I always find the wording of these old news stories very interesting.  A sort-of polite tongue-in-cheek bit of humor!

Today we should have the stove in place and the roof fixed.  We got the wood hauled yesterday and sorted.

Your farm friend,

Linda

From the Past

Compiled from Delta Newspapers by the Delta County Historical Society

251 Meeker Street, Delta, Colorado, 81416  (970) 874-8721

From the Delta County Independent

September 5, 1913

Lewis G. McBroom, arrested at Hotchkiss on charges of theft a little more than a month ago, and being held for trail at the next term of district court in this county, tired of prison life in this city and opportunities for further service [sic] a that greater guard house in Canon City, and consequently concluded to work out his own freedom. He completed this delivery from the county jail at a little after noon hour on Sunday when people were going home from church and there is yet some wonder that he could drop from sight entirely undetected.

His plan of escape was to get under the jail floor through a trap door or loosened boards and then dig out two or three brick and one stone of the foundation on the court house side, thus making a hole which would allow his body to pass through.  He had evidently worked on this passage-way for some days and with a piece of steel bar broken from one of the cells some time ago by Marshall, the forger acquitted at the last term on his insanity plea.

Completing his avenue of escape, McBroom invited Chanes, the young Greek recently arrested for stealing and forging checks at Dominquez Canyon, and the only other prisoner in the jail at the time, to join him in his delivery, but the Greek declined. Half an hour later Chanes saw two young ladies passing the jail.  He hailed them and related the disappearance of McBroom.  He then said he wanted to see an officer and a note was written to Sheriff Sampson which was delivered as soon as that officer could be located, and a systematic search is now being made with the hope that McBroom can be located and returned to prison.