The sun., 1893-09-10
coon STORIES OF rnr PRESENT DAr.
The Curious Circumstances In the Case OF
Convict No. A,sRO.
corwism 1879. by Caar',. n. L,,,i,

register as Charles L.. johnson. aged SO
years, single. native born. and by occupation
q public lecturer. Ho was q professor oil
phroDology. a splritualist. mesmerlst and n
queer. strange man. lie had been sentenced
for fifteen years for asshulting u woman.
but II finally camo about that even the jury
who brought In tho verdict believed him
an Innocent men. Indeed tho woman partly
confessed that It wnB put up Job to
blackmail tho man. and boforo he had
served two years she was In prison her
self From the first day that No. 4.S2O en-
tered the prison he exerted a peculiar inilu-
ence over officials and prisoners alike. The
latter nicknamed him The Mystery" and tho
title was we'll bestowed He was quiet. gen
tie man. with voice as soft as wOman's. but
whom he looked YOU square in tho eyes you
felt that he was mystery with n strange
power behind him. Ito had large buo eyes,
with long lashes, and II you looked into them
for ten seconds you forgot where you wore and
felt confused.
There Is very little sentiment to DO found In
q prison. and yet the idea In most OF them Is
to control the prisoners entirely by moral sua-
sion. We looked upon No. 1870 as u harmless
man, and one who could shortly be made use
\ OF as q "trusty." and hc got place as a waiter
In the dining room. lilo did his work quietly
and WELL as reported at the Warden's Office
but at the end Of tho week all tho help in tho
kitchen and dining room submitted n protest
against his being kept in his place, Tho rea-
son alleged was tho queer happenings for tho
week. Thore were some twelve or fourteen
men In the two departments. and all OF them
told the same general story. Three or four of
them had felt queer feeling come over them
ana lost all recollection OF time or place.
Cooking utensils had been moved about with
out the aid OF human hands. and eight mon
solemnly declared that II batch of bread. con-
slsting Of fifty or moro loavcs Just taken from
the oven moved at least fifteen feet along q
table while all were looking.
We laughed at their stories, but took Tho
Mystery" out OF the dining room aud nut him
In the tailor shop. lie made no objections.
and after o couple OF DAYS the man in charge OF
that department reported that he was m
adept with both shears and needle In tho
course OF week. however. we had a different
report. There were seven or eight men in the
shop. and every one of them wanted No 1870
removed to some other DEPARTMENT. The fCre-
man was free man and very Intelligent one,
end gould neither ridlrule nor contradict
fallen asleep while at work. while all OF them
had acted strangely and spoiled more or less
had taken iilGht and in ION ono Instance a Goat coat
which WAS lying on TIE tnbie before him sud.
f%Ity ssy III EaS a I6 i9nna on 5n @2r
perenced the fact that No. 4.S2O was possessed
& q strange .Il" - power; over | should have have lnughed
= 1919
him to the storeroom as an assistant to the
( official there .u,. .,,,
was made After breakfost S The Myster5S erSS
was returned to his cell to wait for the trans;
thirty-two cells in tier The man had tho
fret cell from tho entrance on tho ground tier
charge ofthe corridor The corridor was being
cleaned as usual. and No. 1920 was not locked
In the corridor ard two minutes after tho |
9neer had glanced at him the man was miss
OPEN b" Was epy s Tno oeer S 'T%r was "nSt not
alarmed. as it would be impossible for tho |
gs 0nt G tne Pvt ne su
Ct work !S Not one Of Them had seen him leave
search was @@as mn M and he e,S Was Il i@ana seated
was skepiiral, it wouldn't lave been lust to
them II trick. Tho Official in charge Of the
sserer%Ghm wns Ia yoa2G man of stron charac,
No. 4.s20 verthrrc and turned him over witha
clerk in tho ollice the entrance aud exit ot
tho storerooni were in tho main yard within
1t was about 10 o'clock when THE Mystery"
Was LETT ut th9 .toreroonl. An hour later re-
Who did not to gang fa m
harness shop had entered the place and dis;
to BE- 6hi @ 1ss Msn ns st az Sr he
the storeroom and the official in charge, was
found found asleep Is IN his chair 1t was more like
aroused pntil water had been thrown in his
face and no had been, roughly pulled about. u
have said ho was drank. 1t was noon before
no recovered his wits. and then ali the expla-
After Mr. Phelps left I began to question
the prisoner. aud the instant his eyes looked
look away from him, and til" longer look ed
the moro strangely felt: and after bit
don't ask me to take, him! I'd rather resign
than have him about the office q single day.,
not erea "sssa sG % s RHMdrs Ga a
tributed to him. Ahont, mid afternoon calcd
h nFTn1 hn qGS a %aS and raH Het M M2sy p1
change Ms Conduct, or ! should @ PIT put HnsS him
He He quietly rysnliod that he Lao dom;
shouIS sIs Sess I'VE 70 up up to the rUGs Gnd
the words our eyes meet 90 We IS ssnmed 'fS to have
avoided each other for the three Or four min
electric shock. and ns / continued 10 look
into his eyes had feeling Of dizziness. tho
great relief to mo when my eycs closed. and
realized that | was. going to sleep. |
pies. but l might have been mistaken about
that; had arranged with the assistant war
did not reappear in nftssn S mlnutes' '' p'''''''
AL At ne ne G end of quarter Of IN hour he on
Ios be- aaeS @ rSf sSsp az whs No
$50 stood l2oSin out of the window on tho
from the time he entered to my being fully
aroused. felt insulted md indignant. but
what could | say to the prisoner2 lie had cx-
ercised strange lowcr oyer mo. but that was
no fault Of his. After talk with the prison
physician sent the man to tho hospital to as
slst in waiting upon the half dozen patients in
the place. Tho idea was that the doc
tor might study him. At tho end OF Il fort
night Il was demonstrated that tho doctor was
about the only official around the prison who
could not bo mesmeriGcd, hypnntized. or what
ever you may call it. by No, $50. Ono or two
OF the patients were southcd by his presence.
hut the others betrayed fright and Distress |
The doctor was satisfied that tho man had the
power OF mesmeri;n to an almost unlimited
degree. but scoilod Mt tho idea of his dsap-
pearing, from his cell as related. II was do
cidsd that ~. 4.S2l WAS u dangerous man.
hospital. From there h" had no NOT show w to ,o "s.
cape. ! called him to tho office again. aud
after admitting that he exercised strange
power over most Of us. | added: