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Show PEIMBI MIDI MILS IY MUM MAWTIHIOIRIE I ' le Grasp of the Tentacles I 5jJ tripping Picture of the Manner in Which the W aerican Spy System, the Moment a Convict Is pen His Freedom, Relentlessly Harries and unds Him, Drives Him From Place to Place, ij j at Last Makes of Its Victim el Habitual Ibird. S L I spoken of punishments insido nson. When a man has served ime ami is sot free (an it is I) another punishment begins, y be worse and moro dishcart-u dishcart-u I ho suffering endured inside iHlcnod, on Saturday aftcr-at aftcr-at other times, to the stories and guardedly told me by my nvicts who had served moro n one, I said (o myself, "The prison is bad enough ; but this, mppcus to a man after prison and monstrous." The endless follow him, reach out after ound him, fasten upon him, liiin buck whence ho came, thai only, but they mark him ;c him, disablo him from free alio houesty impossible for citizen of whatcvor integrity ling, if so pursuod. maligned mined, would havo any choice nt either to polish or to break The -spies of the government . irestige and power of the gov-chiiiiT gov-chiiiiT them (however dospic-vicious dospic-vicious thev may he in Iheni-an Iheni-an ruin any man; but cx-eon-thcir staple food, latter part of Juue 1 0 1 II, a dgo- named lOmory bpocr was f evil deeds on the bench, and nonal investigation was an-The an-The judge was taken ill, and riting the investigation still i . Now, the evidence against I been collected, it would ap-Ihc ap-Ihc ageiny of government this fact caused irreat indig-tonio indig-tonio quarters. I lore was a sonvicted of felony, but a pi I -s state, being pursued by delist de-list as if for all tho world ho irdinary person an obscuro ti7.cn, say. or an cx-eonvictI i himself 'was vory indignant, ionds on tho local press -were i their comments. In a long mtillcd "llho Shadow of the ! Atlanta paper denounced tho ;s root and branch. Jt af- ir?W:nssumed such proportions dur- flKnnst fow years as to threaten nVuHttio mainstays of free govern- UBs interested my comrades, not 7fchc sp3 system was news to bocauso no public notice had ' of it until it began to wring jWbrs of persons -who had hitherto themselves to be in the posi- Kiromotcrs instead of victims of rijflcticc, A federal judge had never Iftjfcl against pursuing with spios 1 Wpoc.tei of crimes, or mon who, JWBorvcd time upon conviction, had no out into the world and at-?T at-?T tl to lead a now life. The spy ifp so conducted, scorned to such tols ' proper and normal. But. tho cAJh ;, thoy found their own acts in-rN in-rN ;cd, their own footsteps dogged, iy Hf ksame indignant, and denounced E2 $ lriciplc of tho thing. "J ian convicted in a federal or ?J urt, or set free after having. .? .'jn I time in prison, but is abun-,bl abun-,bl Conversant with the methods of "U irir.jin snv. S Ian Is Not Free. ltm 1 a know, tho first thing done ticw prisoner is to lako his bor-.g bor-.g and tho rocord of theso mcas-2i mcas-2i b and observations, together tk d photographs of him, or with jt S ho Iiad a beard when convicted, elj ?to cvory olicc office in tho 1 fnnd is tuoro studied by tho do-""hi do-""hi &nd police. Tho intention, of hi ip 8 u J'CmIur easier the reeogni-iJ reeogni-iJ i'oh offenders," and to cur-i cur-i i! " u',irc industries. It is genii. gen-ii. ffirmcd that burtillons cannot iken. but in a Detroit court, on tit Jt 19 1-1, mi expert declured differonco of oue-oighth of an . .the laying on of tho fiugors Bi ontiroly different imprcs-IHud imprcs-IHud ' 'judgment was awarded Mfap bank,-" which, relying upon HHIlibility of the finger record, iBfcht tho action. At any rate, the 0k& still a potent weapon with p, and when they want a man . Bmc committed, or when they Iff Kdrive out of any given place m Hco of the earth a man who has a Hviously a convict, they havo uint to his bcrtillons, and the , B"?0 how this may work out in w 'Hh-k convict, having sorved his ,,i,prosonted by tho United States 'te. as tho case niny be) with a yiElI Mew clothes, and with $5 cash, -n pots a ticket on tho railway to Ro Ins destination, and, though fflpP-Bieory a free man from the mo-rtjffjtv.B' mo-rtjffjtv.B' ho passes tho orison gates, ;u'j:ter of fact an otficial is ns-'"Vtaiic, ns-'"Vtaiic, charge of him and put Id 3 .Mr t,ran no cannot remain in Wupposing for tho nonco that enitcutiary has been his abid-Bcduring abid-Bcduring his sentence) on pen-fflV pen-fflV dp t-o, of forfoitiug his tick -Pwurving 0 j(lly i,js 0WI1 WHV, R?'a provision of the law, or LajB? simply a mcasuro to prevent iflPB from talking to newspaper Cr. K".r other inquiring persons, MKvjS invarm'y done, unloins tho VwBr lcc llIlI1l)ll'la lo bo Atlanta VJ'Kown case (to cito an instance) : K Bar proceduro v.