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Hello there! And welcome to Adventures in Fiction Writing – 3 This is the third in a series about the state of fiction writing today along with updates on my debut novel, Becoming Amber, which will be released later this year. My first newsletter covered the love of writing; the second the importance of a good idea. Now it’s time to write. Right? Well, yes and no. Every writer has their own…

Becoming Amber, book one in The Amber Saga series, begins in 1967 post-earthquake Alaska, where a young girl has eloped with her first love to homestead in the wilderness. Bonnie immediately finds that her comfortable middle-class upbringing in Detroit did little to prepare her for living in the bush without phone, electricity, or running water. But she’s determined to meet every challenge head…

To sign up for my Adventures in Fiction Writing Blog, click here: https://horsekeeping.com/cherryhill-author/fiction-cherry-hill.htm To give you an idea of the newsletters, here is a sample: Hello there! Welcome to the first of my personal newsletters. Over the upcoming weeks, this Adventures in Fiction Writing newsletter will give you updates on my debut novel and series. And because I…

i love when they put the ""virtually staged"" version next to what it actually looks like in real life

"Five Convicts Flee Eastern 'Pen' By Daring Dush Through Sewers; Three Quickly Captured In Chase," Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 1 & 4. ---- 500 POLICEMEN JOIN HUNT FOR 2 STILL FREE ---- Felons, in One of Most Daring Escapes in History of Cherry Hill, Swim Through Cesspool and March Through Half Mile of Murky Underground Pipes ---- Make Mad Dash for Freedom After Emerging, Half-clad, to Surface; Two Injured in Leaps to Evade Pursuers; Bluecoats Scour City for Remaining Fugitives ---- By GEORGE M. MAWHINNEY Five desperate convicts yesterday afternoon escaped from the Eastern Penitentiary in a "break" exceeded in daring and proportions by only one other in the history of the Cherry Hill institution.

With a swim through a prison cesspool, and a hot stumbling march through nearly a half-mile of rat-infested city sewer, they gained freedom a momentary thing for three of them. Within an hour after they disappeared into the jungle of railroad tracks on the east bank of the Schuylkill, dodging howling pursuers, the all but naked three were captured by police in the vicinity of 25th and Dickinson sts.

Two of the three were injured in wild leaps from the Pennsylvania "High Line," a drop of 30 feet, in their mad attempt to remain free.

The captures were made while police were throwing a dragnet along the entire Schuylkill, with a total of nearly 500 uniformed and plain-clothes men scouring the river banks and the railroad sidings for the two still at large.

"Tips" Numerous The police radio blared throughout the night, sending squad cars racing wildly throughout southwestern Philadelphia to run down, futilely, a rapid series of "hot tips" which indicated the escaped men to be hidden in a wide variety of downtown dwellings.

The two at large are Martin Farrell, alias Marty Smith, 28, long-termer for automobile theft, and Frank Wiley, alias Frank Roy Riley, 24, who had been serving ten to twenty years for highway robbery. They are brothers-in-law.

Those who were back be-hind the gray walls of the 21st st. and Fairmount ave. institution last night, sadder but wiser, are Edward Zrelsenski, alias Steve Beck, 23, convicted for robbery; William Conway, alias William John Conway, 19, highway robber, and George H. Wil son, alias George Naygren, 27, a larceny artist.

Before the Black Maria carried them back to where they came from both were treated at St. Agnes Hospital. Zrelsenski was given ministrations for a broken left ankle and several broken ribs and Conway needed treatment of physicians for a dislocated left shoulder and cuts on the soles of the feet.

The escape occurred amid the noise and shouts of afternoon yard-out, while basketballs were being tossed at their receivers and hand-balls were being batted about.

Smash Grating Lock Only one greater escape exists on the records of the prison. That occurred just eleven years ago, on July 14 Bastille Day when six desperate men went over the walls, tossing off a guard in the process.

Yesterday's "break" was less violent, but more dangerous.

Presumably just after 3 P. M. the five, shielded by a multitude of other convicts in that section of the prison yard near Fairmount and Corinthian aves. stepped to a grating in the pavement.

