
his wife and child In the west end. He
was taken to the jail and locked up
and afterwards sentenced to the pen
itentiary with Robert McLean, on be
ing found guilty of highway robbery.
Flynn and Moore remained uncaptured
and repeated reports were received by
the sheriff respecting their presence
at various points, but upon Investigat
ing It was found the men wanted were
not arrested. Two strange boys were
apprehended at Oneida and brought to
this city, the officials down there be
lieving they were Moore and Flynn.
But they were not and the boys were
discharged. The two men who escaped
then are still at large. The prisoners
who escaped Wednesday night are be
lieved to have received some outside
assistance, but 'In what way the Jail offi
cials are unable ' to state. Athorough
Investigation will be instituted by the
sheriff at once.
They Will Count tho Money.
Col. George Hay. of Columbus, and
Julius "Whiting, Jr., of Canton, who have
been appointed by Auditor of State Gil
bert to examine the Society for Savlncs
of Cleveland, left for that city Thursday
iiiuriiuiK " ut'in uieir duties tnjs after
noon. The examination will consume IB
tO IS dfl.Vft In nniintlnn. mnnava A-omlt-
Ing securities and comparing collaterals.
iimy win men mime a iuii report to
HJt.WHt.UWlW, , . ,. ..
John M. Myers, a Prominent Attorney, Swoons
and Finds a Watery Grave.
Most Plausible Theory is That He Had Been Whittling a Stick
and Cut His Finder and Fell Unconscious at the Sight of
Blood Had Formerly Been City Solicitor of Can-
ton, Was Well Known in Politics and Had
Been Active in the Affairs of
the Democratic Party.
John M. Myers, attorney-at-law, who
was In the full vigor of life Wednesday,
lies cold In death. About 2 o'clock,
Wednesday afternoon he went to
Meyer's lake to fish. He was always
fond of the sport and was a good
fisherman. Nearly every week he spent
a half day or more at the lake. Wed
nesday he secured a boat as usual and
put out Into the water with his pole
and line. He was alone and fished on
till after the sun had gone down be
hind tho western woods that skirt the
lake. About 7 o'clock a picnic party
came along In which Miss Nettle Gos
horn was a member. The young lady
lvas a neighbor of Mr. Myers and she
spoKe to mm ana tola mm he had bet
ter come along with them to shore and
get some supper. Mr. Myers said he
would come In about ten o'colck. So far
as heard this was the last time he
spoko to anyone In this world. In the
neighborhood of 8 o'clock ho toppled
from the boat and was quietly drown
ed without the knowledge of a human
Shortly after 9 o'clock Jacob "Webber,
of Madison street, agent for the Lion
Brewery, who was out casting for bass,
came along where Myers's boat was
and noticed that there was no one In It.
He kept on casting for bass, however,
until his line became tangled In the
line that hung from the vacant boat.
Then he yelled, supposing that possibly
tho man might be In the bottom of the
boat. No response came and he rowed
up and found the boat empty excepting
that there was In It a nice bucket of
fish and a hat. He went to shore and
told what he had seen. Ho had not
been able In the dim light to make out
exactlly what the name was In the hat
but he reported that It looked like M.
J. Lloyd.
Some thought that possibly "Webber
was trying to play a Joke but others
took the matter seriously and head
lights were secured and paraphernalia
taken to drag the lake and a party was
made up to go and look for the missing
boatman. The boat was directly across
tho lake from Stone House Point and
was out from the west shore about 100
yards. The body was found at the
In about six feet of water and after
being ralsfd was Identified as that of
John M. Myers. He was brought to
Canton In Moses & Reemsnyder's am
bulance and taken afterward to Shil
ling & Son's undertaking rooms at
about 12 o'clock.
Several theories have been advanced
to nccount for the death. Jacob "Web
ber, who first found the boat when
seen said that he supposed that Myers
had been fishing and had gotten ready
to stop and tried to pull up the anchor
and slipped, falling Into tho water. The
anchor was still down when the boat
was found.
Another theory is that Myers, who
had a tendency to heart trouble, had
been stricken and had fallen overboard.
Again it Is supposed that he was
and cut his finger and fainted and
fell out Into the lake.
Other say that he might have pulled
In a fish nnd In taking the fish off or
throwing the line out might have
caught the hook In his hand and torn
the flesh causing him to faint and fall
Into the water.
The generally accepted explanation Is
that he was whittling at a stick and
cut his finger nnd that the sight of the
blood caused him to faint nnd fall to
his death by drowning. This Is the
theory given by his son, Ralph Myers,
who says that his father never could
see warm blood flow without fainting.
