Omaha daily bee., 1906-05-20

n a snah stone cell, ever since the
Centennial Exhibition at Phlladelphla'
there has been locked UP IN the Mass
chuse It's state Prison III CharlesIU"n
life prisoner whose haihe - Ia -.
70 All New England, perhaps to laIss
,so,tion of the reading pubic. stlce
he mas been there the United S's'es "0
added $1,000, 600 inhabitants. -..,,sot,,
re r. ths only prisoner in Massaehusetts
undtrrolnv continuous solitary oo"ii"e
ment. --.,... .,,,, ,aver shines
- 80 For thirty years his race nas
~. h.sn seen 10 brighten with a sun.
n'n,Sd,ng this extraOrdnary chaI 49, 49,
-. Engtsna knows more talse sIV,IcS
tbao ON almost any other supJeS.' aor-
sisrent publicity regarding nm ..H,. berore
LINED fewer actual facts thAh esn,.i,,,.st,r
Kept life in so proloheeu IN Nassa-
Againsf no prisOner-at least III -, az
chit setts-has pupilS
continuously bitter. -. ~, arst time
amy facts hitherto unpuphsheu
Jesse Pomeroy. 49,, ,a,,shov and his
I, Ia against a fcndlsh he"s ,I,I n,,r.
crimes that the pubic lhe o., "a Pprne-
..s Iii a. neither boy nor Memo. be iD'I
iOS 49,, door sits reading hour atteI houI
ms ,nan arrived at his maturity!
,,o,,Itsnt adhered and tempeIeN WIN wy
pessIng of forty-seven long years VI 0''
unusual lite. ,.t ,,,ithin n hum
~, e1r i'J'l5I - his cell, is the turmoil OF
-t..,,. h,,slaat industries-factories' war
So,,sas railroads shipping OF al h'u
-, =. bas not seen for thirty years All
sH.o,,t ~, are wonders Of electrical lhNeh-
ELEVATED railroads, teiephohes,
HShts-but he knows of them ohiy 'hIous .l u
pictures and hearsay' as u US er a.
hn
tvsnneth century all about him TINS man
i,ves IN (he solitude of q medlaeval monx'
IA A no taf.t Of the age In when ne hVes,,
pIsht In the town of his birth he is exileu
bv society. He has no future 10 ahuclpate,
ana so, with his face turned toW1ru NV
past he duplicates the life OF an ..N ~,
OF the Dark Ages, with the three vows en-,
forosd upon him by the Commonwealth VI
Massachusetts. d..
strange youth that he was. and peculiar
man that the unusual circumstances OF nj
life have developed, Pomeroy Is rarit!
for psychological study. Not alone Z
PSYCHOLOGISTS, however, but to penologist
ana 10 lawyers Interested in the evolution
OF legal interpretations his case will stan
out in histories like a signboard on a dew
Gus road Valuable subject that he Is
many fields Of intellectual eDdeavor, how
ever, accurate data regarding him ar
meagre and difficult to obtain.
Mach Untrutb Told.
Were this a paternal government wher
q strict censorship could be placed upo
publicity or where the topic could
absolutely placed under the ban 1t Is prot
able that Jesse Pomeroy's name woul
long ago have been eliminated from typ
All officialdom would rejoice II the publ
could forget his name. Curiosity regard
ing him, nevertheless. continues yea
after year and the public hungrily swa
10 Nf i'm hat ie ma a
known. In spite OF official prohibition
What has been printed about him sine
his Imprisonment has been one part fat
and nine parts Imagination. The AZ
cumulation in the public mind OF sue
diluted and often polluted literature hs
created a popular conception of the prlsof
err which would be difficult to correct.
L Is at all pos slble to get an outrage
public TO consider dispasstoGateiy the sui
ject Of their prejudice. however, II woul
not be difficult to explain to this publ
that Pomeroy has received much lnjustic
ject Of the causes OF his crimes he
always been limited at publicly as unf
for public discussion. SO II has happens
that the whole subject has been unknow
to the eondemning public and Pomero
has received the full force OF complei
opprcbrium; whereas he has been in par
deserving Of sympathy. 1t may be Ger
turtles before some historian of America
prisons will dare to present fully a vie
that the society which hsaped such e1
IRENE punishment upon an Individual wa
itself responsible for allowing an irrespor
sible detective his liberty. and then, terri
ned at what came to pass because Of sue
neglect, not only locked the barn after n
horse was stolen, but avenged itsslf upo
the luckless Individual
In years 20 come Massachusetts, will /
no more proud of the way the State Ia no
oled the case OF this dangerous defectiy
than Massachusetts, Is now proud that
once burned witches at Salem.