It was locked with a huge 3-pound padlock of ancient make.

They apparently had planned their course carefully. Often in re-cent days they had practiced near the spot as a basketball team.

One of them broke the lock how, even prison authorities could not determine.

Then the the grating was lifted.

Two feet below it lay a 25-pound manhole cover.

Deftly this was lifted, and one after the other the five climbed silently down a 15-foot ladder. while accomplices who remained be-hind replaced the manhole cover and once again closed the grating.

Plunge Into Cesspool In darkness they began the first leg of their dangerous journey to unstable freedom.

They were in the prison sewer system.

It was hot and damp.

One of them shed his trousers immediately.

By the force of their own shoulders they broke through huge wooden flood gates and in a moment found themselves swimming for life in the murky, swirling waters of a prison cesspool that led to the city sewer system.

The swim was but 50 feet.

From that point on the night-mare began in earnest.

Rats swarmed about them as they struggled through knee-deep running water.

One after one they discarded articles of clothing.

Finally more dead than alive, they saw light.

It came through a sewer inlet at through 21st and Hamilton sts.

They struggled up and out, four now clad only in shorts, and tattered shirts and sweaters. One came to freedom as naked as the day he was born. He is one of those still at liberty.

Frank Straux, 24-year-old employee of the Gimbel Brothers warehouse at 21st st. and Fairmount ave gave a brief but vivid eye-witness account of their startling emergency

"I was standing at a window." he said. "when suddenly I saw these men one after another coming up out of the sewer, one helping the other. All were nearly naked. One wore no clothes at all.

Ran Across Parkway "I was so startled that at first I didn't know what to do. Then, a few seconds later, it was too late to do anything. They started running west and across the Parkway toward the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks. I shouted and started after them."

What happened after that is muddled in the minds of all who participated. People ran and yelled at the top of their voices. More joined the man hunt. The convicts escaped after 10 blocks of dodging.

They turned south along the raw-road tracks. They fled cast into Vine st. At 23d they seized a pedestrian and attempted to disrobe him. But he fought, and their haste was too great. He saved his clothing.

South on 23d st. they raced until they reached Cherry, they turned west, to the railroad tracks once again. The last pursuer was out-distanced as they fled southward among box cars on sidings of the railroad.

Meanwhile, every police power in the city arose to apprehend them. and arose in such a manner that three enjoyed only such freedom as is comparable to a frightened hare throwing up his heels to a baying pack of hounds.

The prison authorities - Warden Herbert Smith and Deputy Warden Thomas Meikrantz - first learned of the escape from the outside.

It was shortly after 4 P. M. when a telephone call was received from the police department, its suspicions aroused by the occurrence at 21st and Hamilton sts, suggesting that five convicts might have escaped.

The hour of 4.15 PM is that set as deadline for the Saturday afternoon "yard out."

The 1193 convicts in the yards were recalled to their cells. As they returned, slowly and orderly, a check of all was made. Speedily it was ascertained that the five were missing from the middle cell block.

Blockade Set Up Meanwhile guards were sent on an inspection of the yards. More telephone police information suggested examination of the sewer outlets.

The method of escape was rapidly discovered. It was confirmed that the convicts had passed that way when a pair of prison fatigue trousers bearing the number 8359. that of Farrell, were found at the foot of the ladder into the sewer.

Guards were turned out on the nearby streets. At the 21st and Hamilton sts, inlet they found another pair of prison trousers and a penknife.

With this activity at the prison. Superintendent of Police Joseph A. LeStrange acted to throw up a blockade along the Schuylkill River front.

More than 150 policemen were dispatched to the section of the Baltimore and Ohio tracks between South and Market sts. to ex-amine every box car, every foot of the way.

Police Boat Joins Hunt The police boat Reyburn steamed out of its wharf at Chestnut st. to scrutinize the shore line. On the west bank was placed a smaller po-lice patrol against against the possibility that some of the convicts might at-tempt to swim the river.

