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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1925)
TraJ.ORfiCON STAlMA SALEM, OREGON- SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER r i 'A v I -r - PRISON: PERSONNEL ' BLAMED FOR BREAK (O0at1ao4 frwa pagj 1.) ctato. rifles, Murray and ..Jonos P"nd fire through a north win dow of-the turnkey's, office upon Ruard tower No. 1 overlooking he main entraaca and In which guard tower during this and subsequent exchanges of shots -two guards wer hit.-Guard Gardiner entered Kttard tower1 No. 1 from the out side, of the penitentiary by means of an. interior protected entrance during the firing and assisted Guard Holman, .. who, was first wounded in the arm. out of the tower. We find that this guard, however, did not arm himself in the tower, although a weapon was available. there,, and that, he left the wounded guard. Holman. at the base of the wall 'outside and ran north toward the Oregon state hosnital. Jt appears that the wobnded guard, Holman, was murdered by the convicts a fw lQi.nntea later as they passed ly this Bpotwhere hp had been loft retlinin"jfgainst the wall. '.'Reverting to the struggle in the turnkey's office.; we findV tBaJ Guard Davidson either fell or 'waft knocked down by oh of the eon r lets In that. office and thereupon evapd from tbe.4)Uildint id ran to tower No. 1 where he secured a rifle. Guard" Davidson appears to have left-the tower after two other guard had' been killed and made his way outside the grounds where he took up a position of vantage and fired upon the con victs as they mounted the isteps or guard tower No. 1 in leaving the prison yard. He apparently wounded Convict Jones at this time, and from a point of vantage emptied his rifle at them a they fled northward outside of the prison walls. "Convict Jones wa3 found dead following this ex change of shots. "It. appears that at the time of the firing there were some eiglit or more guards at the guards' quarters outside and across the street to the west of the grounds or in the immediate vicinity there of; .that these : guards, were un armed and ' apparently ; had mo weapons at the guards' nuartes. it being required that they not keep arms at that place where KetfouryV Downstairs Store Radiates The Christmas Giving Spirit Dolls-Dolls Waiting for good Homes. You will find here a splendid assortment, of cute little dolls with a baby and child-like ex pression on their faces. Regular $1.50 Regular ?2.50 Regular $3.25 Regular $3.50 Regular $4.50 Regular $5.00 Dolls for... Dolls for.... Dolls for... Dolls for... Dolls for... Dolls for.i. ... 98c . $1.50 ...$2.45 ...$2.98 ...$3.43 ...$3.98 TOYS Odd assortments and close-outs at less than HALF-PRICE GIFT BASKETS ALL SIZES GIVEN FREE a Pictorial Review Paper Pat Urn Doll Set With Every Doll Sold at $1.69 and Up. These are the low, round flat ornament baskets with covers, suitable for candy, and fancy goods. lingular $2.25 and $1.08 for $1.25 ,. -, Regular $1.40 for $1.00 FANCY CHRISTMAS BOXES ; Empty gift boxes for dresses', waists, gloves, hose, hand v... kerchiefs, candy, etc. 5c - 10c - 15c - 23c V ' "CAJT AND 'PO" Salem Store r Portland Store 46 State St. 383 Alder St. ar number at trusted 'ponvlcta are emploed. "Testimony is vague as to what happened among these guards, as well as other guards, but it is ap parent, that a condition or panic exuded at the time. In fact, due to general confusion and excite ment, minor discrepancies are to be found in all versions of the ar tair. '"Guard Sandifer apparently en tered tower Xo. 1 and then left, running north to the Oregon state hospital, approximately one-third of a' Jnile distant, where-he ar rived in a state of collapse, re quiring medical attention. Ho says he was after a doctor to at tend Holman, whom he saw was wonnded. "Guard Gardiner, who ran from ' guard tower No. 1, as previously I indicated herein, says that he was arter weapons, but found no avail able weapons at the stnte hospital except shotguns loaded with bird shot, and a revolver which he was reluctant to use against convicts armed with rifles. After the- con victs had vanished, these two guards returned to the prtson ana later joined in the pursuit. "Your committee was unable to interview Guard Savage, who was reported as severely wounded. "We ascertained that there were to guard reserves available for this emergency, and that the guard manning .tower No. 2. past which the convicts fled, was Killed In tower: No.-1, which was the point of . greatest danger at the time. . "Th ore apparently was no guard In " tower,. No. 2 at the northwest corner;.; So far as we could ascer tain the only shots fired at the convicts as they fled after leaving the prison grounds were those fired by Guard-Davidson and shots fired from a shotgun by Warden Dalrymple, whi, however, was not within the range of effective fire for such a weapon. "The convicts left the prison at about C u'clrtck p. m- and ran north approximately one-third of a mile where they appear to have secured an auto Vehicle and im mediately disappeared. There is no evidence of pursuit during the time thaUthey, were running and in sight. Deiaifs of all witnesses conflict as to the time pursuit was taken np. testimony varying from 10 minutes, which was the esti mate of Warden Dalrymple. to one hour, which is the estimate of two or mere guards. The major ity of the witnesses Interviewed by us estimated the ttme as 20 minutes;. "We find that there was no pre arranjceil plan of meeting this or any similar emergency. The guards say they received no Instructions covering their conduct In any emergency and