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WHY CRIME
No. 3 it Series of Extraordinary Revelations
Written by SOPHIE LYONS
AR1
N(
Ou
The Most Famous and Successful Criminal ot Modern Times, Who Made a
Million Dollars in Her Early Criminal Career and Lost If at Monte Carlo, and
Has Now Accumulated Half a Million Dollars in Honorable Business Enterprises
-
I N my two previous articles I have tried to show by my own ex
periences and by the experiences of some of my companions a
few of the reasons why crime does not pay.
It is thought by many that the only thing that prevents a
criminal from being successful, happy and prosperous is the danger
of being caught. But this fear does not restrain criminals. Curi
ously enough, every thief feels sure he will not be caught—and if
he should be he has an abiding faith that he will escape.
Criminals do escape frequently, and on this page to-day I will
explain how I, myself, have got out of prisons and jails and how
some of my companions have managed to do the same. But at what
pains, trouble, cost and risk! One-half the same expenditure of in
telligent thought and patience put into an honest business enterprise
would bring a splendid reward
But the point I want to make clear is that it profits a convict
nothing to escape I escaped from the stone walls and steel bars of
old Sing Sing—an impossible accomplishment they had said—but I
will show why I was worse off out of prison than if I had remained
there. So, too, with “Sheeny Mike,” the store burglar, who nearly
killed himself getting out of the great Charlestown Prison, near
Boston, only to be arrested everywhere he went, month after month,
until he was finally sentenced to Dannemora Prison, in New York,
for nearly twenty years.
And so, also, with Eddie Guerin, who escaped from Devil’s
Island, the French penal colony off the coast of South America He
has told of the weeks of horror and hardship in an open boat, under
the blistering rays of a tropical sun, his wanderings through the
malarial, fever-breeding swamps, full of poisonous insects and
snakes, and his capture by a wild tribe.
And so with Bullard, the burglar, whose partners, the famous
Harry Raymond and Mark Shinburn, labored patiently tunnelling
into the White Plains (N. Y.) jail and finally released him. Bullard
secured his freedom only to be caught again, and he died in prison.
SOPHIE LYONS.
ddie
n
slam
'Alter a few weeks
ira received the wa
< aauy friends on o
ling, we went to
hildren who were ii
ot long before out
ou I thought thii
ettilnd my husband
urge him to get
sent But he would
That would be a
ny money,” he sal
own until I have e
ie a decent start,
tore good bank job
out living differen
Sophie Lyons
Why We Were Worse Off After Our Escapes Than Before
I T ll not easy to gee out of Sing Sing
Prison. Ned Lyons, the bank burglar,
my husband, got out, an-d so did 1.
We were both serving sentences of five
years at the'samo time
Ned Lyons was a desperate man. and he
had -no notion of remaining long In any
prison. Although his body was already
considerably punctured with pistol bul-
,eta be did not welcome the idea of In
viting the ride balls from the armed sen
tries who patrolled the prison walls on all
sides A dash for liberty was out of the
luostlon—If he was to escape It must be
through gome adroit scheme which would
not make him a target for the riflemen
who surround the prison.
My husband and I had a comfortable
home on the Bast Side In New York, but
I had very little peace of mind because of
the activities of Lyons and his energetic
companions. As I have said before, these
men had found it very convenient to have
my asslatance In their various enterprises,
and to It was that my husband and 1 both
got into Sing Sing at the same time—
Lyons was confined in the men's prison
and l was In the women’s prison just
at the prison door must have before he
allows anybody to leave the building. But
my husband had serious doubts.
About this time the matron’s two chil
dren were taken sick and I was assigned
to her house to take care of them. So
faithfully did I nurse them back to health
that the matron became quite fond of me
and wanted mo to remain there perma
nently as her personal servant.
When Ned Lyons came to see me again
he was amazed at my good fortune In re
ceiving a position which was the next
best thing to liberty Itself. It not only
gave me all sorts of liberties but It en
abled me to dress like any servant girl
instead of In the regulation prison cos
tume. This last fact would prove of tre
mendous advantage when my opportunity
to make a break for liberty came.
“Red” Leary Lends Aid
Besides this I was allowed a little pocket
across the road.
