The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-12-07
LEANNESS AND MEANNESS.
Arc Lean Men Moro apt to be Criminals
Than fat Oncs-An Experts Opinion.

Than OncS-An ExpcTtb oplHlOn.
COL John X. Tower, ia IlHuta Canaituti,m.
.Lcauncss and mcanness seem to go
hand in hand" remarked Colonel Tow
ers. assistant keeper of the Georgia peni
toutiary, Yesterday. "Thcre is not Il man
in the pententiary who weighs over two
hundred pounds. 1t is true that fat men
lean men are, but tho proportions do not
correspond. Fat men are rare, almost
not to be found, in the Georgia pcnitcn-
tiary."
"IIow do you explain 2"
''By the simple statement that fat men
rarely commit crime. The idea Of Il big,
jolly fellow stealing anything or raising
II row and killing somebody can't be con-
sidered. There are, 1t Is true. fat men
who are mean men, ana when you hnd
such q ono You find an absolute tyrant,
but he is generally as sharp as ho IL fat
and Succeeds in escaping punishment II
he violates the law. l know u certain fat
man who once had his fingers or some
body GlEe's cash s.tu !9 no nlaGc Il lively
while IL lasted, and know another very
fat man who has lost MI regard for every
thing but money and beer, or perhaps
something stronger. He is as mcaiI rs
the lcanest man that ever saw, but some
OF these days he will go oil suddenly in
an appopcctic lit and the world will have
its revenge by refusing To shed tear
over his cooling board"
Il could go on aud dilGtc upon this
subject for All hour," continued the colo
mel medi.ativcly, but what's the use?
It Is u sad, sad day for this country when
knocked the ashes out Of his pipe aud
filled her up again. 'Now / would not
like TO unduly prejudice public opinion,
but am a fat man myself and know
whereof ! speak. In tho first place. and
the colonel paused, struck q match on his
l,,,nf hnn nd l,il
man Is always contented-unlcss he TX
hungry. Feed him well. give him all
the sleep ho wants and give you my
word for it, he will never wear shacklcs
In a penitentiary. ~ man who can iausn
the buttons oil his coat, sleeps well, and
Il man who can do those two things does
10 murder, theft robbery, aud bears not
false witness against bis neighbor."
''l5ut, speaking of feeding well, con
tinucd the colonel rs the frosty morning
around tho double chin, and then carried
away tho white smoke from the ponder
GUS briar-rOot Pipe. ~ say, speaking of
feeding we'll, reminds me of IL singular
sort OF fellow who was mt tho convict
C.fiips oi .l'c Marietta aud North Georgia
railroad. He was u lean sort of fellow
weighed about Z hundred and twenty
pounds and could never get enough to
eat. IIo complained I" everybody, the
guards, the Ov"rsecrs, tho head men, tho
CIleT COnSlCtS anu to ne. VIC NHS Two
of the cOnvcta undertook TO see IL lIe
could get enough to eat They give him
their dinners and tho fellow ate three din
ners including Ills own, ut one sitting and
then complained 0f the usual gononess.
l was there one day and when the usual
complaint was nalc ordered that they
proceed ut once to I'LL him up il it took
all the provisions in that county. The
cUuk was put To work and when tho trl-
low announced thHt ho had enough
lie had made away with three
pounds Of bnrDn and bread aud peas III
proportion. l um sure that he must have
eaten not less than seven or eight pounds
of provisions"
"Did he liver
"Ycs, ho lived and seemed to be con
tented, for he never complained any
moro. But he Is dead now"
"Starvcd? p
'No. lie knocked an overscer down
twice with IL shovel. and was getting really
to hit him again, when guard shot him. y
"Dut speaking of cOntGntmcnt," con.
tinued the colonel, tho worst case of
contenlment that know OF Is at tho
camps of the Marietta and North Georgia
railroad. There IL mn old uogr0 there
who Is too aged to work, and who stead
aud says that he intends to stick it out.
For iivo years at least he has not struck
u lick, but simply sits around ut the camp
and when the camp Is moved he catches
on uno goes with 1t. Sometimes tho lne:l
mt the camp got up IL forged pardon for
him, but he declines with thanks. IIo Is
the fun OF tho camp, and nobody really
wants to see him leave. lie knows thnt
he will bo fed and taken caro- OF thore and
it would be nm absolute hardship on him
if he were pardoned. The last time |
saw him he had n plug hat and was as
happy as lord. don't know whnt his
crime was"
"But speaking of crime," continued che
colonel, reminds mo Of perhp ps tho most
peculiar case In my knowledge OF where
goods as my aiToady mentioned man was
for the camp rations. 4 young feliow-a
lean fellow, nearly six foe. high with
grey eyes and black hair-was sent up
for six years from Gwinolt county for
granddaughter. His name was W. Il.
his way toward Hall county. Every
night that he was out he committed IA
burglary and was easily tracked by his
thefts, and when caught was absolutely
loaded down with articles that he had
stolen. The last time saw him he was
wearing pair OF boots that he had sto-
len while on his trip. But his short lib
orty was dearly bought as he was given
an additional sentence OF four years for
his escape"
The colonel gavo three puffs ut the
briar-root and continued: "There is an
other case that could tell you about. a
negro who was serving out his timo at
the coal mine, was hoytler and had charge
OF the nriies and harmless. His term ex-
pired and he went home, but In three
weeks he had committed some crime,
had been tried and was back ut the camp.
He went to Captain Reese and complaint
ed that 1t was very hard that o man could
not go away two or three weeks without
having everything to go to rack so. His
harness, his mules md everything had
been neglected while he was away.
Ho was given his old job and soon had
everything in good shape. That negro,
ehould say, had keen sense Of tho hu.
morous."
MANY boys in the penitentary3"
"Yes, there are great many from six
teen to twenty-ono. There are several Us
young Nv twelve. General Grant, u thir-
teen-year old boy, was discharged last
year, and Wiley Johnson, fourteen
year old boy. il in for ten years for rape.
There nre several young ones In for life.
! have lately had two very small boys
partioned My idea Is that the best way
to treat small boys who get into the pen
itentiary IN TO let them zee what 1t is and
fense. think that would hive q better
effect than being harsh"
Az tho reporter Withdrew tho colonel
wlse lveloI Q ! IL o cloud cfcur,ing smoke
that nearly hid him frow view, while the
tobacco in tho briur root had nearly NIL
gone to ashes.
POINTS FOR HUsBANDs.-Don'tt think
that when you have won wife, that
you have won slave.
,,,sf e., 10