The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-10
CONvICTS WILL SEND
NORM" KING TO
COVENTRY
Former Minneapolis Detec-
tive Begins Serving Sen
tence in the Penitentiary
Many Men Whom He
Sent to Prison Are Ex-
pected to Form Cabal
Against the New Man.

Norm" legally known as Nathaniel
w. King, Minneapolis detective, passed
last night behind the bars of the peni-
tertiary at Saltwater and joy reigncd
in the hearts of about a dozen cOnvicts
for whose presence there King was
largely responsible.
King reached the penitentiary about
o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied
by Deputies 10th and Jones. He was
kindly greeted by Warden Wolfer
whom he had known for years in an
official capacity. The clerks and depu-
ties and guards looked at him with in
terest. Word was passed around the
prison that Norm King, the detective
was going behind the bars, and John
Reid, who was sent down on the charge
of committing the robbery in connec-
ton with which King was sentenced
metaphorically shook hands with E.
Glover Atkins, the Cockney whom the
detective helped convict Of an extor-
ton.
AS King entered the room where the
newly arriving prisoners are received
he tried to appear nOnchalant. It was
evident, however, that his nerves were
undergoing a severe tension. He was
partaking of the same punishment he
had caused to be meted-out to so many
others. There was sort of poetic JUS
tice in the affair and King was inteli.
u.
His hand trembled as he Stroked his
long black mustach for the last time as
he stood before the record clerk and
answered the requisite questions. He
had often seen others go through the
same ordeal in police station and in
prison. He had doubtless often felt
sympathy for them, for King is not a
hard-hearted man.
Now he looks around the room in
search of thntin 10
faces are all friendly but stern. He at
tempts to smile, but the effort dies
away before his lips can give evidence
Of merriment. He realizes that he is
face to face with his fate. Three years
in prison-cut off from social inter
course with his fellow man, deprived of
the caresses OF his family, a pariab
among human beings-are before him.
He is to meet the destiny he has
awarded to others. Moreover-and this
is perhaps the bitterest pang-he is to
be thrown in contact with the men he
has arrested.
Loses His Moustache
He calmly answers the question ask
ed him, cheerfully submits to the pris-
on guard who gives him bath, and
sits himself with good grace in the
BARRIERS chair. His mustache falls be-
fore the razor, his locks succumb to the
clippers. He rises from the chair and
dOns the striped suit of clothes afford
ed by the state.
He is Nathaniel w. King, ex-chief
of Minneapolis detectives. no longer
He is simply a mark on the books
of the state; he has no name is mere
ly known by a number. He must fall
in the lock step perhaps with his hands
on the shoulders of one of the men he
mas arrested. He must learn to like
dry bread. He must learn to enjoy
solitude, to forego the pleasures OF
speech, to merge his identity with
that of hundreds of others, to depend
on the guards for minor favors, to be
in fact simply an atom in the remOrse-
less life Of the prison. He is forgot
ten.
And yet a ray of hope comes to him
as he ensconses himself in his blanket
He has seen much of prison life in
the experience of others. He knows
the favors which good conduct gain
in any institution. He resolves to be
a model prisoner. He realizes that his
attainments and education will prob
ably keep him from the hardest man.
ual labor, and he lulls himself to sleep
with the thought that considerable
time will be taken off his sentence
of three years and six months for good
behavior, and he knows how to be
good.