it was the opinion of the guards that they were sim ply to use their best judgment in any situation that might arise. "We find the same condition ex isted in reference to the pursuit there being no pre-arranged sys tem or plan for use in this or any other emergency. The area about the penitentiary had not been dis tricted. The method of pursuit in this particular case was that the guards on hand were instruct ed by the warden to get guns and give chase. No system of alarm for breaks, fires or other emerg encies appears to have existed. Physical Aspects of Prison "We find that the prison as a whole is adequate for the housing of, convicts now confined therein, and will take care of any ordinary increase. The walls are securely bnilt and the guard posts are ar ranged so as to give a clear view of vantage points within the prison yard. The roof over the main cell building is flimsy and easily sawed through', but such egress admits of escape only into the interior prison grounds, which are protect ed by walls. The prison is not of a modern type, but is not suffic iently vulnerable as to render es capes an easv matter. While the Useful Toyland Toys and Wheef Goods That Will Help Develop .f , Your Boy or Girl Kiddie Ca5," Velocipedes, Scooters, Wagons Autos,' Trucks, Bicycles, Doll Buggies, Electric Sets, Games, Mechanical and Elect f A Useful Toy: For Every Age LVJ. fl7 Rubber titarTubuIar frames, Ball-bearing and spring Seats. ' mm, ' Velociped es S12.50 to $20.00 Bicycles Something tfle. boys will enjoy the year-round. COL UMBIA, EMBLEM and COLSON Bicycksi Easy terms if desired:. - ;- .v'" :-W!i Mm -to;$48.50?-:; - Scooters " Built toTrTe&Kbyi..: Ebctra strong distf- wheels,.goodsSolid , rubber .Tires: A large stock to select from, ranging in price from" $3.00 to $7.50 'Ask to see our special at ' : . $4.00 LLOYD E. RAMSDEN flimsy jrottf over . the main' 'cell building was a contributing raptor, it was not wholly responsible for the escape of the four rMMerrt. We believe that there .;r. urul points of weakness in the i-truc- ure of the penitentiary wiikh ought to be remedied at once, and that pending such improvements. special vigil should be exercised. Most important of these improve ments, in oflr opin'an. is r'.ie estub- ishment tjf a guard tower over the main entrance, t'outrol of he main gate from tower Xo. 1 is now exercised over a distance of approximately 7." yards and this s not practicable in any way. A main entrance tower would have circumvented the possibility of an escape of the type under consider ation herein. It would also per mit a close surveillance of persons entering ad leaving the pri-on grounds and ould afford effect ive protection against escape from ,the west side of the prison. Un armed guards who are in the guards quarters outside the grounds would he available for duty if there were a main tower at the entrance where weapons could be had in event of a dis turbance or a break within the rounds. "We believe that a steel cover ing over the flimsy portion of the roof should be added, or else the space over the cells immediately under the roof should be shut off with heavy wire screening ;n -s to deny prisoners access to i': e flimsy roof. Steel lined half-doors should La placed at .the entrance and exits of: all guard towers so m Up render it unnecessary for guards to expose themselves need lessly in .an emergency. The guards who were shot in tower Xo. i, iu our opinion, did not have as aood protection a the convicts Uo wire firing at them. "In tills connection we believe that -the three oak trees in tlie west prison yard and from behind one of which Murray found ade quate protection in his attack on suard tower 'Xo. 1, should be im mediately cut down. "The eai. v.aii, along that por tion, parallel to the concrete work huiidinxs inside the eat prisou yards should be equipped with barbed wire net rising to a heissht of five feet above the wall, par ticularly at the point rvhere the n'eek enters under the- wall, t'uard tower Xo. 4 at the south cast corner might be equipped with a small machine gun to pie vent the possibility of an organ ised break from the -main prison yard on th east side where lar.se numbers of prisoners assemble daily. "The abandoned guard tower at the southwest corner is believed to be a point of danger in that it is easy of access from the out side. It is our belief that the en tire wall with all guard posts could be readily taken from this vantage point before resistance could be organized. This tower Py all means should be made se cure asrainst entrance by unauth- i;:ed persons. "The wooden shack fn the eaat yard, commonly known as the "dog pen," should be destroyed or else placed under strict regu latou. aa it-now appears to serve no decent purpose at t he ; prison and Is a T festering place for idle ness and worse. Stairs leading to guard towers should . be removed vWe beneve that better protec tion should be given to the flax plant east and outside the prisou walls. Lights should be placed in sufficient number in this area to (Continued on page J.; OF MAGNESIA Accept only genuine "Fhillips," the original Milk of Magnesia prescribed by physicians for 50 years as an antacid, laxative, cor rective. 25-cent bottles, also 50-cent bot tles, contain directions any drug store. adv. A Also OUR GANG in "The BIG TOWN!' I TODAY 'Wk 2 to 11 p.m. tS i VI ' V .r T1 SSivs y m "' ." - ,'WJ u ti.im w iiiii win mi. i j wmmm mmm m , rv. . -i- .. ....... ..y. -k 'i 'di 1 'ii hi fn n in i mi mm i n n i 1 Mcdonald mi PATHE NEWS mi. . MATINEE 35c. .. CHILDREN 10c .. .. 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