{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_75420/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_75420","id":"gutenberg_75420","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75420","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Law & Criminology","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Sociology","Prisons","Prisons -- West Virginia"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Note\n  Italic text displayed as: _italic_\n\n\n\n\n  BEHIND\n  THE PRISON BARS.\n\n  _A REMINDER OF OUR DUTIES\n  TOWARD THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SO UNFORTUNATE\n  AS TO BE CAST INTO PRISON._\n\n  By E. E. BYRUM,\n\n  Author of \u201cThe Secret of Salvation,\u201d \u201cDivine Healing of Soul\n  and Body,\u201d \u201cThe Great Physician,\u201d \u201cThe\n  Boy\u2019s Companion,\u201d Etc.\n\n  \u201c_Remember them that are in bonds,\n  as bound with them._\u201d\u2014_Heb. 13:3._\n\n  GOSPEL TRUMPET PUBLISHING CO.,\n\n  MOUNDSVILLE, W. VA.\n\n  1901.\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1901,\n  BY\n  E. E. BYRUM.\n\n\n\n\nAUTHOR\u2019S PREFACE.\n\n\nHelp a man who is in trouble and manifest a care for his soul, even\nthough he is an enemy; it touches a tender chord of his hardened heart,\ntends to loose the binding powers of sin, causing him to look up with\nhope. Realizing the great neglect of duty toward them who are behind\nthe prison-bars, unable to help themselves in many respects, inspired\nthe writing of this volume. It was not the intention of the author\nto write a thorough work on this subject, but to call attention to a\nfew facts concerning the prisons and jails, also the treatment and\nprivileges of the inmates, and thus awaken the people to a sense of\nduty and the manifestation of a feeling of sympathy. The majority of\npeople have never visited a jail or state prison, consequently know but\nlittle about them, and feel little, if any, responsibility on that line.\n\nAbout two years ago the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company of\nMoundsville, W. Va., established a fund for sending out literature\nfree to the poor, to jails, prisons, and wherever most needed. As much\nas ten thousand dollars\u2019 worth of books, tracts, and papers have in\nthis way been sent out during one year to various parts of the United\nStates, Canada, Europe, and other foreign countries. Yet it seems only\na drop in the bucket, as it were, in consideration of what should be\ndone. It is our earnest prayer that the readers of this little volume\nwill at once put forth the greatest possible effort to properly supply\nthe prisoners and thus aid in bringing about a reformation in their\nlives.\n\nIn order to show the result of some of the efforts put forth to supply\nthe prisoners with good literature and their appreciation of the same,\nquite a number of letters from prisoners and prison officials have been\ninserted. While these letters have quite a similarity, yet it is hoped\nthat their sameness will not destroy their interest in consideration\nof the fact that thereby the prisoners from a broad scope of territory\nhave the privilege of giving expression to their feeling of gratitude\ntoward those who have thus manifested their friendship.\n\nThe names have been omitted of those who have written letters and\ntestimonies; however, they appear in full in the original manuscript\nand are genuine. Only the serial numbers are given to those whose\nbiographies appear in the book. We are grateful for the kind assistance\nof prison officials and prisoners who have kindly contributed. Further\ncommunications, or letters, from prisoners or any one interested in\nthis line of work will be gladly received by the author. With an\nearnest prayer for the salvation of every prisoner, I remain,\n\n  Yours in Him,\n  E. E. BYRUM.\n\nMoundsville, W. Va., July 4, 1901.\n\n\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n\n                                                                   PAGE.\n\n  In Prison.                                                           9\n\n  Make the Best of It.                                                12\n\n  Punishment.                                                         14\n\n  Capital Punishment.                                                 22\n\n  Life Imprisonment.                                                  26\n\n  The Dungeon.                                                        28\n\n  Cat-o\u2019-nine-tails.                                                  33\n\n  Buck and Gagged.                                                    34\n\n  Lock-step March.                                                    34\n\n  Literary Privileges.                                                37\n\n  Tobacco Allowance.                                                  46\n\n  The Prisoner\u2019s Work.                                                47\n\n  The Stockades.                                                      48\n\n  The Chain Gang.                                                     49\n\n  The Felon\u2019s Cell.                                                   53\n\n  The Library.                                                        56\n\n  The Chapel.                                                         58\n\n  Scaling the Prison Walls.                                           60\n\n  A Prison Reform.                                                    64\n\n  History of West Virginia Penitentiary.                              73\n  (As Written by a Prisoner.)\n\n  Letters from Prison Officials.                                     107\n\n  Testimonies of Convicts.                                           121\n\n  Released from Prison.                                              141\n\n\n\n\n_LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS._\n\n\n                                                                   PAGE.\n\n  The Black List.                                                     19\n\n  Cat-o\u2019-nine-tails.                                                  31\n\n  Lock-step March.                                                    35\n\n  The Chain Gang.                                                     51\n\n  Scaling the Prison Walls.                                           61\n\n  Tracked by Bloodhounds\u2014Captured.                                    69\n\n  Penitentiary of the State of West Virginia.                        105\n\n  The Younger Brothers.                                              145\n\n\n\n\n_BEHIND THE PRISON-BARS._\n\n[Illustration: Decoration]\n\n\n\n\nIN PRISON.\n\n\nOur country is called the land of the free, but could we at one glance\nbehold the thousands and tens of thousands now behind the prison-bars\nand know their irksome lives, there would be an awakening in hearts\nthat have never known the bondage that exists in our midst.\n\nA crime is perpetrated. Some one is arraigned before the court to\nanswer the charges as to whether he is guilty or not. The jury renders\na verdict, \u201cGuilty.\u201d The judge pronounces the sentence a term in\nprison. The poor unfortunate is now considered a convict. Shackles are\nbrought to make him secure, in order to prevent his escape. An officer\naccompanies him to his prison house, where he is to be in servitude\naccording to the length of his term of sentence. No one but the\nprisoner realizes the awful feelings as the prison door shuts behind\nhim with a clang, and he hears the click of the lock fastening him in\nan iron cell. Whether innocent or guilty, he feels the awful disgrace\nupon himself and his friends. It would not seem so bad if only the\nguilty were brought to justice in this way, but ofttimes the facts\nreveal that not only hundreds, but thousands, of innocent persons are\nthus sentenced and brought into disgrace, many of them serving a life\nsentence.\n\nThere are two sides to prison life\u2014a bright side, and a dark side. It\nmay be a query in the minds of some how there could be any enjoyment or\nany bright side to such a life, but this will be clearly shown in other\nchapters in this book. There are many things that go to make the prison\nlife a dark one. Viewing the matter from a natural standpoint, with no\none to look to but human help, the way does truly often look dark and\ndreary. There are prisons where men are cast into dungeons and left to\nalmost starve to death, or they are bound hand and foot and beaten with\nthe cat-o-nine tails, or hanged by the thumbs, or made to pass through\nsome severe ordeal of punishment that is almost beyond human endurance.\nEven in our own country there are yet stockades wherein prisoners do\nnot receive treatment that would elevate them nor fit them for the\nhigher circles of society. Many of these stockades wherein prisoners\nhave been kept during the years past have been but little, if any,\nbetter in many respects than were the Andersonville or Libby prisons\nduring the Rebellion. There are exceptional cases to be sure. During\nthe past year a number of the states have not properly provided for\ntheir prisoners. It has not been an uncommon thing in some of these\nstockades to see a gang of men shackled together with chains, obliged\nto go about with the clanking chains to their feet, under rigid rules,\nand having to suffer the severe treatment of wicked and ungodly guards.