The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-11-20
CONVICT BECAME 4
POWER IN PRISON
Vincent Cody's Influence for
GOOD Exerted 36 Years
in Sing Sing.
A STORY by A PRISONER
Graphic Human Document Describes
Life of a Remarkable Man to
Whom Pardon Came After
Hope Had Gone.
(By q Fellow Prisoner,)

(By a Fellow Prisoner)
Osln1ng, N. Y, special: The MAR
cell house at Sing Sing prison is a huge
stone structure within four thick stone
walls: This house contains 1900 cells
ana they mount in tiers one above an
other to the top OF the building, which
is some 100 feet from the ground
Around each OF the tiers runs a mar
row plank platform, protected on the
outside by an iron railing; the several
tiers are called galleries." and in
charge of each gallery is a gallery
man whose duties are to keep clean
the floor of the platform, to cleanse the
cells, to see that nothing is stolen
therefrom, etc.
Vincent Cody was a gallery man
IN sing Sing prison during almost all
OF his thirty-fve years of service there
Tor the alleged murder of a companion
IN a drunken brawl in one of New
York city's saloons.
Cody is dead!"
The news flew around the prison last
Wednesday with u swiftness that
would have not been equaled by the
report Of u governments declara-
ton of war against a foreign power.
Cody is dead!" The old timers-men
who have been in prison for ten, TWEEN
ty, thirty years (and there are many
such) said:
MY, my! Cody dead, hey? Poor
Cody! Died In Bellevue, did you say?
Well! WE'LL"
Like some men who lave greater op-
portunities than he to maize their in
fuence felt, Cody will continue to live
IN the memory Of many who shared his
sad n unhappy fate for SO many
oreary years, for he stood out boldly as
one OF the dominant convicts of Sing
Sing.
His Meeting With Cody.
had been in the most famous Of our
'.ountry's penal institutions but a few
days when I met Cody, and our meeting
was not after a manner calculated to
allay the terror with which my slight
experience with prison had already
filled my tortured soul. I had occasion
or thought I had, for 1 changed my
mind after my meeting with Cody
to speak with Charley Williamson,
who may be remembered by some as
having forged some $500, 900 Of secuE-
tiles In 1873, besides committing sew
eral other bold crimes, for which he
did time in almost unlimited guam
titles.
Charley locked on No. 3 gallery, of
which Cody had charge. I locked on
No. Z, two tiers above No. 8. When the
officer in charge of our gallery had
turned his back for an instant I slipped
down to No. 8 gallery, and was hasten
Ing to Williamson's cell when there ran,
rushed, tore down the plank footpath
toward me the queerest looking indi-
vidual that any person has ever seen.
1t was Cody. He was then a mar Of
about 60 years, his hair still black and
thick, his eyebrows a heavy brush, his
bent and twisted body so knotted and
gnarled with muscles from head to foot
that his marvellous vigor was the first
| Of hiS rhHyo{on1 rtyol{finr t1 cf,tlo thn
eye of the observer. 2
While it is apparently the deliberate
purpose Of the prison authorities to
dress their wards In clothing that does
not fit them, they succeeded in their
purpose with Cody to q degree that
was absolutely alarming, for his ap-
parel made him positively grotesque.
His trousers were either so long that
they were q great bunch Of cloth at the
bottom, where Cody had rolled and re-
rolled them up, or else they were al
most up to his knees. The coat and
vest were always in harmony with the
mtsf1t of the pants. But Cody didn't
care.
"Get Out o. Here" Exclaimed Cody.
I have said hat Cody came rushing
down the gallery to meet me. He grab
bed me by the arm, swung me face
about, pushed me, bumped me, hustled
me to the stairway whence I had come,
bawling all the while:
Get out O. here! What do you mean
by comm on my gallery? 1t don't
make any difference what you want, or
your mouth and git! Go on, now, be-
fore I throw you off the gallery!"
I sprinted back to 7.
Gallery 8 is the residential tier of
Sing Sings aristocracy and is known as
politicians row." 1 vas later given
residence here, and had for my neigh
bors "Biff" Ellison, Billy" Went
worth the Victoria hotel cashier, Albert
Smith the Wall street broker, John Y.
McKane and many other celebrities.
Once on Cody's gallery you had in him
q friend in deed or need. You became
his protege.
Cody was absolutely honest in every
way. He was perfectly truthful in all
he said. He was a irst-rate cook, who
was always preparing on the sly some
appetizing dish for his tenants. and he
had not the slightest idea or inclination
toward cleanliness, though he fancied
that his domain was the most perfect
kept estate in our small world and nev-
er ceased to speak Of its spotlessness.
We honored Cody, we liked him, but
we more than iked hin-we loved him
when we were i'll. Their he was as
tender as a woman Our neighbors
were then compelled to tiptoe past our
doors, and our convalescence was
conxed by the daintiest dishes pre-
pared by Cody's hands.
Dear old Cody! His heart was as
soft as a child's. He had his pet birds.
who would fly to him from among the
flock to which he flung crumbs on his
prison lawn three times every day OF
his Imprisonment. He had reared many
a kitten to a wise and contented ma
turity; he had brought up" many a
puppy to a career that If not happy OF
useful was at least strenuous, for Cody
trained all of his dogs to fight, because
he himself was a fighter.
And Cody was a fighter! He was in,
tensely proud of his record in 'fstiana'
Of his prize fight days wherein as a clean.
limbed, arch chested and muscular youne
fellow he was portrayed in ring battle
with several illustrious prize fighters Of
his youth. He never forgot how to fight
and he never missed an opportunity tc
do SO.
There was a fellow on our gallery whose
first name was Barney. Something OF
other induced Barney to scrap with Cody
ana to challenge him to fight. It was q
great sight to note the delight in Cody's
y when the gauntlet was thrown te
him. His countenance was actually mer.
ry as he fastened to the obscure spo,
4 waera The fpbt took ploca J& 49,. ~,