It was the Waterford, N. Y.. bank that
had been robbed of $150,000 and In the
party were George Bliss, Ira Klngsland
and the famous Jimmy Hope. Of the
whole party, Hope alone was not caught
Just how my husband got out of Sing
Sing I am able to explain, because l my
self planned the escape.
The day 1 reached Sing Sing 1 was
turned over to the prison physician for
him to And out what my physical condi
tion was and what kind of work I was
best fltted to do. This doctor’s name was
Collins. 1 shall never forget him for be
was one of the kindest hearted men l
ever knew. In my hope of being assigned
to some easy work where 1 would fbe able
to assist In my husband's plans for escape,
1 pretended to him I was suffering from
all sorts of ailments.
Planning Lyons’s Escape
"Why. doctor,” I said. T'u a sick
woman and besides I don't know bow to
do any kind of work. I’ve never had to
work for a living.’’
"Well, my good little woman,” the doc
tor replied, ‘you’ll have to learn to work.
You’re In her for five years and uobody
Is allowed to play the lady In Sing Sing
prison, you know."
“But, doctor," I said, “you wouldn't
have Sophie Lyone be anything but a
lady, would you?’’
"I'd like to make an honest woman of
you, Sophie—that's more Important than
being a ‘lady’," he answered gravely, "and
3'm going to try. I’ve got enough con
fluence In your sense of honor to give you
i position as assistant nurse in the prison
Vospttal. If you profit by your opportuni-
tiee there you can learn a good trade
.hlch will enable you to make an honest
living when your term Is up.”
-Nothing could have suited me better. A
Position In the hospital Is the easiest work
the prison offers, and it wouin give me
just she opportunities I needed to help my
husband escape. But I tried not to let
Dr. Collins see how delighted I was and
pretended to be very tearful and penitent
as 1 thanked him for his kindness.
My husband was allowed to come and
see me once a weed! under guard of a
prison keeper. My conduct was so good
•nd had given the matron and Dr. Collins
such confidence In me that Ned and 1
were soon permitted to talk without any
prison official being present to listen, as
the prison rules required.
On these visits we had opportunity for
discussing -various plans for escape, but
we both agreed that no one of them would
probably succeed. 1 favored trylDg to
got a forged pass—a counterfeit of the
passes given to visitors. w)fich the keeper
money to buy caudles, fruit and occa
sional trinkets for the children.
Ned brought good news this time. He
had pondered over my suggestion of a
forged pass and the more he thought of it
the more it seemed a promising scheme.
But there were several important things
that must be done, and done well, to make
the plan reasonably sure of success.
Lyons, in prison, could not personally
ivttenj to the necessary details. He must
have outside help. Usually in such emer
gencies 1 was the one who was relied
upon to attend to matters of this kind—
but, unfortunately, I, too, was iu prison
and under close watch.
So, In casting about for a reliable friend,
Lyons decided to ask the help of "Red”
Leary, the bank 'burglar, who had been
associated with my husband in the famous
$3,000,000 Manhattan bank robbery Word
was sent to Leary and on the next "visi
tors' day.” a gentleman with high silk hat
and black gloves and a lawyer's green
bag drove up to the prison and sent In
tits card to the Warden—could Ned Lyons
"lawyer” see hts imprisoned client?
In this guise "Red” Leary, high hat.
lawyer's bag and gloves, swept into the
prison and was courteously allowed an
Interview with my husband. Ned ex
plained that two Important things were
needed—a visitor's pass properly signed
with the Warden’s signature, and a care
fully selected disguise for the escaping
man to use. Could “Red” Leary attend
to these two matters? "Red" Leary could,
and with much pleasure—and the first
move in the proceedings then and there
was to carefully chew up bis pass into a
wad and tuck it behind hts upper molar
teeth.
Ned Lyons was led back to his cell and
his "lawyer" put on his silk hat and arose
to leave. He began searching his pockets
and his green bag for his missing pass.
An attendant helped him. Then the
keeper at the door took a hand and looked
through hts pocket-book and papers while
the "lawyer.” In much distress, turned
his pockets Inside out. But no pass could
be fouud.