-as obecrvcil, iMLmr accidental modification. .1 CjK: a- suit of clothes, mv JB- railway ticket at "least itflU. -5va8 given to tho guard de-5JyW$comnany de-5JyW$comnany mo to tho station, i9Mim !c"vnrot to tho conductor Viii. But J had provionsly made KBR"'1 to any a fow things to tho ffjBHSmf a e1erta.,n 'ocal newspaper, ?JK rna1y'1 1,1 case of neccBsity, 2aMR?n my eleemosynary ticket and SferiHf own, w,a' t0 Tw York on a ..i 1,ad money of my own to &3mL. ' , m?5t "Jf-Prisoncrs, of StMVo ijot. But the Bucririco was fjEfmBP? tfao circumatanco that Mr. iJBRo warden, was absent at tho raraBSii qjanapohs, and tho deputy yjWfUy lot mo out an hour or moro STiJW train started. I lost no time my- rPrtcr, ana during the TOr.'?,n"tt8. n .an autoraobilo 2&ft&VL . ,ccasi,on. wo drovo gBp-Htrocts of Atlanta, while I jZm;L i J1 ""tonishcd cars my not tho paradise on. earth that it had hitherto been believed (o be. He brought mo to the railway station in season for my train, and "T got safely awn 3 leavinjr mischief behind me. That was my cood luck. On tho other hand, a friend of mine recently released told no that tho wardon had called him into his ofiico at tho last moment and had extracted from him a promise not to- talk to any reporter in tho town boforo leaving. That is tho usual way; but it is the exception sometimes that counts. Hand That Falls Upon Shoulder. Let us return to our average convict, just out, and with the world before him, where to choose to display his prinon-mado prinon-mado garments and to siicnd his 0. Tt not seldom happens, to begin be-gin with, that he is not so much out as he had imagined. Our present method meth-od with convicts has peculiarities. Here is a common example: A man was convicted and jailed for robbing a postoffice. Tho sentence was five years. The specific chargo was of stealing postage stamps. IJaving done his bit in 1 lie federal penitentiary, he was given his outfit and tho gates were opened. Ilo was proceeding .joyfully on his way. when a sheriff laid a hand, on his shoulder, and informed him that he was a prisoner. "What for 3 Tho shcriif smilingly explained that, tho scnlonco ho had just served was for a federal offense; of-fense; ho wna wanted now on a stato charge of breaking into tho grocery storo in which the postoffice was housed. For this, the state prison accommodated ac-commodated him with lodging for five years more. The man outlived that, and fatuously imagined that his paymoiit of that deb't was fully discharged. He was awakened by the hand on his shoulder again. What -was the matter now? "Why. he had, while in thp giocory store, and in addition to stealing tho "federal nostago stamps, possessed himself unlawfully un-lawfully of a box of matches, thereby committing a second stale crime, involving in-volving a further detention in tho state prison of five years more. This is an example of our cat-and-mouse wny with convicts, and is, of course, much moro destructive to tho victim than an outright sentonco of the samo longth would have been. Bnt in what mannor it tends to reform a man, or to protect tho community, does not clearly appear. Sometimes the sheriff is dilatory in arriving to make the second or third arrest, and it would seem that tho pris-onor pris-onor might havo a ehauco to escape. But in such a caso the warden himself would take a hand in tho game.' In an instanco of which I heard a good deal, the man's sentence expired, wo will say, on Juno 1. The warden had been ap-nrised ap-nrised that ho was to bo rc-arrosled, but the sheriff was not on hand could not get there for two days. But the law, or prison regulations, or somothing, onablcs a warden to detain a prisonor beyond his fixed time, in tho event of his committing some