\n\nThe National Prison Association, which is generally represented by\nofficers from the various prisons throughout the United States,\nhave for a number of years met annually to discuss the best modes\nof handling and caring for the prisoners. Various methods have been\nset forth. Experiments have been made, and too often it is the case\nthat hard-hearted officers have used the most excruciating means and\nhard-heartedness in their dealings toward their prisoners, in order\nto keep them in subjection. Some officers deem it necessary to speak\nto prisoners in the sternest possible manner, imagining that being\ncross, gruff, and surly toward them will make them feel a subordination\nthat can be brought about in no other way. This only deepens the\nsorrows of the poor unfortunate prisoner and tends to harden his\nheart and affections. Such officers forget that kind looks, gentle\nactions, and words of encouragement fitly spoken will elevate a man\nand encourage him to show his manhood and return the love by putting\nforth his best efforts to show his appreciation of kindness. It is\ntrue there are hard-hearted men in prison, men who would kill a man\nfor a trifle, whose consciences are seared over, as it were, yet there\nare comparatively few men so hard-hearted but can be touched by love\nand kindness. There are times when more severe punishment must be\ninflicted, but the warden and prison officers who continually show\nforth kindness toward the prisoners, greeting them with a smile and\nwords of encouragement, have but little trouble in bringing about a\ngreat reform in the lives of those under their charge.\n\n\n\n\nMAKE THE BEST OF IT.\n\n\nThere are thousands in prisons whose hands have been stained with the\nblood of their fellow men; others whose hearts are hardened in sin\nand their lives blackened with many crimes; while again, there are\nthose who are innocent, and some who have been cast into prison for\nChrist\u2019s sake. But whether innocent or guilty, the most expedient thing\nis to make the best of the situation. Worrying over the separation\nfrom friends, the disgrace that is brought about, and bewailing the\ncondition of things in general, will by no means help the matter. If\na sin or crime has been committed it is not hidden from the God of\nheaven, and though the prisoner maybe shut in for years he can have the\nsoul liberated from all the sins committed, by confessing them unto\nthe Lord, calling upon him, and believing that he does forgive; as\nthe Bible tells us in 1 Jno. 1:9 that, \u201cif we confess our sins, he is\nfaithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all\nunrighteousness.\u201d\n\nThe dear prisoner should make a decision for the right at once, cast\naway his gloom, doubts, and fears, and remember the words of the\napostle, who urges people to cast their care upon the Lord, for he\ncareth for them. He is a very present help in time of trouble. By the\nhelp of Almighty God the prisoner can yet make his mark in the world.\nHe can rise above every foe and be of some use before his life closes.\nWhile he is in the midst of the most desperate characters in the land,\nyet he can have good associates. He can commune with God when alone\nin his cell. He can call for good books and holy literature, read the\nBible, and make every effort to please the Lord and those around him.\nHe can so live that even the prison walls will be a hallowed spot unto\nhim. It was while John Bunyan was serving a twelve-year sentence in\nprison that he wrote the notable book \u201cThe Pilgrim\u2019s Progress,\u201d which\nhas been a help and comfort to multitudes of people. He no doubt worked\noften under adverse circumstances and completed his work through many\ndifficulties and much hard labor. Likewise Martin Luther translated the\nNew Testament while in prison, and wrote a number of other valuable\nworks. The apostle Paul wrote a number of his epistles while in prison.\nHe and others with him sometimes were punished by stripes until they\nwere left lacerated and bleeding, then cast into prison and bound\nhand and foot. It was under such circumstances that one time Paul\nand Silas were found praising the Lord, singing and shouting at the\nmidnight hour, when the Lord sent an earthquake and rent the prison\nwalls, throwing open the doors and loosing the shackles, setting them\nfree; but they did not flee from the prison until they received proper\norders. It was their faithfulness that caused the jailer to ask what\nhe should do to be saved. Paul told him to believe on the Lord Jesus\nChrist. The generous jailor then took the brethren and washed their\nstripes and properly cared for them, and soon they were dismissed and\nsent on their way. It often happens that some must suffer an unjust\npunishment. To such we can only say, Be of good courage; look up and\ntrust for better days.\n\n\n\n\nPUNISHMENT.\n\n\nPeople are sentenced to a term in prison on account of crime committed.\nThere are two systems of punishment. One is called punitive or\nretributive system, the other the corrective or reformative. Until\nwithin the last few years the punitive system was almost the exclusive\none. However, our humane officers, prison officials, lawmakers and\nstatesmen are not only learning better ways of bringing men and women\nthus incarcerated into subjection, but in many places are making and\nenforcing laws which require that prisoners be more humanely treated\nand receive better care and accommodations. Men have resorted to\nalmost every possible device in order to make bad men good and raise\nthem from ignorance to intelligence, and in so doing have inflicted\nthe most severe punishment, causing the prisoners to pass through\nseverest ordeals and most terrible sufferings imaginable. When we say\nthere has been a radical change in many of our prisons in the land in\ndiscarding the severe corporal punishment, we do not wish to convey\nthe idea that all prisons have yet accepted the more humane ways of\ngoverning the prisoners under their charge. When we say some of these\npunishments have been and are yet severe it does not fully express\nthe facts of the case. The word \u201csevere\u201d is not a strong enough word.\nThere have been and are yet punishments that are brutal\u2014brutal to the\nextreme. Many prisoners who are within the prison walls carry the deep\nlash marks of the whip; the unjointed and deformed thumbs resulting\nfrom the punishment of being hanged by the thumbs; and there are other\ndeformities. Many of us can no doubt remember the time of our early\ndays in the country school when the schoolmaster was almost constantly\nwith a beach or birch whip in his hand, something equal to an ox goad.\nThis instrument for correcting the youths of our land and bringing\nthem into subjection, when not in the schoolmaster\u2019s hand was in the\ncorner near by and was generally freely used. There have been, however,\nsuch a radical change and better modes of government brought about,\nthat many schools are taught without once using such an instrument of\npunishment. If such a successful change has been made in our public\nschools, surely as radical a change can be made in our prisons, to take\nthe place of the brutality of the past. Concerning the easy government\nof the prisoners there is much that depends upon those in charge of the\nprisoners. The warden, chaplain, and prison guards who have direct care\nof the prisoners should be good, whole-souled men, kind and benevolent,\nand who are capable of appreciating the good traits of a man even\nthough they may be covered by many dark ones. They should be good\nreaders of human nature and understand the dispositions of those under\ntheir charge. They should be firm and unyielding to their trust, yet\nloving and tender.\n\nMr. Meade, warden of the state prison at Auburn, N. Y., says: \u201cTill the\nnature of criminals undergoes a complete change, nay, till the nature\nof man is much altered, there will be times when punishment must be\ninflicted on prisoners. Much as we have gained on using the modern\nreformed treatment, and much as we may justly expect to gain in the\nfuture, the fact remains that there are times in the prison life of men\nwhen the results of their former passions crop out irresistibly, making\nthem for a time not accessible to friendly reproof. At such times, for\nthe effect it has on others, but quite as much for its effect on its\nmisdemeanant, it is necessary to forcibly bring him to recognition of\nhis obligations and his duty. But to my mind forcible restraining,\nor to employ the common term, punishing a convict, does not require\nthe use of the paddle or other instruments of torture; furthermore, in\nmy judgment, such process should be condemned in the strongest terms.