The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-30
MISCELLANEOUS.

FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE
VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY. By Aus
tin NJ. Bldwell, 600 pages. 40 full page
Illustrations.
Rarely does q journalist have q book
TO review so striking as this one. 1t
IA the story of q wrecked life. wrecked
when It's bark had scarcely more than
entered the stream. wrecked with
every circumstance of terror and dis
aster which seemed to declare that the
wreck was total and hopeless. and yet
in spite Of every obstacle, the wreck
has been raised and Is once more
bravely facing the pillows.
Few men ever started in life with
brighter prospects than Austin Bidwell,
and yet before he was 25 years old he
was flung into a prison cell that his
life might rot away under a sentence
Of perpetual Imprisonment for a fraud
on the bank of England. Terrible was
h penalty exacted from him for his
sin. Few men forgive injuries. With
pitiless fury did those he injured ex-
act h very last stroke Of %retribution.
At last 1t was over. He came back
with whitened hair. but strong and full
OF high resolve. determined to show
young men the pitfalls opened before
them. and to press upon them as no
professed teacher yer could the truth
which the young are apt to mock but
which the older among us know to
be so true. that in the world of wrong
doing success in failure. The book is
written in a style and with a nerve
which keeps the reader in breathless
interest throughout. The following eX-
tracts will give an idea of the authors
style and sentiments:
Today fharo &c NOT , or;r,,uol b,,f u,hn
AZ the start. looked forward to the time
when he would no longer war against So
ciety. but would go out and come in at
peace with all men. But. when one comes
to think of 1t, what a fools game is that
OF q man who fights against society. The
criminal has but two arms, very short and
veal they are, and of flesh. too. He has
but two eyes that cannot possibly see
has a million arms Of steel that can reach
around the world. and a million eyes
which are never closed. that can pierce
ance. The poor, unhappy criminal by for
funate dexterity may escape for q little,
but at last society lays her iron grasp
on him. and with giant force hurls him
But where were my good resolutions,
and what had become of them? Why,
they, under the effect of the wine and the
magnetic Influence of these three minds.
had gone flying down the bay, and under
q favoring gale were fast speeding sea-
ward beyond the ken of mortal eye,n not to
be found by me again until years after,
when. with the tolls about me, I found
myself in Newgate. Then the fugitives
oil came back, this time to stay.-Page 95.
Let nc man who may be tempted to
commit a crime ever fancy tina II he
takes the first step down hill he will stop
until he reaches the bottom. For this
history Is a handwriting on the wall. full
Of warning to all and every who may be
tempted to take one step in any other
path than the path Of honor.-Page 9s.
May readers of the book high in pro-
fessional ranks speak of it in the
strongest terms. 1t certainly is a Won
derful work, one which, while the old
will read with the greatest interest,
ought to be everywhere placed in the
hands Of the young.