Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04
I l

A few years ago fire broke out in the basement of
of the largest institutions in the country knded by
pyromaniac who had made his way beneath the build
ing. He had done his work well that when the flames
discovered it seemed if there chance of
saving the building This that the eight hundred
inmates would have to be turned loose in the fields
from which any of the active could escape
the mere handful OF guards could not control such
number.
The volunteer firernen could make no Roadway
against the fames partly because the fires had been
started in many places that there enough
men to the hose and bucket lines. In this
gency scores of the more activeminded citizens,
of them the desperate characters in the place. Of
fered their services In sheer desperation their offers
accepted And did heroes acqut themselves
better than of these volunteers Time and again
with life staring them in the face rushed
through smoke and fire. fighting until overcome, to be
dragged out and resusctated only to return again to
the fight. Men who few hours before would not have
been trusted with such comparatively harmless
weapon as piece of tin nail now swung and
sedges. In ward newcomer recognizing that the
chance OF lifetime was at hand, proposed to his
panons that they make break for liberty. But when
he attempted to lead the way himself he blocked
by his companions, of whom used him roughly
that only the interference OF an officer saved him.
One muscular old blacksmith who serving a life
sentence particularly distinguished himself He beat
down heavy doors and partitions that had resisted the
sedge when welded by weaker hands, and for full
three hours stood ankle deep in the freezing cold water
until the last vestige OF fire stamped out Then he
rolled himself up IN his blanket and went to sleep
nothing unusual had happened.
SCARCELY month goes by in the City when some
member of the community is not given chance to
show that, on some grounds at least, he may claim
kinship to the best of men. Many keeper atten-
dant, caught at disadvantage by violent citizen
owes his life to the friendly ntercesson of of his
charges.
In the very nature of the bond closely akin
friendship must be joined between who spend
hours every day for many years in the room,
matter what their relative social status may be. Many
OF the citizens even some of the desperate characters
have been for years under the of the atten-
dants, and in many instances have become much at
tached to them They would not hesitate to elude the
keeper and escape probably would beat his brains out
if necessary; but let another patient attack this
keeper and almost invariably he rely upon of
the older patients coming to his rescue.
In one of the Eastern Cities citizen who went by
the of Buck Conway had peculiar record in his
attitude toward those about him. He "high-
class criminal, bank robber; but aside from this pc
cuar defect in his moral makeup he was in every way
a likable and manly
One day when he had been in the City for about six
months he left with two other patients in the ward
with single attendant, who was busy doing work
Seeing good opportunity when the attendants back
turned, of the patients knocked the keeper
down, and in instant had him by the throat. Con
way, who had been reading newspaper, seeing what
was going jumped across the room, pulled of the
patient and gave him drubbng that would have done
credit to pugliSt.
A month later another occurred in the ward,
two attendants handling patient with unnecessary
violence This time Conway interered in the patients
behalf which few inmates have the teerty to do.
The result threecornere fight, in which the
tendants got all the worst of it. Such thing very
unusual and ordinary circumstances would demoraize
the discipline of the ward But Conway known to be
no bully; and when the affair finally investigated
by the officials his account
taken in preference to that of the
two attendants, both of whom
- summary dismissed.
- Conway should naturally
n have been hated by both citi-