Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1909-04-01
NO.. 2.
What tCould HeDo!
lCOpyrisht. 1909, by American Press Asso-
Ini.II I.a.,

received any education. There was
but one manufactory Of prominence in
the place where | worked very large
one, employing several thousand men.
One day the concern shut down, and l
was thrown out of employment. There
was nothing for me to do but go some
where else to look for work. visited
several cities, ut last bringing up In
Albany. y Y.
One night while walking on the
street man came up to me and, say
ing n want yen" slipped handouts on
my wrists. lie was joined by another
man. ard the two took me to the city
Jail and licked me up in cell.
learned later that they had made q
charge Of burglary against me OF
course Il Id them that | was no Grim.
mal, but what good did it do? They
said they knew all about me and had
been waiting for me to come back to
/ town. | hnd never been In Albany be-
fore
When the case came up in court |
was tried fer robbing. with others, a
dwelling y man took the witness
stand who, after looking at me- swore
that | was enc Of gang who bud
entered his house ut ni.ht when the
family was asleep Hearing u noise
below. he had gone downstairs and
discovered the men putting his silver
ware in sacks He had watched us
Tor sunIe time without being seen and
had had good look at me. He went
back upstairs to con oct some method
for the arrest Of the gang, but they
had gone before he could do so.
The court assigned me an attorney,
but lie was too well satisfied of my
guilt 10 pay much attention to my case
/ might have made an effort to prove
my Identity by applying ut the factory
where | hud worked, but my attorney
said that TO prove that man Of the
name | claimed had worked there
wouldn't do much good against hav-
lug beeH identified by the man who
was robbed had no money with
which to fight for my liberty, so | was
Gent to the penitentiary for ten years.
During my stay In prison Of all the
horrible things ! suffered the most
awful was that was enduring pun
ishment which didn't belong to me.
If had been guilty | suppose would
not have suffered nearly 30 much.
tried to think Of methods of getting
my case taken up. but even If | had
had an education. with the advantages
that education brings. what could
have done? 1t occurred to me that
there had been in Albany some Grim
inal known to the police who looked
like me- The only hope | had was
that some day they would get him and
he would confess that he had commit
ted the robbery with which ! was
charged But this would have been
an astonishing piece Of luck for me.
and as | was a convicted man In pris-
on 1t wasn't likely that even If heard
Of 1t | could take advantage Of 1t.
had been In the penitentiary about
u year when one Of the keepers spoke
to NE, evidently thinking | was some
one else | told him he was mistaken,
but he paid no attention to me. Then
another Official did the same thing.
told him that he was the second man
who had made the same mistake, but
he paid no more attention to what
said than the first Some time after
nf t.n fD
day and stared ut me for some time.
Then | was told that one Of the prls-
nners had been mistaken for me- This
prisoner was pointed out to me, and
though had several times seen him
he was Il new convict-the likeness be-
tween us had not occurred to me- It's
singular how other people see like
nesses which we don't see ourselves.
But after awhile | noted that the man
was exactly my height and build, and
his face was shaped much like mine.
| found ont that he had been con-
victed for crime that had been COM
mitted In Albany. Then | knew that
he was the man the police had been
looking for when they arrested me.
A hope flashed within me that here
was the means Of regaining my free
dom. endeavored to interest the
keepers in the matter, but did not sue
ceed The fact that this man looked
like me didn't seem to stand for much
with them against the fact that we
were both convicts under the law. 1t
would have required some one to de-
vote great deal of attention to the
case to work out my freedom. And
who would do that except for pay? 1t
would have required many hundreds
Of dollars to hire such a person. and
hadn't cent | got chance to speak
to my double one day and told him my
story, asking him to help me | saw
by his manner that he had been one of
the gang who had committed the rob-
berry for which ! was convicted. He
asked me what there would be In 1t
for him. and saw at once that. though
tue means Of my liberation were at
hand they would not be Of any use to
me.
I think that having the means with
which to avert Il great evil and not
being able to use them is the greatest
brain destroyer there Is. Seeing this
man in the same prison with me and
realizing that | must see him every
day without being able to show that 1t
was he fcr whom had been mistaken
affected my mind. and was sent to
the state criminal insane asylum.
Whether my term expired or not
don't know, but at last the doctors pro-
nounced me cured. and was dis
charged
And now after years In prison. a