\nFor they tend to imbitter not only the man punished but all prisoners\nagainst the officers of the prison, the rules of the prison, and law\nitself. One instance of the use of the paddle would do more to destroy\nthe desired friendly relation between officers and men than many months\nof considerate treatment could restore. No! Experience has proved to\nme that when it is imperative that an inmate be punished, the screened\ncell or dungeon without discretion furnishes an effective mode. Such\ncells should be kept dry and well ventilated, but wholly devoid of\nfurnishings. Confining men thus and supplying them with a very limited\namount of food and water has, in the great majority of cases which\nhave come under my observation, speedily brought the desired result of\nmaking a man see the advisibility of abiding by the regulations of the\ninstitution.\u201d\n\nThere are also other ways, however, of vividly impressing the minds of\nthose who are disorderly, or who insist on not observing the prison\nrules. Most prisons have what is called \u201cshort time;\u201d that is, for\ngood behavior their sentence is shortened so many days each month, and\nin some prisons a certain percentage of the worth of their labor is\nplaced to their credit for good behavior. One of the effective ways\nof bringing them to time when they become stubborn and rebellious,\nrefusing to obey the rules, is to withhold the commutation, or short\ntime, and also deduct so much of the compensation money that has been\nplaced to their credit. This is generally much more effective and\npleads to the reason and common sense of the prisoner more than some\nforcible persuasion by way of corporal punishment.\n\nFor certain offences some are black-listed to be punished in various\nways. One is, during working hours or while others are resting or at\nservices on Sunday, the disobedient convict is to march for a few hours\naround the prison square and carry a heavy piece of railroad iron,\nweighing from fifty to one hundred pounds.\n\n[Illustration: The Black List.]\n\nCaptain Smith, a few years ago, in giving his biennial report of the\nKansas prison, said: \u201cThe discipline has been carefully looked after\nand as a general thing prisoners yield to a strict discipline better\nthan most people think. They seem to see and realize the necessity of\nrules and very seldom complain, if they violate them, at the punishment\nthat is sure to follow. Our punishments are of such a character that\nthey do not degrade. Kansas, when she established her penitentiary,\nprohibited corporal punishment. She is one of the few states that\nby law prohibits the use of the whip and strap, taking the position\nthat it is better to use kindness than to resort to brutal measures.\nI have often been told, and that too by old prison men, that\nit is impossible to run a prison and have first-class discipline\nwithout the whip. Such is not my experience. We have had within our\nwalls perhaps as desperate men as ever received a sentence. We have\ncontrolled them and have maintained a good discipline second to none\nin the country. How did we accomplish this? Our answer is, By being\nkind but firm, treating a man, although a prisoner, as a man, and if\nhe violates rules, lock him up and give him an opportunity to commune\nwith himself and his Maker; also give him to understand that he is the\nexecutioner of his own sentence, and when he concludes that he can\ndo right, release him. It matters not how vicious, how stubborn, or\nwhat kind of a temper he may have, when left with no one to talk to\nand an opportunity to cool down and with the knowledge that when he\ncomes to the conclusion that he will do better he can be released, he\nleaves the cell feeling very different from the prisoner who leaves\nthe whipping-post after having received any number of lashes that the\nbrutal officer may desire to inflict. One goes to his work cheerful\nand determined to behave himself; the other dogged, revengeful, and\ncompletely humiliated, only lives in hope that he may at some time take\nhis revenge upon the person that ordered or inflicted the punishment\nand upon the state or country that would by its laws tolerate such a\nbrutal or slavish practice.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCAPITAL PUNISHMENT.\n\n\nBeing put to death for crime or some misdemeanor is termed capital\npunishment. This is not the most painful but is the most heinous of\nall punishments. It is a heathenish practice, yet men make laws, sit\nin judgment, render decisions, pronounce sentences, and thereby shed\nthe blood of their fellow men, trying to hide behind the laws that are\nmade, trying to screen themselves by the Bible, hoping all will be well\nin the day of judgment. Because of such lawmakers and lawyers, many\nare sentenced and hurled into eternity without being prepared to meet\nGod. Will God hold us innocent if we do such things? or if we cry not\nout against such, will he not look down upon a government and nation\nstained with human blood? Surely there is guilt that must be removed.\nWhen the judge rises and pronounces the death sentence, to ease his\nconscience in the matter he sometimes quotes from Genesis 9:6: \u201cWhoso\nsheddeth man\u2019s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.\u201d Even though that\nscripture could apply in such cases in those days, it can not at the\npresent time. It is true that under the law of Moses life was given for\nlife as a punishment. For many trivial things people were stoned to\ndeath, even for the breaking of the Sabbath.\n\n\u201cThen thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand\nfor hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe\nfor stripe.\u201d\u2014Ex. 21:23-25.\n\n\u201cThen thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for\neye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.\u201d\u2014Deut. 19:21.\n\n\u201cAnd he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that\nkilleth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. And if a man cause\na blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;\nbreach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a\nblemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that killeth\na beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be\nput to death.\u201d\n\nWe are not living under the law of Moses in this day and age of the\nworld, neither are we justified by the law, but we are living in\na different dispensation. Paul says the law of Moses was a law of\nbondage, and through Jesus Christ we are free from that bondage. The\nlaw of Moses and the prophets were until John (Luke 16:16), and we now\nlive in the dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and nowhere\ndoes he give men the privilege of making and enforcing laws that\nwould make the taking of man\u2019s life justifiable. We do not read the\ninstructions of Jesus Christ to be \u201cLife for life, eye for eye, and\ntooth for tooth,\u201d neither by way of rendering the sentence of the law\nupon those who have taken the life of their fellow man, nor by acting\nupon the impulse in taking revenge for personal offence or injury. In\nspeaking of the law of Moses and what was written concerning the people\nof olden times, Jesus in that memorable sermon on the mount said: \u201cYe\nhave heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a\ntooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall\nsmite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.\u201d\u2014Matt. 5:38,\n39. Jesus Christ taught the law of love, even taught that we should\nlove our enemies and do good to them that hate us and despitefully use\nus. He taught that people should show mercy to their fellow men. Even\nwhen wicked Cain slew his brother Abel because of a slight offence,\nand though he feared that men would put him to death, God gave him to\nunderstand that he would not have him put to death, but that he should\nbe protected from such a penalty, although his hands were stained with\nhis brother\u2019s blood.\n\nIn Galatians 5:4 Paul gave the people to understand that they were not\njustified by the law of Moses; he said: \u201cChrist is become of no effect\nunto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen\nfrom grace.\u201d Neither are people justified in the sight of God for\nmaking and enforcing laws that will take the life of their fellow men.\nMerely quoting the words, \u201cWhoso sheddeth man\u2019s blood, by man shall his\nblood be shed,\u201d will not remove the guilt. To call such lawmaking and\nenforcement heathenism does not give full expression to the subject;\nnay, it is barbarism in the extreme. Some may severely criticize these\nterms and the views expressed here, but we fearlessly assert that\nsuch is truth. We are glad to know that a few states in our so-called\nland of liberty have become awakened on this line and refuse to make\nor enforce such a law. Those who still try to hide behind the law of\nMoses, why not carry out that law in full and stone to death every man\nor woman who breaks the Sabbath?