FYI: news coverage about the Tunnel Archaeology Weekend event in Philadelphia.
Retracing a prison break
Eastern State Penitentiary is offering a look at a tunnel used in a 1945
escape.
By Mari A. Schaefer
Inquirer Staff Writer
The robot looked more like a toy than a sophisticated, remote-control
camera, but it gave Eastern State Penitentiary museum officials,
archaeologists, and visitors their first clear look yesterday at the secret
tunnel dug by prisoners and used in a daring 1945 escape.
"Everybody is curious about tunnels," said Rebecca Yamin, an archaeologist
with John Milner Associates. "Especially one associated with [inmate]
Willie Sutton." The flamboyant Sutton, who was sentenced to 25 to 50 years
for the machine-gun robbery of the Corn Exchange Bank and Trust Co. in
Philadelphia, had claimed credit for the tunnel.
Yesterday, Yamin, who helped excavate the tunnel, and other onlookers were
eager to see what the Rovver inspection crawler might discover.
The search for the tunnel, used by Sutton and 11 other inmates on April 3,
1945, began in the spring of 2005. Using period photos and prison records,
the excavation team easily found the entry and the exit points, near
Fairmount Avenue and North 22d Street. But it took ground-penetrating radar
to locate the exact path of the 97-foot-long tunnel.
"They [prison officials] claimed to have filled in the whole thing," said
Sean Kelley, program director at Eastern State. "We now know that is not true."
The narrow, 2-foot-high hole was started in cellblock seven by inmates
Clarence Klinedinst, a prison plaster worker, and his cell mate, William
Russell. They dug using anything they, had including tin cans for more than
a year, Yamin said. The tunnel's entrance was hidden behind a wooden panel
painted to match the plaster wall. At first the dirt was flushed down a
cell toilet; later, it was pushed into an opening of a sewer found in the
tunnel shaft.
"We didn't know how the alignment went across the yard," Yamin said. "We
didn't know if it wiggled or if any of it was still open."
An auger was brought in to dig a 10-foot hole to the tunnel and a smaller
camera was lowered in to capture a few images of the structure before the
team quit for the winter.
Yesterday, the crowd huddled around computer screens as a pole camera was
lowered into the hole before sending in the Rovver.
"The robot looks very simple. You don't need decorations to be very
interesting," said Jake Simon, 9, from Hockessin, Del., who was surprised
by the size of the $37,000 robot. "I thought it could have been a little
bigger."
Until yesterday, Kelley said, pictures only showed wooden planks used to
shore up the tunnel. Records indicate that everything had been removed.
Yesterday, the group hoped to find evidence of the lighting system the
inmates used.
"Is that a string? It looks like wire," said Yamin, eyeing the images on
the monitor.
The planks and wires could clearly be seen as the Rovver climbed over a
mound of dirt and down an incline. But, the light bulbsthe team hoped to
find were not there.
"It is amazing it has held up all this time," Kelley said of the
61-year-old, arch-shaped tunnel, which the museum plans to seal after this
exploration.
When it opened in October 1829, Eastern State had something the White House
did not - running water, according to the prison's Web site.
The prison, set on 11 acres of what was then farmland, was built with a
state-of-the-art plumbing system, sewers and centrally heated cells.
The architecture inspired the design for more than 300 other prisons
throughout the world, and tourists flocked to Philadelphia in the 1830s and
1840s to view the prison, the prison's Web site says.
One of the more famous inmates, Al Capone, decorated his cell with
antiques, rugs and oil paintings during his eight-month stay in 1929.
In need of repairs in 1971, Eastern State closed. It was purchased by the
city in 1980, and guided tours started in 1994.
Yesterday, about 70 people gathered to watch a reenactment of the prison
escape. Twelve local actors dressed as prisoners in blue work shirts and
striped pants introduced themselves to the crowd.
"Hi, how ya' doin'?" said Philip Jacobson, who played Willie Sutton,
complete with a swagger. "I'm the only one here who was someone."
Within minutes the 12 were off, dodging traffic along Fairmount Avenue.
After the escapees were captured by police, they were returned to the crowd
to explain more about the tunnel's construction and what happened after
they broke free.
While the tunnel was well-planned, the escape was not.
According the statements made to prison officials after their capture, many
of the escapees had not made any plans for what they would do once they
were on the outside.
"This escape was a mistake on my part, as it was on the spur of the moment
and I had made no preparation," Sutton said in his official statement.
It took about two hours to capture Sutton and five other inmates. Two more
were captured in Wawa, Delaware County, on April 6. The rest were found by
May 22.
View the Tunnel
Visitors can see the Rovver in action from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today as
festivities continue for the 61st anniversary of the prison escape at
Eastern State Penitentiary, 22d Street and Fairmount Avenue. For more
information, call 215-236-3300, or visit
<http://www.easternstate.org>www.easternstate.org.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/philadelphia_county/philadelphia/14247185.htm
Go directly to jail
The haunting Eastern State Penitentiary - the prison home to gangster Al
Capone and celebrated crooks and killers - opens this weekend for another
season of tours and events. The Tunnel Archaeology Weekend features a
re-enactment of the 1945 tunnel escape by 12 inmates, including notorious
bank robber Willie Sutton and mastermind Clarence Klinedinst.
Eastern State Penitentiary, 22nd and Fairmount, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily,
$4-$9, 215-236-3300.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/living/14239096.htm
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