The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1869-01-13
rmn roMss.
rmn TOM0e.
James Henri Browne he's published hie
work. The Great Metropolis; A Mirror o.
N.v York, Here i his sketch Of

work. The Great Metropolis; a A1SVa -
New York, Here 10 his sketch OF
rHs sosss.
EVERYBODY in the Metropolis hes 80 the
Tombs, = the City Prison y aiwsys oalea nefA
hnt f.v have been inside Of its 1Ieomy wali1;
10, you'd they like to b, II they knew Whae.
! -re,ches and wrstehsdnsss i contained.
| The Tombs ocesPiss one SQUARE, o. - -.
and north ssd south By Leonard and FfAshi'n
sersve,,s u was bsils sbsss sAlsiy ysass 80, =
my srasits, in the Egyptian style Of arohttec-
tsrs ayhaeeof 425o, 900; and Il is safe 70 ssy no
such amount Of money vss ever expended iof
nsss dolos ons pnzposs. IL gloomy eemDlI ~
one blsck Of the Dizzy stons stanAs upon smother.
Whsu fheprison was built, 1t was eousidered
remark able structurs,-whish, indeed II -; ana,
1 10, veara. vas the arehitsctassl woadef 81 the
east side Of the town. Tho vicieity Of the IomDs
has littis TO bssst Of now in the way either OF
cleanliness or beauty, but 1t the time Of its srec
tion. souaor and sin rsignsd suprsiae theressou,,
md the prison might well DO considered inc 'o"D
Of purity, order, Peacs and law.
Tho sray, bsrrimed building ono sees In Pas.
s;ux through the strssts il merely the walls Of
the prison, incosing qssdnnsle ia,i o' nso ~.
.boye another, ard fsschsd By iron steps and gal
l.res. There ara three different Department. n
the Tombs-oue for boys, another for men, and
third for women; ard The thrss elassss are kept
:. r.fu,I, apart. They srs Ill miserable enough,
ross tbers can withhold bis pity from them, how
ever hasd, 81. vicious, Or desrsdsd thy n.y w.
The Tombs IL rison o. dstsntioa. Tor ~
| most part; persons being confined there ter siAs
| end sentenced to Blaskwslis lslssd Of sing eng
when convictod. IL bfsenen ~ locked mp IN
their cells during ths sight and nse1 .ns d'y,
but ars permitted to take exercise, sad 81 thfss9h
the farce Of getting "frssh air IN the galleries at
certain hours. s1ssh air. 'isdssdi Tho stmes
phere Of tho Tombs il - vicious materially - i
il morally. 1t IL foul even poisonous and enough
| 20 breed 8 psstlspes. Tbs Beard - Health long
ago declared the prison nuisance, and I'll Who
| visit Il think IL ehouii b abatsd - such. But
tho voice Of justice and reform 10 seldom obeyed
Il iaree ei.ies where ssElshness Il the end and
corr ptios 10 the rule.
The inmates vary In number with the season
and the condition Of business. when the wealth,
or is cold and No. sstAsnans. there are moro
than during the warm months and periods Of 40
ltiyiy showing that crime 10 the rssult sftsmpta-
tion and necessity. Usually. the Tonhs has shout
400 innstss; three quarters u whom srs men.
| Most Of thsn sss AssdsasA md dsgssdsa essa-
tsres who have been thsps - the Isand Aad In the
Penitentaty, again and again. They have lost
all seuse Of shame forthey feel they are ontcssts
that no one cares for them; that no one will help
them to reform. Thsy come into contact only
with their sWn Alias kind, sndMith policemen
who sra ~ cautious in their way - the pTisons1
| are in theirs.
/ II Ne could bat look into the hearts Of sEimi.
/ nails, could fathon the mysteries Of vice, would
~ not Asd that the divorce Of the .erring from
human charity, their despair Of humsn forgive
ness and leva VAS shs oasse Of moss Il their So
called sins
Not few Of the prisoners slight offenders
l-novices in vice-men who have become intoxi-
Gated, perhaps. for the 6rst time, and who awaks
from . mad delrium to modification In the coils
of the Tombs.
sAsn Of ipnusaos, sd wealth, and position hsvs
bssn there more thAa opse, partephsiy stsas gsrs
who como 70 the ciiy u ~ the deAts, and, sfter
drinking snd dissipAting, havs been borne down
BY the fiery draughts they had swallowed. Print
ers and reporters, am iorry to say. OCCASION
ally found at the Tombs, ending . spree there
most gloomily, when they sst out for night OF
gayety and pleasure.
The Tombs has . history, and very sad one.