And farther south in Philadelphia along the muddy Schuylkill motorcycle policemen went on patrol of the open expanses of weed grown lots, railroad tracks and factory yards.

It was this phase of the pursuit that yielded the arrests.

One Sighted in Grass Zrelsenski was first sighted. Thomas Kelly and John Loveland, policemen of Motor Band Station B. 15th st. and Snyder ave., saw him after a suspicious motion in the high grass near the "High Line" railroad attracted their attention.

There were shouts raised from the police. The sirens of their motorcycles screamed as they sped into the tall grass. Conway suddenly hove into view. The two raced for the "High Line" tracks.

Other police scouring the vicinity raced to the scene. Twelve motor-cycles, recklessly driven by their riders, mounted a steep 25-foot embankment to a point near the rail-road tracks.

The two convicts, without hesitation, jumped..

They were easily captured.

Policemen Cohen. Morrison and Owens, from 24th and Wolf sts. station, nearby, closed in on them.

Shot Stops Fugitive A few minutes later Wilson was captured by Detective James Bosch as he attempted flight near 25th st and Passyunk ave. One shot, fired high by the detective, brought him to a halt.

With the news of the captures flashed over the police wires, War-den Smith hastened to St. Agnes' Hospital, where the two injured men were being treated. He at-tempted a brief questioning of them, but obtained small results.

At this stage of the rapidly moving afternoon's events the warden issued an official statement of what had happened:

"We received a warning which came to the prison after 4 o'clock." he said. "from the 20th and Buttonwood sts. police station, telling of five men coming out of a manhole.

"I immediately ordered a check-up and found five men missing. The sewer openings within the prison walls were hastily checked and found to be intact. A general alarm was sent out for the arrest of the five men

"These men apparently escaped through the entrance to the sewer by the Fairmount ave. wall. It is probable that a crowd of convicts stood in front of the grating, there-by screening the escape from the guard on duty at the corner of the wall.

"I asked the guard if he had noticed any unusual activity in the yard during the recreational period. and he said he had not. He said he saw no disturbance from the wall."

Regarding the old fashioned lock that was broken, an implement known as a "bull lock," Smith asserted

"We'll put a new lock on that grating that will be strong enough to stop escapes in that direction.

In the accident ward the two convicts were silent.

Zrelsenski, with a broken ankle, attempted to walk. but fell, much to the disgust of the warden, who snorted. Zrelsenski, however, remained at the hospital under guard, while the other two, Wilson and Conway, were carried back to the Eastern Penitentiary.

Shortly after 7 P. M. Dr. Herbert M. Goddard, one of the trustees of the penitentiary, proceeded to question Wilson, but received nothing but evasive replies.

"How did you get the key to the manhole cover?" Dr. Goddard demanded.

Wilson, still clad in a pair of shorts and a pair of "sneakers" that were once white, replied: "I didn't see any key. The hole was open and I jumped in."

"Were the others dressed the same as you?" asked the questioner.

"To Dark to See" "I don't know. It was too dark to see."

"Did they all go the same way?" persisted Dr. Goddard.

"Well," replied Wilson. "we all went through the same hole." Dr. Goddard then asked if there were any prisoners around the hole for purposes of shielding the escape.

"There was nobody there when I went in," Wilson explained.

"There must have been some men standing around the hole or the man on the tower would have seen you." the questioner insisted.

"The only ones I saw," said Wilson. "were four negro prisoners standing against the wall."

With such answers to questions much of the modus operandi of the escape remained still a mystery. In view of intimations of a widespread plot, Deputy Warden Meikrantz was asked if the convicts might have obtained possession of plans of the prison sewers.

"We have blueprints of the sewers," he said. "but they are kept under lock and key in a place where I do not think any convict would have a chance to lay hands on them."

The search for Farrell and Wiley, meanwhile, was continued throughout the city.

Police under Captain James Evers, of Motor Bandit Squad B. visited the home of Wiley, in Ritner st. near Broad, and that of

Farrell, in Jackson st. near 19th. Neither visit produced tangible results.