prison irregularity. The warden informed tho man that ho was reported to havo broken a plate in tho dining room, the penalty for which was three days moro in his coll. Boforo tho three days were up, the shoriff had arrived, the man was ro-arrested and iustico was satisfied. "A Suspicious Character." "Wo will supposo, however, that our jnan lias no second or third or othor indictments hanging over him, and that ho really does got clean away. "What will be his adventures? If the weather bo not rainy ho reaches his train unscathed. But if that now suit, with "jailbird" written all over it in characters which all dotcctivos and police, at least, can read as they run, c.hanco to get wet. the raw shoddy forthwith shrivels miserably up, and tho wearer's ankles and wrists stick out so betrayingly thatf a mere child might recognize the sinister source of tho garments. gar-ments. But, anyhow, a few days' wear will so wrinkle and crease and deform the suit that it becomes nnwcarablo, and tho man might as conveniently aud more prudently go about in shirt and drawers. draw-ers. Should ho present himself in it requesting a job from somo virtuous citizen, tho latter is less likely to grant it than 1o step to tho phono and call up tho police station. "Thero's a suspicious suspi-cious character here bettor look him over!" Tho officer looks him ovor accordingly, ac-cordingly, and cilher advises him to bo-tako bo-tako liimsolf piomptly elsewhero, or, if a crime happon to havo boon committed recently in that neighborhood, the por-notrators por-notrators of which aro still at largo, ho takes tho man into custody on suspicion. That the man is utterly innocent makes small difference; his status as an old offender is readily established, aud the rest follown almost automatically. "You did tho job all right; but, if vou didn't, yon'ro a vagrant, without visible means of support, and they'll put you in the lockup for six months or a year. And let mo toll you, our lockup is no jokol Likely you'll get on the chain gang, and thou God help you! If they don't tako a fancy to you. thev'ro lia-bl lia-bl 0 to croak you any time. Now, I'd like to koo you get out of this easy, and here's what you'd bettor do. You own up to the crime, and T'U havo a word with tho judge, so he'll lot you off with ;i short sentonco in a place where they treat men right, nnd you'll got out in about throo or four months. That's what you'd best do; and if you don't, T wash my hands of you! "What do yon say?" "He an Incorrigible." "What would you do? Stand 011 your rights, demand a full and fair trial, provo your inuocence, and bo acquitted without a stain on your character? That in tho proper and righteous courso for a free and independent Amorican.citi-zon. Amorican.citi-zon. But you aro not a citizen, in the first place; your civic rights aro gone for good, and instoad of your innocence being be-ing assumed till your guilt is proved, it is the other way about. Your friend tho dotcctivo is prepared, for one, to swear that to the lbest of his kuowlcdgo and belief," you aro tho culprit; and thoro is commonly a number of othor oasy swearor8 hanging about tho courtroom to support him. You havo no friends; on tho ooutraiT, cvory oyo you meet is hostile. You havo no money to hiro a lawyer, for that ifiJ had gone oefttjro you"had mustered courage to ask for t no job that got you into this trouble. -And abovo all, your spirit is cowed and Srostrato from years in prison; you avo known tho long, sterile bitterness of penal scrvitudo. and you havo no stomach for a light. No, you will not fight yaw cannot. You will stand up in the dock and confoss to somothing you never did, and throw yourself on tho mercy of tho court. Your friend the detective -whispers to tho judge "He's an incorrigible ho ought to got tho limit!" And his honor gives you ten years. It is loss than a week since you put off stripes, and went out into the world resolved to mako good. If you outlive 3'our undeserved sentence, will you ever resolve to mako good again? Can such things be? ludeed thoy can, and they aro. There is poor C. in Atlanta now, the victim of such a deal, and S. and II., and many more. C, indeed, in-deed, told mc, and I boliovo liim, that ho never committed auy crimo at all, othor