St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-15
GRAVEYARD AT SING SING.
A Convict's Dying Hours, and the
Disposition of His Remains.


On an average ten persons year die
in the prison, and nearly all of those
who have died have been buried in the
prison graveyard and left there undis-
turbed. A few have died by accident
in the workshops, but the percentage of
deaths by accident is so small as to be
scarcely worthy of note. A large ma
jOrity of deaths has been caused by con-
sumption, which, however, is rarely con-
tracted within the prison, walls says the
New York Sun. A prisoner suffering
from consumption is shown every cOnSid
Grafton possible with prison discipline.
His work is made light, and as soon as
he shows the SymptOmS1Of breaking
down he is sent to the hospital. When
Ferdinand Ward was sent to Sing Sing
for ten years there were scores of per-
sons, among whom were some intimate
friends of Ward, who said that he would
not live year. Wards appearance
favored this prophecy, for he was thin.
with cOlOrleSS face, round shoulders and
a narrow chest.
He has been used to high living" it
was said. land luxurious quarters, and
prison fare and confinement will kill
him."
If Wards friends knew as much then
as they have learned since they would
have received the news of his cOnvic-
ton and sentence with joy. 1t was his
high manner of living that was proving
disastrous to his health. Ward now
looks as well and strong as any man of
his slender build can look. There is a
luster in his eyes that is new to them
and a lightneSs in his step that he did
not possess when he was free.
In the prison graVe-yards repOSe the
bones of about 500 cOnvictS. This makes
the number of deaths average nearly
ten year. The old graveyard on the
slope nearest the river looks like de-
serted Gods acre of Oiden times. A
dozen years ago, when the burying
ground was removed further up the
slope, the fence of the old place was
left to take care of itself, which it had
failed to do. The mounds have been
level with the ground. The rough
wooden crosses that bear number
corresponding to one in a big ledger in
the prison in which record of the dead
| is kept. stand in struggling fashion.
| These were originally implanted pieces
| of wood nailed together in the form of q
cross and driven into the earth. A few
of them have been kicked over, but
| even on those that are still standing the
numbers that were OH them once have
been so defaced by the weather that
| they are scarcely legible.
The newer grave yard is in much
| better condition. The wooden crosses
are comparatively new, and the num-
| bers that are on them can he plainly
seen. At the head of few of the
mounds stand rough stones, crudelY cut.
| Every one or these stones tells q story
more pathetic than do many of the pre-
| tentiouS monuments in big and finely
| kept cemeteries. These stones are all
| the work of prisoners, who labor during
hours of leisure as acts of friendship.
When prisoner is very ill, and there
seems to be danger that he will die, his
| friends are notified. and the iron rule of
| the prison is for the time unnOticed. He
| is allowed to settle up, in the presence
of his friends, all of his worldly affairs,
and to have them about his bedside until
| the end comes. There are occasions, of
course, and many of them, when the
| prisoner is either absolutely friendlesS or
is only anxious to die without making his
| shame known to his friends. When the
| end comes the body is then free, and to
| the friends of the dead man is given the
melancholy privilege of barring the
| body outside of the prison walls. A
prison funeral is usually solemn affair.
| The big bells that are used in the prison
are always changing out some kind of
an order to the prisoners or summons
to the keepers, and they always stir a
world of echoes in the silent corridors.
When prisoner is dead the fact is gem
orally well-knOwn, and an unusual
silence is preserved, even for this
dreary place. Then the whisper is
heard that the dead man lis to be buried
in the convict ground. The coffin is
brought forth, the body placed in it, the
chaplain reads service, and then it is
| inferred.