The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-08-13
TWEED IN PRISON.
How He spends His TIme--His Visitor.
and His Occupation.

finement and occupation there:
An assistant orderly's duties consis
in waiting on the physicians, admins
tering medicines, applying bandages
etc. In addition to this he is to keep
small book in which record of al
medicines ordered daily must be en-
tered. Mr.. Tweed, Donohue asserts
has never yet waited on q patient, anc
all the stories of his fatherly manner il
binding up the wounds of patients
and cooling their brows with patient
applications of water must be set dowr
to the imaginations of writer's who have
had imperfect and unreliable sources
of info rmation His duties are per-
formed by one of the convalescent in.
mates of the hospital. The record OF
medicines ordered daily, however, is
duly ent cred in his little book. He
records them once every two weeks
from the doctors book, which is left
with him for that purpose. Sometimes
this duty becom es irksome and it is
omitted. AS, for exa mple, when the
Grand Jury was expected to make their
last visit, Mr.. Tweed's book had not
been written up for four or five weeks.
Mr.. Donohue's book, however, was
brought into requisition, and Mr..
Tweed copied the curious characters of
the apothecary's table from it, until he
had brought up his record to the date
of the visit.
Mr.. Tweed rises about seven o'clock
in the morning, and after reading the
morning newspapers, of which he takes
six, goes to breakfast. This Involves a
pleasant walk of little less than a
quarter of mile to the Warden's house.
After enjoying the sociability of the
Warden's table until about nine o'clock,
he returns to his dungeon. The dun
geon, meantime, has been carefully put
in order by one of the prison cham ber-
maids. At half-past nine his private
secretary reports to him, and Mr.. Tweed
transacts business With him and con.
verses with other visitors who may call
until one o'clock. Then he leaves his
dungeon and takes a leisurely prone
made to the Warden's house again,
where his midday meal is taken, fol-
lowed by a siesta which lasts until
three or four o'clock. His supper is
brought down in basket, by prisoner
employed in the Warden's bouse, about
six O'Clock, and given to the night
watchman of the prison, who sends it
upstairs to his room.
Mr.. Tweed is waited upon every day
by his sons, who bring him wines,
liquors, and all the delicacies of the
season, of which he always has an as
sortment. James Carey, the hero of
the bogus express company, performs
the duties of valet for him. He blacks
n hnnfc Enny,u
in general makes him comfortable. The
furniture of the "dismal cell" that
overlooks the river to the east is of
French walnut. There is cabinet
washstand, desk, and three or four
chairs, all of the same handsome ma
terial. The ordinary prison bed con-
sists of straw mattress covered with
one sheet. Mr.. Tweed is forced to lie
on springfield with two hair mat
tresses, a hair bolster, and two feather
pillows. There is a patchwork quilt
and white counterpane. A green rep
sofa, which when ordered was found to
be too large to be taken into his room,
stands just outside and serves as a con-
venient seat to lounge upon. A selec-
tion of standard books adorn the
shelves of a commodious library, and
the floor is nicely carpeted.
On Sundays Mr.. Tweed replaces the
old afternoon siesta in his spacious
stables with a First-d day loaf in the coal
yard. This is his invariable retreat
when he wishes particularly to avoid
visitors or exclude himself. He has
learned to feel an affection for the
place. Last Fourth of July he looked
downcast, and his thoughts were evil
IDENTIFY of the times when he ruled the
great city from which he heard the
myriad sounds of rejoicing. In com
pany with Keeper Rafferty, he left the
the hospital at nine o'clock, and, after
having his breakfast, went TO his old
resting-place in the coal-yard. There
he remained all day. Several visitors
called on him, but when their cards
were sent to his room an answer was
returned that he was assisting the ply.
sician in an operation, and would not
be at leisure during the day. He re-
turned to the prison about six P. NJ. and
Immediately retired. He did not make
his appearance again until the next
morning at eight o'clock. On Sundays
this is his usual hour of rising. Then
be goes, as soon as he is dressed, to his
breakfast. After that he retreats to the
coal-yard on the west side of the
prison. Here he remains all day, only
leaving it to go to dinner.
On recent visit of the Grand Jury
to the institution he remained in the
hospital all day wearing his prison suit.
After the Grand Jury had inspected the
prison and had expressed their satisfac-
tion with all they saw they proceeded
to the hospital. On entering several of
the Grand Jurors who were acquainted
with Tweed advanced to him with great
cordiality and, in turn, grasped him by
the hand. "How do you do, Mr..
Tweed ?" they exclaimed; "is there
anything we can do for you? If there
is let us know, and we will see if it can
be brought about"
He replied that he was getting along
as we'll as could be expected, but was
very much obliged for their kind offer
and for the interest they expressed in
his welfare.
He receives the evening papers about
seven o'clock, and spends couple of
hours in their perusal, after which he
retires. He occupies a great deal of
his time in writing. After he has writ
ten several pages he often destroys
them. He seems to be very cautious
that nobody shall.see what he has writ
ten. This extreme caution has attracted
the attention of all who have seen him
at work. What it is that he is engaged
on can only be imagined. 1t is possi-
BILE that this particular action is merely
a popularity in the transaction of his
business. When he first came to the