The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-10-04

The miserable men who were lately
condemned to penal servitude for life
in Liverpool, and those sentenced for e
similar offence some time since in Lon
don, constitute together the most seri-
Gus addition to the ranks of our convicts
for many years. They have already
passed out of public attention, and fol
twenty years at least nothing will be
heard of them, except in the case OF
death, when possibly a brief notice oil
the fact may find its way into the papers.
A sentence. of penal servitude for life
is undoubtedly a very dreadful n fol
any one to undergo. 1t falls, however.
no doubt with very different effect or
individuals OF different temperament.
Oneof the prisoners who went to their
doom a few weeks back passedfrom the
dock with an invitation to his sister to
meet him in heaven; another of them
went seemingly strong in the assurance
that something would yet turf up fol
his benefit. A dash of the Micawbel
temperament in a mans composition
must be peculiarly valuable to one
under sentence of penal servitude fol
the term of his natural life, though as
a rule, with terribly few exceptions,
there can be no reasonable ground for
the indulgence of any hope when once
the. sentence has been passed. Nothing
in this world is much lore certain than
that a criminal upon whom an English
Judge has pronounced sentence of penal
servitude will undergo that sentence in
all its rigor-subject, of course, to such
curtailment as the law permits. On
this point of curtailment there is a very
common Misrepresentation. Most per,
som are aware that a criminal sentenced
to seven, ten, or twenty years penal
servitude, will, under certain con-
ditions-very generally, though OF
course enormously, believed to on
dodge with the chaplain-be lib
sentence on a ''ticket of leave"
though "under license" is the term
is generally supposed, however, that a
sentence for life permits of no such re-
layation of vigor, and that a prisoner
who is thus doomed will never know
liberty again. This is scarcely correct,
however. A convict under sentence
for life will certainly remain a prisoner
lOf twenty years, Duu IL uurlnS tloSe
twenty years he has been well con-
iucted, and has steadily performed his
daily round of work, he may then be
allowed to go ut large on license. II
the record against him should be found
on examination to be unsatisfactory,
he will of course be subject to further
detention, but his case will certainly
come up for consideration at the end Of
twenty years, and he will have his
chance for license the same as any other
prisoner.-Lonlon Duly NeWS.
A deaf and dump newsman on the
Long Island Railroad, known for years
to residents Of the island, and usually
called by the train hands dummy
had been suffering from an aching
tooth. A day Or two ago at jamaica he
tied a string around the tooth and, Just
before a train left the station, he tied
the other end of the string to the rear
Ear. When the train started he ran
along behind it until it had gathered
Roadway, when he dropped on his
knees. The train carried the tooth to
Long Island City. An expression of
pain on his face was followed by one of
delight when he knew the cause Of his
"