\n\nThere is another side to the picture. It is sometimes the case that\na man who is put to death is innocent of the crime for which he is\ncharged. Whether innocent or guilty, a great number of those thus\npunished pass into eternity unsaved. With many of them it has been\nan act performed on the impulse of the moment. Their former lives,\nperhaps, have been upright, viewing them from a standpoint of morality.\nAgain, it is often the case that a family is left in a critical\ncondition to battle for life with this cold world. A delicate wife with\nhelpless children must thus be weighed down in sorrow and bereavement,\npoverty staring them in the face, crushed with shame and disgrace, with\nno one to provide for them and no help nor special protection from the\nstate whose laws have forever removed the one to whom they looked for\nmaintenance and protection.\n\n\n\n\nLIFE IMPRISONMENT.\n\n\nLife imprisonment is an unjust sentence. Life prisoners are those\nwho have received their sentence for murdering a fellow being. In\nmany cases, however, they can not really be classed as criminals.\nThey are victims of circumstances. The deed was not premeditated but\nwas brought about on the impulse of the moment. The sentence of a\nlifelong imprisonment forever deprives of the liberties of freedom\nand the association of friends and relatives, and the only hope of\nfreedom is an escape, then to remain a fugitive from justice. Mr.\nMeade in his report suggests that the life prisoner should be allowed\nthe same privilege of commutation or short time as is given other\nprisoners, and in this give him a hope of release. There are tables\nwhich insurance companies use (and they are supported by the courts)\nwhich fix an average limit of years of the existence of a man,\ncomputing from the first year; the interval beyond the present age\nnaturally decreasing as old age approaches. He says: \u201cIt would seem\nthat these tables furnish a foundation on which a system for life\nprisoners should be based. For instance, a man twenty years of age is\nconvicted of murder and sentenced to prison for life. Our tables show\nthat the average number of years for a man of that age still to live\nis approximately thirty-four. Figuring the legal commutation on this\nterm of thirty-four years, we find the prisoner would be compelled\nto serve about twenty-three years of solid time. A man thirty years\nold would on the same basis, having about thirty years to live, serve\neighteen years; a man forty years old, having about twenty-five years\nto live, would serve sixteen years in prison. Thus we might continue\nour observations indefinitely.\u201d\n\nMy views of this matter may be severely criticised, nevertheless\nwe do not consider that five years is unreasonably short for the\nfirst offence of murder. This releases the innocent man who may\nhave been sentenced through circumstantial evidence or otherwise by\nfalse accusation. It is a long sentence for a man who has acted on\nthe impulse of the moment or in a fit of anger; and even to the one\nwho has premeditated the crime, five years of hard labor and proper\ntraining in a prison will be an impressive lesson to cause him not to\nrepeat the act. For a second offence it should not be more than ten\nor fifteen years, and even for a third offence it would not be out of\nreason to give him the life sentence with the regular commutation. This\nreasoning may to many at first thought seem ridiculous, but upon proper\nconsideration we should remember that as long as there is life there\nis hope, and while there is a possibility of reformation a man should\nhave some kind of a chance; not only a chance to reform, but a chance\nto enjoy his liberty. Even after he has served two or three terms he\nis not then a worse character and not more dangerous to a community\nthan thousands of others who are just as guilty but have not suffered\nthe penalty of the law. When a man has served according to the penalty\nhere suggested, has he not suffered sufficient to satisfy the law? and\nshould we not be willing to allow him the privileges of liberty and to\nenjoy life once more? It is a hard heart indeed that will place a man\nbehind prison-bars for life. In England there is a possibility of being\nset at liberty after twenty years, on account of good behavior. There\nneeds to be a radical change in our laws on this line.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DUNGEON.\n\n\nThis is the dreaded place of all prisons and in many places resorted to\noftener than necessary. Many prisoners who work in the mines have had\nto go to the dungeon without their supper after laboring hard all day,\nbecause ungodly and wicked guards reported a shortage in the proper\namount of coal mined, when the facts of the case were that the guards\nhad stolen or removed a portion of the coal from the car after it left\nthe prisoner, because of their dislike for the prisoner and by so doing\ncould have him punished. It also too often happens that prisoners\nrefuse to work as they should, and deserve the punishment. It is not\nnecessary to here describe the filthy, stifling, odorous dungeons\nof war times or of some of the worst prisons of the day, but a\ndescription of the dungeon of one of the best prisons in our land will\nbe sufficient. The following is a description given by one who served a\nterm in prison. In describing the punishment to secure good discipline,\nhe said:\n\n\u201cTo me these contingency dungeons are, as their name implies, dark,\nwith similarity to an ordinary cell with the exception of a door which\nin the common cell contains open spaces for the admission of light, but\nthe dark cell admits no light, and not a sufficient quantity of air.\nThere is no furniture in this dark cell. While undergoing punishment\nif a prisoner desires to rest he can do so by reclining on the stone\nfloor. No refractory prisoner ever grows corpulent while confined in\nthese dark cells, as he receives only one meal of bread and water in\ntwenty-four hours. The prisoner is often kept in one of these cells\nfrom eight to ten days. Sleep is almost impossible. When a prisoner\nenters the dungeon he is required to leave behind him his coat, cap,\nand shoes. During the winter months it is often very cold in these\ncells, requiring the prisoner to walk up and down the dungeon in his\nstocking feet to prevent his freezing, and this for a period of ten\ndays in nearly every instance compels submission. After the dark cells\nthaw out in the summer months they are excessively hot. Sometimes in\nwinter the temperature is below zero, and in summer it often rises\nto 100 degrees. They are then veritable furnaces. Generally after\nthe prisoner undergoes a freezing or baking process for eight or\nten days, he is willing to behave himself in the future. They are\nsometimes so reduced and weakened that when brought out of the dark\ncell they can scarcely walk without aid. I have seen them reel to and\nfro like drunken men. They are often as pale as death. In many cases\nthe prisoner contracts cold which later on terminates fatally, and this\nis one of the principal objections to this mode of punishment. If the\nprisoner in the mine does not get out his regular weekly task of coal,\non Saturday he is reported to the deputy sheriff by the officer in\ncharge and is sent to the blind cell before supper and kept there until\nthe following Monday morning, when he is taken out and sent to his\nwork in the mines. While in there he gets only bread and water once in\ntwenty-four hours. This is a great inducement to work, which certainly\nprevents criminals from shirking their labor, and soon converts the\nlazy tramp into a hustling coal miner. If being in this dark cell\nten days and nights is insufficient to subdue a rebellious spirit of\nthe convict he is taken out and placed in the solitary cell. This is\nsimilar to the ordinary cell with the exception that it contains no\nfurniture. Here the convict remains on bread and water until he is\nstarved almost to death or until he is willing to submit and do his\nwork as ordered.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The Cat-o\u2019nine-tails]\n\n\n\n\nCAT-O\u2019-NINE-TAILS.\n\n\nA few years ago while visiting an Indiana penitentiary the warden said\nthat some years before they used the cat-o\u2019-nine-tails in punishing\ntheir prisoners, but had discarded that mode of punishment. There are\nmen both in prison and out of prison who carry furrows and scars on\ntheir backs caused by the deep flesh wounds of the cat-o\u2019-nine-tails.