Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-02-11
Closing of the PRISON Door.

Closing of the Prison Door.
The doors OF the Indiana State prison,
at Jeffersonville, closed Friday, upon Al
bert McGriff, James K. Hill, Philip G.
Eberwine, Miller, John E. Phillips, George
T. Simonson, William Mumford, David M.
Lewis and Hiram B. Snyder, who were re-
Gently convicted of conspiracy to defraud
the revenue in connection with the whis-
key ring. Most Of the prisoners had been
trusted officers of the government, and all
were numbered among the best citizens.
The scene of the incarceration is described
in the dispatches to the ''Courler-J ournal,"
as follows:
| A ssCourier-J ournal' reporter succeeded
in having a talk with the prisoners after
| they arrived at prison. Albert McGriff
was sitting on a smoking lounge with his
! face buried in his hands, the very picture
of grief and despair. The reporter touched
him lightly on the shoulder, when he start
ed and raised his head. His face looked
carewern and haggard, and mis- eyes were
suffused with tears. He is sixty years old
He said: 'sMy God, to think that 1 would
ever come to place like this. 1t will kill
me, nv heart is crushed now" He spoke
! in voice deep with emotion and was
greatly agitated. IF it were not for my
| poor wife and son I believe I could stand
it, but to think of the disgrace brought
upon them is more than can bear. 1t will
kill MY wife; she is sick now. and this will
kill her, but there is one consolation, she
knows [ am innocent of the charge, and l
swear to you that am an innocent man. :"
He said that his wife was ifty-eight years
old, and that he had been married thirty
years. McGriff was well-known and high
ly respected at Evansville, being for seven
/ years the city clerk of that place, and a
leading member in the Presbyterian church.
He has the heart disease, and it is the
general opinion of his friends that he will
not survive his Imprisonment.
| James X. Hill seemed cheerful, and said
that he had made up his mind to stand it..
/ and that he could stand as much as any
/ other living man. Hill has an extensive
acquaintance in Indiana, and is well known
| in this city. He was deputy revenue col
/ lector at Evansville. He asserted his in
nocence yesterday, and before he was SEN
| fenced at Indianapolis, Tuesday, through
his counsel, W. P. Fishback, presenting
the following note to Judge Gresham:
with due Difference to your honor and
the jury that found me guilty, I say now
in the presence of God and the world that
I am not guilty. During my connection
with the revenue department [ have work
ed faithfully in the interests Of the govern
ment I ask for the sake Of my family
| that your honor will be us merciful as the
circumstances will permit. j. K. HILL. .
He is forty-tWo years old, and has wife
and eight children.
Philip G. EberWine was sad and silent
having nothing to say to any one, but gaZ-
ing vacantly upon those in the room. In 8
note to Judge Gresham before sentence
was pronounced, he said: II withheld no
) thing from the United States attorneys
when called upon, but gave them the evi
dence upon which my own Indictment was
found and that OF others. L am unfortu
nately a pensioner upon the government
1 bear three severe and honorable wounds
as reward for three years good service as
| a private soldier. | am manned for life
and unable to dc any manual labor. Il
] was my helpless condition and poverty
coupled with desire to save my little home
from being sold from US, that caused me tt
listen to the oily words of the seducer."
Miller says that his punishment is out
of all proportion to his offense. He sale
that he never would have been in the ring
only that all the officers were in, and if hi
kept out he would have them all to fight
and to save his position he went in. He i
a married man, but has no children. His
, / health is delicate.
John e. Phillips was in the army foul
| years, and was badly wounded. He sale
, | the distillers got him into it by stating
/ that they would have to shut down or ru1
\ crooked that he was trying to provide ;
+. / home for his family and did not want tt
| lose his position. Phillips is about SO year.
! of age. He has a wife and four children il
, Strengthened circumstances. He takes hi
VI sentence hard. ils
Geo T. SimOnson was in the army, bu
broke down on account of ill-health. HI
ST. o,,I F.
( children.
r VIM. Mumford is probably 55 yours old
EIe was a colonel in the army, and received
/ several wounds. He looked very pale, bu
calm.
!. / David M. Lewis appeared resigned to hi
saard fate. He is a man past the middle
age of life. and has a family.
!, I Hiram B. Snyder looked sad and gloomy
GOODBYE TO FRIENDS.
After the prisoners had shaken hand
e with their friends and babe them goodbye
they were marched out of the office int
L the prisoners reception-room. They were
. then relieved of such articles as they ha(
: about them which it was contrary to tn
: rules for them to keep.
THE PRISONERS UNDER THE BARBER.
q Warden Howard held no conversation
!. ! with the prisoners, and will treat them jus
q as the regulation requires. They wer
:. next taken to the prison barber, wher
+ their hair was cut and their Whisker
! SHAVED. off. They were then taken to TIL
q clothing department, and the striped con
! victS' suits given them, which they put Oh
/ and which altered them so much that the,
q | were scarcely recognizable. When full
> rugged out they were taken to the hous
E and assigned their quarters and cots The,
: | will not at present have any work to do, al
the co lvicts are all idle.
: DEPARTURE OF BABCoCK PoR ST. LOUIS
The Washington correspondent Of thu
Baltimore ''Sun'' writes on Saturday
/, Gen. Babcock, with his counsel an(
: some friends, has left for st. Louis in {
= special car. He turned his back on Wash
: ington with heavy heart. for notwith
!, been confidently proclaiming his acquitta
: IN advance, it has been an uphill business
: Since the unexpected conviction of Mckee
j. the feeling in all quarters here, and which
i, has penetrated to the circle of which Bah
Z. cock is one of the centres, is that there is
but very little hope for him. AS a last re-
!. fuge the cry has been started here that
F.. the st. Louis juries are composed of "reb-
:; els and that no ''loyal' man can hope fol
(: Justice from them. 1t is scarcely possible
) that such talk as this can have any effect
+, on the. intelligent mind of the country
Z. But it is to be expected that now it has be.
gun it will be iterated and reiterated by
those who have or are likely to suffer from
/, their miSdeedS. From rumOrs which are
I. floating around, and which evidently have
+. some foundation, it is deduced that there
are likely in store for the future more
F.; startling disclosures in connection with
the Whiskey ring villainies than have been
brought to light in the past, and that there
; are other personages fully as high as. Mr..
Babcock whom the lightning will yet
strike.
Nearly the entire staff of the White