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DESPERATE chances.ttcqUl tilt* IIllenr day v small[fht Determined Prisoners In jln Arkansas Jail Overpower baseTheir Jailer. : fournenoribelie'They Arm Then lselves at the Latter’s coloi Beiidence, and Make a Dash for Lib- ' erty Through the Town.A Running Fight in th« S Three Men are Killelt;Wounded.Knobel, Akk., April 14.—Saturday evening Wm. Onby, the Jailer of Greene County, entered the cells of the jail atGainesville to distribute supper to theprisoners there contlned. When he entered the enclosure in which the cells were located he noticed nothing unusual, but while he was engaged in the distribution of food he was suddenly surrounded by a desperate gang of criminals armed with chair backs, chair legs and such weapons as they could improvise by breaking up the scanty furniture of their ceils. They pounced upon him and, although taken at a terrible disadvantage, he resisted as far as he could. Somehow he managed to get out his revolver and tired several shots, one of which took effect in the right leg of one of his assailants. Onby was disarmed by his assailants, and one of them striking him over the head with a broken chair,laid him senseless.OUT OF JAIL.proctthe eahortracktheygrouisoft (blowwasdragf cut hFnten, 1had a when recti ( State their but i acros woodThe desperadoes, eight in number, then made a dash for the door, having secured gi session of the keys, and without wast-b any time made ior the jailer’s house, .toe re they knew was stored quit** a quantity of arms and ammunition. Securing the arms, the crowd darted out into the street.A BATTLE.Abouslt;like tmureonwhicstantthehisshoeiand 1etThmwaseapti to Cj in ja time gani; andpropSusiThe people of the town, having been by this time alarmed, were out in force and many of them had come armed, under the impression that the criminals were going to ransack the town. Immediately a tight began and the streets became a battle ground. Those who had no arms among the citiz.eiis threw stones, and the entire population was in a state of the wildest excitement. The women folks barred the doors and closed the blinds.The mob started on a run down the main thoroughfare leading from the courthouse and jail with citizens on foot, on 1 horseback and in vehicles following in f*avhot haste. The chase was an exciting .jureone, shots being exchanged at brief inter-1 4hevais.ONE MAN KILLED.Btonerductsou’andtionthecalh1 res vest£thewon i denlt;The jail birds did not shoot very well iny. and the same may be said of the citizens j p and officers. One man named Beckman, cj0? who had been imprisoned for burglary ecj of a store at Bethel, raised his gun to s was shoot Aioir/o Stedinan, a citizen, but ^unan got in bis work urst and shot 1 ckmau through the head, killing him n Instantly. Three of the other prisoners prr were wounded in the skirmish and falling J down were disarmed and taken back to j Nvrv [ail under a strong guard. IshTOOK TO THE SWAMPS. it.Y V tThe remaining prisoners took to their - 4 heels, and kept on running until far out- j ^ side the corporation limits, the citizens j following all the time, and the chase was only given up when the fugitive prisoners | ^reached the cypress swamps, and dark- j j uess made pursuit into the region very , dangerous. Not cue of the half hundred citizens who pursued the fugitives waswounded, although ouby's injuries, it isexpected, will prove fatal.asRohoSabr;Later.Knobel, Akk., April 14.—Pursuit of the escaped jail birds, which darkness interrupted Saturday night, was renewed yesterday morning by Sheriff Wilcoxson and posse. Only two men got away. Theii names are Sagely and Campbell. Thefirst named is accused of horse-stealing. 1 1A trail was struck three miles north, in 0the swamp timber-land, and recapture isalmost certain. Campbell and Sagely are both armed and may make a desperate flght. Jailer Onby is improving and it is ^thought he is out of danger. n(doanroThe daring attempt at escape auu tuc | tfr flght that followed have caused in- fatense excitement at Gainesville. Tins , rjis intensified by threats of the 0j *s in the jail and their friends P]outside, who swear vengeance cc for Saturday’s bloodshed. Those re- 0lt; captured are desperate characters, one w being a brother of the famous outlaw llil- q debrant, who made Gainesville his home.They claim that the jail, which is alog structure, is a veritable black hole,my they prefer to die rathersuffer imprisonment in such aIt is thought the affair was planned largely bv outside parties. It Is also believed that a scheme had been arranged toie jail,' but that the opportunity for werlng the jailer being presented,— 1^ — J ..*,.4.1 f ifok advantage of it. , e Coroner’s inquest yesterday the on C. V. Brockman, the prisouer n the flght, was that death was by citizen Alonzo Steadman in 'ense. Brockman had already tired ,t Steadman, and refusing to sur-, was shot dead, having before re-one wound in the thigh and one h the body. The latter would prob-ivebeen fatal, but he was game other course was left the citizen.aiUaavtl0V1f\f
Newspaper Details
Centralia Daily Sentinel
Centralia, Illinois, US
Mon, Apr 14, 1884
Page 1
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 19 Jan 2019
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