Il has sssn tsanadies uhoss horrors theilled thro
~ laad, md wsee REPEATED With pale lips for
lmsny nsoths, and are Aowfsenembsrud only ~
Idim traditions Men have spent terrible days and
nights there, with death, for which they were
wholly unprepared, staring them in the face from
the galiows' beam. What ghostly visions Of muir
dered victims have trooped through those oels
Nit Nh h:gony and terror hsvs v1une their soul:
less walls, and eternal farewels have been taken
of friends, and wives, and mistresses, who loved
nepe the les for s,s xrsat esfnss tAat had s1tn-
ssisbsd the Gym pAthyaof outraged society.
Col. Monroe Edwards, the famous forgcr-re-
membered, scarcely, by this generation-occupied
ono Of the cells; cancsni the ASSASSIN; Mrs. Bur
dell Cunningham; Baker, the murderer of "Bil
Poole, were there. And Colt, who slew Adami
the printer, and Afterwards stabbed himself to the
heart, va fosad seafk and stH on The very NOR
ming named fur hfs execution. Tho story Of ths
mystic ious murder-the sending of the box con
tanning the body to New Orleans, it's discovery, thu
arrest the exciting trial, the efforts Of inhuenta
frierds to save him, the romaatic attachment o
his mistress, and then the final cheating Of thu
gaIlovs-was long remembered, with all the vile
rumors of his escape by the substitution Of anoth
: ct body for his, and his living in prosperity il
, Europe.
The gallows has stood . score Of times within
the walls Of the Tombs, and the timbers Of which
it iscomposed carefully laid by, TO be put VI
whenever the ehuddering spectacle of judicn
murder shall again be presented. Who, that ha
heard the hollow echoes OF gallows making OF
forget the awful sound? What morbid curiosit,
is always felt by the deprased to witness exscu
tions! How all the house tops in the gloom,
square have been blacksned and will be blackenet
once more when some trembling wretch is swunl
off into eternity.
Tho courts held in the Tombs are the polio
court, presided over by Justice Bowling, an Office
worthy Of the revolving place; and the Specia
Sessions; where petty sGenses in the eye of tn
: law afc tried, and hunanity held up to mercles
judgment.
The atmosphere of police courts is always sick
ening, and that Of the Tombs is unusually 90.
feel contaminated whenever enter Dowlings tri
bunal Every thisg seems so hard, so vulgar, 81
pitiess, that long for tho sunshine Of Broadway
the fresh breeze of the parks, as if had been de
prived of them for months. The police strike m
as unpieacsntly rs the criminals, for famiiiarit
has made them callour, and they laugh and ice
ct dstndaaion which . revolving, and q niser
which II I'D deep for tesrs.
The Rakedics 81 the wfstehed creatures tbs
have fallen into their hands, are broad farces t
them, The judge sentences the culprits as b
would call OF list Of articles At An auction. Tn
officers Of the law give evidence under oath q
I they relate coarse ut headquarters. Crime 10
matter Of course-puniaement inevitable duty
t All wickedness and infamy belong to the dali
routine, and are neither to be cesured nor d.
plored.
t Oh, the pain and shame Of the police court, ]
e is tribunal without dignity, and a sentenc
witho.. .y.-r..h> !. $1,000. - -~h ;-.t;~~ az .
beauty by its coArsenesa, and to strike humanit
int the dust with brutal hand. 1t has its usei
. | sup pose, but they the Of ad
vsrsity deprived Of aspiration, and cut of frol
the hope Of improvement.
/ have gone into the Tombs and talked wit
; the prisoners, and have known others to do q
!; If you are gentle and sympathetic, they respee
you at once; and no wonder, for they have n
{ reason to look for kindness, from their past Ell
perience. But even they will show the better sid
. that every mortal has, if you will perserve, an
: prove to them you are their friend. Charity nc
: only eossrs multitude r sins It turns thsn bsc
J to the scsree II good Intentions, and ensbtes u
!, to judge as we would be judged.
The men are not 10 pitiAble ~ the boys an
j women; for these night b rsfosmsd BY prope
b treatment. But, in the atmosphere Of the Tomb
8 reformation seems impossible. The grimha
9 stone Of the building appears to mock every 81
fort to change; its dreary echoes laugh at ever
, sigh, or moan, or prayer.
Tho Tonbs., Il i veil named. Who'ss chris
tened II, was Wiser end better than hs knsw. 1
Is arc swallosed mp ~ best purposes End nsslsei
and its ponderons architecture brushes any n
naming instinct to good.
When pass it under the lightness of noon,
' feel shadow in my way: and even the purity Q
z the moon scenes stained whom its beams fall upo
such hideous ugliness,
Sunday At the Tombs il the Grand Gala A. = r