At last the principal keeper. Connaugh-
ton, was called and he reprimanded the
"lawyer” severely for his carelessness, but
finally allowed the visitor to depart—and
behind “Red" Leary’s back teeth was the
pass that was so much needed In forging
a fresh one. with the proper day and date
on it. Leary returned to New York and
enlisted the services of a friend who was
an expert check forger and soon had a
pass that the Warden of Sing Sing him
self would not know was a forgery. And
this precious piece of paper was smug
gled In to Lyons and he hid it in a crack
in the floor of his cell. Ned planned to
use this pass in making his escape ff he
could get a wig to cover his closely
cropped head, a false beard to disguise
his face and a suit of clothes to replace
his prison stripes in time for the next
visitor's day.
"Rec" Leary was to call to see me the
next day and 1 was to arrange with him
about securing these necessaries. They
were to be left In an obscure corner gro
cery outside the prison where a "trusty,"
whom my huBband had befriended, would
claim them and smuggle them Into Ned’s
cell.
It was a Wednesday 1 Lad my last call
from Ned Through one of those myster
ious underground channels which keep
the inmates of every prison In such close
touch with the outside world, my husband
had learned that on the following Tues
day, which was a visitors' day, the war
den and several other prominent officials
of the prison were to be away attending
a political meeting. That was the day he
had set for his escape provided our friend
Leary could deliver the necessary disguise
in time.
I had my doubts about ''Red” Leary,
who was good hearted enough and meant
well, but was prone to be careleBs about
keeping appointments. To my delight,
however, he was on hand next day and he
got permission from the matron to see
me. When I asked him if he had every
thing in readiness he burst into a torrent
of eager explanations.
“It's all out there in the buggy, Sophie,”
he said, “tied up in a bundle that you'd
take for anything but what it is. Every
thing’s there and everything’s right. Why
even the shirt and collar are Ned’s right
size. and. say. I bet they’ll feel good after
rubbing his neck for months against that
rough prison stuff.”
The Prison Bell Sounds Alarm
Leary was a talkative fellow and he
was going on with a detailed description
of the wig and false beard which he had
had made to order for the occasion, when
Dr. Collins and the matron appeared at
the end of the corridor where we were
sitttng. I signalled “Ned" to keep quiet
and led him over to a window.
There, under pretext of showing him
some geraniums 1 was trying to coax into
bloom, I hurriedly explained where he was
to ieave the things and sent him away on
the errand which meant so much to Ned
and me.
The next Tuesday was the longest, most
nerve-racking day of my life. I had slept
little the night before. All night long my
mind was turning over Ned's plans—how
by feigning Bickness he would get permis
sion to leave the shop and go to his cell;
how he would change his clothes and put
on the wig and false beard “Red" Leary
had bought; and how, just as his fellow-
prisoners were being marched In to their
noonday meal, he would mingle with the
little crowd of departing visitors, sur
render his forged pass at the gate and
walk out of the main entrance of the
prison a free man.
1 had approved every bit of this plan—
In fact I myself had mapped out a large
part of it. Yet now, when I considered
on what narrow margins its success de
pended, 1 felt it was foredoomed to failure.
Ned would be caught In the act—he would
•be put in solitary confinement—perhaps
he would be shot dead by some vigilant
guard.
I arose unusually early that Tuesday
morning and worked unusually hard—to
hide my nervousness.
Nothing out of,the ordinary happened
to relieve the awful tension. Early in
the morning I heard from one of the other
prisoners that the warden and his assist
ants had gone away for the day. This, of
course, coincided with N(fd’s plans, but it
brought me little relief, for I feared that
perhaps the officers left in charge might,
In the absence of their superiors, be un
usually careful in guarding their convict
charges.
Noon came and went and still I heard
nothing to relieve my anxiety. "No news
is good news," 1 keift saying to myself
and In this case the old adage really spoke
the truth. If there was no excitement
about the prison it was good evidence th*<
Ned’s absence had not been noted. And
if they did not discover his absence until
tuey came to lock the prisoners up for
the night all was well, for by that time
I knew Ned would be safe In hi3 old
haunts on the East Side, in New York City.
“But there still remained the discourag
ing possibility that at the last minute
some of his plans had miscarried and he
had been obliged to postpone the attempt.