\nThis is a whip with lashes some of which have wire interwoven so as to\ncut the flesh with every stroke. The poor prisoner must bare his back\nand be chained or shackled to a post and beaten by a merciless officer,\nwho is often only too glad to wreak his vengeance in that way. It is\nyet the case in many prisons and stockades that a similar punishment\nis inflicted with the exception of not so many lashes, and a strap is\nsometimes used, from two to four inches wide, made by sewing two pieces\nof harness leather together. The same is perforated, soaked in water\nover night, and dipped in the sand. This, when vigorously applied to\nthe bare flesh, causes the most excruciating pain. This is not in the\nleast overdrawing the picture of what is constantly put into practice\nat the present time.\n\n\n\n\nBUCK-AND-GAGGED.\n\n\nThis is another dreadful punishment which is still in vogue in some\nplaces. The prisoner is taken and handcuffed, his hands slipped over\nin front of his knees and sometimes a stick passed through just under\nhis knees and over his wrists, his mouth opened ofttimes by force, and\nfilled with a large cork or piece of wood, and left in this condition\nuntil life is almost extinct. This punishment is serious and is apt to\nmake the prisoner revengeful instead of making him feel that he has\nbeen justly punished.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LOCK-STEP MARCH.\n\n\n[Illustration: The Lock-step March]\n\nThe lock-step march is a humane punishment, yet when continued a\ngreat length of time is very tiresome. Prisoners who have been guilty\nof some trivial offence during the week, and who are not otherwise\npunished, are generally called upon to fall in line and proceed to the\nopen square of the prison, and there while the other prisoners are\nresting or at chapel exercises they must keep in constant motion in the\nlock-step march. This punishment is not as severe as some others, yet\nit is not a desirable punishment, especially when the others are all\nenjoying a rest or comfortably seated in the chapel during religions\nservices. When the hundreds of prisoners are gathered in the chapel\non Sunday morning and comfortably seated, the warden or some other\nofficer reads the names of those who are to join in the lock-step\nmarch. It is not for them to retaliate nor plead their innocence,\nneither wait to be told the second time. As soon as their names are\ncalled they must immediately rise and as the last name is called they\nare all marched out to the prison yard and there begin their tiresome\nmarch. Some who have committed greater offences must walk in front and\ncarry heavy bars of iron. This punishment is given to stimulate them to\nobserve the proper rules and discipline of the prison.\n\n\n\n\nLITERARY PRIVILEGES.\n\n\nThe literary privileges are so widely different in the various prisons\nthroughout the land that it would be very difficult to render the\nproper information. There are some penitentiaries, and especially\nthe stockades of the South, without libraries, and many prisoners\neven serve a term without being granted any educational privileges\nwhatever, either by way of literary work or reading of good books. It\nis more difficult in the stockades to give the literary privileges\nthan in other established prisons. However, there are states with\nestablished penitentiaries that have not provided the same with\nlibraries and proper literary accommodations. On the other hand,\nmany of the penitentiaries have established schools wherein prisoners\ncan obtain a fair education. For instance, the Michigan state prison\nmore than twenty-five years ago established graded schools, and all\nprisoners who have not a fair education are required four evenings of\nthe week to attend these schools for an hour and a half. In this way\nthe prisoner is not only benefited, but it brings him under a new line\nof discipline that enables the officer in charge to become familiar\nwith his mental condition and capabilities and more fully understand\nthe dispositions of those under his charge. Men who are thus drilled\nand properly cared for, after going through this discipline day after\nday, cause less trouble to those in charge. In the prisons where the\nmost humane reformative system of management is used there can be many\nthings brought to bear upon the minds of the prisoners that will tend\nto elevate them and fit them for the higher circles of society. By the\nproper treatment and privileges they will soon learn to have a taste\nfor literary work. A few prisons give the prisoners the privileges\nof general literary work, such as delivering orations, recitations,\nessays, debates, etc. These things, while they educate and develop\nthe mind, have a tendency to divert the mind of the prisoner from the\nfeelings of disgrace and the deplorable situation; and instead of\nspending hours brooding in despondency it awakens an activity of the\nmind and new thoughts for consideration during the solitary hours.\n\nEvery prison should supply each cell with a Bible. Many do this while\nothers do not. The prisoners should also have access to the library and\npermission to call for any book in the library. Where they are thus\nlooked after it is the duty of certain prisoners to go to each cell and\nlearn what book is desired for the coming week and to take up the one\nwhich was in their possession during the past week. These requests are\ntaken to the librarian and the books selected and distributed according\nto number. Prisoners who mutilate or destroy the books in any way are\ndenied the privilege of having a book to read for a few weeks. If the\noffence is repeated the punishment on this line is more severe and they\nare then neither allowed to receive a book or paper or are refused all\nprivileges of the library and not even allowed to have paper or writing\nmaterial to communicate with their friends. With most prisoners this\nis a severe punishment. One who has not been thus incarcerated or had\nto spend weeks and months in solitude can scarcely realize the value\nof good books to read under such circumstances. But he who has had the\nactual experience knows just how to appreciate such a privilege.\n\nDuring the civil war a number of Union men made a daring raid through\nthe Confederate line and were afterward captured and cast into dungeons\nwhere they spent weeks of suffering, amid heart-rending scenes, and\nnotwithstanding their extreme hunger, thirst, and the stifling odor of\ntheir dark underground prison and suffering much from their shackles\nand clanking chains, they were taken from place to place and then\nbrought to trial. Seven of their number were hanged, leaving about a\ndozen remaining who were expecting to be called out to follow in their\nfootsteps at any time. Through some sudden change or maneuver of war\nthe remainder of these men were left in prison with guards over them\nand only a meager supply of food. As the seven of their comrades were\ntaken from their midst to the place of execution those who remained\nwere in much distress of mind. During the morning hours before this\nthey had spent the time in playing cards, now and then an oath escaping\ntheir lips, but now the scene changed. Some one suggested that they\nshould pray. There was but little hope of them escaping the fate of\ntheir comrades and thus soon be hurled into eternity, and what added\nmore to the darkness of the hour was the fact that they had not\nmade their peace with God. One of the surviving party describes the\noccurrence as follows:\n\n\u201cFrom this time forward we had religious exercises morning and evening\nand found them a great consolation and support. We began and closed\nthe day right and thus added sweetness to all its hours, supplying\na subject of thought not bearing directly upon our future gloomy\nprospects and thus enabling us to maintain better mental health. We\nalways sang a hymn or two on these occasions. We sang \u2018Rock of Ages,\u2019\n\u2018Jesus, Lover of my Soul,\u2019 and others of a pronounced spiritual cast.\nThis greatly astonished the guards. They were given strict charge to\nwatch us closely with the statement that we were the most desperate\ncharacters in the whole United States. Then to hear us singing \u2018hymns\u2019\nand know that we had prayer morning and evening was a contradiction\nthey found hard to reconcile.... What would we not now have given for\nthe counsels and assistance of a minister whom we could fully trust!\nJust how to be religious was the puzzle. I know if I had a command to\nexecute from an army officer I would do it, if in my power, no matter\nhow difficult or dangerous, and I wished intensely that it was just as\neasy to be religious as to be a soldier; but there was the question of\nright feelings and right motives that did not seem to come into play\nvery much in the army. For if a soldier did his duty he was not apt to\nbe asked how he felt about it. I had the belief that I must have joy\nand rapture in thinking of death and readiness to shout God\u2019s praises,\nwhich I did not feel; and for a time it seemed as if I could not\nreach a genuine conversion. I diligently read the Bible which we had\nborrowed, and while I enjoyed many things in it, little direct guidance\nfor me was found. I asked counsel of our captain for whom I had the\ngreatest esteem and respect, but it was so easy for him to believe\nthat I thought his case must be very unlike my own, so I spoke to\nanother one of our company, the only one of our number who had a clear\nreligious faith, and seemed to be happy in it. His first answer was\nvery striking. I asked how he felt about death. He thought I referred\nto our worldly prospect, and answered that probably we would soon\nall be put to death. \u2018But what is your feeling about death itself?