The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 29, 1903, Page 1

< Call, SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY JULY 29, 1903. PRICE FIVE CENTS. TROOPS AND SHERIFFS PREPARE FOR BATTLE WITH ARMED AND DESPERATE FOLSOM CONDIC ’TJ‘ EVERAL posses of county officers and National Guard troops are surrounding the Folsom przsmz — Warm Pursuzt Now Nears Climax. Officers Wait for Fight Signal. TRACK OF CONVICTS in :md(r the morn- | | to re expected passed | depu- r is in from Look H, June Harris BURIAL OF A VICTIM. t was erected. that are near Thompson mine, just arrived state eve the convicts Mount about from Co- Cambrian ne and a half miles 1 Reese and Dep- Lloyd Brown of Placer County, bave just 1t will probably ht or to-morrow Convicts Are Jaid to Plan Raid on Town PL ACERVILLE, A report July 28—/ was received here this evening to the effect| that eight convicts were seen! 14 | ok THE CconNvrerS Ratd May Be Made on J‘mall 'Town« a(zd the Cltz_zens Arm. - e along Greenwood Creek toward the town of Greenwood, made by the fugitives to-night, as it is known that they are very short of provisions. Guard McDonald of Folsom, who is in this vicinity witlteleyen other guards from the peniten- tiary, is of the opinion that the || escaped prisoners are trying to get into the country north of Greenwood, some sections 'of which are admirably suited for hiding and defense purposes. Posses are now in pursuit of the men and the residents of Greenwood have'been warned of the direction taken by the con- victs and it is reported from there that a defense party will be or- ganized at once to protect the town from the onslaught of the escapes. Owing to the nature of the country in the vicinity of Greenwood and ‘along the creek accurate reports of the doings of|“ the party of convicts are unob- tainable. With several posses and a com- pany of militia on the track of the fugitives it is believed that the men will be either capfured or killed, though should it come - to a fight between the citizen sol- diery and the convicts there will probably be many killed on both sides, as the convicts arc a des- | perate lot of men and their hunt- ers are determined to take the convicts dead or alive before they can add more crimes to their al- ready unsavory records where | it is probable that a raid will be| | making - their way norm\\anl‘offcers Rest on Their Arms Before Battle July 28.—The fllf}u‘k.\'. July 28 | escaped convicts are sup—! posed to be in the vicin-| | nine miles above | of Lotus, Hill, ity Pilot the the place where battle took place last evening. They have not been seen since 10 o'clock last night, when they turned all the free men loose in the woods near Pilot Hill. The guards, together with Foster and several other freemen, returned to Pilot Hill at daybreak and reported that the convicts had taken the direction of Lotus. After much delay an organiza- tion of the one hundred officers and militiamen present was ef- fected, and Sheriff Bosquit of El Dorado put in charge. They all proceeded to Lotus and claim to have tracked the convicts to the river near there. Accordingly every outlet was guarded in ex- pectation that the convicts would show themselves to-night or to- morrow morning. The Placerville militia is sta- tioned all the way from Lotus to Placerville, Sheriff Bosquit toward Shingle Springs, Sheriff Keena at Greenwood, and the Sacramento officers toward Sal- mon Falls. By many itis be- lieved that the convicts have dou- ble tracked and will make for the railroad in Placer - N A 77/;;Nfil- Goaro N R SIIT - | RE ~Cos H / SESrFOOL S W GREER A FRBIIA € PRESCOTT \s‘“ \ Nay! fzmzfzz'es near Lotus in El Dorado county. A despemte battle may be fought wzt/zm a few /zozu's Conspzrators Long Busy in Cells. Prison Breaks Threatened Hill, a few miles fr Their deatl . v is only hy has already met « the pursuing « probable that e 1t ' Gordon 15 is lying in the near Mor- | mon Island brid 1 with bullets. Guard John Klenzendorf and Stage Driver T. C. Brown, known as “T ” who were among the officers captured by ‘h(‘ convicts :\f*‘(“ are now safely back in the prison limits, while General Overseer Mc¢Don- ough and the other four guards who were forced to go with the convicts have reported that they are free and