Sunday Washington globe., 1902-04-27

Ohio Penitentiary, serial number n SOB, 3"
is employed in that institution in the prison
post-offce For the prison newspaper the
Meas he has recently written a verv in
teresting article on the prison post-ofice
from which we quote further along
Mr.. Jennings is a member of a respecta-
bic western family, his father being a
Federal Judge How the young man came
to be convict and Federal life prisoner is
a romantic and tragic story of itself Mr..
Jennings had an elder brother whom he
dearly loved. This brother, man Of fine
education and bright prospects, was shot
dead by fellow attorney in barrOOm duel.
The younger Jennings Immediately took to
horse and made vow never to return to
his fathers freside until he had revenged
his brothers. murder and planted" his
slayer. For days, weeks and months he
kept on the trail of his intended victim,
but something always intervened to prevent
a meeting between the two-the pursuer
and the pursued.
Finally in a distant territory a United
States mail train was held up by a single
road agent and the place was Immediately
overrun by Federal officials deputy mar
shals etc. Young AL Jennings happened
to be in the territory or vicinity Of the
hold up. He was a stranger in the place
and could give no account Of himself other
than that he was prospecting. He declined,
OF course to reveal the real reasons for his
presence, as the revelation would do him
no good, but serve TO fasten suspicion on
him as a self confessed bad man. The up
shot Of the affair resulted in Mr. Jennings
arrest and speedy trial, such as is given by
the frontier or territorial Federal courts
sans ceremony. He was convicted and sen.
fenced to Imprisonment for life as a train
robber.
Mr.. Jennings reached the Ohio prison be-
fore he had recovered from the shock and
surprise Of his arrest and conviction for
crime of which he has always maintaine
he is innocent. The lawyer Of whom
went in pursuit is an eloquent pleader a.
successful member Of the bar, and Mr. Jer
nings has on several occasions read to it
writer extracts from the speeches Of
man he intended 10 plant and Of wfqae
ability he is an admirer
Some time after his incarceration in tt
Columbus peuitentiary Mr.. Jennings n,
municated with his father and the
Immediately took the matter up, wat la
result that the sentence of his son ha ar
commuted to expire in June next. Nbas
Jennings - "a AaAA EOAn PAEAANAa d lAtAA@
low the medium height, slender in build
and of soft, boyish features-the last person
in the world one would take to be a train
robber or the nervy desperate who single
handed and alone held up an entire train,
and there are none who believe him guilty
of the crime who have come in contact with
him since his enforced residence in the
Columbus prison
a~ffr1a Iae~rfkfwar Tta
Office offers fair gauge of his general ed
ucation and no mean literary ability. He
says
by the casual observer who, in passing
down Spring street, in the city of Colum-
bus, stops to gaze at the massive building
and frowniug battlements of Ohios great
penal institution, the Ohio penitentiary,
little is comprehended of the throbbing
life and busy minds within. The observer
gazes intently at the cold, gray stone walls,
ivy covered, the sinister iron gratings over
the windows, shudders, and passes on
He knows nothing and, perhaps, cares less,
of what may be passing within those walls,
where many hundred fellow beings OF
creatures are stowedj away for various
periods of time for offending organized
society. or, more properly speaking for
violating the law of the land-that grim
majestic law which is said to be no re.
specter Of persons.
Scarcely a day passes but what some
new arrivals name is added to the roster
and another serial number placed upon
record as designating the newcomer, and
the period of time which he must stay.
There is also scarcely a day passes that
does not bring liberty and renewed hope to
one or more men or women who have COM
pleted their allotted time and are again
privileged to mingle with the glad and
happy outside world as free citizens
stained and tainted, it is true, with the
stigma of the name "ex-convict,Y yet
happy in the thoughts Of newborn free
| dom
There are those, however, in this great
/ prison whose brightest hope is dead Un.
der the inexorable order of the court they
are told they must abide within the walls
of this great mural city for the period of
| their natural lives. Some few are relieved
from this awful sentence by executive
clemency and are born again, while others
wait on, year after year, burdened with
| thoughts Of loved ones whom they will
| never again see. Freedom is not for them.
/ Never again will they hear the voices of
| their loved ones nor feel the soft touch Of a
sympathetic mothers hand. They will
mss the embrace Of the faithful wife; the
light laughter and hopeful prattle of little
ones. These are all denied them. The life
prisoner who is burdened with such memo
ries gladly welcomes grim death as a happy
release The over.burdeued soul, by the
Intervention of death, escapes mans in
humanity to man and flies out into the
great white hush Of eternity.
This is but brief retrospect Of the in
side that the casual observer does not know
and cannot see as he looks from without
and passes on.
One Of my duties in the post-offce is
delivering the mail to other prisoners after
they have been locked in for the night. As
! pass along the ranges whereon the men
are locked, an eager face peers out from the
gloom Of a cell and All anxious voice says
pleadingly; Amt you got letter for me
tonight" II ] have, name aud serial num-
Der are compared with the label hanging
upon the cell door, which represents the
occupant within. II the comparison Is
correct give the letter to the owner, who