Late last night search for the fugitives was being turned to the west bank of the Schuylkill. Receipt of a mysterious "tip" caused Patrol Boat No. 1 to be dispatched to the foot of Christian st, on the west bank, under orders to search the neighborhood. The search made by the patrol boat's crew was fruitless.

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"“THOUGHT I'D DIE,' CONVICT SAYS OF FLIGHT IN SEWER," Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 1 & 4. --- Recaptured Felon Tells of Weary Trudge Through Filthy Murk of Underground Lines; Seared by Terrific Heat ---- From the dirt-encased lips of George H. Wilson, one of the three men recaptured of the five who escaped from the Eastern Penitentiary through the filthy waters of a stench-filled sewer line, came the first details of the prison break.

Seated in detective headquarters at City Hall before he was return-ed to Cherry Hill, Wilson, alias George Naygren, an expert in the less subtle forms of larceny, seemed more willing to unburden his memory of that horrible trip through the rat-infested sewer to an Inquirer reporter than he was later to talk to prison authorities.

Seared deeply in his mind was one ineradicable impression.

"It was hot as hell in that sewer."

While the desperate men half-swam, half-stumbled through the grimy murk of the huge waste pipes, the sun-baked earth around the sewers radiated an unbearable heat into them.

"Two or three times I thought sure I was gonna die."

After dropping into the opening Wilson and the other four headed south to where the prison line connects with the main pipe on Fairmount ave

"What a jump that was," said Wilson.

It must have been about 25 feet.

"We landed in water and header for the main pine on Fairmount ave, and then we turned west. That was when our troubles began.

Carried On by Water "That water was swishing part us so fast we could hardly keep our feet. It carried us in the direction we were hearing, but we had to be careful to keep our heads above water.

"The place was full of rats."

"Was it hot?"

"I took off my coat, but even at that I sweated like the devil. The other fellows took off their coats and then we took off our pants. We had nothing on but our underpants.

"It was black as ink in that sewer. I was getting worried, too. I thought, Maybe they're after us already.

"Then I thought, 'Maybe I won't even get out of here alive."

"Two of three times I thought sure I was gonna die.

"It was getting hotter every second. Then we saw the opening (at) 21st and Hamilton sts.) and climbed out.

Sought Refuge Until Darkness "Boy, was I glad to get out of that hole. You think it's hot, but believe me, that air felt like an ice box to me after wading through that black pipe down there."

He told of how they ran, nearly naked, one of them stark naked except for his covering of sewer dirt, across the Parkway and south to the B. & O. railroad tracks paralleling the Schuylkill River.

Southward they ran, looking for a place to hide until dark, when they could try to find some clothes and "lay low" until a moment propitious to get out of town.

"Down around Dickinson st.. though. I knew it was all up. A bunch of dicks saw us, and they started shooting. We started running hard. We left the tracks and ran over to the Pennsylvania high-line, and ran down that. I hid in a cut-out but they found me. I didn't know what became of the others."

Wilson, a thin little man, about five feet six inches in height, was sentenced to from three to six years at Cherry Hill after he was convicted on a larceny charge at Doylestown in 1930. Before that he had compiled a record as an auto-mobile thief.

Both missing men were last seen in the vicinity vicinity of 25th and Reed sts. a short time before fore the others were captured little more than a block away.

According to reports given police they purchased five pairs of overalls from a boy, near that intersection, donned two of the pairs in a nearby vacant house, and vanished.

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"YOUTH WHO BOUGHT CLOTHES FOR FIVE FUGITIVES QUIZZED," Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 1 & 4. --- Friend of One Fleeing Convict Held: Purchases Aided in Escape ---- Frank Wiley and Martin Farrell, convicts who escaped from the Eastern Penitentiary yesterday, owe their precarious liberty to a youthful "friend."

That was revealed by police last night as they brought the "friend" -a friend particularly, they say of William. Conway, one of the three recaptured to the Detective Bureau at City Hall for questioning.

The youth gave his name as Thomas Mooney, 17, of Patton and Reed sts.

Rapid investigations by police resulted in the youth being brought in for questioning, and in the dis-closure that Mooney had spent $7.68 for five shirts and five sets of overalls for the near-naked fugitives to wear.

