The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-11-14

of fellOw-man untainted by crime. Fo
| thirty three years he had been dead to th
world he once had known. and for thirty
| three years he had worn the brand o
murderer on his brow. though murderer h
never was. Attacked at night when no
sober by these ruffians he fought back wit
the weapons nearest at hand and killed tw
of them. A cOrOner'S jury acquitted a maj
in this city with something like vote o
thanks not many months ago for killing
man in about the same manner. But Mich
ael German was not acquitted. Twelv
men decided that he was guilty of murder
and with all due and hitleOus formaity h.
was sentenced to death. Later his sentenc
was changed to imprisonment for life. ant
in 1855, just as October was closing, Mich
ael German, a rOsy-cheeked young Irish
man, ~ years old, became a prisoner "fo
the rest of his natural life" And in OctO
Der. 1888, the same lriShman, now old
grayhaired and feeble, is free.
mo one knows" he said to-day in a tear
full voice. what passed through in thOs
years that l wore a striped suit and was
felon. Why. thought l would be MAJ
with joy when took off the stripes and pu
on this suit" And the old man gaze,
proudly at the neat brown suit the first h
has worn for generation that does not re
mind him of convict cell.
HOW 1T SEEMS TO BE FREE.
1T is all so strange" the old man said
Ito see no bars. no keepers. no stripe,
suits: to be allowed to eat with a knife an,
fork; to sleep in comfortable room, and t.
be free to come and 90 as l will. Why
man. it is like dream"
Rnf Ol1 hoe fn
turn to the prison that he occupied SO long
He does not, like ByrOn's prisoner. regain
''his freedom with a sigh," and he will not
| ke the old German whom Dickens ha
made famous, insist on remaining in priSOl
after he is free to leave it. He has al
Irishman'S love Tor freedom, and as 1t
wanderS about and sees the changes tina
have taken place since he entered his Twin!
grave, his most frequent exclamation is:
Thank God Pm free
Their is vein of sadness runnin.
through it. too. He came from Sing Sing
to find none who knew him save two faith
ful friends who had played with him at tn,
village school at Legan fifty years ago. Hi
father and mother died when he had beer
but few years in prison. His two brother
were killed fighting for the Union in thi
late war. The judge before whom he wa
tried and by whom he was sentenced il
dead; the lawyer who prosecuted and th
counsel who defended him are dead, afiC
the governor who committed his sentence il
also dead. Of all the officials of his day il
Brooklyn, but one is living--ex- Mayo
Stryker-and he is very old man. Cor
man. since his release, has been going abOu
the city in an almost dazed condition. He
was prepared, he says, to see changes, bu
,ffS c1,O how toll
to use his own expression. he feels as though
he ''had been born again" In his prison
up over the Hudson he heard little that was
going On in the world outside. He heart
in general way of the war when it was
raging, and he heard from time to time OF
other affairs of moment. But it was only
in vague way. and he went Oh at his daily
task of file cutting and attending to the lit
tie prison chapel. doing his duty SO well
that in all the years of his prison life he
was not once reprimanded. The wOrl(
outside was nothing to man confined fol
life
The old manifold Mike, "as he likes t(
be called--is not much given to talking,
especially of his prison life.
when put on that prison dress l CAM
tell you how l felt," he said in his simple
way. Il thought it was for life. and
didn't want that life to be long. What !
thought at night when l lay in my cell
don't know. thought of so many things.
1t is terrible thing to be shut up month
after month and year after year and to know
it is to go on until you die. 1 grew used
to it after while. but never could come tC
like it. 1t isn't natural. was we'll treated
by every one, and 1 tried always to do my
duty by the officials of the prison. l think