Wichita eagle., 1889-02-09
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Daily e Eagle
THE YOUNGER BOYS.
A Talk About the Heroes Of the
Mortified Robbery.
An Ex-Prison Associate Of the Outlaws
Talks About Their Lives Convicts-
They Are Different from Other Con-
victs and Nevcr Use Bad Language.

victs and Never Use Bad Language.
He was young man, tall and good look
ing, with very little about him suggestive
of prison life. "Yes," he said to a ST. Louis
Globe-Democrat man, by way of explana-
ton, 81 have done time, but that amt to
about the life of the Younger boys in the
Saltwater Nlinn.) prison, and thought
you might want to use it,"
The young man writes good hand, uses
fair English and his contribution is almost
too good for a daily newspaper. 1t is
philosophical essay of much rhetorical
merit, showing an extensive acquaintance
with the catalogue of the prison library
from Ovid to Amelie Rives. The young
man drops into poetry at proper intervals
and takes an occasional fight into the
Eillimitable sphere of universal thought
with an airy grace hardly compatible with
modern ideas of the influence of prisons.
He says he had been an editor; wrote
leaders, in fact, for the prison paper issued
by the convicts of Saltwater, and the only
one of the kind in the country. The paper
is nowi in its second year and has circua-
ton of about 500, many of which are dis
tributed outside of the prison. 1t has alsoa
wide and varied exchange list. rhe pro-
ceeds from its lad" columns and sales are
devoted TO purchasing books for the prison
library, which IS source of much comfort
to the "cons," as he calls them. The lead
ing spirit of the paper is q young ST. Paul
lawyer, who was sent up for working a
crooked real estate deal
About the Younger boys he writes: az
know them, as does every one else in the
prison, and l would just like to say that
they have been wronged BY the sensational
etoI1es printed about them. Just before
my last exit from the PEN an Omaha
paper printed story about the Mortified
robbery, and Cole Younger told me that al
most every statement was untrue. When
that subject is preached, and they are
asked about the two men who escaped alive,
and who have never been recaptured, the
Youngers are very reticent and will not dis
cuss il. It is well known that Cole and Bob
could have eluded their Mortified pursuers
had it not been for Jim's wounds Their
solicitude for his welfare and their deter
mination not to desert him caused their cap
ture. They were jailed and, as you Know,
pleaded guilty to the charge Of killing the
bank cashier, although 1t was claimed that
the fatal shot had been fired by other hands.
They entered Saltwater prison in 1879 and
began the serving of their life sentence.
They accepted their punishment with Spar
tan-hke forhtude. and are cheerful beyond
belief. Upon their entrance into prison
they were set at work IN the manufacture
of harness and shoes For seven years
they were conducted to and from their labor
by a special armed guard, who lowered
over them day after day, watching them
like hawks. When the prison was destroyed
by fire in 1884 the three brothers were de-
tailed by the warden to separate the con-
victs.
They were rewarded for the faithful
performance Of this duty by employment
in the store-keeper's department., and they
Were permitted some liberty. They are the
most noted convlcts IN the prison, and when
we started the Mirror--the prison paper
Cole Younger's name was nailed to the
masthead as associate editor. but his duties
as prison librarian keep him too busy to
mold much public opinion. He is a close
student and reads necessarily, and is an
talker and clever writer. Ho
has grown stout and has fine, bald, be-
nevoient head. The children of the warden
are great pets of his, and he is strict at
tendant at services in the chapel.
'Bob is the youngest and most striking
IN appearance. He is a favorite with the
fair sex. but shuns worldly things and is
devoted to the study Of theology, and is an
eloquent expounder Of its precepts. Bob is
hopelessly resigned 70 his fate. He suffers
terribly; there is no doubt about that, but
his face wears patient expression and a
haggard calnness, which shows how hard
he tries to bear his burden. He is clerk 10
the prison steward and is not brought in
60 contact with the other convicts. He is
not popular with the other prisoners, who
think him distant and proud.
'Jim, on the other hand, is the convicts'
favorite, and is known as such He de-
serves this friendly regard, too, for he is
considerable and deferential to every in
mate. He is the prison postmaster, and
the mail. He is a conscientious
official, and does his work well He knows
every prisoner intimately, and can tell you
all about them. Talking with Jim one day
through the bars of my cell, he spoke calm
ly about his past life, and was as cheerful Of
the future as a man could be under such
circumstances. He was badly wounded at
the Mortified robbery, and is permitted to
wear mustache to conceal the disfgure-
ment of his mouth, made by bullet wound
when the three brothers are together
they are contented. They are different
from the rest of the prisoners, and ever
use the fash phrases so common in prison
life They mind their own business, never
carry tales and do not curry favor with the
prison officials.
There is much that IL sweet and pathetic
in the Interchangeable love and Difference that
the Younger brothers bear to each ther,"
the young man. "In the words
Of the immortal Dickens, the tr1o are well
accustomed to act together, and are linked
20 each other by ties Of mutual interest and
advantage They seem to have made what
| may term tripartite agreement, like that
which the three prisoners OF Chillon kept
unto death:
To hearken to each others speech,
And each turn comforter to each.
The prison life of the Youngers has demon
strated the wisdom of not having hung
them, which, as Bulwer says. makes scare
crows, not beacons. In their case it is
proven that 1t is far better TO repair than to
restroy, we may carry the moral further
md declare that it were better. too, were
hey now permitted to atone as the citizen
han to repent as the hermit That hope,
he elixir of life, may sustain them till
mercy breaks their CALLING chains and re-
stores them to the life Of usefulness and
lonor, for which they are fitted, is the ear
lest prayer of one who knows them to be-a
rio of noblemeu."
THE TIDE OF EVENTS.