The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-10-16
He Made Prison a Palace For Hi
Convicted Client.
LITTLE BENNY WAS NEXT
AND MADE THE BEST OF A SUD-
DEN CHANGE IN FORTUNE.
simons Raked Up a Bogus Inherit
ance and Benny Was Taken From
the Rock Pile and Fed On the
Very Best That Could Be Obtained
Illustrating Power of Money.

L
The old colonel was in philosophical
mood. The stories of crime with which
! Smithers. the con man, and Jake, the
4 hospital steward, beguiled the tedious
! hours between such excitements as
strapping down ID. T. case and giving
| ether to a patient for a major opera
| ton, inclined him to reflect upon the
causes which might be responsible TOT
such larnentable results.
verify, = he said, money is the root
of ali iii.
you oughter know, kunnel," said
| Smithers, s'bein' an ex-capitalist."
| 81 should say So" grunbled Jake.
+ of I'd mad your chance there'd have
been no dividends to depositors, l tell
| YOU"
| 1.-THE difficulty is a lack of compre-
| hensiye 3underst anding," continued the
! colonel, ignoring the side thrusts, TO
which. he. was now we'll accustomed.
The rich man cannot put hlmseH IN
the poor man place, the man OF propl-
! ty cannot appreciate the temptations
| that besiege' the habitual criminal.
Hence, where there is no knowledge,
! there is no sympathy, and where there
| is mo- sympathy there can be no fe-.
| FORM
TT depends, kunnel,'' said Smithers,
cooking up his eye in a deliberate way,
upon which way you're goin'. Ihose
| down below may not welcome any le-
cruits. but give the poor man a chance
Etc put himself in the rich mans place,
and he won't raise NO objection, m
| thinkin' Do you s'pose any one mere
would kick against posin' as q man or
probberty? Not muchy, specially IL ne
had ever heerd the wrinkle little Benny
Paterson worked the last bit he done:
| Did L never tell you the yarn, kunnel?
! Wall. as it runs to the point of YOUR
argument, here goes:
Little Benny Paterson, kunneI, Tor
! MANY a year was one of the slickest con
! men in the lard. He had imagination,
! he had, and you want a microscope TO
! find the hole that he couldn't crawl out
Of All the samee, when he was plnched
| fofS a green goods steer, and railroadeu
up here for eighteen monts, ne felt
! qualmish. 1 tell you. Not that the pit
would be more'n a fly speck to little
Benny, but you see the last time when
! he went out, bein' low in sperits and
! pocket what did he do but go around
| to a newspaper office, and for couple
/ of round Shots pipe off lot Of gun
against the institution, mostly lies, 70
be sure, but near enough the trut 10
/ bring about a legislative investigation
l. the very next winter. And so ne
Z
/ putty and all the screws must be DEAD
sore on him.
HE tried. little Benny did, to get the
/ ledge to send him over to Crow Hill,
| but it was no use, and so after long
| and private interview with his lawyer
a. fly chap named Simons, who had done
time hisself for forgin' a deed, and nad
the business of the hull push, in which
/ he turned over all his available dough-
he consulted to accompany the mar
silals on a picturesque journey into the
Interior of the state.
Change In Benny's Condition.
1.-THE welcome little Benny got was
quite eckal to his fears. Set that feller
| a-breakin' stun. and give him the cool
er if he opens his jaw says the war
den. The deputy chased him in the
bathroom and then out agin, quicker n
a. cold day at Conev; and then htted
! him out with a hy-blown suit bum
| had Jest quilted sleepin' thirty days III.
He give him an undivided one-half IN
terest in a cell up on tier A, where no
one could starve on account OF tne
richness of the air; it was Deestrlct
/, of Columbia niger that had the other
/ share. Then he marched him out IL
/ the stun lot, and for about tree weeks
little Benny was a-crackin' his BACK IN
the sun. receivin a kick here and d
shove there from every screw that come
acrost him, and being object OF pity
to all beholders.
"About free weeks it was, kunnel,
and then there was an amazing change.
7 run against Shorty, the head nan
man. one day, and his eyes was a-stlck-
lin out like gig lamps on one OF them
new mobiliers. My God, Smithers'
saws he; have yer heer the news? LII
tie. Benny is a millionaire ten times
over. A uncle has died out in Nevady
! and left him an aker of gold solid right
t'roo to Chiny. This ain't no fahe' man.
I seen it in print, meself.
"Wall. after had quoted down some
of his material nervousness, l persuaded
| him to bring me the paper which the
nightwatchman had slipped to him.
And there it was, kunnel, in type as
long as your arm. From Prison TO
/ Palace it was headed; the most rheu-
matte episode of the age, And then 1t
went on and told in all sorts of con-
wulsive type, as how the uncle had died
intastite and little Benny was his only
hair. The surprisin' discovery had been
made by Counselor Simons the eminent
! advocate, who staked his Professional
4 reppertation that the amount of the
liggercy was far greater than stated in
/ current reports. Lord, Shorty, | gasp
| ed how l wish ] was that DeeStrlct Oh
/ Columbia niger.
cit didn't take the deputy long to git
! in his fine work. He consulted with
the doctor, he did, and the two of them
. soon agreed that little Benny was too
delicate to break stun. Fust, he put
him in the tailor shop a keepin' tally,
and then in the pail shop as assistant
4 shipping clerk; and after the week was
over he had him up here in the orspital,
with nothin' TO do but to eat. The
.,-ar5ox, lyialyad until 10 pYnIainn6 that
the easiest way was the best, and that
they'd not only have to change the
guard, but also double it if he was kept
longer down stairs. This was true, too,
kunnel, as you will see; but that gave
the deputy no license to keep t'row1n'
i out hints as how he was sick of the
business, and would be glad to get the
posish of manager for some young GIN
tleman of FORUM.
Power of Money and Prison.
4 "Ar the samee, it was improbable
to keep little Benny down stairs. Why,
in the shops he was a havin' ovation
eli the time. The instructors and the
i keepers paid no attention to the men;
now this one, now that was, a slappin'
4 him on the back, and tellin' him as
how in a few days they'd have him
pardoned, andeif meanwhile he wanted
! anythint brought in, why, mum was the
word and no question Of dough-. nuther.
4 Talk about flies about merlasses, kun
mel; why. youswouIdn't see such a sight
except in some country where the fly
crop was long and the merlasses crop
short. tn
THE men, too. was well-nfgh un-
manageable. Why tlere'd be rigu-
4 lar riot as to which one would be next
to little Benny I'M line, and you Jest
oughter have seen them a-Settin' at the
| machines. head UP in the air, a-figur-