A8
History
Blue Mountain Eagle
Teen fugitives caught after sensational jail break
Blue Mountain Eagle
Friday, Sept. 15, 1944
Last Friday witnessed a
rather sensational jail break at
Canyon City, which was staged
by three boys awaiting sentence
for larceny of automobiles and
other articles. They were Robert
Duane Briggs, 17, Clifford El-
wood Robinson, 16, and Albert
De Lonzo Wyatt, 15.
The would-be Baby Face
1elsons ¿rst attempted to dig
through the stone wall of the
jail corridor using a 20p nail
and stick of stove wood, and
they had a rather large opening
almost through the wall. How-
ever, they decided this too slow
a procedure so they piled some
bread wrappers and other pa-
pers and stove wood around one
of the wooden posts supporting
the ceiling of the jail, and started
a ¿re. When it was blazing al-
most to the ceiling, they called
the janitor and jailer, James Fin-
layson. He opened the jail door,
threw in a section of hose and,
as he went to turn on the water,
the boys escaped, whooping
like school kids. The break oc-
curred at about 8:30 p.m., just
after dusk.
Sheriff I.B. Hazeltine and
State Police H.C. Snyder were
on a larceny case in the northern
part of the county and did not
arrive until about 11 p.m. The
boys were seen climbing the hill
toward the golf course and local
of¿cers had searched the area.
These of¿cers immediately no-
ti¿ed all outside points where
roads left Grant County, and lo-
cal deputy sheriffs placed road
blocks within the county.
State Police of¿cers Larson
and Zumwalt of Burns came
over to offer assistance, as they
had heard of the break over
short-wave radio. It was thought
that the fugitives might have
gone east or toward Prairie City,
so the sheriff and police of¿cers
started patrol of this area.
Oliver Gives First Real Clue
The ¿rst real clue as to the
whereabouts of the escaped
prisoners was furnished by
Herman Oliver who was at his
ranch home ¿ve miles east of
John Day and, upon hearing his
dogs bark at about 11:45 p.m.,
went out to look around. He saw
a car on the highway headed
west and the headlights’ beam
showed the three boys walk-
ing toward Prairie City. They
jumped over a fence to avoid
the light and, after the car had
passed by, continued on their
way up the highway. The sheriff
and Police Of¿cer Snyder were
informed by radio of this clue
and, a few minutes later, they
contacted Oliver, then patrolled
the highway until they were
called to Bates to investigate
a ¿re which had destroyed the
mercantile store at Bates.
Car Containing Guns Stolen
At about 8:10 a.m. Saturday,
the of¿cers were noti¿ed that
L.D. Fleming’s car had been
stolen at Prairie City, that it con-
tained three riÀes, a 30-30 car-
bine, .25 Remington automatic
and a .22 repeater. The deputy
sheriff and the city marshal at
Prairie City had noted a car
leaving there at excessive speed
at about 3 a.m. and gave chase,
but could not overtake it. The
sheriff and police of¿cer decid-
ed to follow after having noti-
¿ed of¿cers at Ontario, Baker
and Vale of the license, serial
number, etc. of Fleming’s car.
Chase Ends After Car is
Wrecked
On Dixie Mountain, they
received a radio message to the
effect that the Fleming car had
been found wrecked about 1-1/2
miles east of Austin Junction,
that no one was apparently hurt
and that the guns were missing.
The of¿cers were joined by two
State Police from Baker and
they found the tracks of the trio
and commenced to follow them,
¿nally apprehending them at
about 11:45 a.m., some seven
miles east of the wrecked car.
The escapees had been sur-
rounded in a clump of second
growth pine and, when taken
had the stolen guns loaded, with
two of them cocked and ready
for action. They admitted that it
was their ¿rst intention to resist
arrest and that they had taken a
bead on the sheriff and another
member of the posse but as they
had but little ammunition and
the of¿cers were armed with
high power riÀes, they decided
that to surrender was the safest
action.
The Fleming car was the
second automobile stolen by
this trio in Grant County. They
have now added arson and
armed escape to their list of
criminal offenses.
Sheriff Hazeltine has previ-
ously warned people through
these columns to remove the
ignition keys when leaving their
cars out at night, or at any oth-
er time. “To leave loaded guns
in a car and the ignition key,
too, might result in the killing
of arresting of¿cers as well as
innocent persons who might re-
sist giving up their cars or valu-
ables,” the sheriff states, and
further warns “A car with the
key left in ignition lock only in-
vites larceny and a gun murder.”
