Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-05-24
In for Life.

| In for Life.
'sThis CELL" said the warden, as we
reached 2l2, "belongs to one of the oldest
lifers In this prison. believe he has been
here nigh on to thirty years and he bids
fair to last for twenty more. He Is q very
singular man."
'HIs crime was murder, Of curse J"
'.Yes, and strange murder. He was
then young man of twenty-five, rather
quiet, If not morose, and no one had ever
heard him use an oath, OF 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 murcerf One
night, with no earthly excuse for offence,
he got out of bed, walked three miles to
the house of q friend and called him out
snd stabbed him to the heart. He then
retraced his steps 10 his home and returned
to bed and slept soundly until morning,
the bloody knife on cnair by his side.
He made no effort TO conceal his crime,
and when arrested had no excuse for 1t.
From the day the constable put hands on
him up 10 this hour he has not spoken
except when forced to. l have several
! times had to threaten him with the strap 10
make him answer my q Questions.
''Does he mate with any one"
',No; he comes and goes as If alone In
this great prison. cannot imagine what
inducement conld be held out TO make
him address prisoner. He shuns all of
us as if We were poison. DInug all the
years he has been here he has never
asked favor of any Sort"
''ls be ever sick Z"
'Unce in a great while, but he never
complains He weuld die IN his tracks
before he would ask to see the doctor. He
has tainted away at his workbench, and
cried out in the delerium OF fever, but he
has never complained.
"what do the prisoners say about
him?
"rhey fear him. l have been told
twenty different tiIues that be would some
day rebel. and tnat he would have TO be
shot before he could be disarmed. can't
say that he Is plottiug, but we Keep a
sharp eye oa him. He has the eye of
perfect Gevil, ana he will LOOK at you in a
way to make your flesh crawl"
Can he be Insauef"
M; doz,n different doctors are
agreed that he is as SOUND as any man.
tie is simply bJrn devil. He was never
In ,wn to laugh or cry. HIS old mother
used to come here in years gone BY
btfIre she died-snd she said she had
never seen a siLile on his lips or a tear on
his checks, not even dur,ng his baby hood.
He is hater He hates himself He
hates everything living or dead. There is
cauldron of usliness boiling within him
and some day it will bubble over. When
that event occurs we shall most likely be
forced TO kill him in elf-defence. 4"
Has he any relatives ?"
Not that we know of. His father was
dead before the murder. He had mother |
and a brother, but when he had been here |
about tive years he poor old woman went |
to her grave. II nian has any heart In |
him mot er's love and tears can touch |
it. She used to come here and wiring her |
hands and weep and sob ana pray, and |
tuis teDd sat as unmOved as q rock even |
refusing to answer one OF her questions. |
She was old and arinkled and heart |
broken the last time she came. She tod /
HIM that 1t was her last visit, and that She |
had only few weeks to 1--we, ant the |
murderer III ned his b-ck on her. The |
brother came III ee or four times, receiving
the same treatment. and the last visit he |
made came near being his last day on
earth. Taking advantage of the mnmen-
tary absence or the fioormsn, thls fend |
grasped his brothers throat and was last
choking him to death when help arrived
The brother died several years ago in
Illinois and nov the man is alone on
earth. No one asks alter hIm-nObody
thinks OF him. He is buried aivc."
He never writes To any one /"
Never. de has not had pen in his
hand since entering the prison. Most of
the prisoners manage TO keep posted On
outside affairs, but lhis man neither knows
nor cares TO knew | don't believe he
knew of the war, long as il lasted. he
won't talk, he can't or won't read, he
wont permit a prisoner TO talk to him,
IN as consequence he hears no mole OF
LhIs worlds duIngs than If he were in his
grave IL must he a horrible feeling for a
man to 1--we This Way, and yet he seems to
enjoy L. One day Is the same as another
~ him. Oae Eight is no blscker than
mother. Weeks pass and bring NO cnsnge.
Years come and go and his routine is the
"a re. The pa,t is full of blood-the
uture IS long unbroken midIight
nave wondered that he dld not commit
suicide"
lie has never tried to escape r.
Never. and that Is why We fear him
Three different times since he came here
ne has hid good opportunities to take
French leave. but lie has refused 10 90. IL
wasn't becau-e he feared recapture and
for any of them will take the
me chsuce ia Luudred Gu that. Ii was
because he hale / tie world worse than his
prison. CIV. hun anOth,r caance to day
.nd he would ie Use II. AS told you, he
: half man and haf devil Each year he
s growing more like feud, and every
lme L look into ms eye think it has II
nre Satanic gleam- don't know what
he end will be, but half expect il will
Ne full Of rebellion, desperation, and blood.
some day his hate Will overpo~er all other
eellng, and ne will PICK up bar of iron,
IN axe OF sledge, aud he will fight us 10
he death"