In a headline that seems more like a plot from a movie, the front page of the 9 Jan. 1974 Cayman Compass had this story: ‘Barnett Makes Third Prison Escape – Now Back In Custody’. A previous ‘50 years ago’ highlighted an article chronicling the prisoner’s second escape. This time, as he was being escorted to the toilet in the George Town Prison, he pushed past the surprised guard, slammed the interconnecting door “and in the ensuing delay got away over the prison wall”. He was found a day-and-a-half later in Dog City. He was serving time for breaking into the First National City Bank.
An unrelated photo on page 1, however, might prove scarier to some. Smiling at the camera was young Kenny Krysher, who was holding a three-foot-long snake which was hanging over his neck. The picture was headlined ‘He Says It Won’t Bite’, but the photographer apparently was not so sure, though at least there are no poisonous snakes in Cayman.
The editorial ‘Truancy Must Go’ dealt with a “matter causing some concern”. It seemed that children, mostly aged 12-14, were skipping classes in both the comprehensive and primary schools. It said that it was “becoming alarming” that many parents of those students did not find out about their truancy until “faced with a report”, sometimes weeks after the offence. Noting that the government is giving the issue “very serious consideration”, the editorial concluded, “Let us not be caught napping. Let us be up and doing as we move to wipe out truancy.”
In brighter news, on page 8, there was a photo of librarian Iva Panton receiving the latest edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Rotary Club presented the books with the help of a retired Canadian judge who had arranged with the publisher to donate them to the service organisation.
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