Night came and I was setting the tabli
ror the evening meal when I heard the
sounds of some unusual excitement over
in the men’s prison, across the road.
There was much running to and fro,
keepers were shouting to each other and
presently the prison bell began to ring
frantically. The sound of the bell made
my heart jump—it was never rung, T
knew, except in case of tire or when a
prisoner escaped
"What on earth is that bell ringing for?"
said the matron. I was just saying that
1 didn’t know and was trying to hide my
excitement when in rushed Dr. Collins,
all breathless and worried.
“Heard the news?” he shouted. And be
fore the matron could say yes or no out
he burst with the whole story.
"Ned Lyons, the bank robber, has es
caped!" he said. ’’He's been gone since
noon and they never knew it until just
now when they went to look him in his
cell and found nothing there but his suit
of stripes. It's the boldest escape there’s
been in years.
“According to all accounts he walked
right out of the main gate, stepped into
a buggy that was waiting and drove off
like a gentleman. Of course he was dis
guised, and so cleverly they say that one
of the head gate keepers bowed to him at
the gate thinking he was a member of
that new legislative commission from Al
bany.”
A great weight rolled from my heart—
Ned was free! I managed to control my
feelings and it was lucky I did, for the
next instant I saw the matron point a
warning finger in my direction and at
that the doctor lowered his voice so that
I could hear no more.
This door—a massive, iron barred affair
—was seldom if ever opened. The big
brass key which unlocked it hung with
other keys from a ring suspended at the
matron's belt.
Kate Leary could easily have a dupli
cate of th"t key made, but first I must
secure a model of the original. This
wasn’t a difficult task—I had often done
similar tricks to aid my huBband in his
bank robberies. I slipped into the ma
tron’s room while she was taking a nap
and took a careful impression of the key
on a piece of wax.
a Easy Ban:
I agreed to this
premonition that
was finished,
rselves back in S
it turned out, I w
It was not altogel
e desire to live a c
plead with Ned
at there was a res
d that at any m
tective was liable
In due time Kate Leary brought the key
which had been carefully made from my
wax model. At the first opportunity 1
tried it—it fitted the rusty old lock per
fectly! Hiding the key away as carefully
as I ever hid any stolen diamonds, I
waited impatiently for the night set for
my escape.
It came at last. Between 8 and 7 o’clock
was the hour, because then my household
duties frequently took me Into the vicinity
of the basement door. It was a crisp De
cember evening. It had snowed heavily
alll day. and it wa3 still snowing and was
growing colder.
About 6:30 I heard a peculiar low
whistle. That was the signal that the
pair of horses and the sleigh which were
to carry me away were waiting outside.
There was, of course, no opportunity
to get my hat and coat. Luckily I was all
alone in the lower house—upstairs I
could hear the matron and her family
laughing and talking over their dinner.
Ned Lyons in Disguise
Putting down the tray of dishes I wa$
carrying I snatched the key from its hid
ing place under a flour barrel and hur
ried noiselessly along the dark passage
way to the door that led to liberty.
My heart was thumping with excite
ment—my fingers were trembling so that
I could hardly find the keyhole. It
seemed ages before the lock turned and
I stepped out into the cold Winter night.
Although every second was precious, 1
took the time to ciose the door behind me
and lock it. By thus concealing the way
I had gone, I would delay my pursuers
just so much.
From an open window above me floated
the voice of one of the matron’s little
daughters as I picked my way through
the snow, bareheaded and with house slip- '
pers, .avoiding the regular path. '
“Mamma,” she was saying; “why doesn’t
Sophie bring the rest of my dinner?"
“She’ll bring it in a minute," the mother Wt
replied. »* r
I heaved a sigh or rener—quite evidently
my absence had not yet caused any sus
picion. •
Hurling the key into a snowdrift, I ran
to the waiting sleigh. Ned was standing
beside the sleigh with a big, warm fur
coat outstretched in his arms. Without a
word I slipped into the coat, hopped into
the sleigh and Ned gave the horses a clip
with the whip and away we dashed to
ward Poughkeepsie.
The long fur coat and stylish hat which
Ned had brought made me look like any
thing but an escaped convict. After a
good warm cupper at Poughkeepsie, we
took the night train for New York and
reached there safely the next morning.
