Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-03-20
NO. %.
Mistellanuus Radins.
A coNvIcT's ROMANCE.
Odd Way In Which a Life Prisoner
Won His Freedom.

being speaker or the assembly, tnere
Is an interesting bit OF history con-
nected with the old statehouse at AL
bany, where It has stood for years, the
finest example of pure Doric architect
ure in this country, on the easterly side
of Eagle street, between Pine and
Steuben streets, its walls and parti-
tions all Of solid stone, very much as
II its halls, rooms and stairs had been
carved out within a huge block of mar
BILE.
1t was completed in 1912, costing the
state about $3.50, 900. It Is built entire
ly of Sing Sing marble, quarried and
cut within the prison walls.
The old capitol being inadequate to
accommodate the increasing business
Of the state, this additional building
was planned and built and is still used
for the offices of the state comptroller,
the state engineer and surveyor and the
state banking department.
In a spirit Of economy It was decided
to have as much as possible Of the
material found within the prison walls
at Sing Sing, fairly good material, too.
but not the best, as 1t Is soft marble
as evidenced by the wear which now
shows so plainly in the steps and by
the crumbling Of some Of the stones
from exposure to the weather All the
material was cut to completion within
the walls Of the prison under such
plans that when shipped to Albany
there would be no further work neces-
sary except practically to lay one stone
upon another, and so on until the
whole was assembled In the completed
building.
To accomplish this detailed plan a
system Of marking the stones was nee
essary. The plans were carefully
made and a system Of marking elabor-
ately laid out by the architect In
charge, who found In the prison at
Sing Sing life prisoner whose record
showed him to be an engineer Of the
highest ability and who seemed as COM
petent as any man in the country to
carry out the work to be done in the
prison, and naturally he was not un-
willing to follow his chosen profession
in preference to doing the manual la
bor of cutting or quarrying stone. So
following the spirit of economy refer
red to above, the plans in detail and
the system Of marking were turned
over to him and the whole work at
that end given over to his full super
intendence 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-
tion commenced In accordance with the
plans and system Of marking original
ly furnished. With the very first stone
there was trouble. It not only did not
fit 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 speci-
fled and shown on the plans, and, as to
the system Of marking, 1t was quite
evident that the stones brought togeth-
er by 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.
However, a careful verification Of his
plans and his marking system proved
their correctness, and the blame fell
squarely upon the civil engineer. the
life prisoner. He was questioned, taken
severely to task and roundly berated
for his incompetence and threatened
and abused. He met 1t all calmly. 1T
looks to me like mighty good joke on
you fellows. Anyway 1t Is the best
joke l have heard since came to Sing
Sing"
AS to their continued threats he
said:
What can you do to a life prison.
er?"
Finally, In answer to the abuse and
slurs as to his capabilities as an en-
gineer, 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 II 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, I'VE
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 a time In preference
to Sing Sing.
He said, mo"
They tried to bargain with him.
He said, Secure my pardon and
will stand by you until the building Is
complete"
They OHeTeu W HdNe Hiii Peai
after he had proved what he said by
finishing the building.
He said, mo"
Then they said they would compet
him to do 1t anyway.
He said he could be compelled to
work I'm prison. but not In Albany, and
that even in prison they could compel
him to do only manual labor unless he
chose and that the price Of his genius
in grasping the opportunity that had
come his way was full pardon.
What else was there to do?
He was pardoned and the old state
house stands today In testimony OF
the fact that he kept his word and
glorious memory to an unknown gen.
ius.-New York Herald.
.fr True wit Is always incidental-and
usually accidental.
ES A quiet wedding Is something fol-
lowed by a noisy serenade.
IA Those who make a speciality of
hunting trouble bag plenty OF game.