, 1885-01-31
MISSIONARY.
. CURIOUS UTILIZATION OF CELL
PESTS.


BY almost Incredible ingenuity, In Willing
away the hours OF q lifetime Of inprison-
ment with comparative content, and more
than paralieled by the remarkable ingenuity
and curious inventive genius Of DR.. Albert
q. y Courssn. tho wits poisonsr and muir
dersr, now IN solitary confinement at Moy-
amensine, awaiting the fulhllment Of the
law. The story Is almost beyond belief, and
certainly nothing 20 remarkable has ever
been known In tho unwritten history OF
prison life in America
Prior to his trial Goersen was a man of
d~issipated habits, and IN that rested one Of
the strongest pleas OF the defense. that the
murderer wns irresponsible. Since his in
carceration. however, and under the alb
steminous diet and regulations OF prison life,
he has again Developed the peculiar religious
fervor he once possessed, and Is now
warmly interested IN the future fate Of his
fellow-p~risonern With this thought in view,
Gosrssn applied for permission TO read the
Bible to the inmates of the prison. The
request naturally, was refused. Goerssn.
however. was determined TO impart to his
companions in durance his knowledge and
professsd belief in the scripturnl writings,
and rosortod 10 a scheme which In all prob
bflify has no smile in criminal annals the
world over.
Black reaches were the messengers on
listed by DIR. Goerson to convey spiritual
instruction TO the benighted prisoners Of
Moyamsnzing.
The county prison Is overrun with big
English beetles. The insects are from an
inch and a quarter 10 two inches or more In
length, and infest every cell in the prison
Goorssn, who Is OF an inventive turn Of mind,
and at the same time a remarkabls psnman.
saw in the reaches a medium through which
1t was possible to attain the desired object
To utilize the reaches became his hobby.
Filled with this idea, he captured a hercu-
lean beetle, and, parting the wings, salivated
a tiny strip Of ti~ssue-paper and stuck 1t, by
the aid Of a paste ~ingeniously made from
scraps Of bread, on the insects back On
the paper, written in minute characters, and
with the skin for which Goersen was so much
noted were the words. small but legible;
Although thy sins DO as scarlet, they
shall DO as white as snow.
The insect was then released and seurried
through a crack in the floor. The following
day tho doctor captured fifteen or twenty of
tho largest reaches outof the insectional bat
TALON that entered his cell and concealed
them In an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS box. Hiding
tho box under his bod. he prepared a dozen
slips similar to the first, and, inscribing on
each a microscopic selection from the scrip
lures, attached them TO the backs Of the cap
tive reaches
After keeping the insects confined long
enough TO SEQ that tho paper slips would
stick the reaches were released, and they,
like thoir predecessors, quickly escaped
through tho cracks and c~revices In the floor
and walls Of tho cell. Tho result OF his ex-
pertinent GoerSen awaited with feverish
anxiety.
The lid OF a pan filed with scraps was
placed on the door as q bait. Three days
later Goorssn found nearly a score Of
reaches in the lid
Carefully he picked them up, one by one,
and examined them.
Speaking OF his feelings to his keeper
afterward he said his excitement was in
tense.
my heart stood STILL he said; athe tears
stood in my eyes, and l thought tho disap-
pointment would kill me. examined over
a dozen reaches and could not discover a
single one with amy characteristic that
would lead me to believe l had seen IL be-
fore. Suddenly / saw among the mass some
thing white cleaning on the back OF one Of
tho bugs. My breath came fast, and for a
moment ! hardly dared TO look. Then,
plucking up courage, / took tho white
backed roach between my fingers and parted
the wings.
II trembled as though stricken with the
agne, and could hardly see for excitement
the struggling bug know it,
had seen 1t before-on its back, fast and
tight, wns still fastened a message / had sent
to my unenllghtened fellow-prisonerS"
On the back Of the roach, and Inscribed on
the strip OF paper, were the words;
= not deceived evh associations corrupt
49, moIar
pul .nis was not an written transVerseiy
n 60 zoe paper, IN scraWnng ana almost
Anssiple nanu, were sne "onasi
no yu.o Ii.sMSnea' -