\u2019\nI continued. He said, \u2018I am not afraid to die if it is God\u2019s will. I\ntrust him now and I expect to trust him to the last.\u2019\n\nHe took my hand and there was a steady light in his eye that made me\nbelieve every word he said. But when I asked him how he got such a\nfaith, he could only tell me that he went to a \u2018mourners bench\u2019 two\nyears before and sought till he found it. This did me no good, for\nthere was no place accessible here. In sore perplexity I read the Bible\nfrom day to day and prayed, taking my turn in praying aloud and reading\nwith the others. At length I thought I began to see that trusting\nChrist must be something like taking his words and teachings for my\nguide, trying to do all that he commanded, and leaving the result while\nI did this with him. This was not that sudden transformation that I\nhad hoped, but I soon found that it opened up a good many things that\nI had never dreamed of. One of these seemed especially strange under\nthe circumstances. I had yet but a slender hope of ever escaping from\nthe prison except by the way of the scaffold. But in spite of that dark\nprospect as an absolute test of my obedience\u2014\u2018Will you, if satisfied\nthat it is God\u2019s will, be ready to give up the profession of law if you\never get home and go into the ministry?\u2019 The first and spontaneous\nreply was, No! I had studied law and meant to practice it if I ever got\nwhere law reigned. But at once the self response was clear, \u2018What kind\nof obedience was this?\u2019 I saw that I was not sincere in professing to\nenlist under Christ as my captain unless I would really obey him. It\nwould be a poor allegiance that stopped short with the things I wanted\nto do. For a long time I could not pass this point. The difficulty\nwhen communicated to my prison companions seemed utterly absurd. \u2018Try\nto serve God in the prison where you are,\u2019 they said with a cheer\nplausibility, \u2018and do not bother about preaching, being a lawyer or\nanything else, when you get out, for you never will get out.\u2019 This\nseemed good advice but it would not give a serene mind or the victory\nover the fear of death, which I so much desired.\n\n\u201cOne after another of those in the prison found the comfort I lacked.\nAnd it was not until wearied and worn-out that I vowed that if God\nwould only give me peace I would serve him as sincerely in prison or\nout of it as I had tried to serve my country, and in any way he might\ndirect. From this time I did have a steady conviction that I was on the\nLord\u2019s side and that I had a right to commit myself and my life to his\nkeeping. Though all newspapers were strictly forbidden, yet through\nthe kindness of negro waiters we were supplied and thus kept posted\nregarding war news.... We all remember with deepest gratitude the visit\nof a minister. When he left he promised to send us some books and did\nnot forget to promptly forward them. These we took good care of, read\nthoroughly to all in the room, and then returned, asking for more.\nThese he generously gave and we thus continued until we had read nearly\nhis whole library. Those only who know what a dreadful weariness it is\nto pass days without any definite employment can realize the great boon\nthese good books bestowed on us. It made the prison room a veritable\nschool, and in view of our religious efforts the character of the books\nwas just what we would most have desired, as they were of a religious\ncast, which only made them the more welcome. But there is no employment\nupon which I look back with more pleasure than that for which the\nminister\u2019s books furnished us the material. With fifteen persons in\na room not more than eighteen feet square it was needful to preserve\nquiet if any reading must be done. We therefore appointed regular\nreading hours, two in the forenoon and the same in the afternoon.\nDuring this time no one was permitted to speak above a low whisper and\nall noise and running about was forbidden. Those who did not wish to\nread might sleep. Sometimes the books were read silently, but for a\npart of the time in nearly every period a volume of general interest\nwould be selected and read aloud. These books would often furnish\nsubjects and arguments for discussion in the debating periods that\nfollowed. We gained a great deal of knowledge in our novel school,\nwhich has been of lifelong value. Books of travel, adventure, history,\nbiography, and theology\u2014no fiction\u2014were freely read and brought the\nfreshness of the outside world into our dreary captivity.\u201d\n\nThe foregoing gives us a vague idea of what can be done for the welfare\nof the prisoners in the jails, work-houses, and penal institutions of\nour land, towards making the prisoners happy by supplying them with\ngood books, tracts, papers, and such like. Oh, the neglect on this\nline! Were prisoners thus supplied, their minds would not be occupied\nduring the solitary hours in scheming and planning the best modes of\nperpetrating crime. Get a man interested in a good book and you thus\nplace him in good company. He may never see you, but with deep feelings\nof gratitude will ever have the kindest feelings toward those who\nthus bestowed the kind favor of placing him in possession of such a\ncompanion.\n\nFor the entertainment of the prisoner and to develop an interest in\nliterary work they have been allowed to publish prison papers. Some\nof these are very small while others are large and well edited. About\nthree years ago at Sing Sing Prison, in the state of New York, it was\ndecided to issue a bi-weekly twenty-six-page paper to be edited and\nprinted entirely by convicts. No article is allowed in the paper except\nthose composed and furnished by the inmates of the prison. When papers\nare thus printed and distributed among the prisoners it has a great\ncontrolling influence and creates a general interest in literary work.\n\n\n\n\nTOBACCO ALLOWANCE.\n\n\nMost prisoners are users of tobacco, yet there are many who do not use\nit. Some prisons allow a pound of tobacco a month, some two pounds\nevery month. This is generally manufactured at the prison where it is\nused. One of the modes of punishment, and a very effective one too, is\nto deprive the men of their tobacco for disobedience. With many this is\none of the most severe punishments instituted. When a man enters prison\nhe is given a copy of the rules of the prison and also a ticket stating\nthe privileges of the use of the library, books, letter-writing,\ntobacco allowance, etc. Failure to comply with the rules ofttimes means\nto be deprived of these privileges for a month or longer. Some time\nago we placed a number of tracts in prisons showing the evil effects\nof tobacco on the human system, the filthiness and offensiveness of\ntobacco, etc., and we were pleased to note the results by way of\nconvincing many prisoners to discontinue the use and give up the habit.\nWhile some are able by strong willpower to discontinue the use of it,\nyet but comparatively few people can in their own strength quit its use\nand rid themselves of the appetite. But many can testify that they have\nnot only been able to quit its use, but have had the appetite removed\nby the power of God in answer to prayer.\n\n\n\n\nPRISONERS\u2019 WORK.\n\n\nMen and women are sent to prison to work. The sentence is generally\nso many years in state prison at hard labor. It is right and proper\nthat they should work and should be made to work faithfully. It is\nnot supposed that they receive a sentence to enter a paradise for so\nmany years. In the different prisons the work is quite different.\nThere are prisons where the prisoners are required to spend almost\ntheir entire time of working hours from 600 to 800 feet under ground\ndigging coal. At some places the veins of coal are so shallow that the\nprisoners are compelled to lie down and stretch themselves out or be in\na half-way sitting posture while at their work. Such prisoners often\ncontract colds, rheumatism, and other diseases which rapidly shorten\ntheir lives. In other prisons they are taken out in gangs to work on\nthe public highways and crush stone. However, some prisons furnish the\nprisoners work within the prison walls. Much of this labor is let out\nto contractors who have a business of making clothing, harness, whips,\nbrooms, etc. In such cases the contractors pay the state a small amount\neach day for the labor of the prisoners. Many complaints have been\nmade, and many of them justly, because of the unfair requirements and\ntreatment of the prisoners. This should be more carefully looked after\nby the prison inspectors of the state, and we are glad to know that in\nmany places it is receiving attention.