Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-11-16
GIRTH AND GOODNESS

TerJ Fec Fat Msa Fall From Craze.
New York sun.
at is by no means certain sir" the
old observer said, settling himself
comfortably back in his easy chair and
just managing to lock his fingers over
his ample vest, that in an improved
state of society, when great truths now
but guessed at shall be fully known,
the scales will not play very impor.
taut part in the administration of jus.
tice. | do not mean the emblematic
things that the blind goddess forever
bangles aloft-significant of question
whether plaintiff or defendant will pay
most for decision. | mean plain
matter.of.fact. Fairbanks, Howe's, or
some other scales to tell exactly what
a person weighs. The time will come
when people will recognize that lack
of adipose tissue and n paucity of NOR
Il principle go together, while girth
aud goodness are inseparable. OF
course, as a rule proyerbially have
their exceptions, it is not impossible
that lean man may, under peculiarly
favorable conditions, be n tolerable
member Of society and, by good luck,
keep out Of Jail all his life long. On
the other hand, fat man may not be
tolerahle member of society, and
may get into jail-as Tweed did, for
instance-but he is not at all likely to
do so. In fact, criminal statistics
show that a hundred lean men are i'm.
prisoned for ofenses against person or
property where enc fat man falls from
grace. Admitting the existence Of
exceptions, as | said before, we will be
justified in affirming the rule that the
chances are the leancr man is the
more he is predisposed to felony by
nature and the fatter man is the bet.
ter he is, morally and socially. DO
you see now where the scales will come
in? The nearer a fellow g avoirdupois
grovels downward toward the contemp.
tible mark of 100 pounds, the more
likely it is-whatever the evidence
may be-that he deserves punishment
either for the thing alleged against
him or something the court has not yet
heard of while the higher a man as
cends toward the worth and dignity OF
300 pounds the greater is the just pre-.
sumption that he is kindly, honest, in.
nocent, or, even if in some small
measure seemingly blamable. that he
is the victim of circumstances. The
day is coming, sir, when our courts
will weigh not simply the evidence,
but the accused, and give the fat man
the benefit oft court, if there i any,
every time. Look on the books OF
any prison in the land and see If the
record Of convicted felon's weight is
not q blazing torch Of truth, in proof
of what say, to light the world to a
higher appreciation Of the moral
beauty Of adipose issue"
Warden Fox, at Penitentiary on
Blackwell's Island when the reporter
sought him for verification of what
his fat friend had said, replied swell
now that you call my attention TO It.
must say that the infrequency of fai
men being sent here is very remarka.
ble. We average about 900 prisoners
here constantly, and not two per cent.
of them, in ell the years / have had
charge of this institution, have been
men weighing 200 pounds. Even
those ~hO did attain that weight, OF
near to it, we're generally big framed
raw-boned men, not what could prop
erly be called fat men. Asa rule
they weigh about 140 pounds, rather
under than over. The heaviest crimi
nal we ever had here was Tweed, whC
Is. recorded 1853 pounds weight. The
next heaviest is one we have here now
Jas. Williams, who was rent up fol
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