Jailbreak Plans Unearthed at Cerro Gordo County (1899)

BAILEY, MILLER, MITCHELL

Posted By: Jennifer Gunderson (email)
Date: 2/12/2021 at 11:26:20

ALMOST A JAIL DELIVERY

Mason City, Iowa, Dec. 25. -- What has proved to be one of the best laid and smoothest plans at jail breaking in the history of Cerro Gordo County has just been unearthed by the officers at Mason City. The three persons who planned the deal and came near carrying it into execution are F. E. Bailey, who is confined on a charge of horse stealing. Charles Mitchell and J. D. Miller, both held on a charge of larceny. It would be difficult to improve on the plans and preparations of the trio, and the man who invented the crude tools with which they intended to bore and saw through the walls and bars of the jail is certainly an inventive genius. Some assistance was given from the outside, but the greater part of the tools were the work of the men inside, and the collection is a sight to behold. Just how long these tools have been in their possession is not known, but they certainly have been at work for some time, as the twenty-nine holes in the steel lining of the jail corridor attest.

Source: Muscatine News-Tribune (Muscatine, Iowa). 26 Dec 1899, Tue. Page 1. Print. Newspapers.com. Transcribed by Jennifer Gunderson. 12 Feb 2021.