Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-04-07

TALENT BEHIND PRISON WALLS
Many Of the Men Serving Sentences in
Penitentiaries are Mental Heavy
weights.

i "cl9ntSs
The Kansas state penitentiary Is a
little world of its own, not so very
different from the big world on the
outside. Within its walls are confined
all sorts and conditions Of men, a
very few that are very good and very
flew that are wholly bad. There is
the same average intelligence on the
inside as on the out; the same pro-
portion of religion and irreligion,
sincerity and hypocrisy, of men who
work and Of men who shirk, Of men
who can and who cannot be trusted,
and about the same sprinkling of
genius as in the days Of Francys VII
Ion and Jonathan Wild, and from ev-
cry mothers son behind those grim
walls, whether he be genius or low
grade moron, comes the universal
prayer, "Give me another chance"
The human interest which attaches
to these derelict geniuses is all the
kneener because the stories Of their
failures are the saddest of all human
documents.
| How to deal with these men is one
Of the problems with which the gov
ernor, the parole clerk and the parole
board are brought face to face al
most every day.
Convict No. 3943 sat in the ward
ems office Of the Kansas state peni-
tentiary a few weeks ago making the
familiar plea for another chance"
him as southerner Of good educa-
ton. Notwithstanding the signs Of
dissipation, there was in his manner
evidence Of refinement and good
breeding.
A few questions brought out the
fact that No. 3943 is a Kentuckian Of
good family; that he is a graduate Of
the University Of Kentucky and Of
Harvard University, and that he is an
architect of much ability. A letter
from President Patterson, Of the state
University Of Kentucky, states that,
10 years ago, he designed and built
the gymnasium for that institution at
Lexington, KY. His design for this
building was accepted in a contest in
which there was IS competitors. At
that time he had also become the in
innate friend of Stanford White,
whose comment upon his drawing for
the gymnasium at Lexington are con-
tanned in letter, which are altogether
complimentary. He also knew John
Fox, the Kentucky novelist, whose
book plate he designed.
To convince the parole board that
the spark Of genius has not left him
and that his hand has not lost its
cunning, No. 3943 unrolled bunch
Of architectural pen drawings which
he had recently executed; among
them a design for Methodist church,
which is soon to be built in one Of
the smaller cities Of Kansas.
No. 3943 is 4S years old, and with
his fine ability, education and the op-
portunities which were open to him,
ought to be occupying an honorable,
useful and distinguished station in
life, instead Of cell in the Kansas
penitentiary.
How came this man here? 1t is the
same Did story! Fast horses, fast wo-
men and Kentucky whisky.
No. 3943 could not stand success.
Dissipation lost him employment and
friends. He drifted west, and in
a western Kansas county forged a
check for $3.50, for which, on March
2, 1911, he was sentenced to the peni-
tentiary for a term Of from one to ten
years. After working Is months for
three and one fourth cents a day, he
was given a parole, and violated it
within a few days by getting drunk.
He has now served something over
three years and is asking for another
chance.
The board has decided to try him
again If some one with the milk Of
human kindness in his heart will take
charge Of him and give him job.
On a Sunday afternoon not long
ago in the chaplain's office another
human wreck sat detailing his story
to a parole clerk. Number 1855 Is a
man 81 years Of age. He had never
been in any serious trouble before.
He had raised a family of boys and
girls, now grown to manhood and oc-
cupying honorable positions in soci-
ETY.. He had been superintendent OF
several large machine shops and Is
q fine mechanic. He has invented and
patented a valuable keybolt. He has
also invented and patented a pipe
wrench which is said to be a decided
improvement upon the Stilson wrench
in that it does not mash or mar the
pipe, and is less expensive tool.
Number 1855 had one besetting
sin. But for whisky he would never
have seen the inside Of jail or pen
itentiary. A drunken spree led to
his conviction and an indeterminate
sentence Of from one to ten and a
half years for a statutory offense.
When he had finished his plea for
another chance and the parole clerk
informed him that the governor had
already signed a parole for him and
that a good job was awaiting for him
at his old home, the man gave way to
series Of conflicting emotions which
ranged from tears Of Joy at his re-
lease to Indignation at his conviction
of a crime, innocence Of which he
stoutly asserted. And there are those
who believe that the case against him
was a frame-up; but il it had not
been for whisky there would have
been no chance for even that.
Out in the machine shop Convict
No. 473S, serving one to five years for
white slavery, and another convict
with a sentence of 10 to 21 years for
bank robbery, were working at a
lathe. They were making a nonre-
fillable bottle, for which No. 473S has
patent.
McGinnis, as No. 473S is called
although that is not his right name