than to got drunk and to sleep out on tho road; he was apprehended for vagrancy, then charged with a post-ofiico post-ofiico robbery in another stato (which he had never visited), advised by the dotcctivo who "took an interest" in him to confess, upon tho promiso of being be-ing let off with a light sentonco; he got tho limit and will wear out his youth in jail, whilo tho dotcctivo is complimented, for his efficiency. Tho government is extravagant. "What is tho uso of spending monoy on a shoddy suit of clothos for each one of thousands of convicts each year, and giving each of them a fivo-dollar bill, with tho certainty that, in a largo majority ma-jority of cases, thoy will be back in their cells in a few days or weeks, or months? Look up, if you please, tho statistics as to tho number of convicts who aro second or third offenders. Nay, the governmont is itself tho jirimo ana most effectiyo cauao of their getting back, since it is government spies that provido tho evidence that sends them up. Only Schools of Crime. But can wo afford to tniBt oxeon victs? rust wo not keep a strict eye on thorn? If tho strict oyo wore also a friendly ono, it might bo of some avail. But our hand is against, them, and wo need not wonder that theirs is against; us. Not only arc wo thoir enemies when they emcrgo from jail, bnt (as has been repeated interminably by every investigator who has been qualified to speak on tho subject) jails aro the best and only schools of crime, in othor words, wo "first educate mon to bo criminals by putting them in places where they enn learn nothing else, aud Ibon wo" keep them criminals by shutting against them, when freed, ovory opportunity to earn food and lodging in legitimate ways. And then wo complain that they arc not to be trnsted. Notthor can men fed on poisons be trusted to bo well. Jail life is poisonous. poison-ous. I think it was Judge Mc.Lolnnd who said last summer, "Our million-dollar million-dollar reformatories offer university courses in bestiality and crimo; it ia as logical to send a man to jail to mako him. bettor as to 'shut him up in n garbage can to improve his digestion. Forty per cent of those who go to jail go back again," ho added; "one man went back 176 times. Others arc sent because they are poor and cannot pay a line, and' they aro there made real criminals." An instance of this occurred in a Georgia chain-gang while 1 was in Atlanta At-lanta A man Was sentenced for playing play-ing cards for monoy. Ho could not pay tho $45 fine demanded, and in default, was sent to the chain-gang for eight months. Ho woro stripes, night and day, and if contumacious, was whipped by tho guards. His work was in a stono quarry, a deep hole, into which the summer sun poured an insuironiblc heat. Ho was forced, to do his work with a forty-ninc-pound hammer in that funnol-shapod pit; at J 00 degrees in the shade if he could find any shade. Ono day ho told tho guard ho was sick, and could not work any longer. The guard shifted the quid in his mouth and remarked that .ho ought to havo said so that morning. But the man meant what he said, and proved it by dying a day or two later. Probably you may havo plaj'ud cards for mono' at some time in your life. Did it over occur to 3-011 that you merited torturo and death for it? How Would You Feel? Or do you think that, after such an experienco (if you survived it), or after being twice an'ested for tho same crimo aud kept in jail fivo years three ti.mcs over, or after doing time for a crime you never committed that you would come out at tho end of it all, smiling, full of energy and enterprise, loving your neighbor, eager for honest toil? Would you embrace Mr. Moyor (or whomovor your jniler was) and tell him. with tears of gratitude, that you con 1(1 never repay him for his warm-hearted, big-bruiuod caro of you the starving, tho dungooniug, tho clubbing, and all tho rest of tho university courso? Would vou feel like thnt? Or would you staro out upon tho world into which you wure contemptuously tossed with 'dull, hating, revengeful cyos, suspicious of all men, hopeless of good, but resolved re-solved to got even, so far as you might, by plying tho ovil trades which your lifo of shivery had taught you? Would you behave like Christ upon