Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-11-02
What He Has TO Say OF His Four Years
Experience in Two New York
state Prisons.
r What He Says is True, There is a
Chance for Some 0iiieial Head
ChOpp'ng.
New York World. Monday

That = perHoDal AnQ violent att6cE
might be made upon him by "the gang
from Eighth avenue" Stokes said: 81
do not care. shall not invite trouble,
but shall defend myself, and am lot
uDpre pared" He added that he knew
what 1t meant 10 offsnd the law, and
that Re should never provoke quarrel.
Since Stokes has bsen in prison he hss
paid In lawyers fees and other expenses
nearly three hundred thousand dollars.
BE Gays openly that had he been willing
to pay two thousand Ave hur dred dol.
lars for the privilege, he would not have
been drafted from Sing Sirg prison to
Auburn. While In Sing Sing Stokes
regularly feed the officials, and lived, in
the language OF his sellow-c0nvicts,
"like bird" He has no hesitation in
saying now that any one with money
or political IL fiuence can do about as
he pleases IN either Sing Sing or Auburn
prison. When he was hurried, hand
cuffed and ironed TO "Jimmy the Kid, F"
q notorious thief, to Auburn, he was not
given coat or waistcoat.
When be reached the prison he
was shaking with the ague. He begged
to be taken to the hospital, and Warden
Durston ordered him to q cold bath.
Then Stokes was attacked with catarrh-
al fever. He was approached by one Of
the officials while helpless a his cell
and told that II he paid five hundred
dollars he could get into the hospital.
s okes doubted, and asked for time to
consider the proposition. When he was
ordered to cigar-shop No. 2, which is
called by some the biDdeIy and by
others the "bummers' retreat" be met
Wood ord, the ineendiary, and George
Clayton, the burglar, and spoke to them
Of the hospital. Woodford said, ~ can
get In there for five dollars" $50 can
l." echoed Clayton. Stokes handed each
Of them q five.dollar bsnk-note and
told them to start fot The hospital.
Within an hour both were registered on
the sick-list and the deputy physician
had the ten dollars In his pocket. DR.
Hoxie, the chief physician, spoke to the
warden. They had learned that Stokes
paid the money, Then they took him
into the hospital and he remained there
up to the time of his release. He never
did five minutes work for the State in
Auburn, and never ate q mouthfHl Of
prison food. He paid for all that he re-
ceived, and had plenty OF geCd food. ~
might have lived cheaper at Dslmoni-
co.'s" ssid Stokes to the World reporter,
"but there is no use growing shout il
now. Within the past few days have
met cOnvicts who with tears in their
eyes whispered TO me: Stokes, when
you get out tell 'em what they do to us
here know what they do. The par
alyzing jacket, the most inhumsn of
all punishments within my knowledge,
is running men forever. A convict is
laced in a canvas jacket until, in fact, he
is paralyZsd, and then he is unfit for
work and is thrown into his cell to die.
But the officials are very careful to in-
quirS concerning the man they punish.
If ne hae money or friends he is all
right, but God help the friendless or
penniless man. Governor Tiiden ought
TO acquaint him self with these facts and
then take some action. / am satisfied
that a fair, upright governor, who in
vestigated either Sipg Sing or Auburn
prison, would turn OuC the rspacious and
wicked officials." s okes and party,
consisting of his brother aud Colonel
huffman, Joseph Colgate, the World
reporter, and another newspaper repre-
sentative, took 3 smoking-car to Syrs-
cuse, and there entered q drswlng-roOm
car and went to Albany, where dinner
WAS served in the Delavan house. Ga
the way to this city the platforms at the
stations were crowded by persons who
wanted to see Stokes. WOmen
stared at him as il for dear
life, and one very o!d woman
presented him with a csrd, on which
WAS printed, "C6me to Jesus" Stokes
ordered two bottles Of champagne at
Utica, and the parry drank his health.
He said he was not afraid of any pr
sonaI attack upon him in this city. He
took rooms at the Hoffman house last
night. He intends to call upon COmmo-
dOre Vanderbilt this morning. He says,
"No man on earth has been 30 good to
me as the old commodore has been" +"
This wet k Stokes will visit the Centen-
nial; then he will return to prosecute
his two hundred and fifty thousand dol
lar suit against Jay Gould. He means
to go into business at once, having pur-
chssed a patent asphaltum pavement,
which he says is something that no city
can do without. Stokes did not think
that he authorities would discharge him
yesterday. He imagined that through
some trick they would detsin him. He
employed Lyman Tremain, had hd-
bedS corpus ready, and at an expense OF
fifteen hundred dollars was prepared to
battle with the warden Of the prison.
Stokes is grsy-haired, and wears 8
brown mustsche and goatee.
THE RELEASE OF STOKES.
New York World, E iitoriall
Mr.. Edward s. Stokes WAS released
from Que of the State prisons yesterday
and went his way. For year or more
he has given people to understand by
his persistent attempts to anticipate the
expiration of bis term Of punishment
and by sUndry communications to re-
porters that he has been q very badly
used mao. Nevertheless, we beg him
to accept our CONCENTRATIONS at having
got out OF prison at all, and suggest that
he is, upon the whole, a very lucky
man. Il very frequently happens, to be
sure, that a man shoots another with.
out incurriDg any subsequent personal
discomfort, and there is no reason tC
doubt that Mr.. Stokes has suffered 8
good deal of personSl discomfort. He
has been restrained of his liberty since
he killed the late Fisk, jr., and during
the last few years has doubtless beer
obliged to do some sort OF light worn
! in the service of the State
He hss endured, the annoyance, expense
and mental worry of three trials, and
after the second Of them was subjected
| TO the terrible suspense which q man
convicted Of murder and sentenced to
death cannot fail Of feeling, at leSst un'
| til stsy of proceedings and the order OF
3 new trial relieves him. Stokes had
grown quite gray, and was almost an old
man before he was taken 70 Sing Sing
even. On the other hand ii will remain
true for some time yet, We hope, that
cases in which men can be killed with
| impunity are the exception and not the
rule Of civilizsd society, and we incline
| to agree with the second jury before
which Stokes was tried, in thinking that
homicide not only is, but ought to be, a
| punishable Offense, and that Stokes
| ought to congratulate himself upon the
| lightness of the penalty that has been
exscted OF him. There were several in
genious pleas made for him, first and
| last, we remember, by his ingenious
counsel. One of them was that Fisk
was killed By his surgeons, and We recall
the brilliant and versatile and conscien'
! tious Mr.. John Graham's superb COL
tempt for, and prOdigious indignation al
what seemed to him the buDgling OF the
surgeons aforesaid. But we presume
that no one really believes now OF
ever did believe any Of these plausible
pleas, certainly not that Of self defense
upon which the last trial was conduct
ed. Fisk had become such stencil in
the nostrils Of all cultivated people
such al object Of contempt to all honest
men, and, despite what was called his
gOOd-hesrtedness and kindltnessI wsi
such an incarnation Of vulgarity, that {