Only a short time ago Mr. Myers went
with his daughter to havo her vac
cinated at the office of Dr. Brant and
during this simple operation he
Into unconsciousness. There was a
stick found In the boat that bore marks
of a knife nnd upon which he had
evidently been whittling, and on the In
dex finger of the left hand, which Is
the finger that would be most likely to
receive Injury In whittling, there Is a
long cut of considerable depth that
certainly must have bled quite freely.
The Idea that the Injury was caused by
the fish hook does not seem to be ac
credited by reason of the fact that the
line and pole when found were out In
the water Just as they would be
naturally when Ashing,
The men who went out to look for
the body found a nice bucket of fish
covered over carefully with oak leaves
and a piece of paper on top ot this,
John M. Myers was one of the well
known attorneys of the Stark county
bar. He was born nnd raised In po
lumblana county between Salem and
Damascus. After being admitted to the
bar and practicing a short time at
Leetonla and Youngstown he came to
Canton about 20 years ago.
In 1883 he was elected city solicitor
(nnd he served two terms, from 1883 to
.loa,. ub was a morougn .Democrat and
was at one time county chairman. He
was a strong Bryan man, a radical
silver advocate and was vigorous in his
By his death he leaves a family con
sisting of a widow and four children.
The children are Miss Clara Myers, and
Messrs. Charles, Ralph and Preston
Myers. The family lives at 823 Law
rence avenue. He was carrying at the
time of his death at least $20,000 of life
Insurance. He has $5,000 of life in the
Heptasophs, $5,000 of accident life In the
Aetna, $5,000 In the Central of Pittsburg
and $5,000 In the Maryland Casualty.
As death was caused by accident all of
these policies will be good.
Acting Coroner J. A. Bowman on
Thursday morning viewed the remains
at the morgue of Shilling & Son and ar
ranged for a post mortem examination
Thursday afternoon. Witnesses will
be examined as they can be found for
the purpose of making up a verdict as
to the true cause of the death.
The watch In his pocket was found
stopped at 8:16 o'clock, so he must have
fallen Into the water at about that
time or perhaps a few minutes before
as It may have taken a short time for
the water to get Into the works and
stop them.
There were several boats out In the
search for the body but the one that
found It was occupied by A. H. Phillips,
proprietor of Lakevlew hotel, Ed.
Snyder, keeper of the boats and Joe
Arntz. Mr. Phillips said Thursday
morning: "We found the body about
11 o'clock. It was lying at the north
side of the boat. "We had lights and
as we came along I saw something
dark on the bottom and said that I
guessed that was the body. Snyder
looked and said, 'Do you think that Is
It?' I said I believed It was and as
quick as a flash he dove head first out
of the boat Into the water and In a
second he came up to the top with" the
body In his arms."
The members of the Stark County Bar
will meet in court room No. 1, Friday
afternoon at 1 o'clock to take suitable
action with reference to the death of
John W. Meyers.
The funeral of Mr. Myers will occur
at the residence Saturday afternoon
at 2 o'clock.
Related By Friends of Join
Flynn, One of the Escaped
Jail Prisoners.
There Is a rumor In circulation that
John Flynn, who escaped from the coun
ty jail in May, had been In this city
upon three occasions recently. Friends
of Flynn state this to be true. They
say that Flynn after leaving this city
visited the vicinity of the Mansfield re
formatory where he watched the sur
veyors at work about the grounds
there. On Monday, June 18th, he Is
said to have spent the day with hia
mother on Brown avenue. In this city.
and It s said since that time he lies v's-
lted this city. Ju-it before lie left home
the last time It ts said that hu roiv.Iuded
to go on a tranipinj trip through the
country. He said that upon h-i time
of his return reotntly lio hall roneludtd
to give himself up to the authoiitlvs,
but changed his mind. When he left he
made a Btatement to a friend that ho ex
pected to return to this city durlmr the
fall and that he would probably com
mit some crime which would result in
his apprehension und return to the
county Jail. He said he was not ! sl
roiu of spending tho hummer thore.
T o-Iva vsii ,s,m .. U.l. tm
- ds, rws juu auujicy utvvK, it you
dsnt like Slusser's Headache Tablets.
Sufferers fmm Pnnntlnatiftn TiiiiM...
ness or Llvtv Troubles, should 'use Slus-
on b vegetaaiij fjiis. z6o per bottle at
''lW 'n-is- -s- lit, i4,'-- C -.ii -i -. ..i
'Air, '.',, I-
"-. . i . '
i? aA"
'S ,v.l5' ' ''-Is. .. ',., j. .. J I , As'.V's
rtv: ..ArtffiHff, ., viHr

xml | txt