Bloody Fight is Averted

Rawlings and Hickey Clashed in Prison Cell Tuesday

Rawlings was reading his Bible when Hickey tried to stop him, finally applying a vile epithet, which Rawlings would not stand. The two prisoners had to be separated by others.

There came near being a desperate encounter in the county jail last evening by two of the most notorious prisoners confined in the jail. J.G. Rawlings and Pickpocket Hickey were the men who were about to engage in murdering each other. Rawlings, it will be remembered, is toothless and has had so much trouble in masticating his food that the jailer has allowed him to have a case knife in the cell to use in cutting meats and other things given to eat. This case knife was about to play a murderous part in the row which Rawlings and Hickey had last night. As far as can be learned, Rawlings was reading his Bible aloud to the other prisoners in the part of the jail where he was confined. Hickey told him to quit reading, as he was tired of hearing him. But Rawlings paid no attention to him. Hickey went into a rage and denounced Rawlings in the severest terms, branding him with an epithet that usually calls for a fight among men in this section of the country. Rawlings grabbed his knife and started at Hickey with the evident purpose of making mince meat out of him, while Hickey also grabbed a murderous weapon and threatened to cheat the gallows of Rawlings’ life if he continued to advance upon him with the knife. Some of the prisoners in the jail got between the two men and kept them from clashing, at the same time calling the jailer to the scene. Sheriff Passmore was at once notified, and he went to the jail and had Rawlings removed to the section of the jail occupied by his sons. Rawlings told the sheriff that he follows the rules of the jail by indulging in a fight, but that a man could not call him what Hickey had called him without getting a fight on his hands. Hickey is also said to be of good grit, and if the two men had come together, both might have been badly hurt. They were confined in a place where neither could run, and the fight between them might have been one to the death of one or both of them.

Prisoners in the Jail

Hickey told Rawlings to quit reading, as he was tired of hearing him. But Rawlings paid no attention to him. Hickey went into a rage and denounced Rawlings in the severest terms, branding him with an epithet that usually calls for a fight among men in this section of the country. Rawlings grabbed his knife and started at Hickey with the evident purpose of making mince meat out of him, while Hickey also grabbed a murderous weapon and threatened to cheat the gallows of Rawlings’ life if he continued to advance upon him with the knife.

Some of the prisoners in the jail got between the two men and kept them from clashing, at the same time calling the jailer to the scene. Sheriff Passmore was at once notified, and he went to the jail and had Rawlings removed to the section of the jail occupied by his sons. Rawlings told the sheriff that he follows the rules of the jail by indulging in a fight, but that a man could not call him what Hickey had called him without getting a fight on his hands. Hickey is also said to be of good grit, and if the two men had come together, both might have been badly hurt. They were confined in a place where neither could run, and the fight between them might have been one to the death of one or both of them.

Tried to Cut Out Again

Sheriff Padmore and the jailer made another thorough search yesterday to see if they could find anything else that could be of service to the prisoners in getting out of jail. The search was a very rigid one, but no tools were found. The officers, however, found in the cell occupied by Hickey and King, two of the pickpockets, a place where they had sawed almost entirely through the iron walls of the cell. The place was about 12×14 inches, and in some places, it was sawed entirely through.

They had pasted newspaper pictures over these places, making it appear that the pictures were used as ornaments, but in fact, they were used to hide the work which had been done to make an opening in the wall of the cell. It would have taken just a little more work to have sawed entirely through the cell. It is presumed that they intended to use this opening to get out into the corridor and then from that through the hole which was discovered several days ago to make their escape.

The sheriff expected that small thin saws might be secreted under the paper pictures, and these were torn across the walls in order to see if saws were there. It was in this manner that it was discovered what other work these notorious prisoners had been doing to effect their escape. The sheriff has employed a day guard at the jail, and now the prisoners are under the eyes of guards both day and night, the guards being required to stay in the jail and to be in sight of the prisoners every five minutes, day or night.