Traced to Vacant House Wiley and Farrell succeeded in donning their garb and escaping, clothed, before the arrival of nearly a score motorcycle policemen flush-ed the remaining three from their hiding place in F. M. Mahedy's coal yard at 25th and Dickinson sts.

The two at present, according to presumption. at least, are wearing the blue overalls, and in addition one had a green shirt and the other a white shirt.

The trail of the overalls and the shirts began gan in a vacant house, where it is believed, Wiley and Farrell dressed themselves while their comrades waited for them to return with clothing that would aid all five to escape.

Arrival of a score of motorcycle policemen in the neighborhood, resulting in the capture of the remaining three, prevented the de-livery of the clothing.

Identifies Photographs In the vacant house, during a search, the police found the discarded overalls and shirts. With a few questions they discovered they had been sold in H. Greenberg's Workmen's Supply Store, near 25th and Dickinson sts. Greenberg recognized the abandoned articles of clothing, and said they were purchased by a boy accompanied by two men clad in trunks.

From Rogues Gallery photographs he identified the two as Wiley and Farrell.

"When first them came in," he said, "a woman was there. She said out loud, Look at those two; they look as if they had escaped from somewhere." One of them spoke up and said, 'Lady, we were swimming in the river and somebody stole our clothes.'

"The boy gave me a $10 bill. He bought three pairs of overalls at 69 cents apiece, one at 88 cents and one at 98 cents. He also bought four white shirts at 75 cents each and one green shirt at the same price. I gave him his change."

Admits Buying Clothes Although the storekeeper was unable to give the identity of the boy. private information furnished Edward Goldberg, policeman of the 20th and Federal sts. station, led them to Mooney.

Under questioning at City Hall he was said to have admitted he bought the clothes with money provided by one of the convicts.

"I was walking past the coal yard," police said he told them, "when I heard somebody call me. I said, I don't know you fellows, and then one of them sad, 'Yes you do: is's me… Conway. Then I recognized him, and two others went with me to the store.

"After I bought the stuff I left them."

Police believe Wiley and Farrell hastened immediately into a vacant house to dress, while their comrades waited, only to be captured. Mooney, it was intimated, may be charged with aiding the escape.

"AT LARGE!" Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 23. --- THESE men easily identified by tattoo and other marks are still at liberty after their daring break from Eastern Penitentiary, yesterday with three others since captured.

They are dangerous. If you see or hear of any trace of them notify police at once. Their descriptions follow:

Marty Farrell. 27, 158 pounds, 5 feet 9 inches tall. hazel eyes, medium light complexion, light chestnut hair; left arm tattooed with bleeding heart and arrow through it, with word "love" on streamer: also anchor with letters U. S. A. and a five point star above; also on fingers letters F. A. S. P., right arm tattooed with figure of woman in tights as kewpie doll, also on fingers letters D. L. O. H.

Roy Wiley, alias John Mallon, 26. slender, 139 pounds 5 feet 9 inches. tall, dark chestnut hair, dark blue eyes: mole on back of neck: right arm tattooed with head and shoulders of sailor, with two stars below.

Both men were wearing mens shorts and sneaks when they got away from the prison. but later acquired overalls, while one had a white shirt and the other a new green shirt.

Caption to image: THREE STEPS IN CHERRY HILL BREAK AND CAPTURE Step No. 1, the entrance to the cesspool within the gates at the Eastern Penitentiary by means of which five convicts made their escape yesterday, is shown at the lower right hand corner of the upper left picture. Prison guards are examining the grating leading to the sewer. Step No. 2, the manhole through which the five emerged to the street at 21st and Hamilton sts., is shown at the top right. Nathan Goldstein, a taxicab driver, is holding the fatigue pants left behind by one of the five felons. Step No. 3, the scene of the capture of three of the five, at the "high line." 25th and Dickinson sts., is shown at the lower left. The dotted line traces the leaps made by two of the three from the span during the chase, shortly before they were captured.

