New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-06-15

ground floor those for the night were overhead
At a. III. bell was rung, ana the Wdiu't "l go
locked the nighi-cells for the occupants " IN,
down IN those beneath That was the rule Ihdu
particular morning was an exception 10 uiir ~,
The bell was runE as ,,eTe The adherence 10 The
custom ceased for the doors al the cells Iti"So'
TO be unlocked. r,I la. oo Ion
doors of massive thickness, boes ana barred IN .C
cordance with the former idea that lhe secuIi ~,
Of the prisoners should depend rather upon po'to
and bars than upon the vigilance oil Inc Officers III
charge Each door was let into a tWenty-ionr1lloh
brick wall and secured by TWO pohdeIouS po .5
and an enormous lock OF the mos coihpl.o"tIIv
workmanship. These locks were KEPT cohs.-'N''s
oiled When the gigantic key was inser'eu, ~
turned as easily as the key OF watch-tal was
the rule When therefore,, T vorGer SIater found
that it wouldn't turn al all, he was rather 'ak fi
aback who's been having game WIN 'niS
Warder pnNin. who was stationed at the head
Of the stairs 10 see that the prisoners passed
down in order at the proper distance rom e"ch
0''e anTtYing the matter with the lockP Try
Warder Slater did try the next. but he found
that as refractory as the other had pecn' .o1
Perhaps you've got the wrong Key sueeeS'e"
Warder PUTIN. . s,o,o,
Got the wrong KEY" cried Warder o I',Eo,,
Do you think don't Kno"'"S own "o''
The eldest part of it was that all the LOCKS Ks
were the same Not only IL Wv. ware ,vard d. in fact
When this became known, certain sensi nlnc,c6
created and that both sides OIL the uhlocNeu
doors The prisoners were soon consI tSe,o and
their guardians were unable to release thenl, anu
they made a noise. Nothing is so precious 10 Ihe
average prisoner as grievance mere was " H'i
ance with vengeance. , ,,,.ro,,
He was short and stout, with red face and shor,;
stubbly white hair-hs very appe.raice st nd Wan
anonlexv That suggestion was empnaslHcu wiz"
lac lost lis tcnper-capable officer though ne was
that was more than once in while re was IN
the wheelshed awaiting oe ld a ,o their varions
tasks. when instead OF the prisoners, "IIrtcr
Slater appeared. If Murray was stout sla, nT
soue He was aSOn1 live lie ieF wos g wont to
amaze those who saw him for the first time-anu
wonderfully assuring them that he had a oIo.neI
skeleton i'll fact But he was stout enouS" III anu
the chief warder made striking par; A. ,oo,,s
There's something the matter WIN ,b th@ GoS JOCKS
u Can't undo the doors Mr.. Murray turned
the color of boiled beet-root What do you
mean ?" =. In. oil over tho Mace
nc the same. We can't get none of the doors
Mf MURRAY started of at good good round Tne P r6is
warder tried his hand himself. lie tired every
lock in the prison not one OF them v9ucnsalc ,
to bulge Not one that is, WITH Slhgle e eH
cor+ion That exception was in Ward Is, NO. q.
Mr Murray had tried all the other doors IN me
ward. beginning with No. tried them an ~
vain But when he came 70 NO, -, tne iu~N
turned with the customary ease. ana the dool mHS
W. ,'" Witbin il was Oliver Markell standing
dec0rously at attention. waiting TO ne leu o"V'
Nh Murray stared at him
Alum. there's nothing the matter win 'hls
loci, At any rate You'd better go down
Oliver Markell went downstairs ne was the
only man in Cornerstone Jail who did =, ~,
well this is q pretty 20 eNciaiieG' ~" To" or
raw when he had completed his round. Two 81
three other wardcrs had accompanied MN. ne
tmrred ON these. Some one will smart for This
Won see if they don't Keep those men s'iI'
The din was deafening. The prisoners, secure ,hatr
VI ~ - boes on the stone floors they made the
narrow vaulted corridors ring
"Silcnce those men" shouted Mr.. Jarvis the sec
ond warder who was as tall ana INN as tne chlci
Vas short and stout lie might as we'll have shouted
- tho Wind Those in the cells just close az
hand observed the better part Of Vaior pnV ,lloS,
little distance of paid not The sllSh''s' hGPu
II they we're locked in, the officers were LOCKE"
must go and see the Eoyern ,Hos. Mr M si
ray pursed up his lips Keep those men S"'i'
or ril know the reason why.
VI 10 strobe off. leaving his subordnates 20 obey
his orders-if they could, or if they couldn I. ,
Mr.. Palcy's house was in the centre OF the lall
Paey by the wSy %h r MSrray aTrvsd was
stin in bed He came down to the chief warder
in rather primitive disarray: .,
ANYTHING the matter, Murray
Yes sir there's something very much the mat
ter, indeed.
What is t?' It'll.
cells open
"You can't get-what9' Ia,
There seems to be something the matter with
'ne Tie locks All of thcmp Absurd"
well there they are, and there's the men in
side of them, and we cant get eu G.tTao le'so
I've tried my hand, and ! know can I. .o. 49,,
"I'll come with you at once, ana see Wnat You
Mr.. Paey was as gooH as bis word. lie started
of lust as he was As they were going, the chief
warder made another remark.
BY the way there IS one cell we managed 70
get open,-I opened II myself 80
al thought YOU said there was none p
"Thcre's that one it's that man ManKell.
Markell? Who is he?
He came in Yesterday It's that magician"
When they reached the cells, it was easy 10
perceive that something was wrong. The ward
ers hung about in two and thrceS the noise was
deafenng: the prisoners were keeping holiday.
Get me the keys and let me see what can
do. II is impossible that all the locks can have
been tempered with
They presented Mr.. Palev with the keys. In
his turn he tried every lock in the Jail This
was not work Of minute or two. The prison
contained some 300 night-cclls To visit them
all necesstated not only good deal of running
up and down stairs, but a good deal Of actual
walking for they were not only in different
floors and in different blocks but the prison itself
was divided into two entirely separate divisions
north and southland to pass from one division
to the other entailed n walk Of at least hundred
round Of the locks, Mr.. Paley had had about
enough Of it. II not surprising that he felt
"A little bewildered,-not one Of the locks had
shown any more readiness 10 yield 10 him than
10 the others.
In passing from one ward to the other, he had
passed the row of day-cclls in which was situated
i q. Here they found Oliver Markell sitting
in silent state awaiting the call to work. The
governor pulled up at sight Of him.
Well, Markell, so there was nothing the mat
ter with the lock of your door ?"
Markell simply inclined his head.
" suppose you know nothing about the locks
of the other DOORS"
Again the inclination of the head The man
seemed 10 be habituay chary of speech
What's the matter with you? Are you
dumb? Can't you speak when you're spoken
top
This time Markell extended the palms of his
hands with gesture which might mean anything
or nothing. The governor passed on. The round
finished, he held consultation with the chief
rle