tho cross," or like an ordinary man? Convicts are ordinary or-dinary mon, except that thoy aro often, to begin with, diseased men. or hemmed in by conditions so untoward as to -mako an honest lifo ten or a hundred times harder than it ever was for you. But you did not scruple to put this discaseil or unfortunate version of yourself your-self into tho jail caldron, to stew thoro with others like or worso than himself, for doing what, in most cases, ho actually ac-tually could not help doing; and when at Inst ho was ejected like stale refuse, you wore indignant because his looks did not plcaeo you, because ho bore upon him tho stnins and tho stench which tho caldron had fastened on him, because be-cause he did not, in tho teeth of tho socrot service, the postoflico inspector,", the dotcctivo bureaus and tho police, at onco begin to lead au honest lifo and support the commonwealth. Do you say that nono of this was 3-our doing? But it is your doing, in just so far as you have not striven in every way open to you to extirpate tho doiifg of 'it by this representative government. Unexpected and Pathetic. The wonderful thing tho unexpected and pathetic thing is that so many convicts conic out of jail in a kindly and inoffensive state of mind. They aro men who were born weak, humble' and yielding, novor estoeuied themselves, were always ready to take a back scat and give precodenco to others. Thoy do not uudorstand tho rights of the mutter, but suppose it must bo all right, that penal scrvitudo is tho proper thing for them, that Jaws were made by wise men and must be enforced. The' admit their stealings and their trickery, and blame themselves, observing regretfully that the' didn't seem able to holp it. Next time if thoy get a next time they will try vory hard to be straight, and perhaps the- will succeed after all! Thoro was littlo .1., in the barbers' gang, a cheerful, smiling, swoot tempered tem-pered fellow, who had served I know not now many terms for small larcenies and turpitudes. "I've alwas been such a damned little fool," he" would sa3' to me, as1 he smoothed off 1113- chin. "The bo3'S would got round mc and rope mo into somo scheme, and I didn't seem able to keep cloar of '0111. But I'm go-in' go-in' to be lot. out again next .Inly, and I've made up my mind I'll never bo seen hero again! No, sir! Oh, I've boon talkin' with the chaplain, too. and I've boon reading tho Bible, and all that, and I'm going to bo a good man. Yes, sir! J 'vo hud mv fiiug, and I'm through with it; when tke bo3s get round mo and tell me of somo easy job, I'll tell '0111, No! Not for .1." ' He was a man of forty, as naivo and "innocent" (in the unmoral sense) as a child; and ho had been in jail o(V :lnd on since ho was .10 .years old. I happened hap-pened to be in tho front office nt tho moment when .r. was signing receipts and receiving his proport' preparatoiy to leaving. He wass dressed in a neat, business suit of his owu not a prison-mado prison-mado monstrosity. He was clean and smooth and bright, and tremulous with excitement. Ho signed his papers with a shaking hand, he took up and put down again his well packed gripsack, ho shook hands with a sort of clinging, nppcaling grasp, as if ho were afraid living "ill. uiuiii., "V ttuu looked profound!' solemn 03' turns. The officials stood about, indifferent and contemptuous, con-temptuous, tho men -who had been hnrd and cruel to him, nnd those who had been not so hurd. Prisoners That Arc Feared. Tt was a bright, beautiful da3', full of sunshine; -T. picked up his grip and marched down tho corridor and out into tho free air. He wore a nravo air of hope aud determination, but one could detect underneath it svmptoms of misgiving. mis-giving. He had vowed" to bo good, but could lie keep tho vow, when "the bo's f;ot round hiru"7 I wished him good uck with all mj" heart. Six months have passed and J. ia not back in jail 3'et, so fur as I have heard. But the spies arc watching him, and ho won't be fafn fill he- is dead. A man with whom chanco brought mc I I frcqucntl' in contact was If., a 3'Cgg, I as the term is. When a guard is escorting a batch of visitors about the prison, ho speaks of the 3'cggs in an ominous tone, as if tho' woro sonic deadl' mouster, hardly to be even