Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1906-12-13
A CONVICT'S ROMANCE
ODD WAY IN WHICH LIFE PRISONER
WON HIS FREEDOM.

the Old stntchouse at AIbany-Th,
Price OF II Genius Who Saw ans
Graspcd His Opportunity.
Vouched for by the late Henry Smith
Who said he learned the fact through
being speaker of the assembly, there il
an interesting bit OF history connecte,
with the old statehouse at Albany
where it has stood for years, the fines
example Of pure Doric architecture IL
this country, on the easterly side of Ea
gle street, between Pine and Steubel
streets, its walls and partitions all O.
solid stone, very much as If its halls
rooms and stairs had been carved ou
within huge block Of marble.
1t was completed in 1912, costing tha
state about $s5O,O00. 1t is built entirely
Of Sing Sing marble, quarried and Gu
within the prison walls.
The old capitol being inadequate tz
accommodate the increasing business
OF the state, this additional building
was planned and built and Is still uset
for the Offices of the state comptroller
the state engineer and surveyor and th1
state banking department.
In spirit Of economy 1t was decided
to have as much as possible Of the
work done by the prisoners from the
material found within the prison walls
at Sing Sing, fairly good material, too
but not the best, as it Is a soft marble
as evidenced by the wear which now
shows so plainly in the steps and by tbs
crumbling OF some of the stones from
exposure to the weather All the mate
rial was cut to completion within the
walls Of the prison under such plans
that when shipped to Albany there
would be no further work necessary
except practically to lay one stone up
on another, and so on until the whole
was assembled in the completed build
ing.
To accomplish this detailed plan a
system OF marking the stones was nee
essary. The plans were carefully made
and system Of marking elaborately
laid out by the architect In charge, who
found In the prison at Sing Sing life
prt&oner whose record showed him to
be, - engineer Of the highest ability
and who seemed as competent as any
man In the country to carry out the
work to be done in the prison, and nat
urally he was not unwilling to follow
his chosen profession In preference to
14(v no loh ~
quarrying stone. So, following the
spirit Of economy referred to above, the
plans in detail and the system of mark.
ing were turned over to him and tho
whole work at that end given over to
his full superintendent and absolute
control.
In due time the stones in their vari
GUS shapes and sizes and In quantity
for the whole building were delivered
In Albany and the work Of construc-
ton commenced in accordance with the
plans and system of marking original
ly furnished With the very first stone
there was trouble. 1t not only did not
At the place, but none Of the stones
marked to adjoin 1t fitted 1t, and, fur
ther, 1t did not seem ever intended for
the place the number indicated. In
vestigation brought out that the stones
were not Of the sizes or shapes speC-
ded and shown on the plans, and, as to
the system Of marking, 1T was quite
evident that the stones brought togeth-
er BIZ It had no relation whatever to
each other.
The bewildered architect hardly knew
whether he was a candidate for the
asylum or possibly for Sing Sing. How
over, a careful verincation Of bis plans
and his marking system proved their
correctness, and the blame fell square
" upon the civil engineer. the life pris-
oner. He was questioned. taken severe
" to task and roundly rated for his m
competence and threatened and abused.
He INST It all calmly. 1T looks to me
Ike q mighty good joke on you fellows.
Anyway Il b the best joke l have heard
since I came to Sing Sing"
A to their continued threats he said:
What can you do to a life prison
err
Finally, In answer to the abuse and
slurs as to his capabilities as an en-
Rineer, he said he had changed the
plans both In dimension and shape
where they had diverged from purity
Of style, and the system Of marking
he had changed altogether, but If they
could find some one who understood
his system the building would go up
complete and perfect, excelling the
original plan. But" he added, with
grin, you can probably get out new
stone a good deal quicker than you
can work out my system"
Then the state officials said, 1--WE will
take you to Albany and force you to
put up the building"
He said, No
They pointed out the advantage OF
life in Albany for q time in preference
to Sing Sing.
He said, No"
They tried 20 bargain with him.
He said, Secure my pardon and l
will stand by you until the building is
They offered to have him pardoned
tfter he had proved what he said by
lnishing the building.
He said. NO"
Then they said they would compel
him to do 1t anyway.
hn fn