Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-14
A DOUBLE SKELETON KEY.
A Burglars Heart Touched-He GIvei
Up "Sob" and Becomes Converted.

A Burglars Heart Touched-He Gives
Up a "SOb" and Becomes Converted.
We were recently shown a double skel-
eton key, says the Hartford Tunes, to
which there is attached a little occur
renee worth repeating. The key is about
ten inches in length and on each end was
a key known as skeleton" They were
not just alike, though the difference was
but slight, and to the Impractical eye one
seemed to be the fac smile of the other.
And yet the professional cracksman
found the difference quite enough to ena-
bic him to overcome the ordinary door
lock with one end or the other.
There is attached to Michael Dunn's
Home of Industry, in New York, chapel
in which services are held three or four
evenings a week. 1t is a motley throng
that usually gather there, and some of
the scenes are touching, while some are
comical and mirth-proyoking. After a
talk from some resident clergyman, a free
talk is engaged in By the congregation,
and confessions made by penitent ones.
One evening a man was seen to sneak
into the meeting as though guilty Of
something, and took his seat behind a post
in the rear of the room. He acted as if he
meeting. But he quietly sat and listened
to one after another who told how
low they had been in crime and what
wretched lives theirs had been until they
had been rescued by the saving power of
religion. One well-dressed man in relat-
ing his experience painted himself, before
his conversion, as the blacklist of the
black. He told how he took his first step
in crime, and how he pursued his down
1,s,f hi cnIf
the bars. How he resolved to do better
when set at liberty, and how he broke the
good resolution almost as soon as set free.
Again he went to prison, and again he re-
solved to reform. Once more the tempter
was too much for him, and for third time
he found himself within prison walls.
When released again he did not mend his
ways, but continued in the old course,
though he had the good luck to avoid the
officers of the law, He continued; 81
finally dropped into this very chapel. |
heard the confessions of penitent men
and wOmen-cre9tures who had been as
low as l was. They all agreed that re-
ligion had done much for them-had made
them respectable and happy. Broken
family ties had been restored and homes
Of squalor and misery had been trans
formed into happy homes" Thus he
went on until the guilty looking figure in
walk slowly up the aisle until he stood
almost at the elbow of the speaker. When
the latter resumed his seat, there was
lull in the proceeding, and every eye was
turned upon the figure of the man who
was standing. Every one was waiting
for him to say something, for all felt he
wanted to speak. Finally the leader of
the meeting encouraged him to Stree his
mind"
II do want to free my mind" he slowly
Then he hung his head for a
full minute.
To the encouraging ego on" of the
leader he stopped and brought forth from
its hiding place in one of his stocking legs
the double skeleton key we have spoken
of. He held it up in plain view of the au-
dience. sit is a skeleton key" he said.
He then stepped forward and placed it
upon the desk.
81 came out tonight" he said, ''tO do
little crooked work. 1t was too early to
begin, and L thought l would drop in here
to pass away the time. l had the house
picked out, and that key there would
here, in a couple of hours l should have
robbed the house. But here l heard some
things that set me thinking. If religion
has helped others, why won't it help
me~
This frank admission created a sensa-
ton, and prayer went up for the man, and
he began to lead a reformed life from that
This was one year ago, and the
Hartford gentleman who has the key IN
his possession says that the reformation
was genuine, and the man is to-day re-
spected member of society in the circlein
which he moves.