Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-01-16
Ionslon Jail Birds

whenthe van Is emptied, and the pris'
opers all inside the corridor, the grea'
;ron-studded doors are once more locked
and double-locked. In line OF ten OF
A dozen stand the new-comers-ah uii'
nleasant row. Many classes of crime
are renresented in that little string ol
iaiI-birds. There is the habitual drunk
ard. blear-eyed, sodden, blotchy, VINO
spends. in short sentences ola week ana
ten days. some three months of the year
in limbo. dividing the remaining nine
between the gin-palace and the WORK
house wards. There is the savage, Dig
iawed wife-beater, convicted already oil
half A dozen brutal assaults upon MS
wretched helpmate. There is the gray
haired thief of sixty years, a miserable
old bungler who filches apples and cao-
hages from Covent Garden, stray sau-
sages from pork shops, or roll Of cloth
from the pawnbroker's counter, prowi-
ing around the Seven Dials and Drury-
lane in the daytime; Sinking by night
to a hot supper in some thieves Kitchen
i'm St. Giles, and thence TO his home IN
a neighboring brothel. A strange,
mysterious existence is that of low
class professional thief, a life that ciings
close TO the wall, and shuffles along
with its eyes on the ground, its hands
ever in some one else's pocket. Shiver-
ing and crawling through the streets
by dav, sinking past the constable,
looking no one in the face, yeritable
nariah among men. Not until night
has fallen on the city, and honest citl-
zens are gently snoring in bed, does his
natural life begin. See him then in a
steaming den, surrounded by his foot
pad comrades, recounting in cut purse
jargon his days adventures. displaying
TO villainous eyes his pilfered spoils,
waking the filthy slums around with
the echoes of his foul carousal. lie
loves this crooked life, your sneaking
pickpOcket; you could not wean him
r or il: he is the most irreclamable
yagab bond under the sun. The prison
chaplain reasons with him, prays with
him. breaches from the pulpit at him in
vain. he will not hear the voice of the
charmer, charm he ever so wisely.
You could as easily persuade a
Hindu or a Persian, that ii is wrong to
lie, as convince thief of the sacredness
of his neighbor's property. These three
specimens are well known TO the jail
ers; the inspecting officer declares their
names and offences almost without ref
erence to the charge-sheet in his hand.
Amongst the row may stand, perhape,
a well-bred youth of woe begone coun-
tenance, sentenced to three weeks
hard labor for his share in a music-hall
brawl; behind him possibly, trained
house-breaker surprised in ''lifting" a
valuable warehouse: swindlers of var
ious types, from the humble till-tapper
TO the utterer of forged checks; DAM
ayers of property; window smashers
knocker-wrenchers and rowdies of
every description; defaulters; dock
thieves; hawkers; cadgers; costers
miscellaneous. The list is now called
over by a warder, and henceforth,
until he leaves the Jail, no one of those
newly sentenced victims can say that he
possesses a name. The appellation con-
ferred on him by his godfathers and
godmothers is left behind in the public
court, dead to him for the term of his
sentence. HencefOrth he is known to
none but as number 64, Ward F." or
whatever may be the vacant number
given him.