uninjured. NIGHT FAVORS FUGITIVES. »m the prison ir captives ot Hill, and battle ay, After breaki the convicts as far went there a fought shortly was yclock. The convicts lost reir number and all their food and the wagon in traveling. They would have shot to pieces at that time by the marks- but they were despe which they were been men in the posse, | protected by the gathering night. Under cover of darkness the convicts, with five guards and two | | civilians as “human targets,” pro- ceeded into the ¢ e brush that | + s TROOPS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD OF THE STATE ORDERED OUT BY THE GOVERNOR TO ASSIST IN CAPTURING THE MERCILESS BAND OF CRIMINALS WHO MADE THEIR ESCAPE FROM THE FOLSOM PRISON AFTER COMMITTING MURDER. OLSOM, July 28. Excitement reigns to-night at Folsom “Redshirt” Gordon is reported to have been seen here after sunset heading for Sacramento, accompanied by another man, thought to be Convict Theron. The first news of the supposed presence of Gordon in this vicin- ity was given out by Mrs. John Holmes, wife of a painter, living at the forked roads a half-mile from Folsom City toward Sacra- mento. Mrs. Holmes says that two rough-looking men called at her house and in an insolent manner demanded a drink of water. She gave it to them, and they left the house and crossed the orchards in the direction of Sacramento. 4 The appearance of the two men Two of the Outlaws .flre Seen Near Folsom, Traveling in Direction of Sacramento. alarmed Mrs. Holmes and she at once sent word to Constable J. H. Donnelly, Joseph Gillardin, com- missary of the prison, who hap- pened to be here, and Henry Mc- Derby started on the trail of the two men. They followed. the trail for two miles, but could find no trace of them. The posse then returned to Folsom. Constable Donnelly telephoned word of the affair to Captain of the Guard Murphy at the prison, and from that point telephone messages have been sent to all points between here and Sacra- mento. The officers at Sacra- mento have been warned to keep ‘a strict watch, as Gordon 'is the man who has repeatedly sworn to kill Superior Judge Hart of Sac- ramento, who sentenced him to forty-five years in Folsom. for robbery. | teen escaped convicts to Mrs. = | _One of the men is described as being dressed in a khaki suit, while the other wore 4 pair of| overalls, a blue coat with brass| buttons and a black slouch hat. The coat and hat correspond with those worn by the guards at Fol- | som prison. Constable Donnelly showed the portraits of the thir- Holmes and she picked out those of Gordon and Theron as looking | like the men who had called at her house to-night. It would have been possible for Theron to join Gordon in this vi- cinity, even if he was at Pilot Hill as late as 10 o'clock ‘last night. One of the posses walked from /| Pilot Hill to Folsom City in six| hours to-day, taking the river road. Theron was last seen by some of the guards who were cap- | exists between Pilot Hill and the | | south | River. | at Pilot Hill for a few hours’ rest, | while bands of « fork of the American The posses were gathered etermined men watched the river bank for the approach of the desperadoes. The | wait was not a long one, and at i | daylight this morning the chase was renewed, with but one deter- mination on the part of the of- ficers of the law—to wipe out of existence the human bloodhounds who had fought their way to free- dom by staining already befouled hands with the life blood of a brave officer of the law. The return of Guard Klenzen- dorf and Stage Driver Brown was hailed with delight by their brother officers at Folsom prison. From the lips of these two men the first authentic news was learned of the dread happenings of the past twenty-four hours that have startled the entire county. The machinery of the law is once again moving with precision, and | it will not be long till justice will be meted out to the desperate con- \'ic_ts.who broke from the prison. MURDER THE CHARGE. Last night an inquest was held on the body of Guard William L. Cotter at the prison. Coroner W. F. Gormley held the inquest and the jury consisted of the following citizens: William Murcell, C. F. Jerger, M. Rose, J. A. Dutra, Continued on Page 4, Column 6. Continued on Page 4, Column &