\n\nThe time for working ranges from ten to fourteen hours per day. In the\nUnited States prison at Leavenworth, Kans. they rise at six o\u2019clock,\nand when the men are ready to go to their work, three hundred of them\nmarch two miles and one-half to their work, a hundred more go two miles\nin another direction to work on a farm, while others are otherwise\noccupied till six o\u2019clock in the evening. As a general thing, if the\nprisoner is careful to obey the rules and work well, he is not likely\nto have much trouble with the officials. However, in some prisons very\nfew escape extra punishments of some kind.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STOCKADES.\n\n\nThe stockade is an enclosure, or pen, made with posts or sticks stuck\nin the ground. It is generally a temporary affair. These are to be\nfound in the South and Southwest mostly. Here is where the worst\ntreatment is to be found among the prisoners. Some of the southern\nstates are providing better for their prisoners, but others are far\nbehind what they should be. A stockade is sometimes made on the top\nof a mountain or in some suitable place for working mines. In these\nsouthern states not only mining is carried on by the prisoners, but\nbuilding of roads, railroads, and such like. For instance, where a\nrailroad is being built, large cars are roughly and strongly built in\nwhich the prisoners are locked when not at their work. Women in some of\nthese places are required to clear the land, roll logs, do drudgery,\nand in many instances are so shamefully used and treated that it is a\ndisgrace to a civilized nation. But while such is the case there are\nnoble men and women who are not connected with the prison, as well as\nmany of the more noble prison officers who have been working faithfully\nfor years to bring about a prison reform, and much has been done and is\nbeing done on that line. However, could the veil be drawn aside that\nall might fully realize the situation, the reformation would be more\nrapid and effective. The stockades do not have literary privileges as\na general thing as do our older and well-established prisons. We have\nreceived communications from officers in these stockades who are very\nanxious to have good literature placed at their disposal, assuring us\nthat the same would be highly appreciated and used to the advantage of\nthe prisoners.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHAIN GANG.\n\n\nIt is not an uncommon thing to see a chain gang of prisoners,\nespecially about the stockades. Sometimes they are marched to and from\ntheir work shackled with handcuffs, while others are fastened with\nclanking chains. There are also men to be found with iron bands or\nrings welded around their necks, to which a chain is fastened with the\nother end of the chain attached to a ball to prevent their escape.\nThese are generally the most desperate characters.\n\nTo those who are acquainted with such scenes it is shocking indeed,\nand creates a feeling of pity and sympathy which calls for a more\nhumane treatment in behalf of the poor unfortunates. There are men who\nserve almost an entire term of sentence in stocks or irons, or go to\ntheir work in the chain gang, because of a lack of proper provision of\naccommodations on the part of the state or government, or by unjust,\ninhumane treatment.\n\nFew men have fallen so low in sin and degradation, or have been so\nhardened by crime, but yet have at least a spark of humanity or manhood\nwhich can be kindled to a flame by proper humane and reformative\ntreatment; where, on the other hand, an undue amount of the imposition\nof irons and chains causes them to grind with revenge, and seemingly\nthe little spark of manhood is seared over with a more hardened\nconscience, leaving him still a criminal almost beyond redemption.\n\n[Illustration: The Chain-gang.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE FELON\u2019S CELL.\n\n\nWhen one is taken to serve a term in prison, has exchanged his\ncitizen\u2019s clothes for a suit of stripes, is measured, and a full\ndescription is written in the prison books, he is taken to a cell which\nis to be his future abode during his confinement, except what time\nhe is at work, at his meals, or is otherwise stationed by the prison\nofficers. We can here only give a description of what is commonly found\nto be a prison cell. It is a small iron room with a stone floor, and\nwhen two convicts are to occupy the same cell, there are two bunks or\nbeds in the cell. The bed-rack is made of iron or wood slats, and the\nbed-tick is generally filled with corn-husks or some similar material,\nlikewise the pillow. When the beds are not in use they are fastened\nto the side of the wall with a chain. When down and in use they take\nup nearly the entire space of the cell, so that it is impossible for\nthe two occupants to pass each other in walking to and fro. The other\nfurniture generally consists of a small tinbucket holding about two\nquarts of water, and a washbasin. A short-handled broom is also found\nin one corner of the cell with which the convict brushes it every\nmorning. The walls are either iron or stone, decorated with a small\nlooking-glass and a towel. Each cell contains one chair, as there is\nnot room for two; so that when one sits on the chair the other stands\nor occupies a seat on the stone floor. The door is made of half-inch\niron bars crossing each other at right angles, leaving spaces about two\nby six inches. Through these spaces come the air, light, and heat.\n\nTo give the reader an idea of how one would naturally feel on the\nfirst introduction to such a place, we will give it in the language of\na prisoner, who says: \u201cAfter examination I was shown to my cell. It\nwas now about two o\u2019clock in the afternoon of my first day in prison.\nI remained in the chair during the entire afternoon. Of all the dark\nhours of an eventful history none have been filled with more gloom and\nsadness than those of my first day in prison. All my life I moved in\nthe highest circles of society, surrounded by the best and purest of\nboth sexes, and now I was in the deplorable condition of having been\nhurled from that high social condition down to the low, degraded plane\nof a convict. As I sat there in that desolate abode of the disgraced I\ntried to look out down the future. All was dark. For a time it seemed\nas if that sweet angel we call Hope had spread her wings and taken her\ndeparture from me forever. The black cloud of despair somewhat settled\ndown upon me. But very few prisoners possess the ability to make\nanything of themselves after having served a term in the penitentiary.\nI sat brooding over these things for an hour or more and my manhood\nasserted itself and hope returned. I reasoned thus: I am a young man,\nI enjoy good health, there will be only a few months of imprisonment,\nand then I will be free. I thought of my loving wife, little children,\nmy aged mother, my kind friends, and for their sake I would not yield\nto despair. Soliciting aid of a kind heavenly Father I resolved to do\nthe best I could toward regaining what I had lost. I was aware of the\nfact that when I got out of the penitentiary all the money I would\nhave with which to make another start in life would be five dollars.\nThe United States presents her prisoners upon discharge with a suit of\ncitizens\u2019 clothes and five dollars. This was my capital.\u201d\n\nTruly such a sad condition would be deplorable, but the prisoner can\nonly assert his manhood, lay his plans for the future, and determine to\nrise above it all, which is not impossible. Many have risen to a good\nstanding in life. What has been done can be done again.\n\nPrisoners who are sentenced to be hanged are generally taken to a\ncell in the execution house separate from the other prisoners. The\nconvict thus doomed spends the time in this prison and is not required\nto work. A few months ago I visited a prison, and in the execution\nbuilding I found two prisoners in solitary cells. One seemed to have\nmade his peace with God, but the other was in deep trouble over his\nsoul, was not ready to meet God, and had only a few more days to live.\nIt seemed he could not pray. He had been reading his Bible and other\nreligious books, but hope had almost fled. After talking with him for\na time, I said, \u201cYoung man, your time is short unless God in some way\nintervenes. If you have been guilty of crime and are trying to hide\nit from your fellow men or denying the charge, you can not hide it\nfrom God. Acknowledge before him the facts as they are and call upon\nhim for help.