The San Francisco call., 1910-03-08
The Insider
Tells how striped uniforms
affect the leanneSs or rO=
tundity of the inmates of
state prisons.
FAT OR LEAN!
CHANGE STRIPES Fols,

FAT OR LEAN. IT, You J.. wish t
CHANGE STRIPES Eolson, r.,
the other hand
you desire a lean and distinguished aD
pearance, enter San Quentin. 1t i:
all in the way the stripes run, say.
Warden Hoyle of the latter institu
tion. The warden's theory wa.
prompted by recent remark attrib
uted to Charles Montgomery, presi
dent of the California prison commits.
sion, to the effect that the prisoner,
of Folsom look healthier than thos,
of San Quentin. Montgomery says the
Folsom rock pile is the cause. bul
Warden Hoyles idea is different. Ac.
cording to Hoyle. the clothes make
the man.
On the convict's suit at Folsom
said Hoyle. the stripes run around
the body. like hoops on a barrel. They
give the wearer a stout. well fed an.
pearance. Undoubtedly the prisoners
at Folsom are healthy, but the circular
stripes make them look much fatteI
than they really are.
AT San Quentin things are different
NO matter how much we feed a man
or how well he feels he never looks
quite as we'll as he actually is. Most
men gain weight when they come here.
but the extra pounds do not show. The
stripes are to blame. They run uu
and down, and make a man look lean
and hungry, My men get plenty Of
wholesome food, exercise and fresh
air, but so long as the stripes are
longitudinal the prisoners will never
look as fat as those at Folsom
PEOPLES FICTION
me that he is moi
FROM REAL LIFEa novelist with
mission or a pur
pose, yet he has made the long story
his vehicle in disseminating much
useful as we'll as interesting informa-
ton. His recent book, The Comics.
sions of Con Man" has often been
referred to by the uninformed as
clever piece of fiction. AS a matter OF
fact, the tales are not fiction, except
in that names and places are slightly
changed. The dope" for the confes-
siOns was obtained by Mr.. Irwin from
a professional confidence man who
talked out of a ripe experience OF
many years. He told Irwin what he
did and how he did it, and Irwin wrote
the tales into a book Certainly any
farmer who reads the book before
spending day at the circus should be
less likely to be separated from his
coin by the sharpers who follow the
big show.
In The House of Mystery" now,
running serially in the Saturday Even
ing Post, Irwin deals with the further
adventures of ROsalie Ia Grange, a
medium who knew her trade. There
is love and mystery and plotting and
all the other elements that go into
the making of a capital novel, but
while the reader is perusing the story
the reader. he or she. is being ''wised'
to the secret ways and devices of un-
scrupulOus clairvOyants. Irwin has
made a long study of women of
Rosalie's class. Several years ago he
worked up a series of articles for Col
ier's on mediums, and it was at that
time that he learned the things which
are now given out through the char
acter RoSalie la Grange The Century
company will publish the story in
book form as soon as the last INSTALL
ment has appeared in the Post
Another novel of Irwin's which will
appear this fall is called The Read
justment." It's scenes are laid in San
Francisco and in the Santa Clara val
ley. The story has plenty of action
and dash, yet at the same time it is an
intimate study of the Californian as a
type.
1.-The Californian is distinctive and
most interesting" said Irwin in tell
ing about the forthcoming volume.
'and in The Readjustment' l picture
him with as much skill and accuracy
as | can command l have lived
away from California and among other
people than Californians long enough
to get the perspective.
Though they did not appear in book
form. the articles Irwin wrote for
Golfers in his series The American
Saloon" were extensively used in
pamphlet form in campaigns involving
the liquor question in many of the
southern and eastern states. His
who Killed Margaret Lear?" is said
to. have done more toward making it
hard for the negro to get the sort of
gin that maddens him than any orator
or organizer the prohibitionists have
ever sent forth