The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-17

8lIm 10 the pTlSDu where they uuAApSu him in the basin of the large fountain in the inner yard. The alligator seemed to be so greatly pleased with his new quarters that when his owners shortly afterward learned where his lost pet was he decided to let him stay there. Moran used to sit near the edge of the fountain and watch the alligator with | interest. He began to feed it and soon had the ugly brute so tame that it | would swim up to where he stood and would take food out of his hand. The
 beast also grew so tame it would chamber out of the water, and in re-
 sponse to Moran's call it would follow
 him all over the lawn.
 A couple of years ago a resident of | ColursbuS had three alligators sent to
 him from the South. The largest was about five and a half feet long and the smallest four feet in length. When they arrived they appeared to be so wild and vicious that the man to whom they
 were shipped was afraid to unpack | their crate.
 1 He had previously heard of how l Moran had tanned the alligator at the penitentiary, and he asked him by 'phons if he would accept his alligators
 as a gift and care for them. Moran | gladly accepted the offer, and the three alligators were carted to the prison and dumped into the fountain basin. They were wild at first, but by pursuing the
 same tactics with them that he did with the first gator and feeding them
 every day he finally got them as the
 other one.
 1 Moran often astonishes visitors to the l prison in summer by calling one of the
 ugly brutcs, and when it crawls over l the grass to where he is sitting he will
 take it up in his lap and stroke it's back
 and head, fonding it as one would a pet dog. In winter the alligators are kept
 in large tank filled with water in the 1 basement of the chapel. Pat feeds
 them every. day and has sole charge of {, them.
 l .Ioran is also a great lover of dogs and birds, and has raised several pets
 of both species during his confinement
 He has two fine bull terriers, which he breeds and gives the puppies away to
 his friends. l A short time ago he had flock of i fine homing pigeons of which he was l justly proud. A year ago i1e sent two
 of the pigeons to Louisville, Ky, by friend, who released them there, and
 six hours later the birds arrived in their home inside the prison walls, having
 covered in that time a distance of more
 than 200 miles. A few months ago this l fonLr of r,ieaonc t,rary +on Ia ,.oa For 3bo;-
 owner to care for porperly and he there fore disposed of them,
 Another convict who made pets of
 pigeongs and who was remarkably suc- cessful in tanning them was an old Sweede named John Johnson, who was
 pardoned about eight years ago, after
 serving nearly twenty years of life 1 sentence for killing man in Cleveland
 as the result of a saloon brawl. l Johnson was kind hearted old man and delighted in feeding the large flock
 of pigeons that for years had made their home in the caves of the prison build. l ings.
 By persistent caring for the birds land feeding them every day he finally tanned them to such an extent that they would alight on his outstretched l arms and shoulders and eat theft food
 out of his hands. Johnson named the different birds, and they knew their names and would come to him at his
 call. The old man declared that he knew each bird by sight and could
 readily distinguish them, When F. L. Harper, the wrecker of | the Fidelity Bank of Cincinnati, was | an inmate of the penitentiary, he gain ! ed permission of the warden to have a | pair of pet canaries in his cell Soon l four little canaries were matched, and
 as they were fine singers they found a | ready sale among the people who visit ed the prison.
 | More birds were matched, which were
 sold in the same way, and Harper built up quite a large trade in the feathered | songsters, often disposing of as many as eighty birds in year.
 When Harper was released from l prison he sold all the canaries he had
 left to a fellow convict, Bob Garnes,
 who has, spent the last twenty four
 years behind the walls of the peniten- tiary, having been given life sentence
 in 1881 for the brutal murder of an en-
 tire family at Marysville.
 Garnes has added to the traffic in
 canary birds started by Harper. He frequently receives orders for birds from distant parts of the United States and ships the songsters to their de- situation in little wooden cages made by himself.
 Several of the other prisoners have pet canaries in their cells, that were Igiven to them by either Harper or Garnes. upon which they lavish the tenderest care and affection.
 Quite number of the other con- victs, whose quarters or employment
 will permit, have pet dogs or cats, which they care for zealously, and
 many of these pets have been trained to perform wonderful tricks.
 Harry Hoover. former bank cash fer, of Newark, Ohio, and Richard Davis, banker from Indiana, each sentenced to five years imprisonment
 by the United States courts for steal ing the funds of the banks by which
 they were employed, are the joint guardians of an ugly but good-natured little mongrel pup that rejoices in the name of Rags.
 When not more than two or three l