The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-13
THE SCIENCE OF HANGING RELATED AND EXPLAINED George E. Baisden,38 Years a Prison Official. Tells Secrets of the Prison
 House Stretching the Rope, Adjust the Black Cap-Many Sin, But Few Reform Don't Be Sorry for a Man Just Because He's in Prison.

1 After serving the State for thirty eight years in handling it's criminal class Deputy Warden George E. Bais- den of the Connecticut State Prison | is to give up his work. On Novem- | ber he will cease to be deputy war den, and will get a pension of soOO a year from the State. Deputy War den Baisden is we'll known. Thou
 sands of criminals know him, as he knows them. Hundreds of other peo- ple, who have visited tre prison in
 years past, remember the genial dep uty warden. whose scrutiny they had to pass before they could see the in side of the prison.
 Probably no man in Connecticut has a wider range of knowledge of the criminal class than MT. Ba1Sden. He has a reputation which he is justly proud of for being able to remem- Der faces and names. Many dis guise he has penetrated in Wethers- field and in other places, where he
 has been called to establish the doubt full identity of a prisoner. Last Sat urday night he made his last official
 round of the prison. The time off and vacation he has due him will retain
 for him his title of deputy warden until November 1. He has no imme-
 diate plans, further than to settle
 down in Hartford for the winter, and
 get a much needed and well earned
 rest. After that he is not sure what
 his course will be.
 Yes a great many people know me- he said last night to a CourantF
 me- he said to Courant reporter, and most of them are sorry for 1t, too Life in a prison has been in teresting to me. I hardly ever go
 any distance away from the prison without meeting some one who has been here under circumstances they do not care to be reminded of. A
 number of people have devoutly
 promised to kill me if they ever met
 me outside of the prison. I have met
 some of them, and have never cross ed a street to avoid one of them, and
 yet no attempt has ever been made to take my life outside of the prison
 walls That is the way with people who threaten do their killing. They usually shake hands when cornered.
 .'The State prison of today is not
 what it was when I first came here.
 Then the entire prison consisted of the stone building that now stands to the left of the entrance. I entered the prison as night watchman on October IA, 1874. For sixteen years before that l was sailor. l was only in that position about two
 months, and then was day watchman
 for one month. On January 9, 1875, I was promoted to foreman of the shop, and. with the exception of about six
 months altogether. I held that posi- tion until July 3, 1889, when I was
 appointed deputy warden.
 When I came here there were 1s6
 convicts in the State prison. Today there are 593. There are more crim- inals in Connecticut now. and there is more machinery to catch them with'' s
 Mr. Baisden has served under six wardens in his time in the prison. They are E. B. Hughes, Augustus
 Sergeant, Samuel Chamberlain, ~Jabez
 l.. Woodbridge, Albert Garvin and Ward A Garner. Warden Calvin re-
 gently resigned from the prison to be-
 come superintendent of the new re- forma tory at Cheshire.
 Since 1894 all the executions in this
 State have taken place in the State prison. It has been an unpleasant
 part of MT. Baisdens duty to put the rope around the condemned mans neck, and adjust the black cap. Ut was not pleasant task" said MT. Paisden, "and men would not thanker for it, but then the law said it must
 be done. and some one had to do it.