Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-10-03

BOSTON, Oct. STILL with n
torlorn hope thar lie may some day
be released to see u twentieth cen
fury world, whose wonders his mag
ination can only picture family,
Jesse Fomeroy, said to be the worlds
fost famous life prisoner, has just
completed the first lap Of his sec
ond h~alf-century behind prison bars.
On the anniversary Of the Septem-
Der day in 1876 when, as a boy Of
IL, he saw the gates Of the Charles
town state prison clang shut behind
him, Pomeroy has reiterated to
prison officials that he still hopes tc
obtain a parole or pardon and see
some of the outside world.
Once Cursed as Fiend
The boy who vas once cursed as
a fiend by infatuated crowds has
become an old man, suffering from
many Of the Affections that come
with age, who writes fair verse for
the prison magazine, under the pen
name, Grandpa. The ignorant boy
has become an educated man, learned
in law and science, who never ceases
to wonder at the marvels which the
printed page brings before him.
His short career Of crime began
ut the age of IS. After several chill
dren Of four or five years had been
found tied up, naked. and beaten or
slashed, Pomeroy was identified as
"the big boy with the bad eye" who
had committed the crimes. One Of
his eyes was almost albino: the
other blue.
Death Sentence COMMITTED
The boy was sent to a reform
school from which he was released
II months later. Within six months
he killed two children in a frightful
manner. He was found guilty of
murder with extreme a~trocity and
cruelty" which in Massachusetts, ear
ries a sentence of death. Governor
William <. Russell refused to sign
the order for hanging, and his sue
cessor committed the sentence TO i'm
prisonment at solitary confinement
and hard labor for life.
For 40 years the man suffered the
terrors Of solitary confinement. until
1917, when Governor David I. Walsh,
the present United States senator,
changed his status to permit him to
eat and attend religious services and
entertainments with other prisoners,
Tried TO Escape Often
His many efforts to escape KEEP;
Ppmeroy constantly before the pub.
lie. He made at least IL attempts
and the "hard labor" part of the
sentence had to be given up, be.
cause no matter what they gave him
! to work with, he fashioned tools 10
help him escape. Finally, he was
given only food and books.
Once he had tunneled almost tc
safety when caught; once he Gu,
through his cell door To d gas Jet
rugged n conductor to bring gas in,
to his cell, and burned himself Sc.
verely trying to burn a hole in the
wall. His last attempt was in 1912
when he was creeping along a prison
corridor, out Of his cell, at the time
he was overpowered. He then had I
dagger. a file and three saws.
Would See a Changed World.
When Pomeroy last saw freedom
there were no automobiles. no ele,
waited trainns, no airplanes and NJ
flappers. The Civil war veterans
younger than the present Legion.
aires, were just getting used to q
new organization known ms the Crane
Army of the Republic; Rutherford 3
Hayes was president, and a sticklei
for civil service; people with wealth
enough to afford a illumination
were being warned TO turn the cocks
and not blow out the gas.
1t seems doubtful that Pomeroy's
! hopes will be realized for some time