The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1897-03-04
Vritten for The Prison Mirror.
JACK OF ALL TRADES,

In every prison in this country you
will find remarkably smart men; men
who could make more money in le-
gitimate way than they could ever hope
to gain by other means. They are ex-
pert in some line of business, and how
they ever drifted into crime is puz-
zling question. There are not many
such men in prison, but there are
enough to make them known as class
There is another class of prisoners who
are known as smart men, but the clev-
erness in this instance partakes of a
cosmopolitan nature. This class of
men can adapt themselves to their sur
roundings, whatever they may be, and
are always ready to make themselves
useful. They can do little carpenter
ing, plumbing, bricklaying, ETC., but
are not competent to fill steady posi-
tion in any line of business. Smart
ness of this kind has but a small finan-
cial value as a general rule. At least
twenty-five per cent. of the inmates of
this prison are men of this stamp, and
l am inclined to think that this "Handy
Andy" cleverness is the indirect cause
of their being in prison today.
Take the average young man that
starts out to see the world. He is not
usually overburdened with money, and
though he may have been able to earn
fair living among his friends, the
| chances are that he is not far enough
advanced in the knowledge of any call
ing to command position on the basis
of his abilities. He travels around
from town to town and must take
whatever employment he can get. At
one time he is clerking in an office, at
another he is driving team on rail-
road or at lumber camp. He finds
that knocking about is not nearly as
pleasant as he anticipated, but he has
a sort of mock pride that deters him
from returning to his friends; and in
his letters home never makes mention
of his troubles. He very soon gets
hardened and reckless and will not
finch from any employment that will
give him the means of having "good
time" 1t makes no difference to him
now whether he handles a pick or a
pen so long as he can get money. In
| leading this nomadic life it is hard to
avoid the alluring temptations met
with. A man may be naturally honest,
it may have never before entered into
his mind to touch what belongs to an
other; but in leading this roaming life
the need of money is ever uppermost
in his thoughts, and if he sees chance
to procure it without working for it
he must needs be strong to withstand
the temptation.
Many man can trace his present
disgrace to his feverish desire to ''see
the world" before he is able to properly
support himself. 1t is very pleasant
and wholesome to read of the trials
and struggles of the heroes of fiction to
preserve their honor under adverse Cir
cumstances, but there is little romance
in going through the actual experience
of roughing in this world, and
the only sure way of avoiding the un-
pleasant consciousness of being dis
honest is to settle down in on place
and use your surplus fortitude in try
ing to be cOntented.
But, notwithstanding its unfortu-
nate possibilities, the experience gained
in travelling about when you have to
provide for yourself in doing so, is of
great vaIue to the man who can pass