New-York tribune., 1915-03-24
Leader Among Criminals
the Wreck of a Genius
Canada Backie Now Dead So Strong OF Mind That ears
of Solitary Confinement Failed to Crush f1lm-.
Cracksman Might Have Been financier

when he was IN solitary. he hau w"
there Ave years then-hve years III
little cell. Once week Keepers toon
him out, guarding him. win oIups Tup
while he walked TO the baths ihey
kept quite close TO him. tie was
bad man." you see. No one else e.ei
came in the solitary. no one except .ne
guards. And so, after whiie' CahauA
decided to get away. He made ms ue
cision with his characteristic fatahsh'
II was a long chance there were many
doors. there were guards with guns
and there was wall-but anything
was better than the doom OF prison
better than solitary. better than tae
coolers, where he threw buttons ineo
the air and CROPPED for them IN tne
dark 10 keep from going mad.
Blackie set 20 work to make ms Key
with the same nerve. patience ana ue-
liberation he used 10 drill safe door
before hc filed the cracks with soup,
mufled the door with a carpet ana pew
it away for the gold and greenpackss
inside. He took a piece OF steer. !
never knew where 1t came 1rom' ou'
think from his shoe.
lie told how he stretched ms hand
between the bars Of the door ana triea
the key blank in the lock time ana
again. Each time he looked TO see u
the lampblack on it had been markeu.
And then he filed and filed H. ANA NJ
last one day it worked. >, -.
81 turned it, and she clicked! IL
was the half turn! | edged over, ana
she clicked again! II was the douole
turnl" As he said turn" he snapped
his fingers like a railway torpedo.
Al
Before the time for the attempt 20
escane was ripe tom Brown osborne
went 10 see Blackie and won his con-
fdence. At last, one day he went INTO
Canada's cell and threw himself on
the bed.
"Did YOU mean what you said the
other day that you we're going % let
mo out Of here? Did you really mean
"Why' certainly" replied Mr.. Os-
borne. =, iii
Blackie pressed Osborne. lie could
hardly believe he was going out OF
SOLITARY. Finally the convict went over
IN q little stand and took up a box oi
talcum powder. lie lifted of the ia
and shook out the powder on the iioor'
In the middle of it was little package
wrapped in tissue paper. lie handed
this TO Mr.. Osborne, who unwrapped IT,
1t was the key and the file!
Another one Of his experiences at
this time-he called II his birthday,
"the time I was born on earth again
was described in n letter to TREND
a letter 90 vivid and interesting that
Thomas W. Churchill, president 81 the
Board of Education, wishes to nave IL
nublished II was his first talk with
woman. 1t had been long day SINCE
Rlackie had talked to woman. Mrs
Anne T. L. Field, of Brooklyn, an
author. interested in prison work. was
visiting Auburn and had sung to the
nrisoners. She saw Blackie stalking
about the yard and was interested IN
this tragic figure.
A Woman's Influence.
az want to talk to that man." she
said to Mrs. Charles Osborne. Thomas
Mott Osborne's daughter-in-law.
"Well, you'll have q hard time; he's
said to be woman hater," laughed
Mrs. Osborne.
But in the end Mrs. Field did talk
TO Canada And she won his friendship
and confidence. Every week since he
was taken i'll she visited the prison and
read 10 the man anu tdlheu W HiHh'
Her influence with him has brought out
his best side, so Warden Osborne says,
the side which was always there, but
which was repressed and shut up in his
bitter fight.
| saw much of the "best side" Of this
man. He was loyal and brave and gen
erous. The first time | saw him he
had a pair of low shoes. II was jan
uary. And he was coughing. / did not
find out until two days after tina:
Blackie had seen man in the yard
with broken pair of shoes, and given
away his own.
"Well. ! didn't need the high ones.
I'm in bed most of the time, anyway"
was what he told his pal in explana-
tion.
There was a photograph of a young
woman on the table beside Blackie's
bedside. Nobody knew who it was. An
other photograph of her, a snapshot
taken in California, showed her in the
front seat of an automobile. II would
have been easy TO trace the number.
But who wanted to ferret out the mans
secret?
>yz-~uy>~ yyy-Y ~