The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-08-30
LITER IN MISSOURI
PRISON finds JOY
AND SPURNS PAROLE
Pigeons Bring Happiness to
Man Who Killed Policeman
in a Drunken BrawI
SUFFERING FROM DISEASE
Wholesome Prison Diet Aids in
Restoring Health Of Man
Locked Up 10 Years
FROM DISEASE

Jefferson City. Mo-. Aug. 3O.-(NEA,
Ten years behind the bars, Charles
Simpson. so, a LITER, has found health,
happiness and fortune behind the
grim gray walls Of the Missouri state
p%enitentiary here.
So well satisfied with his lot Is this
man that he does not want q parole.
He hopes to spend the remainder Of
his days behind the walls Of the pris-
on in which his life has been changed
from drab to bright.
He is happy and content. His most
cherished friends are the pigeons
which flutter to his door to eat the
crumbs that he scatters for them each
morning and afternoon. He Is Gagged:
the birds are free.
Killed . Policeman
When Charles Simpson drank some
wild whiskey" and killed q policeman
In Kansas City he was Just about ut
the bottom Of life's ladder. He was
suffering from a supposedly incurable
disease. He weighed only IS pounds.
He believed he had only q short time
to live. He had no money and no
friends.
But within the penitentiary he
found companionship, first with the
pigeons that came to his doorway to
eat the crumbs that he scattered for
them, and later with his fellow pris.
oners.
The prison diet, while not what
most persons would choose for ban
quets. helped restore his health. Regu-
lar habits also helped drive away dis
ease. His weight returned, the color
began to come back to his cheeks. Life
looked brighter.
Has Private Quarter
After Simpson had served q few
| years his record as q model prisoner
won for him permission to build q
little shack in the prison courtyard.
That shack-a rickety little frame az
fair that nestles snugly in the shadow
Of n Of the dirty stone walls-he
calls his home" Facetiously he has
| given it the address mo. / Wall street,
Missouri state penitentiary."
In his shack Simpson is permitted
to maintain a watch and clock repair
shop. After he completes his prison
tasks he does repair work for other
prisoners. This work has brought him
a modest competence, which he has
banked, as he does not have to spend
anything for food and clothes. It is a
small amount. of course, but probably
more money than he ever had at one
time in all hts life before he came to
the prison.
Entertalns Sick Men !.
Especially friendly toward Simpson
are the inmates Of the tuberculosis
ward, for 1t is near q window Of that
building that he has set up q loud
speaker. and every afternoon his radio
gives the prisoners the baseball scores
and a play-by-play account Of an I'M
portant game.
Simpson buys a sack Of shelled corn
at regular intervals, and this he scat
tiers in his yard" for the pigeons. The
birds have come to know him as a
friend; they perch upon his shoulders.
cat from his hand, and take water
from little pans that he sets out for
them.
At dusk the birds fly away in all
their freedom to roost in the trees be-
yond the walls. But the man who be-
friends them remains within his cage.
Il was q fool and drunk when I
killed that man." says Simpson. Il
have found happiness here. I never
want to leave. I am better off here"