The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-31
u, METER CLARK MACFARL,NE.

measurements Of his body. together with
intimate details Of his physique not
casually observable, were part of the
first hand data of penology in several
states ON the books Of the institution
which to-day opened it's familiar doors
10 him he had record of three prior
visits II successfully increasing length.
But there are some things to which a
man never does get used. with an
affected nonChalance that deceived not
even himself Inflow went through the
motions Of haircut and bath, and stood
mporturbahly while his Bertillon was re-
checked 1t was noon and a group of
striped convlcts lounged i'm the yard and
cast curious eyes at the Lew figure in
parti-colorcd tailoring which appeared
lust then in the office door. In them
Jacob Inflow recognized his own kind.
Quite logically he drifted across the
ward to the tigcrsh looking line which,
los the mere shufiiing Of feet and the
shifting Of legs. opened and engulfed
him
Lilo. Jake" they gutturalled, crowd
ing round. "Whatd v bring with yuh?'
This. In convict circles was the lam
guage Of good form for prefacing an
luterrogatory as to the number Of years
~ ones sentence.
"All of it," Inflow croaked. with dry
husk in his voice. and this. on Jake's
part was again the prison patois for
life sentence.
what Z ell" muttered the group IN
gloomy sympathy.
As for Jake. he shouldered his way
through and sat down upon a bench.
with his elbows on his knees and his
1. IL. ii. =, a
over and himself presently lost In moody
distractions Coming back always took
him hard. This time it took him harder
than ever
IAN Of IT." All Of life, All of liberty
al of the blue sky and the open road
and the wide tossing sea. all Of the
singing Of birds and the prattle II chill
dren: all of the eager surge and throb
~ the mighty pulsating life Of the world
Of to-day. All of it--and yet, not quite
an. because for months his mind had
neen ohsessed by one mechanical idea
that refused to be barred out even by
the changing doors Of steel.
The man was an inventive genius
He had the Imagination of a wizard
When ne closed his eyes he saw wheels
turning, he heard cogs clicking and the
soft play OF delcately adjusted bear
ngs and observed the ma nipulation Of
keys with the emergence Of a slice of
tinted paper carrying certain disc
shaped perforatons at irregular inter-
walls over its surface.
These perforatons were not at ram
dom, but in accordance with a code.
The machine was one to make check
raising forever impossible. All his life
Inflow had been going to jail for check
raising. To perfect the invention and
build the first machine would take years
and-money!
The inventor knew but one simple
method of getting money 1t was the
irony of fate which jests at genius that
Inflow. to get the money TO build the
machine to prevent check raising, him
self raised a draft Of a down State
bank from an unassuming 50 to an en-
tirely prepossessing 5000. While
lake divided with his COME lerates and
prepared to locate secluded shack in
the hills where he could hammer and
file and drill to his hearts content Off
GERS followed the broad spnor Of his
crime to the very heels Of criminal.
1t was dark when the officers came
upon him. Inflow was not alone. There
was an exchange Of shots. An officer
was killed. Inflow himself was taken
readily, but his accomplice escaped,
No weapons were found upon the cap
,ured man, but his confederate, who
was unknown to the police, had van
shed completely and the blood Of the
slain man demanded a victim. Jacob
Inflow was charged with the killing. He
sat In the dock and heard his accusers
tell the story Of il, heard them read
his record Of felonies from sea to sea,
and then stood up and stared stolidly
while the Judge gave him ''all of it,"
While the other convicts We're
marched away to their afternoons task
Inflow brooded unsociably in the yard
Ill lookup time. The lookup always
affected his Imagination strongly. To
him the thrilling, age long moments in
the death chamber alone could have
surpassed it for tragic elements. He
closed his eyes and pictured it with
morbid fascination. 1t started out Of
his mind like the reels of a motion
picture.
There were the huge cell houses, tier
on tier, with iron rallied platforms rum
ming in front of each row OF cells There
were the men, marched out from sup
per and lounging eXpectlnt in the yard.
suddenly the prison bell changed dis
an-CrHtly. Instantly there was the
ecurry.ng of the gray striped forms, and
r';i"ways crcaked and platforms vi
urated with the shuttle Of many feet.
Lively, there" called the guards.
Abruptly, as if the men, monkeylike
clambered straight up the sides Of the
buildings, they pattered along the plat
forms and disappeared into the black
oles in the wall, while the steel doors
with hideous clangOr closed in quick
Huccession. 1t was a ghastly trans
formation scene, 4 moment ago the
face Of the building was alive with dart
ing. brindled forms Now the three
TERED pile is a living tomb from which
there comes not the rustic OF a football
not the murmer Of a voice, not the
creaking Of hinge.
The very soul Of the convict was
hushed behind that awful mask OF
gloom. And yet Jacob Inflow knew that
within those solid cubic yards Of brick
and stone and steel and concrete were
the twitching forms, the seething souls
the restless brains and the darling eyes
of men.
The picture was almost more realsti,