And so we were free!
But what had we gained by our escape?
We shall see.
When my husband first suggested his
escape from Sing Sing he promised me
that if ho ever succeeded in getting out
he would give up crime and turn to some
honest and honorable work That promise
was made while his remorse was sharp
ened by bis sudden change from high
living to poor prison fare, and I was now
to see how weak his good intentions really
were. •
ginning to tell on
try to laugh, my
at I saw policeme
iy I did.—at any
oaths, asleep or a
e slightest sound
fleer come to take
e could not live
be constantly do-
Wally running to
The "one more Jo
Ind was the robbe
s looked the gro
liking and then
rs, Dave Cumm
: k robber, to cor
a ielp us.
It was really a
lg for three such i
ere. My part of i
i the shadow of a
ie possible return
->.'o watchmen. T1
: his putting in
iy husband had
is acquaintance a
tuning had been
ale until he had
nearby saloon.
Inside the bank
atchman. He wai
discovered Ne<
irough the rear w
pened with their j
stiff fight that ti
o to stun him wil
uff a handkerchii
a his hands and f(
3 M was, they mi
nearly had nerv
ley where I was
way
’’I think I’d bett
id chap while yo
jy husband saici
ruised cheek he t
The next morning, of course, the whole
prison knew of the escape.
"If I get out I'll have you out in a few
weeks,” Ned had promised, and every day
I was expecting some word from him.
As time went on. the confidence the
matron and the doctor had in me seemed
to increase rather than diminish. Soon
I was allowed to accompany the matron’s
little daughters on long walks through the
grounds outside the prison and even as
far as the village.
On one of these warns my attention was
attracted by the peculiar actions of an
old Indian peddler. He was a copper-
colored, long haired old chief with Indian
baskets and strings of beads on his arms.
As soon as the girls and I stepped out of
the prison gate this queer looking, bent
old man singled us out from ail the rest
of the crowd and began following us
about, urging us with muffled grunts to
buy some of the bead goods he carried in
a basket strapped around his neck.
1 thought he was crazy and told him
very emphatically that I didn’t want any
of his trash. But this did not discourage
him in the least, and he dogged our foot
steps wherever we went.
At last—more to be rid of the old fellow
than because I wanted anything he had -
I seleoted from hts stock a pair of bean
slippers.
As I handed him the money I felt hifn
press a little folded slip of paper into the
hollow of my hand.
Quick as a flash I closed my fingers ovef
it and in that instant ! recognized under
the old Indian peddler’s clever disguise—
my husband. Ned Lyons.
He had come back to the Very gates of
the prison from which he had escaped to
bring this message to me!
Kate Leary, wife of “Red" Leary, the
bank burglar, was coming to see me soon
—so the note said. I was to have my
plans for escape all ready to discuss with
her.
Now, the only way of getting out of my
prison 1 had been able to discover was
through a door which led from a little
used passageway in the basement of the
moron's house to a point just outside the
prison walls.
How Ned Lyons Got Out of Sing Sing Prison
d Came Ba
My husband, Ned Lyons, who was
serving a term in Sing Sing while I
was also serving a sentence In the
women's wing of tho same prison, se
cured a disguise and a forged pass.
His friend, “Red” Leary, the bank bur
glar, arranged this for him. Lyons re
ported sick, was sent to hit cell and
at ones took off his prison stripes and
fixed himself irp with a red wig, a con
spicuous beard, slouch hat, plaid su-t
and a car.e.
<n this excellent disguise he miugl***
with the visitors who were strolli"9
through the corridors, and finally joined
a group at the prison door who were
leaving. Lyons edged along close be
hind a party of ladies and handed out
his forged pass. The prison keepej a*
the door gave him a glance, saw nothing
In the red wig and generous whiske
sno businee,. suit to make him suspe^
an escaping convict—and bGtW'PS ’’9°''
morning" Ne<i Lyons passed
Not many d.
escape I was c
ron’e children,
I noticed an o
tng around tr)
beads. He fol
noyed at his p
bought a pan
j him. As I
„ pressed a tight
Into my hand-
nizea in that
long-haired bla
Lyons,
I I’