Sunday Washington globe., 1902-01-05

The Office or position of steward Of the
Ohio Penitentiary is eagerly sought by
numberless candidates whenever there is
change of administration. II is estimated
that two years in the position nets fair
capital TO the holder thereof to engage in
any kind Of business other than a rolling or
steel miill -Four years enables the steward
to retire with a comfortable fortunel
Now, had been listening to these kind
of stories or estimates when running
newspaper on the outside and / naturally
SCI them down as exaggerated and absurd.
But it having come my way. through the
vicissitudes Of fortune to become thoroughly
familiar with the subject have no hesita-
tion now in confirming the former discred-
ited stories Of the stewards ''pickings."
They are out Of all proportion to the Of
fee or Job. And they do not run less than
$4,000 per annum Indeed an industrious
and posted steward like Eli West could
easily increase this annual compensation.
Eli came up from the locking Valley few
years previous TO securing the position of
steward and had his eye teeth cut by the
Columbus real estate and other kind of
sharks. He came out winner in tie end
and when he was inducted into the stewards
Office under the Bushnell regime had a
pretty fair stake. But Eli was and is am
bilious to become very rich and that he
added to the size of his pile during his
four years stewardship goes without saying.
His predecessor, Dave" Miller, (uow
deceased was a farmer, and he added sew
eral farms to his holdings while steward,
besides going into a multiplicity Of specu-
iations and outside enterprises, in the
majority Of which he sank considerable
money, for no kinder hearted or more gen
erous man than Dave" Miller ever lived.
He was contented, too, with the 10 per
cent commission allowed by all Columbus
merchants on purchases for the prison
That this uetted him nice sum may be in
ferred from the fact that such purchases
aggregate over S2oO,ooo per annum. The
subsistence department Of the prison alone
averages $IaSooo per annum in expendi-
lures for meats, coffee, sugar, butter vege-
tables, etc. All the clothing is purchased
by the steward, including the citizens
clothing furnished convicts on their dis.
charge. Every bit Of lumber and pound of
nails, in fact everything consumed in the
prison is purchased by the steward in the
open market and from whom he pleasesl
Thus the one article of butter, under the
James regime, came from Julius Writings
baliwick of Canton through a firm in
Columbus noted for its cloudy reputation,
and which, by the way, was not in the conf
mission business at all Il simply acted as
distributing agent in this one article Of
butter for the Canton firm and both Julius
Whiting and Colonel Hay (members Of the
Board Of Managers never failed after the
monthly meetings held in the prison to
visit the aforesaid firm and transact some
PRIVATE business with the semi-crooked
head thereof When "a rake Off could be
paid on butter from Stark county the
reader can easily figure out for himself the
fat pickings there were in the other articles
food, clothing ETC., furnished the prison
AS stated, Dave Miller was satisfied with
the usual ten per cent cash discount, and he
even 'whacked up some of this, my share
as bookkeeper being a ffty-box of cigars
weekly His own clerk Jared little better,
but then it must be remembered that we
were convicts, and in equity entitled to
nothing, as our sins had found us out and
we were expiatiug the same, whilst the
stewards, the managers, the wardens, Harry
Minors, Bill Bonds and others in the
dip" official and otherwise, had not been
brought to book or found ont Hence, con
sidering the ratio Of things we did pretty
near as we'll as Schley who won the battle
of Santiago did all the real work in fact
while the fgure-headed Sampson got the
prize money. So 1t was with the stewards
bookkeeper and myself. / was the book
keeper in detail of the subsistence depart
ment whilst my fellow convict was the
bookkeeper in wholesale of the steward IS
Office During Dave Miller's stewardship
and Munshowers superitendency, / never
remember seeing bills rendered above the
market price Of the articles purchased in
the subsistence department II is true that
the state shop where the clothing was
made under the absolute charge Of Varney
the vitriol fend was a gold mine, and be-
sides the four or five hundred dollars per
month made by Varney as his share, there
were several officials who participated in
the rake off.
These were the officials who backed up
Varney until their conduct became a
scandal to the state Varney was on the
eve of being pardoned when ne armed him
self with two revolvers and a demijohn Of
whisky to give him nerve. He thought
Julius Whiting, the. manager, was going to
throw off on him, inasmuch as it was about
the last meeting Of the Whiting board and
Varney rightly guessed he would have no
show under the new board So he got out
his revolvers and his whisky, of which he
always had gallon OF so az his elbow, and
selecting the green house of the prison for
his base Of supplies, he drank so much
nervine" that he forgot to shoot his way
out and was inglorously captured dead
drunk He kept officers and guards at bay
the whole night after being locked in his
cell, for by an excusable oversight the
officers only secured one Of his guns and
thinking that he only had one revolver he
was locked up and what was left in the
demijohn was taken back to the hospital
where Varneyhad the special privilege from
James and Whiting to get t-all the whisky he
wanted When Varney found himself
locked up. he was indignant and coming to
himself after a few hours sleep, he dis
covered his second pistol in his hip pocket
He then kept guards and officers from even
walking in the corridor as he threatened to
shoot any man who would pass his cell. /
who had been working late in the kitchen
returned to the corridor Of the prison and
found the night guards huddled in a bunch
was Informed Of the cause and warned
not to pass Varney's cell, as he was on the
lookout to shoot anybody but myself IN