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
S QUINTS AND G LANCES
Oct. 21, 1915 - Grant
County Journal
Poisons of Johnson Grass
All Fodder Plants Related to
Sorghum Must Be Used With
Discretions as Feed for Stock
(By G.H. Glover, Colorado
Experiment Station)
Johnson grass is closely relat-
ed to sorghum. Poisoning of cat-
tle from sorghum and ka¿r corn
is well known. After chemical
analysis of many plants Brun-
nich gave the following advice:
“All fodder plants related to
sorghum must be used with dis-
cretion in either the green or dry
state and should not be given in
large amounts to animals which
have fasted for some time.” The
poison in these plants is hydro-
cyanic acid. Poisoning usually
occurs when the plants have
made a stunted growth from
drought and are eaten in large
quantities, when the animals are
very hungry.
Animals poisoned in this way
usually die within half an hour
and sometimes live only a few
minutes. Hydrocyanic acid is the
most deadly of poisons and in
large doses kills almost instant-
ly. Animals usually die suddenly
from paralysis of respiration and
before medical measures can be
thought of or prepared for use.
Oct. 4, 1940 - Blue Mountain
Eagle
Bits of Telephone History in
the County
Some 45 years ago, the Dun-
can boys of John Day, built a
telephone line from Canyon
City to Izee. The only other line
in the county at that time was
the one connecting Canyon City
with Heppner. After the ¿re in
November 1898, at which time
the local connections were de-
stroyed, new equipment, con-
sisting of wall telephones were
set up in the of¿ce of the Grant
County News, on the site now
occupied by the city hall and
¿re station. In order to be heard,
when talking over the line, the
patrons would talk so loud they
could be heard all over town.
It was a strenuous job. Canyon
Cityites dubbed the Canyon
City-Izee line the “Rawhide
Line,” by which name it went
for several years. Along about
the time of the Portland Exposi-
tion in 1905, I.B. Hazeltine built
a new line which he operated
for 10 years, or until it passed
into the hands of 16 sharehold-
ers at Izee and was incorporated
under the name of the Canyon
City-Izee Telephone Co., with
residents of Izee comprising
the of¿cers and board of direc-
tors. Perry and Tilly Hyde held
the positions of president and
secretary-treasurer, respectively
for a number of years. At the
present time Rex Brisbois is the
president and Mrs. Joe Of¿cer
secretary.
The line which was built by
Mr. Hazeltine has become inad-
equate and a new line is again
being built by Mr. F.H. Asbury
of the Asbury Transportation
Co., of California, who recently
acquired the W.S. Phillips hold-
ings at Izee.
The new line will have con-
nections with the Paci¿c States
Telephone and Telegraph Co.,
but will be operated b the Can-
yon City Telephone Co., accord-
ing to President Rex Brisbois.
Oct. 7, 1965 - Blue Mountain
Eagle
Seneca Unit Plans New
Swim Pool
Seneca – Construction of a
25 by 50 foot swimming pool
here is the goal of the recently
formed Seneca Swimming Pool
club headed by Leonard Trafton.
The group is now seeking
donations to ¿nance the con-
struction. The goal has been set
for $5,000, and about $2,300 has
already been collected.
The pool will be located be-
tween the ball park and the hotel.
It will be constructed with gun-
nite. Maximum depth will be
eight foot. There will also be a
baby pool and a bath house.
Trafton said Monday that
the new pool is being planned,
because repairing the old pool
there would be too costly.
Volunteer labor will be used
to build the pool. Two business
¿rms will contribute materials
and equipment.
Persons or merchants wish-
ing to contribute to the new
swimming pool can mail their
donations to Leonard Trafton,
Box 204, Seneca.
Grant County’s
NEWSPAPER
DELIVERED YOUR WAY
Blue Mountain Eagle is available to view on any of these
apps that are free to download. Must be a subscriber.
PICK A PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU:
$40
YEAR
In-County
For
Weekly Delivery
PLUS 7-Day
ALL DIGITAL
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845
541-575-0710 •MyEagleNews.com/subscribe
Sharing stories from Grant County since 1868
$51
Year
Out-of-County
or out-of-State
For
Weekly Delivery
PLUS 7-Day
ALL DIGITAL
$40
YEAR
For
7-Day
ALL DIGITAL
Want to subscribe?
Call Lindsay 541.575.0710
or go to myeaglenews.com/subscribe