The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-01
i n.>0 BEHIND PRISON WALLS

order to be quit OF the torture OF the
work; the bleeding stumps of their FIN
gers or hands are roughly bound mp
and they are driven back to their ma
chimes.
The warden is an oily. comfortable
rogue who beams upon visitors and
fools the prison commission to the top
of it's bent. and he bears an excellent
reputation for tn, large amount IF work
he gets out of his prisoners. They just
love it, my boys do he AYERS. Moth
ing like work to keep men happy. YOU
know And then when the coast is
clear he turns upon his boys like "a
bloodthirsty tiger.
| But what | wish to say here IL that
when II. at last finished his term and
was thrust forth into the crowded
street of the city his legs failed him
and he tottered along scared like IA wild
| beast at the noise and hustle. a man
addressed him. and he stared AT him
| iiankly and could not command his
| tongue to speak words.
| He wandered ON irrcgulary. starting
at imaginary dangers, unnrrvcd at the
height Of the sky, the noise, the move
ment. He sought the least frcuuented
| streets. but his aspect and hearing made
people look suspiciously at him. and he
| found his way To the slums. where he
! got room and shut himself in with "A
| feeling If relief. VI was several days
before he could school himself to talk
and act like an ordinary human being.
| His health was shattered though he
was naturally "A strong and hearty man;
eating made him sick. though he was
| faint for lack Of right feeding.
He could find no steady employment,
but helped himself along with odd jobs
] h.sr.. nd th.Fn JI. Int. tn.
keep straight. but an old pal Of his hap
pcned To- meet him. did him some good
turns. and finally proposed his joining
TWO or three men in promising bur-
| glary.
H. asked time To think it over, and
that night he left the city in n sort Of
| panic and travelled to n large town a
| hundred miles away. Here he sue
cecd.d In getting "a good job; mis- spirits
began to revive; he made some good
acquaintances and prospered beyond all
| expectation for nearly "A year.
| one day he noticed man in the
street who stared hard at him: not long
after he saw the same man standing in
| front of the house in which he lodged;
the next morning his landlord came to
him and with some embarrassment.
! said that he would have to ask him for
! his room; a relative was about To visit
| him and he needed the accommodation.
| 1t was as he had fearcd--the detec-
tivcs had run him down. He put what
| he possessed in a trunk and left town
that evening for a place nearly thou
sand miles west. Here he was left un-
disturbed for fifteen months. and made
a new start in business. Then the chief
nf the local police sent for him and said:
| II don't want to he rough on you;
-. Il.
| skip: were on to you-understand?"
But I'm doing a straight business"
H.. pleaded.
You may he; but you're a crook"
was the reply.
We need not follow him further he
! was driven from one place To- another.
/ At last he was caught with stolen goods
! on him, he having undertaken To help
, an old friend Of his ont of a tight place
10y carving his Cripsack from one place
! 20 another: 1t proved To- contain some
! plumber from recent burglary. He got
off with a two year sentence. but it was
the end Of his attempt to reform.
crooked or straight. I'll end in Jail"
h. said Ia me, with that strange convict
! smile which means such indispensable
things. 1--WE got two years more here;
| If last il out they'll get me- again"
| HrnlIN btiltNt tndl ne WbUIu nave
been an homes, and successful man if ne
! had been let alone.
1t sometimes happens that the man
! hood If convict is So Slapped 10y long
! suff.rngs that even his desire for free
! dom is lost. He is afraid To be free he
! cannot l!v" At ease outside II his cell
! walls
Perhaps you will say that goes TO
| prov" the g"ntleness and humanity Of
! prison discipline. To me il seems a thing
So appalling that must i, content with
| the bare statement Of the fact. \ man
| il afraid To he free. afraid Of the great
wonderful world and Of his fellow
creatures. and can endure what he sup
poses to he life only in his steel cell.
What has put that fear in him? But
our laws provide no penalty for de-
Illuminating IA fellow creature under the
forms Of law. II II he legal it must he
right.
! knew man in our prison who had
been th!rty-five years in confinement
with short intervals OF liberty. The best
favor h" could ask was to be allowed to
stay all day and all night in his cell
doing nothing. Year after year nothing
else than this appeared to him worth
while. He was we'll educated as pris-
"n"rs 60. quiet and inoffcnsivc
Il wish some doctor would examine
me and tell me what Is the matter with
me. he remarked To- me once. Maybe
I'm crazy"
After all the world. in its way is a.
hard a plaC" for cX-cunviCts as "A jail,
more cruel perhaps, inasmuCh as II
seems To Offer hopes that jails deny
! But can "A world he called civilized that
| Is satisfied with that arrangement?
| 'CopWi1ht. 1914. on the Wheeler Synd.
cate, Inc,
the ncrt instdlmcut Of Jnlidn Hnr-
horn''S prison trpOsc wiN b" publishcd
| merit SnHddp.