Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-28
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SOME eENIUsEs OF THE JAILs.
Men of Ability Who Have Chosen
ifa of Crime to Honest Business.

Up at Sing Sing, over on Blackwelfs
island, and scattered through the dill
ferent prisons everywhere, are men OF
talent and ability, who have not been
lured into crime through hardship
disbursement, lack of trade, an
gry passions or temptation in the or
dinary sense. They seem to choose the
crooked when the straight would De
more profitable. They employ thelr
skill in crime apparently just for love
of it. They do the same foolhardy
dishonest tricks over and over again
with a persistence that would make
them fortunes If used in honorable
lines. After they have landed behlno
the bars they often seem SO eager Ioi
work, so ready and skillful and so re-
pentant that even the callous orncials
are tempted to give boost where II
looks as If a boost and bit OF en-
couragement would work regenera'
ton.
Some years ago an unusual case OF
this kind cropped up on the lslano
Among the prisoners was the son oi
a man who had been high In Tammahy
politics. The father had been COM
missioner of charities and correctlon
This latter department controlled tne
nenitentiary to which the son was
brought. The boat in which the pris-
oner was taken to Blackwelis was
named in honor Of his father. The
son had a good education, but not an
hours instruction along artlsuc lines
In his life. Yet he had a genius ioi
usinR brush and pen in the most e&-
ouisite Illuminating and lettering. WIN
a bit of parchment, a few paints anu
a fragment of gold leaf he could turn
ont an illuminated book plate or tltle
mage that would make a collector
hands itch to possess it.
His talent, both in design and exc
cution. was exceptional. Oficials OF
the penitentiary did what they couio
to arouse the self-respect OF the young
man and when he had served his term
they saw that he had money enough
n make a new start in life. He mao
a lob, too, one that would prlhs "
him from $50 to 500 a week, but ne
had other ideas. He wanted to sport
around town and he did. He ostensi-
h,v went into the automobile business
but within six months he was In siiis
Sing for forgery.
Another case over at Blackweli
was of a foreigner, a German SWISS
This man had been trained In the oiu
country to the trade Of wood carver
The idleness of prison life tortured
him. He begged for work, and When
a piece of carvable wood was given
him he seized 1t like a starving man
would bread. A kind-hearted oHciai
tbaueht out a scheme to aid this man
who was begging for employment. he
houeht fine tools and rare WOODS ana
told the prisoner to go ahead. Inc
wood carver set to work feverishiy. II
Was difficult to make the man stop
once he felt the tools in his grasp. he
,abored eighteen hours out of twenty
four II not stopped. He worked almost
incessantly, turning out cabinets Ia
bles. panels and boxes, every one OF
which was a masterpiece Of the wood
earver's art. When he was discharged
he left with the promise OF earning
his living at his trade, for the oHcla'
had made a present to him OF all the
tools, together with a suit OF clothes
and a fair bit of money. In a snort
time however, he was back at his OLD
crooked games and was sent to Dan
nemora for long term. Prison seems
the only place where he can be maue
to do the work that should bring 10
him a splendid livelihood.
The warden's office at Sing Sing Is
a small-sized museum Of art oo1ects'
1t may have been this very wooo
carver who contributed some OF the
pieces that beautify the room. Ihere
is a hookstand there decorated WIN
a huge carved eagle with spread WINGS
that any connoisseur would go lnlo
raptures over. The warden's desk
chair, bookcase and other furniture
are all beautiful examples of the wood
caryer's skill. Even the beams OF the
ceiling have been designed and hand
somely carved by artisans serving
terms in the prison. A few years ago
one of the men who made the beauu-
ruI things in the warden's room or
sanized an art class among the prls-
,oners. Everyone who could draw
model, paint or carve had chance for
study and practice, and many were
the beautiful articles turned out thai
would have astonished the outer
world
Sing Sing contains not only every
sort of skilled labor, but men OF genius
in almost every art. An expert engi-
, neer, who only gained his liberty
Through pardon a few weeks ago, DIRE"
plans for some difficult concrete con-
struction about the prison and super
vised its installation. No high salarieo
man from a New York list OF con-
struction engineers could have done II
better.
The most remarkable case OF in
genuity ever recorded in police annals
is that of a gang of counterfeiters' VINO
achieved the incredible feat of making
spurious bank notes while confined ir
prison. Two of the gang had beer
turning out counterfeit internal rev.
enue stamps from a cigar factory IN
Lancaster, Pa. and the other two mac
been making Monroe head silver
certificates for 500 in an engraving
establishment of their own in Phlia'
delphia. These bank notes were sc
marvellous in execution that govern
ment experts pronounced them gen,
uine. After the counterfeiters mac
been landed in Moyamensing prison
a lawyer copied a scheme he had reao
of in a story, whereby his clients-the
nterfeiters-should perform the
apparently impossible work OF making
some bills in their cells. He figured
Tho. 20 tho notes continued to appear