Jail breaker back in cell

Ralph Downs was serving a 90-day jail sentence for illegal possession of intoxicating liquor in Clarke County Jail.

He was arrested on a Monday morning about 6 a.m. after being at liberty about 20 hours following a daylight jail escape.

He escaped from the county jail through the coal chute on the north side of the building. Because of the illness of Deputy Arzo Lane and the extreme cold weather, the prisoners had been allowed to fire the furnace themselves that week. The furnace didn’t adequately heat the building unless it was fired often.

The coal chute was thought to be secure. A heavy iron stake had been driven into the ground outside the chute to keep it from being opened. However, someone had lifted the stake from the outside. The ally of Downs was never found.

The sheriff was notified about a half hour after Downs escaped by a person who had seen him. Local officers immediately got on his trail, but he was not to be found.

The sheriff went to Downs’ home on Monday morning about 6 o’clock and there found his man. He took Downs back to the jail where he was put in solitary confinement.

Another prisoner serving a nine-month sentence for bootlegging said, after breakfast, Downs went down to fix the fire, coming back up the stairs and going back down again. He heard the coal chute bang but thought nothing of it.

When Downs didn’t come back up stairs, he went and found the coal chute open and the other prisoner gone. He remained in jail, and said when he left jail, he wanted to be clear and not have any charges hanging over him.

The rumor that circulated about Sunday in regard to Downs making away with some alcohol locked in the jail for evidence was entirely unfounded.

Downs went to his home about 4:30 a.m. with his wife who had been staying with her parents. When questioned, the jail breaker refused to tell where he had been on Sunday or who assisted him in his escape.

He had served more than a month of his 90-day sentence.