The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1881-10-28

ed 212, belongs to one Of the oldest lifeTs in
this prison. 1 believe he has been here nigh
on to thirty years, and he bids fair to last
for full twenty more He Is a very singular
. man. "
"Hs crime was murder, of course o"
Eyes. and a strange murder. He was
then young man of twenty-five, rather mo
rose, if not quiet, and no one had ever heard
him use an oath or seen him display even
the smallest vice. Had he stolen an axe his
friends would have been amazed; what could
their feelings have been, then, when he was
charged with murder? One night, with no
earthly excuse for offence, he got out of bed,
walked three miles to the house of a friend,
and called i'm out and stabbed him to the
heart. lie then retraced his steps to his
home, and returned to bed and slept sound
ly until morning, the bloody knife lying on
a chair by his bedside He made no effort to
conceal his crime, and when arrested had
no excuse for it. From the day the consta-
hle put hands IN him up to this hour he has
not spoken except when forced to. l have
several times had to threaten him with the
strap to make him answer my questions
''Does he mate with any one?''
''No : he comes and goes as if alone i'm this
great prison l cannot imagine what in
duc-ment could be held out to make him ad-
dress question to prisoner. He shuns all
of us as if we were poison. During all the
years he has been here he has not asked fs-
vor of any sort"
'Is he ever sick %
"Oncr in a while, but he never complains.
He would die in his tracks before he w0uId
ask to see the doctor. He has tainted away
at his work bench aud cried out in th.' delir-
ium of fever but he has never complained"
''What do the prisoners say about lin -
s'They fear him. l have been told twenty
different times that he would some day re-
bel. and that he would have TO be shot be-
fore he could be disarmed. l can't say that
ne is plotting, hut we keep sharp eye on
him. Tie has the eye of q perfect devil, and
/ he will look at you in a way that will make
[ your flesh crawl"
''Can he be insane 90
/ no; a dozen different doctors have
agreed that he is as sound as any Iuan. He
Is simply born devil He was never known
to laugh or cry. His old mother used TO
" come here in years gone by--6rtore she die d
and she SAID sll. had never seen smile on
F his lips. or . tear on his cheeks, not even in
his bahyhood H- is hater. lie ha.rs hun
selt. He hates everything living OF dead
. There Is q cauldron Of uginess boiling with
in him aad some Gay it viii bubble over.
When 5hat event occurs W. shall be- most
likely forced to klii hjm in self defense"
: "9as be any relatives 90
SLOT that we know of. His father was
dead before the murder. He had a mother
ard a brother, nut when he had oee' here
about five years the poor old woman went
To her grave If a man has anv heartln hun
a mothers heart and tears can touch it. She
used to come here and wiring her hands and
weep aud sab and pray, and this hend sat
as unmOved a. a rock, even refusing TO all
swer one of her questions. Sue was old an,
wrinkied and heartbroken the last time she
came. Sne told him that it was her last Wis
it, and that she had only two weeks 10 live
and the murderer turned his back on her
The lrolher came here three or four times
receiving the same treatment. and the Ia
visit he made came Very near being his las
day on earth. Taking advantage OF the mo
meutaTy absence OF tile doorman this iend
erasped his brothers throat, and was fds
choking him to death when help arrived
Tie brother died several years ago in Iii
nois, and now the man Is alone on earth
No one asks after him--uoOody thinks "
him. He is buried alive"
He never writes to any one?"
Never. He las not had a pen in hi
hand since entering the prison Most of tht
prisoners manage to keep posted on outSid,
affairs but this man neither knows nor cares
to know l don't believe he knew nt the
war, long as it lasted. He won't talk ht
can't or won't read ; he won't permit prIs
uner to talk to min, aud as Il consequence he
hears no uoIe of the worlds doings than II
he was in his grave. 1t must be a hurnOit
feeling for man to I'VE this way, aud yet
he seems to enjoy it. One day is the samt
as another One night Is no Ulacker than
another. Weeks pass aud bring no change.
Years come and 20 aud his routine Is tine
same Tie past is fuil of bloOt-the future
is long, unnruken midnight. ! have won
dered that he did uot commit suicide"
Has he never trIed to escape -
Never, and that is why We tear him
Three different times since he came here ht
has had good opportunities to take Frenrt
leave, but he has refused to 20. 1t WASH
becaus- he feared recdptIre and punishment
for any of them will take the one chance u
a hundred on that IL was because he hdteC
the world worse than his prisuE. Give h!n
another chance to-day, aud he will refuse il
As l told you, he is a strange case. He L
half mau, hail devil. Each yeaI he Is grow
ing more like fend, and every time l tool
into his eye ! think j.: has more SATAN,
gieam. l don't know what the end Will be
but l halt expect it will be full of rebellion
desperation, and blood Some day his hat
Will overpower ali other feelings, aud he vii
pick up bar OF iron, axe, OF a ,lrdGr
and he will fight Us tp the death. - Detrol
Free Press.
N,-T57 Eraug,sg fl,,.. If "a,