The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-05-25
FERDINAND WARD.
low the Notorious Bsnk-wrecker ocsu.
pies His Time ut Sing sing.

uow the Notorious Bsnk-syrecker oc~u@
pies His Time ut Sing Sing.
Ferdinand Ward, perhaps the moss
noted prisoner of all, cu7sss SOM
pound of shrewdness and weakness.
unlimited cheek and with no conscience
nor principles, achieved some rare
rogueries in which he was not solely to
blame. His vanity led him 10 take
leading part in 1.-THE most prominent
indeed-and. as it rolled on and on.
like some enormous SNOWFALL. always
getting bigger. it grew out of all con-
troll and beyond his comprehension. It
was q matter of days only when it
would end, and his efforts were at last
ali directed toward tiding over each
hour, not to arranging the final catas-
trophe, which was left to take care Of
itself The amount of business done
by Grant & Ward through the clearing
house was 1862. 000. 900, figure repre-
senting also about one-quarter of the
national debt of the United States
The man who managed all this now
works in shabby little prison-room
containing shabby printing outfit.
with which he strikes off VERY shabby.
letter and bill-heads for the prison. Il
isn't work TO speak Of, it is not under
the unrelaxing watehfulness in which
other prisoners toll. but il is widely
different from seat in the directory OF
the Marine Bank or desk in the private
Office of the once much envied, young
and enterprising firm Of Grant &
Ward. The active partner wears stripes
- < =
him neatly. His boots are polished
and shapely. and he looks pretty well
groomed- Ward is not man TO suffer
much in imprisonment His fibre is not
fine enough for that, his temperament
is sanguine and his ambitions, unqual-
flied by the character of their aims
crafty themselves in small struggles
as readily as with great ones
His life in prison has not been an
easy one. He thought that money
could secure him immunity from all it's
hardships, but if il could in any way
soften the ssperities of prison life il
had to be applied with more tact than
he brought to its application Unfor-
tunately for him. he expressed his
views. The methods adopted to con-
vince him of his error were prompt and
stern, but it was some time before
they were effective At first he was
put to work dragging ashes from under
a boiler. 1t was hot, hard work. but he
was kept to il for several weeks Then
the Bay State Shoe Company secured
his services as book-keeper one Monday
and found him ridiculously incompetent
on Tuesday. In youth he had been an
amateur journalist. and had some idea
of setting type, and this fact has di-
rected the current of his life in prison.
The firm of Perry & Co. stove makers.
enjoyed large contract at that time.
and had need of blanks, bill-heads and
labels They set Ward to work tread
| ing the press with which these were
struck Off When Perry & Co. were
| legislated out of their position as con-
tractors. Ward and his printing Office
became an appendage of the prison
He can do all the work required of him
in an hour each day. The rest of his
time he spends in reading and in such
| idle ways as he can find diverting.
Even the fact that he il the most no
| torious prisoner IN the community of
| 1,5o0 rascals is source of pride and
satisfaction to him. and he courts the
curious regard which visitors so readily
grant him, and basks in the obserYa-
ton of the crowds which flock into
prison on holidays
He enjoys newspaper notoriety, too.
The fact that most of the publications
relating to his life in prison have been
far from complimentary serves perhaps
to check his enjoyment of them. but
not to destroy his pleasure in the fact
that he is still before the public His
inordinate vanity is beyond shame, and.
selfish and enyious, he has easily be-
come the most unpopular man in
prison, not only among the convicts.
but with the keepers, who regard him
as an unmitigated nuisance and do not
fail to let him know It Still, there are
| good qualities about Ward. He accepts
his snubs-and there are many bestowed
with unvarying good nature He is
clipper and good-tempered under all
conditions and has no apprehensions
for the future He still has matters in
litigation. and Bourke Cochran, his
counsel is frequent visitor. His
wife has considerable property, house
in Stamford and hotel splendidly
furnished on the Connecticut river, be-
tween Hartford and Ssybrook- This
hotel, although a small one, is a very
luxurious affair, filed with hard wood
throughout and all sorts of luxuries not
to be found in the average summer
establishment = Cor. PhiiGdslphsa
preSs