Private James Stewart
Kentucky Post, Tuesday, 11 October 1904, page 1
A bold escape from the guard house was made at Ft Thomas Monday
morning by Private James Stewart of Company C, Twenty-seventh Infantry, who cut
his way to freedom and is still at large. He had been tried by court martial for
insulting women and was fined $30 and given a sentence of three months, 42 days
of which were to be served in solitary confinement.
He was locked in a wooden cell in the basement of the guardhouse and in some manner secured a knife or sharp tool of some kind and hacked through some heavy two inch oak planks. After releasing himself from the cell, he opened a basement window and awaited his chance. While the guard was patrolling the house on one side, he left on the other and got away in safety.
The escape was made between 4 am in the morning and was not discovered until the breakfast hour. Stewart is 28 years of age, five feet 10 inches in height and weighs 145 pounds. He wore army blue trousers and a colored shirt. The police of three cities have been notified to keep a lookout for him.