"PINCHOT TO PROBE CHERRY HILL BREAK," Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 4. ---- Warden Smith Also Opens Own Inquiry; Upheld by Trustees' Board --- Two investigations of the Cherry Hill prison break were set under way last night one of them by Governor Pinchot.

Warden Herbert B. Smith began the other one-determined. among other things, to learn how the five convicts broke the lock on the lid of the sewer through which they got away.

"I have not yet received official notice of the escape," said the Governor. I will, of course, investigate it."

Smith announced his inquiry after it was under way, and promised a thorough investigation of the whole affair."

Board Upholds Smith Members of the prison's Board of Trustees said they placed confidence in Warden Smith, and would await a report from him before deciding whether an investigation by them is warranted.

"I have implicit faith in Warden Smith," said Dr. Guy T. Holcombe, of Oxford, president of the board "We are always expecting breaks of some kind. We can't expect men to be sitting in prison without planning to get out.

"They are always two jumps ahead of the guards, because the guards do not know what is in the minds of the prisoners"

Mrs. Liveright Asks Report Another trustee, Oscar E. Gerney, voiced similar views.

T. Henry Walnut, was who member of the Governor's special committee investigating recent disturbances at Eastern Penitentiary, would make no comment on the escape attempt yesterday.

A report on the episode was re-quested of Smith by Mrs. Alice W. Liveright, State Secretary of Welfare, who is in charge of penal institutions.

Mrs. Liveright said she will visit the penitentiary today, and will decide on her course of action Monday after receiving Smith's report.

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"Sewer Escape Was Third Major Break at Cherry Hill," Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 4. ---- THE ill-starred escape attempt of five convicts from the Eastern Penitentiary yesterday was the third major "break" in the prison's history, although on numerous oc-casions one and two convicts have made tries for liberty successful and unsuccessful.

Both the other large-scale efforts took place in the same year, 1923, shortly after the idealistic regime of the late Warden Bob McKenty. The late Colonel John C. Groome had succeeded McKenty.

The first attempt was a daring one. On July 14, 1923, six convicts battered a guard unconscious and climbed over a 40-foot wall on the Corinthian ave. side. Once outside they commandeered an automobile and made good their escape, disappearing in Maryland.

Three Guards Overpowered Four months later a group of four prisoners overpowered a guard and made a break for liberty. All succeeded in getting out, but one was shot and killed during the get away.

Of the ten who made breaks in these two attempts, two are dead and six were recaptured and returned to their cells at Cherry Hill.

On January 2, 1925. James Gordon, alias Scotty Campbell, concealed himself in a load of steaming cinders and endured the torture of intense heat to make a getaway.

A guard was overpowered at 11 o'clock on the night of September 4. 1927, by two men who also es-caped. They were William Peter Bishie and William Lynch.

Lifer Still at Large Lynch and Bishie hurled the guard 35 feet to the prison yard, but he landed on wet earth and es-caped death. Lynch was caught four days later in Elizabeth, N. J. Bishie, a lifer, is still at large.

What easily could have become a wholesale escape was foiled on April 11. 1924, when two convicts were caught digging their way out. Using improvised implements, the men had tunneled to within a few feet of a sewer manhole when they were discovered by Deputy Warden Charles Santee.

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"Police Ordered to "Shoot to Kill"," Philadelphia Inquirer. July 22, 1934. Page 4. --- "Shoot to kill!" That was the order given to police in every part of the city last night, as an item in the manhunt for Frank Wiley and Martin Farrel, brothers-in-law, the two escaped Eastern Penitentiary convicts who are still at large.

Both are believed to be wearing blue overalls. They were last seen in vicinity of 25th and Reed sts.

Wiley was described by prison guards as by far the more desperate and dangerous of the two.

Some of you might know that I have authored 32 books on horse training and care under my pen name Cherry Hill. My horse books have been translated into a dozen foreign languages. Well, I’ve shifted gears to fiction, and I wanted to let you know about my upcoming series which is hard to define, because it doesn’t fit into a genre box. Each book is filled with adventure, love, crime, murder and…