Evening star., 1955-01-22
By Erwin D. Conham
p;sfyibe,ed hv The Associaied Press

Dishibsssd bs The As.esia,sd Press
BOSTON, Jan. 22.-To have
the privilege of restoring hope to
four desperate men threatening
the lives of II others-and per-
i1aps more = is the deeply
humhling experience which
seven Boston citizens had dur
ing the last "a hours.
Until almost the precise mo-
ment when Joseph A. Flaherty.
Walter II. Balben. Theodore
Green and Fritz o. Swenson
pulled their guns from their
dungarees pockets. slipped out
the clips or bullets. and tossed
them on the table before US. We
did not know whether the men
would choose tragedy or hope.
We had talked. back and forth,
for some six hours to try and
bring them to choose hope.
Deeply Grateful.
Z
To the Rev. Edward p.
Hartigan, Roman Catholic chap
lain at the prison, the Rev.
Howard p. Kellett. Protestant
chaplain, and DR.. Samuel Mer-
lin, prison doctor. goes the over
whelming share of credit for
persuading the men to. disarm
themselves and release their
hostages.
The four of us who Joined
them in an earnest effort to
change the convicts' minds were
deeply grateful for the privilege.
for we had been chosen by the
convicts themselves. They asked
for Summer H. Babcock. presi-
dent of the Boston Bar Associa-
ton; Patrick j. McDonough.
member of the Governors coun-
Gil. the Rev. John j. Grant, as
sociate editor of the Pilot. off,
cial organ Of the Roman Cath
olic Archdiocese of Boston. and
myself.
ii began at II pm. Thursday
night, when my wife answered
the telephone and said. yes.
he's here 1t was Warden John
u. O,Brien Of the Charlestown
State Prison, and he asked me
urgently to come at once to the
State Police headquarters on
Commonwealth avenue. I drove
downtown through the frigid
night wondering what angle of
the tense prison siege could be
involved.
Requested by Convicts.
At the police headquarters the
group was told by Father
Hartiga that the convicts had
asked for us. that they wanted
to talk over their situation with
US, that they had respect for US
in the community. and wished
us to hear their story. We we're
driven silently to the prison,
slipped in at an obscure door.
and led in the dinness to the
prison library. There the chap
lain teiephoned the convicts in
the Cherry Hill block. told them
we were coming, and without
other escort we threaded our
way through the ilo-man's-land
beyond the State troopers to the
barricaded door.
Our guide tapped q signal on
the window, the huge beam
which propped it shut was
pushed aside, and we stepped
into the steamy. odorous. we'll
lit prison interior.
And there, to my intense sur
prise, we saw neatly arranged
conference room: IL chairs, no
more and no less, set out in a
circle with a table in the middle,
a pad Of paper and a pencil. and
nothing much else. the four
.desperadoes" politely took our
overcoats and hung them on
wire coathangers against the
wall, We sat down.
/ won't conceal that the walk
across no-man's-land was not
without emotion. But as soon
as we saw the four men and
began to talk with them, the
atmosphere--for me, at least
eased entirely. These were des-
perate men, but desperately
earnest ones. They had a sincere
and passionate appeal to make.
Hard Hitting Vocabulary.
1t was, in phrase: Give
us hope" not hope to escape
punishment but chiefly hope for
better conditions. In moving
terms, with. genuine eloquence
and hard-hitting vocabulary,
their spokesman, Joe Flaherty.
told of their determination to
regain hope, Joe is a handsome
fellow. with blond hair and blue
eyes.
He is serving a 46-year term
for four counts Of rape and II
counts of burglary.
To his right, Walter Balben
sat. He Is serving from 35 TO