New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-08
Cram, Freed After q
Years, Loudly Praises
Sing Sing as 1t Is.
HELL HOLE ONCE, NOW
PLACE FOR HUMANS
Old Man Spends First Day of
Liberty Playing with Great
Granddaughter.

Mexican. the Civil and Indian wars, !
left Sing Sing yesterday, after serving
/ twen.y-orc years for the murder Of
his wife After a short stay in New
York the Old mamie is now eighty
six plans 10 motor 10 California,
where he will work quartz mines in
! whic, he has had an interest since his ]
/ inca: Grafton.
That and prison reform he expects
will be Nis work for the years that |
may remain to him.
BY GEORGE ". CRAM.
! 1t is wonderful to be free after all
these years. but my pardon was no
surprise looked for it from the
time completed my twentieth year.
That is the life sentence of to-day.
Mine was severer than that. only Gov /
ernor Morton committed me. In those
twenty-one years ! have seen many
changes in Sing Sing. ! have seen IL
changed from a hell hole into a place
where men are treated as human
beings. The change is for the better.
personally know six or seven men in
the prison, men who have served sew
era sentences who will never enter
another prison, except perhaps as Wis
itors, once they leave.
Osborne has done il.
Take the one man now in Sing sing
that was there when | entered Jack
Barry. Jack has had six sentences
there he is serving life on the install
ment plan. He is a fine fellow, man
who would never have any trouble #
il were not for drink If man like
Mr. Osborne had been in charge Of Sing
Sing when Barry first went in there, if
the Osborne system was in operation
then. Jack Barry would never have
gone back for second dose. The first |
would have cured him.
Old System Wrong, He Says.
The old system was wrong dead !
wrong Why, | have seen twenty-five /
TO thirty men hung up by the wrists /.
twenty-four hours at time waiting for
chance 10 be put into the cooler
cells dark as night then have a
bit Of bread and two gills of water a
Gay to live on. Two glls does not
sound very badly. does It? Well, take /
the ordinary napkin ring; fill 1t with
water and you have pretty near, If
HOl Qulkts d Blils nat uOtN i4OL SONhN .
so well. ! never had that experience;
never had complaint against me
while ! was there, but ] knew what was
going on. could not say anything.
You cannot make men better by
pounding the life and spirit out Of
them. Treat them as humans and they
will respond.
Only last night two Of my neighbors,
burglars, if you please-on one of them
had done seventeen jobs before they
caught him-talked it all over with me
in my room. They are convinced that
being crooked don't pay. They will go
straight when they come out. In the
old days . man went out feeling sore 4
at the whole world, and looking to get
square with it and everybody in it. .
! Now a man know how they feel. for
have talked with them and | had
their confidence goes out feeling that
after all the only person to blame for
his trouble was himself; that it's a
pretty good old world. and that if he
looks out for himself he won't have
any trouble They did not feel that
way in the old days.
Jobs Planned in Prison.
In the old days the boys planned
many a job in prison. Other prisoners
knew it; every one knew it in a general
way. There's nothing like that there
now. If a man has job in mind and
perhaps some of them have-he keeps
It TO himself. Let the boys in there /
know that a man is planning TO do
something that is likely TO bring him
back. and he will hear from 1t. The fear
of doing something that may make il
tough for those that are behind, of Civ
ing the enemies Of reform handle to
knock with, Independent of everything
else, is going to help keep some men
/ straight that otherwise might be
tempted TO 60 wrong.
would rather talk prison reform
than do anything else except play with
my little great-great-granddau
You see. ! know il from the inside.
The new system is a good thing for
the guards. Most of the guards there
now are good men for the job. Most
Of the other kind have gone. There
are fine men among those guards
Fred Dorner, now the p. X, and Mr..
Halpin, his assistant. You'll not find
Mr.. Dorner staying in the prison or
the village all his time, like Connaugh-
ton had TO. Poor Connaughton was
actually afraid 10 leave up there-he
came to New York but twice. lie was
more prisoner than any man within
the walls. lie was just man, bit
hard man, severe, one l. the old
school He was as tough on the Yards
as he was on us He could not help
IL, for II was his training
There is not man in the prison but
would do anything for Dorner. He's
a discplinarian. all right but he does
not have TO get results with a club. II
occasion required he probably could be
as hard as any one, but they just don't
arise. He was there when ] went there,
just started in as a guard. For the
sake OF the men who are there and who
are TO 60 there, | hope he will stay
there twenty more years.
Three Times In Death House.
DO net remember going TO Sing
Sing % rot remember my crime,
my stay IN the Tombs, my sentence or
anything. ] was in the death house
three weeks before ! woke up and
found on; what had happened me and
where | was. About that much longer
Govorno~ horton gave me my life on
Judge ingrsham's recommendation.
What ! cannot understand is why, IL
the Judge thought me insane, | was
not sent % Mstteawan.
Ny health in prison until lately has
been good ! have been sick but eight
days in seventeen years, Now | am
feeling fine again. ! wanted 10 leave
the prison last night at 9 o'clock, so
as TO escape all notoriety and that
sort Of thing. but | could not leave
when Mr. Osborne wired from his
home that he wished TO see me. I
/ could not run away from so good a