Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-12-24
3 THRoUeH PROxIEs
oFinlna1s fa EnEland sometinea
Have Substitutes 10 EndurePun-
ailments for Them

There are few things one man u
not prepared to do for another, said
q prison Official 70 a London Tt-Bits
writer, and going to prison for him "a
certainly not among those at which
he draws 9 line. Why, it Is not many
days since, as you would read in the
papers, after q man had been sentenced
at q London police court for Gtx
months imprisonment for o bru-
tai assault, his brother besought
the magistrate, with tears in his
eyes, to be allowed TO serve
the sentenee-an appeal which was, OF
course, refused. In this case the man
who proposed to be his brothers proxy
&c q jafbird was probably actuated by
the highest motives, although I am
bound to admit that most Of these
prison substitutes have nothing more
noble than money to inspire their self
sacrifice.
In another recent case a man who
had been arrested on his own confess
sion on a charge Of HOUSEKEEPING re-
ceived quite a nominal sentence, as 1t
was his first offense, and he professed
penitence and a determination to re-
form. Before he had served q week
Of his sentence, however, he found
prison life so little to his taste that
he sought an interview with the gov
ernor and told him that the real cul-
prit was not himself, but a pal" Of his.
It a~ppearedsthat the latter, finding
that the police were uncomtortably
hot on HIS track, offered the prisoner
a certain sum Of money If he would
take his place and confess his guilt,
i He knew well that IL he himself were
caught, with his long list Of previous
convictions, he would not get OF with
less than from "seven OF fourteen
stretch" whereas his substitute, who
had no such conviction recorded
against him, would be much more le'
niently treated.
There are many cases, too, in which
n convict personates another and
gets his freedom long before he is en-.
titled to It. Only a few weeks ago
noticed among the prisoners who were
about to be liberated on the expiration
Of their sentence a man whose term
I thought, was far from having ex
pired. detained him sothat the mat
ter could be investigated, and the con
( Wet, finding the "game was up" con
fessed that he had changed places will
another prisoner.
It is no uncommon thing for a ma
4 out on bail to escape punishment il
. this way. Last year a cashier who wa
charged with embezzlement was re
leased on heavy bail. He used hi
freedom to such advantage that h
procured a substitute so like himsel
In appearance that even his friend
might have found Il difficult to distir
guish one from the other, and afte
installing him in HIS rooms and coach
ing him in all the facts Of the case, h
disappeared.
The proxy was duly tried and ser
fenced to a long term Of penal serv
tude-much, no doubt, to his amaze
ment-and it was only by an accider
that he did not serve every day Of
AS luck would have Il, the real erin
inal, who was all the time lying low ]
Whitechapel, was run over and take
TO a hospital in a dying condition. Her,
probably overcome by remorse, b
confessed his identity and his gull
and before his death left a sworn stat'
ment declaring the entire innocence {
the man who hadtaken his place.