PRISONER ESCAPES JAIL THROUGH SMALL AIR PASSAGE GREASED WITH VASELINE
Oil City, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On September 18, 1924, the Associated Press reports escaped prisoner Laverne Eiseman was captured near his home last evening. The escapee was serving time on a burglary charge.
Eiseman picked the lock on his cell door and then escaped the jail "through a small air passage." Since the opening was too small for him to fit, he "used vaseline* freely" and after just a few minutes was able to slip through the air passage to freedom.
After Eiseman was captured and before being returned to his cell, the jail cook was advised to "hide the lard**."
JFK+50 NOTE
Oil City, settled in 1824, is the largest city in Venango County, Pennsylvania located at the bend of the Allegheny River at the mouth of Oil Creek.
*vaseline is a U.S. brand of petroleum jelly but the term is also generic for petroleum jelly. It was introduced in 1852.
**lard is a semi-solid white fat product produced from pigs.
SOURCE
"Slippery Prisoner Slides Out of Jail Aided by Vaseline," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 18, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
