The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1920-02-20
PRISONERS Murdered Prisoners and
Escapes Brought BI8odshed Tails
aud Heroisms of Keepers.

E0EUW03 ~r--t--@f--
aud Her0isms Of Keepers.
OF all the tragedy and bloodshed
behind the bleak walls Of Sing sing
son was the prisons detective, moth
der he witnessed in the visiting room
az Mrs. Adrian Braun by her convict
husband.
Thig was on March s, 1888. Dstec-
tive Jackson, who frequently super
vised visits. arose from his desk late
fn the afternoon and told Braun and
Mrs Braun the half hour allowed
them for the visit had expired. she
Rad left her three little children at
nome in New York and journeyed to
the prison to bring Braun some Tult
and cheer him up. Braun askeu
Jaekson to give them a little more
time. The detective out OF sympathy
for Mrs. Braun told them he would
extend the visit for ten minutes.
Az Jackson turned around toward
his desk Braun said to his Wife:-
sT at me have q kiss" AS she lean
ed toward him Braun drew sharp
knife he had concealed in his blouse
and. stabbing her twice, cut her
4uoI,Iar vein. Detective Jackson
fearlessIy sprang at the armed VII
lain and overpowered him. Two
knives that the murderer used at his
work as potato peeler in the Kitchen
were taken from him and OouItry,
sergeant Of the guard, locked him up
in q condemned cell. Warden omar
" Sage made up a purse and sent
two assistants down to Mrs. Braun $
fat that evening and had the child
rem removed to a home for care.
Braun was taken to White Plains
and tried for first degree murd 9r.
John r. Brennan, of Yonkers, ms
counsel, made hard fight for MIN
on an insanity plea, but DR.. Carlos
r.. Mcdonald and Edward Spltzka,
the noted elienists, convinced the
-iury that Braun was rational. He
was convicted and put to death In
the electric chair a few months al
terward.
Jackson remembers the murder OF
William Bentley, a prisoner, on July
rs. 1874. when Gaylord B. HubbelI
was warden AS Bentley, whose cell
s.dioined that of William West on the
gallery, emerged from it in the morn
ing West fatally stabbed him IN the
breast.
West. being influential, escaped the
gallOws. He was given a life SEN
tence for the murder When he mad
served twenty-five years Governor
Levi P. Motor on December 8, 1896,
cOmmuted his sentence to twenty
four wears and he went free in Sep
tember, 1898. Clemency had been
recommended for West by Chauncey
M. Depaw, Charles A. Dana, Richard
Croker. August Belmont, General +.
b. SpinoIa, William e. Dodge and
number of other distinguished men,
Jackson investigated the murder OF
Charles Williams by fellow con-
Wet, Onofrano Mangano, on Decem-
Der 10, 1881, while Augustus A.
Brush was the prison warden Will
liams had some words in the kitchen,
where they were pairing vegetables,
with Angelo Cornetta. Mangano
sided with Cornetta and attacked
Williams with a knife. Joe Coburn,
the famous heavyweight prize light
ter of his time, risked his own life
to overpower Mangano after he had
fatally stabbed Williams.
On December 81, 1881, in the same
kitchen, Daniel Cash, who had just
returned to Sing Sing after testifying
against Manzano in the Grand Jury
room, was struck down with a knife
by Cornatta. Cash died in a few
minutes. Twelve days later Cor
META locked up in a dark cell, slash
ed his throat with a broken piece OF
waterpipe, but Dr. Hiram Barber,
prison surgeon, sewed it up again.
Cornetta was tried and hanged in
White Plains May IL, 1885. MAN.
gano also was sentenced to be
hanged, but got a new trial and was
given life imprisonment. For fear he
would be killed in Sing Sing Warden
Brush ordered Mangano to be re-
moved from there and Detective
jackson took him to Clinton Prison
for safety.
In the veteran detectives time
many disohedient prisoners nave
been killed or wounded by keepers.
There was the case of Frank, alias
Bueky, Walsh With two other pris-
oners on the afternoon of January
Is, 1881, he tried to rush between the
guard posts and escape across the
ice ON the Hudson. When the keep
ers threatened to shoot Walsh kept
going. The guards opened fire, with
the exception of Keeper Edward
Nolan, who had but one eye. When
asked by the sergeant why he wasn't
firing Nolan told him he did not
shoot because he had but one eye.
Nobody needs more than one eye
to aim with" roared the sergeant,
so shoot, you boob, shoot. :"
Nolan obeyed orders. The bullet
from his carbine by chance struck
Walsh in the heart and he fell dead
in his tracks. The incident preyed
on Nolan's mind afterward and, 1t is
said, led to his death.
The killing of Joseph Hopkins, a
youthful sixteen-year-old prisoner,
on March 3, 1874, by Guard Clark
Brundage illustrates how brutal was
prison discipline in Sing Sing in
Jackson's early days there. Brun-
dage's explanation to Warden Hub
bell was that he found the boy
skulking near the sentry box and
thought he was trying to escape. He
shot him through the groin and the
lad died. There was an investiga-
ton, following a crusade against
savagery in Sing Sing management
in the New York newspapers, but it
came to naught, Brundage, though,
passed out of the prison service.
Detective Jackson saved the life OF
Keeper Patrick Mackin when John
Barrett, desperate fourth term bur-
glar, on July "a, 1879, made fearful
lunge at him with a long knife.
Jackson, who saw the weapon Bar
rett drew behind the keepers back,
prisoner was drawing a knife. As
i Il. IL