Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-06-05
FERDINAND WARD.


uov ths Notorious Bsnk-wrseker oes~-
pies His Time 1t Stag Sing.
Ferdinand Ward, perhap- the mos.
noted prisoner Of all, cur,s@. som- |
pound OF shrcwdness and weakness,
unlimited cheek and with no conscience
nor principles, achieved some rare
rngueries in which he was not solely to
blame. His vanity led him to take .
leading part in 1.-THE most prominent
indeed-and, as 1t rolled on and on.
Ike some enormous SNOWFALL. always
getting bigger. it grew ont Of all con-
troll and beyond his comprehension. II
was matter Of days only when it
wonld end, and his efforts were at last
all 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 1852. 900. 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 of very shabby
letter and bill-heads for the prison. II
isn't work to speak Of. it is not under
the unrelaxing watchfulness in which
other prisoners toll, but it is widely
| different from seat in the directory Of
the Marine Bank or desk in the private
Office Of the once much envied. young
4 and enterprising firm Of Grant 4
/ Ward. The active partner wears stripes
Of coarse wooden fabric, but they ct
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
i 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 none,
could secure him immunity from all it
{ hardships. but if it could in any wa,
soften the asperities of prison life il
{ had to be applied with more tact thar
4 be brought to its application. Unfor
tunately for him. he expressed hi
: views. The methods adopted to con
4 vince him of his error were prompt ant
8 stern, but it was some time befor
c they were effective. At first he wa
s put to work dragging ashes from unde
8 boiler. It was hot, hard work. but b
G was kept to it for several weeks The
the Bay State Shoe Company secure
his services as book-keeper one Monda
and found him ridiculously incompeten
on Tuesday. In youth he had been a
\, amateur journalist. and had some ide
of setting type. and this fact has d
e rected the current of his life in prison
* The firm of Perry & Co, stove maker
n enjoyed q large contract at that tina
Il and had need Of blanks, bill-heads an
Il labels They set Ward to work trea'
le ing the press with which these wei
Il struck of When Perry & Co. wei
O. legislated out of their position as col
Ell tractors, Ward and his printing Off
Igl became an appendage of the prise
i'll He can do all the work required of hi
=. in an hour each day. The rest of b
II, time he spends in reading and in SUI
h idle ways as he can find divertin
III Even the fact that he is the most n
nc torious prisoner IN the com immunity
i'll 1900 rascals is . source of pride 81
d. satisfaction to him, and he courts &
Of curious regard which visitors so readi
he grant him, and basks in the obsery
il ton of the crowds which flock in
OF prison on holidays
be He enjoys newspaper notoriety, t<
en- The fact that most of the publicatio
lts relating to his life in prison have be
es far from complimentary serves perha
m to check his enjoyment of them.
on not to destroy his pleasure in the Fl
OF that he is still before the public
tic inordinate vanity is beyond shame, al
ITS selfish and envious, he has easily
LAT come the most unpopular man
nc prison. not only among the convit
or but with the keepers, who regard b
ri as an unmitigated nuisance and do
e fail to let him know it Still. there
sll. good qualities about Ward. He acce
- his snubs-and there are many bestov
with unvarying good nature H.
clipper and good-tempered under
conditions and has no apprehensi
is for the future He still has matters
osi litigation, and Bourke Cochran,
ne counsel. is frequent visitor.
ed wife has considerable property. no
the in Stamford snd hotel splendi
hat furnished on the Connecticut river.
an. tween Hartford and Saybrook-
cry hotel, although a small one, is v
DIS luxurious affair. filed with hard W
throughout and all sorts of luxuries
was to be found in the average sum
establishment - Cor. Phs{GSsi!
Press.
ritz
int Sooo NAo'e
I've r b.ra p;ce r,ortabfe feuce tn,