looked at with impunit-. But 3'cggs, as a bod3 aro tho best men in the prison; they have a code of honor, and strength ot character. Outside, the' blow open safes, and do othor risky jobs; and the' will shoot to kill on the ocensions when it is their life or the other man's. TI1C3' will do this, because the know what a prison is, and also what spies outside prison are. But they will spare your lifo, if possible; not because be-cause they caro for you thoy hate and despise you, as being a man who would bo and nave in tho past been merciless to them, and as a hypocrite who is cither a rascal on the sly or would be if 3'ou possessed the courage or were subjected to tho temptation they spare you not from mercv but from a settled polic-; killing is bad busiuess, and means sooner or later a violent end for the killer. Most yoggs are men of moro than average intelligence, and sometimes of fair education; they were not bom outlaws: out-laws: but, if 'on can win them to speak of tnemselvcs, you will generally find that tho' have" undergone things both in and out of prison enough to mako an outlaw out of a saint. Most mon succumb suc-cumb under such things, and either die, or become cowed in spirit; tho yeggs havo survived, and their spirit is unbroken. un-broken. They hold the highest place in the estimation of thoir fellow prisoners; and the warden and the guards fear them. liy that 7 mean that they fear to inflict'soveritics upon them except upon some pretext at least plausible: for the yoggs know the rules, and though they will submit without, a whimper to" tho crudest punishments if cause can bo alleged for it, yet wanton liberties, such as prisoners less well informed in-formed or more pusillanimous submit to, cannot safely be taken with them. The yeggs stand together; the' have esprit dc corps, and if, as happened last summer at Atlanta, the food supply sup-ply drops actually to tho starvation point in both quantity and quality, they stand forward as thoy did then as champions for tho rest of the men; thoy protest openly, they will not- bo whoodlcd or terrorized, and thev go to tho hole as ono man. Nor will they como out then until tho wardon comes to them and promises improvement. The warden promises, not because he desires improvements, but because he fears the scandal ot mutiny in the prison an inconveniont thing "when one is supposed to bo conducting con-ducting a model institution; nnd evon an easy-going public, which will tolerate tol-erate other forms of cruelty to convicts, con-victs, feels compunction about starving thorn, especially when it is tuxed to provido them with wholesome and sufficient suf-ficient food. About my friend II. I have no space hero to tell his storyt nor to outline out-line it oven; it is a terriblo one. I mil' be able some time, in another pluee, to present it in full. I will say now only that ho was onco confined for three years in a contract labor jail which has tho worst features conceiv able in any prison or touay or ot a hundred 3'e'ara ago, aud mon aro killed there by "overwork and punishments ns a matter of routine; few survive the treatment so long as H. did. Once during dur-ing his throo 'ears ho uttered three words aloud; for that he was punished so long and so savagely that tho horror of it yet remains with him. Prisoners consta'ntly maim their bands volim-tarily volim-tarily in the machincrv in order to bo quit-of tho torture of the work; the blooding stumps of thoir fingers or hands are roughly bound up and they are driven back to their machines. The warden is an oily, comfortable rogue, who beams upon visitors and fools the prison commission to fh'o top of its bent, nnd he hours an excellent reputation reputa-tion for the Jnrge amount of work hr gets out of his prisoners. "They just lovo it, my boys do," h'o aors; "nothing like work to keep the men happv, you know." And then, when I tho coast is clear, lie turns upon his boys liko a bloodthirsty tiger. But what 1 wish to :ay here is that when 11. at last finished ids term and was thrust forth into the crowded street of the city his legs failed him, -and he tottered along, cenred like a wild beast at the noise and bustle. A man addressed him, aud ho stared at him blankly and could not command his tongue