7. DESPERADO JOHNSON.
This convict is the most daring and desperate criminal in the
Missouri penitentiary. The prison authorities have had more trouble
with him than with any other man who ever found a home behind the walls
of this great institution. He was sent up from Jackson County, and was
charged with murdering two men before he was finally convicted of crime.
On trial for these two murders be was successful
in proving an alibi. The last time be was not so successful, and
received a sentence of twelve years. Soon after his arrival at the
prison he was set to work in one of the shops. When he became a little
acquainted, his innate cussedness induced him to raise a riot in the
prison. It was a desperate undertaking, but he was equal to the
emergency. For days and weeks he was on the alert, and when a guard was
not on the watch he would communicate with a convict, and enlist his
services, and give him his instructions as to what part he should
perform when the signal should be given.
At last the day came when all was ready for the plans so well
laid to be carried into execution. Each of the convicts who were to act
in concert with him piled up a lot of kindling in their respective shops
and saturated it with kerosene. When the prisoners were being marched
out to supper, they threw matches into the piles of kindling-wood, and
soon several buildings were on fire. Intense excitement now prevailed
among the two thousand convicts. The ranks were quickly broken, and all
was confusion. Some of the better disposed convicts tried to assist the
officers in
putting out the fires, and were in turn knocked down and trampled upon
by those who were in favor of the riot. In the midst of this great
excitement Johnson, the leader, with four of his associates, knocked
down one of the guards and stripped him of his clothing. Johnson put on
this suit of blue and started to one of the towers. Reaching the same,
he asked permission of the officer on duty to let down the ladder and
allow him to ascend and assist him in "holding the fort," as this was
Captain Bradbury's orders. Johnson's intentions were to get on top of
the wall and into the tower, where the guard opened the large gate below
by the use of a lever. The convict, once inside the tower, would knock
the officer down, seize his gun, raise the lever, throw open the large
gate in the wall, and permit the prisoners all to rush out. This was a
bold scheme, and it is a wonder, during the great excitement that
prevailed, that it was not successful. The officer on duty, when
requested by the convict to allow him to ascend the ladder, coolly drew
his gun, and told him if he dared to ascend he would send buckshot into
his body.
Foiled in this, the desperado returns to
where the officials are fighting the flames, and began cutting the hose
so as to stop the supply of water. The fire raged furiously. A strong
wind sprung up adding intensity to the flames. Over $200,000 worth of
property was soon swept away in this direful storm of fire. After a
fearful conflict the prisoners were overpowered and driven into their
cells.
A number of them were severely wounded. Several died of the
injuries received. The prison directors had a called meeting and
investigated the riot. The blame fell upon convict Johnson. A criminal
charge was preferred against him in the courts, for arson. He was
convicted and served an additional sentence of twelve years. This, added
to his former sentence, makes twenty-four years of imprisonment for this
desperado. When he was taken out of the penitentiary to stand trial for
setting fire to the prison, he was heavily loaded with chains, and in
the custody of six prison officials. It was feared he would make a
desperate effort to escape during this trial. On his return to the
prison he was placed in a dark dungeon, and has been kept caged up ever
since, like a wild beast. When he is given exercise he wears a ball and
chain
and an officer walks immediately behind him, with a loaded Winchester,
ready to shoot him down if he makes any bad breaks. The officials are
very careful when they enter his cell for any purpose, as he is liable
to kill them. Captain Bradbury, the deputy warden, in speaking of him,
says, he is the most desperate criminal he has met during his
thirty-three years of prison experience.
