The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-06-01
THE DESTRUCTION OF TIE TOMBS PRISON
AN ANCIENT LANDMARK OF NEW
YORK

1oth.
MANY Noted Criminals Have Bee,
confined in Its Cells and Eou
Tales of Crime Have Been Heard
by Its "alls-A Fine Sample q
Egyptian Architecture and a Sc
cure Prison.
New York Evening Post.
The demolition of the Tombs will re
move one OF the city's most widel,
known buildings. 1t is not too mucf
TO say that 1t was the most uniou,
structure in the city, and scarcely an
other was as impressive. H. has beer
described as the most perfect specimen
! oi Egyptian architecture outside OF
Egypt. Interesting as it is as a piece
OF architecture, and part as it is OF the
Guys history, no one seems to desire &c
perpetuate the existence of dn cditice
speaking from every stone Of crime and
suffering.
The Tombs has long been inadequate
for It's objects, both in character and
accommodations, and year after wear
Efforts have been made to secure its
conuemnatlon and replacement by a
modern prison, but the Legislature
and the city officials have always un-
80 '"So JSdl iouuu OIucT DuDllC DrO-
Jects more seductive of Immediate at
tention. When something had to be
done In the past to provide for the
overitowing prisoners they have pre-
1erred the method of patching and
adding, as in 1885, when a new wing
was bailt inside the walls. But not
only has 1T been inadequate, but it's
site according to competent testimony,
WAS i'll chosen. All that section of the
city was formerly beautiful lake
with navigable outlet into the North
river, and the Tombs stands in the
very middle of this region, which when
The lake was drained Off was gradual
~ II led up with rubbish Of the city.
The building had to be erected on piles.
for The soundings recently made could
discover no solid foundation even at a
depth OF 100 feet. More than one war
den has complained of tn" prevailing
dampness OF the place, and it has been
no uncommon thing for cells to be ov-
ei fiowed with water which was forced
back through the drain pipes. The
building has also on more than one oc-
casion been pronounced unsafe.
Although the day of it's complete
erasement has only now arrived, the
years been diminishing. For a long
time after it replaced the old Bride
well, the colonial jail-out of the stones
OF which, by the way, ii was largely
constructed-itw was the city's sole place
or confinement for prisoners, but grad
ual growth necessitated the erection of
other prisons, and for many wears now
1T has divided honors with these out
side prisons, notably that forming Dart
OF the Jefferson Market building. Then
1T was not on y a prison, but Hall of
Justice" and as such was, until the
last few years, one of the most fre-
quenteu and thronged Of the public |
buildings. 1t contained the court OF |
special sessions, the Tombs police |
court, and one of the district civil |
courts. When the new criminal court |
building was occupied about three |
years ago, the court Of special sessions |
was transferred there, and after a de- |
lay of about year the police court |
followed. Then the civil court mipra- |
tod, and these desertions divested the |
place OF the greater part of it's busy
aspect. An interesting history espe- |
cially had the old Tombs police court.
1t was there that the legal oracles |
whom Tammany placed upon the |
bench displayed their wisdom, pun |
ished rivals and enemies, and advanc- |
ed generally the interests of the great |
organization which enabled them and |
Of their ilk to fatten on the !
public revenues.
During the long period since it's cree.
tiOn in 1888, the criminal annals of the
growing city have centered in the |
Tomb and the records would epitom-
lie the darker side OF the city's life and |
development Thousands upon thou
sands have been immured in its dark |
cells, and in its yard many have been
Ia IL, Il
OF the wardens are imperfect, unsum-
marlZed, and at present inaccessible, |
30 that exact figures may not be given,
but it is roughly estimated that some
thirty or forty persons have paid the
penalty OF their crimes within those |
gloomy walls from 1888 down TO 1889,
when executions there were discontln-
ued in consequence of the passage of
the law requiring the death penalty to
be administered by electricity at the
State prisons. Ono of the last execu-
tiOns was memorable on account of
three criminals being hanged at the
same time.
One OF the earliest OF the most ia
nous cases having the Tombs as a
background was that OF John G.. Colt,
a bookkeeper and teacher OF ornamen-
tai penmanshir, who, on September
II, 1911, in his Office at Chambers
street and Broadway, killed Samuel
Adams, printer, alter dispute. He
packed the body in box, salted 1T,
and tried to ship it to New Orleans.
The vessel was delayed, and the pres
ence Of the body was discovered. Colt
was arrested and thrown into the
TomOs. There, as some other prison
ers before and since have done, he
lived luxuriousIy. His respectable and
wealthy relatives caused him to be an
immense sensation. He was the chief
topic OF the newspapers and town
talk. After trial lasting ten days
Colt was convicted OF murder in the
first degree. Unusually strenuous eX-
erbiOns were made to save him, but in
vain. Then he wrote ono of the mo.
artistic confessions ever penned by a
criminal, which made him more than
ever the subject Of all conversation.
Four hours before the time set for his
execution, he was married to his mis-
trcss, who was accompanied to Cots
cell by John Howard Payne, the author
of Home, Sweet Home" Just as the
hour OF tho execution arrived cry Of
fire was raised in the Tombs, and the
cupola was seen to be ablaze. In the
excitement Colt was left alone and un-
watched In his cell, and when the Of
icers returned to take him to the gal
lows they found him dead upon his bed
with dagger in his hand.
Perhaps few cases ever excited
greater attention than the bruta MUIR