ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE FRUSTRATED MEMBERS OF THE FOUR HUNDRED DEFY THE LAW "Special Officer McCloud, on duty at the quarantined house of James
Wilson, artist and clubman, on Ninety-fifth Street, reported this
morning a daring attempt at escape, made at 3 A.M. It is in this house
that some eight or nine members of the smart set were imprisoned
during the course of a dinner party, when the Japanese butler developed
smallpox. The party shut in the house includes Miss Katherine McNair,
the daughter of Theodore McNair, of the Inter-Ocean system; Mr. and Mrs.
Dallas Brown; the Misses Mercer; Maxwell Reed, the well-known clubman
and whip; and a Mr. Thomas Harbison, guest of the Dallas Browns and a
South American.
"Officer McCloud's story, told to a Chronicle reporter this morning, is
as follows: The occupants of the house had been uneasy all day. From the
air of subdued bustle, and from a careful inspection of the roof,
made by the entire party during the afternoon, his suspicion had been
aroused. Nothing unusual, however, occurred during the early part of the
night. From eight o'clock to twelve, McCloud was relieved from duty, his
place being taken by Michael Shane, of the Eighty-sixth Street Station.
"When McCloud came on duty at midnight, Shane reported that about eleven
o'clock the searchlight of a steamer on the river, flashing over the
house, had shown a man crouching on the parapet, evidently surveying
the roof across, which at this point is only twelve feet distant, with a
view of making his escape. One seeing Shane below, however, he had beat
a retreat, but not before the officer had seen him distinctly. He was
dressed in evening clothes and wore a light tan overcoat.
"Officer McCloud relieved Shane at midnight, and sent for a
plain-clothes man from the station house. This man was stationed on the
roof of the Bevington residence next door, with strict injunctions
to prevent an escape from the quarantined mansion. Nothing suspicious
having occurred, the man on the roof left about 3 A.M., reporting
to McCloud below that everything was quiet. At that moment, glancing
skyward, one of the officers was astounded to see a long narrow board
project itself from the coping of the Wildon house, waver uncertainly
for a moment, and then advance stealthily toward the parapet across.
When it was within a foot or two of a resting place, McCloud called
sharply to the invisible refugee above, at the same time firing his
revolver in the ground.
"The result was surprising. The board stopped, trembled, swayed a
little, and dropped, missing the vigilant officers by a hair's breadth,
and crashing to the cement with a terrific force. An inspection of the
roof from the Bevington house, later, revealed nothing unusual. It
is evident, however, that the quarantine is proving irksome to the
inhabitants of the sequestered residence, most of whom are typical
society folk, without resources in themselves. Their condition, without
valets and maids, is certainly pitiable. It has been rumored that
the ladies are doing their own hair, and that the gentlemen have been
reduced to putting their own buttons in their shirts. This deplorable
situation, however, is unavoidable.