to speak words. He wandered . on irregularly, starting at imaginary dangers, unnerved nt the height of the sky, tho noise, the moo mcnl. Ho sought the least frequented streets, but his aspect and bearing made people look suspiciously at him, aud ho found his way to the shuns. where ho got a room aud shut himself in with a feeling of relief. It wan scv-oral scv-oral days before he could school himself to talk' and act like an ordinary hu man being. His health was shattered, though ho was natural' a strong aud hearty man; eating made him sick, though he was faint for lack of right feeding. Hounding of Spy System. Ho could find no steady cmplo men. but holpod himself along with odd job here and there. Uo was resolute to keep straight, but an ol'd pal of his happened to meet him, did him some JA good turns, nnd finally proposed hi? joining two or thrco men in a prom-ising prom-ising burglary. II. asked time to think it ovoi and that night he left the city in a sort of panic, and trav olcd to a largo town a hundred miles away. Here ho &uccccded in getting a good job: his spirits began to r$ ivc; he made somo good acquaintance and prospered beyond all expectation for nearly a year. One day ho no ticed 11 man in the street who stared at hmi; not long after he saw the same man standing in front of the house in which he lodged; tho next moTuing his landlord came to him aud, with homr embarrassment, said that he wo'ld have to aIi him for bih room: a re!n tivo v.as about to visit him .and he needed the accommodation, it was as he had feared the dote ties had run him down. He put what ho possessed in a trunk and left toun that evening for a place nearly a thou sand miles west. Here he was left 1111 disturbed for fifteen months, and rnado a new start in business. Then the chief of the local police tent for him and said. "I don t want to be rough on you: hut tho best thing 'on can do i" jf to skip; we're onto you understand?'! "But I'm doing n straight business" H. pleaded. "You. may bo; but you re a crook," was the reply. Wo need not follow him further: ho was driven from one placo to another. At last he was caught with stolen goods on him, he having undertaken 'j to help an old friend of hi out of a tight place by carrying his gripsack from one place to another; it proed to contain 'some plunder from a recent burglary. He not off with a two-year sentonco: but it was tho end of his jH attempt ' io reform. " Crooked or straight, T'll end in jail," he said to inc. with that strange convict smile which moans such unspeakable thing. "I've got two years more here: if 1 last if out. thov'II got mo again." T firmlv boliove that ho would have jH been an "ho'ucst and successful man if he had been let alone. Man Afraid to Be Free. It sometimes liappcns that tho man-hood man-hood of u convict m so eupped by lonp sufferings that oven lib desire for frc- jH dom Is lost. He is afraid to bo free; lie jH cannot live at case outsido of Ills eel' v:ills. Perhaps you will say that soc to prove the Rciulencss ami humanity of prison discipline-. To mo It sccms a thins so appalling that I must bu content wltii the bare statement of the fact. A ma" Is afraid to be free, afraid of thy Sfcnl wonderful world, aud of Ida fellon creatures, and can onduro what he sup- jB poses to be life only iu his steel coll What has put that fear In him? But our laws provido no penalty for do- jM humanizing a fellow creature under the forms of law. If it bo legal, It must be right. 1,1 1 knew a man in our prison who had been thirty-live years In confinement, with short intervals of liberty. Tho best H-H fuvor ho could nslc was to be allowed to stav all day and all nlgnt in his cell, doing nothing. Year after year, nothlnp cIhc than this appeared to him worth while. Ho was well educated, as prls- IB oners so, quiet and inoffensive. "I wish Bomc doctor would examine me and tell mc what Is the matter with mc," he re-marked re-marked to me once, "ilaybo I'm crazy After all, the world. In Its way, is as hard a placo for ex-convicts ns a jail: more cruel, perhaps, lnnsmuch ns it JM sterns to offer hopos that Jails Jcnv. jH But can a world be called civilized that JH Is satisfied with that arrangement? (Copyright, by the Wheeler Syndl- IH catc, Tnc) jjH |