New-York tribune., 1881-12-29
DpIsON LIFE IN SING SING,

osecnence OF their stealing" SAID warden
n.,eb N a TRIBUNE reporter one evening recently
=. ha cat in his Office in the prison IN Sing sing.
sTbev take to it naturally and perpetually, anu IL
% mt for fun, but for the simple satisfaction Oh
ting nosscSson of some other persons property 1t
NAV be they are afraid they'll lose the knack IL
tbev don't practice il here. They steal each others
shirts and towels and shoes, if they get n chance
They will make more of an opportunity than yon
can possibIy imagine. When the men are given
clean shirts they have 70 be watched with eagle
eve or the keeper viii find himself out dozen or
more garments"
Eyes" remarked Keeper Fury, have to put my
foot on the dirty a. fast as they are changed
and deal out the clean ones, one at time very
carefully; and even then am liable to lose shirt
or two. The otl er dayI allowed man who IS
'sauare' and all right to 60 into the middle mess
room TO change his shirt. lie laid the clean SHIRT
down at his feet and was Just pulling the soied one
over his head when quick as a flash, one of the
convicts whipped up the clean garment, and 1t was
gone when the fellows head came ont from the
.birt The garment was found afterward planted
in an out-of-the-way place. They always plant
or hide anything they steal, until a more con
ycnient season. expecting perhaps that they VIII
get away with it when their time is up"
"Mr. Fury had an interesting experience some
time since in the egg trade" the Warden went on.
drilv. "The men allowed good supply ct
eggs daily On this occasion several of them saved
tie shells carefully and filled them with potato
Then they sent them back and complained that the
eggs we're rotten. They managed to get about
twenty extra ecgs that time
"That happened only once" the mess-room
Keeper epliod quickly. "They did not catch me in
that way again."
at Is really remarkable. though, what an almost
insane propensity the men have for sealing Mr.
Drush said further. d" | tool, fancy to a cOlored
boy who sent up here for couple Of years. and
made him NV waiter. On the very first day what
did the fellow do but steal the eoup! lie might
have had all he wantcd Int no, he must steal 1t or
he wouldn't he halpy. We had a fellow & mere VINO
was in for five years who ought TO have been In an
asylum for idiots. He would walk along by the
tables and steal everything and anything he
He was sentenced in Ncw-York because he went up
10 a bakers window, thrust his hand through the
class took out pie and went on eating it ~ tho
epen street A policeman came along and arrested
him and he was sent mp here. lie had been at
BlackwelIs Island before, and he supposed ne was
there all the while he was here. Some of the
keeI ers liked him and tangnt him good deal Tor
ioOl-the prisoner mean.'
GUILTY OF lying Also.
"Do YOU ever have any trouble in dealing with
the cOnvictsP
"Not 10 amount to anything Some of them are
ALWAYS complaining of being injured by some
other convict But we can't pay any attention to
that. for we cannot believe a woyd any OF Them
saws. They would as willingly lie as cat as a rule
There are exceptions of course, men who are
.souare and are perfectly trustworthy. II We
were to believe their stories, some would be lying
somebody into trouble all the time. Occasionally
We have cases where the convict gets under the
delusOn that we are determined to Kill him OIL
and he falls into form of insanity. We rad Il
powerful Italian here at one time who got into ihls
state OF mind. He was the strongest fellow ever
saw His muscles were something marvellous 10
look at. There was not apparently, snperiluous
ounce OF tesh upon hini. lie ne GIaIHuaiE grew verse
and one night he was found IN hs ell stripped, l
wished to secure HIM, and with sufficient number
OF men / went tn his cell. There were as many
men as could possibly get around him, yet We conid
not him. dc fought like tiger and bat Ike
a mad dog We were more apprehensi7e OF being
bitten than of an other danger The keeper finally
fastened q towel in his mouth, drawing it behind
his head and then we were able TO secure hlm
We mt stOut suit on him and fastened him in bed
with two belts. In about an hOur, the keeper on
going to his cell could see nCthlng OF HIN IN bed
The fellow had got loose had stripped himself
again and had hidden under the bed. We were
Obliged to repeat the proceeding and secure him
more tightly such episodes occur occasionally,
but in the main there Is no serious trouble
SCENES IN THE CELLS.
AT the Wardens suggestion tour of parts of the
building was then made. 1t was then about
o'clock in the evening. In most of the cells the
small oil lamps of the convicts still burning.
The men are given an allowance of oil each week,
inst enough to last until O'clock. If they burn oil
beyond this time night, they lose 50 much some
other night before the week is out. great many
were lying in bed reading and smoking.
awe have a library said the Warden, and
then ladies send US a great many magazines and
story papers. -,
"Oh, such rs The FTCside COmpanioR Ihc Family
Story Poper, Iee Ledgcr ana similar m ONES 9ey
"Why do you allow them to smoke =
"Weil. we manufacture our own tobacco The
mon have TO smoke hne-cut entirely, Dut tEey get
yprv we'll with It,"
Occasionally a coUntenance could be seen close
behind the bars. One Of the conVlcis was siandlng
nm 10 see the visitors and far his stolid coun
teuance would show II. he eeemed to take sullcn,
heavy pleasure in seeing something new and alive
In the hospital there were only four patients:
Two of these c0nvalescent. One OF them had
burned both hands badly. The Warden seemed 10
take special interest III tins case lie stepped up
IN the convict, who was seated reading at n low
table beside his bed. The man rose as the warden
approached. lie was man from ulty 10 slNty years
of age and had the stolid countenance and duskY
color OF a Seneca chief. his hair was black, his
eyes small and piercing, and ms lace expressed
snspiciOn and cunning held in check by the
thought that it would not answer to let the evil
part of his nature appear too plainly. He was
very deferential to the Warden and assumed a
How are You getting Oh F' the Warden asked
. Very poorly" he replied, holding up hand
which had apparently been badly burned. The
hand seemed considerably distorted, ana the lnReT5
were drawn together
answered passing on without further comment
The man had burned his hand purposely and by
no means so badly as he tried to make ont. The
doctor and the Warden understood his case better
than he supposed. .,
He will be able TO 20 to work in day or two"
the doctor had reported.
. We have had a good many snch cases." the
Warden explained. ." II they can MAIN themselves
in some way they will do il. They hope by that
means to escape work. IL does not succeed rs well
as il used to do, however"
CoKsUMPTIvE CONVICT.
nitiahlc md interesting case was thar Of young