\u201d After praying with him for a while he gave vent to his\nfeelings in most earnest pleas to God, crying out, \u201cI am a murderer.\u201d\nHe continued his earnest pleas until the Lord did forgive him. A week\nor two later when the death sentence was read to him in his cell, he\nwas ready, and made the remark that they could only take away his\nbreath, for his soul would be forever landed in peace. I saw him march\nup to the gallows, and as his legs and arms were being strapped and\na rope tied about his neck he glanced heavenward as if breathing a\nsilent prayer, and when the electric signal was given, he dropped into\neternity.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LIBRARY.\n\n\nWhile many prisons are not yet supplied with a library, there are\nefforts being made on this line for the education and elevation of\nthe minds of the prisoners. For those who have already received an\neducation there are many valuable books in the library to furnish them\nsomething to occupy their minds at such times as they may have to read.\nSome states furnish so many thousand books and an appropriation of $500\na year for library purposes. Among the books furnished are scientific\nworks, history, biography, and others of a religious and moral nature,\ntogether with many novels and works of fiction. The Christian people\nof our land should see to it that a greater number of books of a real\nspiritual cast are placed at the disposal of prisoners.\n\nAbout two years ago, after receiving some earnest letters of\nappreciation and thankfulness from prisoners who had received books\nand papers, a deeper sympathy was awakened in their behalf. For\nsome days I became greatly burdened in behalf of a certain prison,\nconcerning supplying the prisoners with a library of good books. Not\nknowing whether they had a library or whether the prison officials\nwould receive the books and put them into the hands of the prisoners, I\nhesitated. As the burden for this matter could not be so easily thrown\noff, my next step was to visit the prison and make investigations\nthrough the prison officials, and was not a little surprised to find\nthey were without a library, though at that time were preparing a large\nlibrary room, intending to make a plea to the people for a donation\nof books. As soon as the room was finished it was my pleasure to see\nthat $1000 worth of well-bound books were placed in the library for\nthe prisoners, being donated by those who have an interest in the men\nbehind the bars. It has also been a source of gratitude to know that\nthese books have been appreciated and enjoyed by the many prisoners who\nread them in their cells and in the library.\n\nIn some prisons about twenty per cent. or more of the prisoners are\nunable to read or write. For this reason schools are being formed\nwhere such, especially those who desire to do so, can have a chance to\nreceive an education. These schools are generally held in the library\nroom and taught by one of the prisoners.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHAPEL.\n\n\nThe chapel is the place where prisoners get most of their public\ninstruction aside from what is obtained in the library. It is not\noften that they have the privilege of attending educational lectures\nas if they were attending a college or public school; however, in our\nbetter prisons steps are being taken to give the well-behaved prisoners\nadvantages on this line occasionally. The general meetings on Sunday\nare held in the chapel, to which the prisoners are marched in regular\norder, where several hundred are in weekly attendance. The chaplain\ngenerally conducts the regular services or has ministers from the city\nto take their turns in preaching to them. Prison evangelists are often\ngiven the privilege of talking to the prisoners or visiting them at\ntheir cells for the welfare of their souls. There are prisons where\nall visitors and gospel workers are admitted free, while other prisons\ncharge twenty-five cents admission fee. Aside from what is known as\nthe regular chapel services, the prisoners who desire to meet before\nthat hour or remain after, in a social religious prayer-service or\nBible class, can have the privilege of doing so. All prisoners are\nallowed to sing at the general services, although they generally have\na select choir. One man in giving a report of the prison choir said:\n\u201cAt one time we had two horse thieves, two rapists\u2014one with a sentence\nof forty years\u2014three murderers, two hog thieves, and several others\nwith equally villainous records.\u201d It would be difficult at such a place\nto select a choir that had a clean past record. While these men were\ncriminals when incarcerated, some of them will doubtless always remain\ncriminals, while others have so reformed as to be worthy of a better\nname.\n\nMany prisoners during their confinement actually get a real experience\nof salvation, and those desiring to be baptized by immersion go from\nthe chapel to the laundry, and there in a well-filled tank or long\ntroughlike tub receive the ordinance of baptism. The chapel does\nnot have stained-glass windows nor the finery of many modern church\nbuildings; nevertheless the place is supposed to have everything neat\nand in order, and the men are to observe the strictest decorum and\nreverence while in attendance.\n\n\n\n\nSCALING THE PRISON WALL.\n\n\nThere are in almost every prison those who are called\n\u201ctrusties\u201d\u2014prisoners who are given the privilege of doing work outside\nof the prison, going on errands, etc., without the presence of a guard.\nOthers have unusual liberties within the prison walls. Life prisoners\nand those who have received a sentence for a number of years and\nhave not yet made up their minds to reform, often give the officials\nconsiderable trouble in trying to make their escape; although, as a\ngeneral thing, life prisoners are well-behaved persons. There have\nbeen some noted and desperate efforts made to escape prison. Desperate\ncharacters have used all their ingenuity in devising plans for an\nescape and watch an opportunity to raise an insurrection at a critical\ntime. There have been times when the insurrection was so great as to\ndefy the prison officials, and the disturbance could only be quelled\nby the daring boldness and wisdom of the warden or general officer in\ncharge. When a number of desperate prisoners get such an advantage\nthey will fearlessly face death rather than yield. A few such noted\ninstances are on record. It is, however, very difficult for a prisoner\nto make good his escape. If successful he must go under an assumed name\nand always be a fugitive from justice. If a failure is made he is apt\nto have to serve his full sentence instead of having advantage of the\ncommutation of \u201cshort time.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Scaling the Prison Walls.]\n\nBloodhounds are kept at the present time for the purpose of capturing\nthose who try to make their escape, and there are men behind the\nprison walls who carry ugly scars made from deep flesh wounds by the\nbloodhounds during the time of their capture. There are times when a\nfire breaks out in a prison which must receive immediate attention\nof all available help. It is at such times that desperate characters\nundertake to raise an insurrection and make their escape. Many\nprisoners have been known at such times to show their manhood, and\noffer their services and manifest their loyalty by aiding the officers\nin keeping the prisoners in subjection and in extinguishing the flames.\nSuch prisoners should be highly rewarded, and many of them shortly\nafterward receive their pardon in honor of their loyalty and good\nprinciples shown. The prisoner who desires to have favors shown him in\nprison should, upon first entering, decide to obey the prison rules\nto the best of his ability. Anything to the contrary will bring the\nill favor of the prison officials upon him. An attempt to escape will\nnot be forgotten and he will be very closely watched and denied many\nprivileges which he could have otherwise enjoyed, and is not apt to be\nmade a \u201ctrustie.\u201d It is therefore a wise plan to decide upon perfect\nsubmission from the beginning of the confinement.\n\n\n\n\nA PRISON REFORM.\n\n\nThe highest ideal of prison life is not simply punishment for evil\ndoing, but should be a reformation in the lives of those who are thus\nincarcerated. We are glad to know that there is really a reformation\nbeing brought about in the rules and government of the prisons in our\nland.\n\nIt is said of one of the kings in a country in Europe that, being\ndesirous of knowing how the common people lived, he dressed himself\nas a peasant or tramp and went about from place to place among the\npoorer class of people, and while thus lounging about the city he was\nmet by a policeman who demanded him to give an account of himself. Not\ngiving the proper satisfaction, the policeman hurried him off to a\ndungeon-like cell. The prisons under that king\u2019s domain were in a sad\ncondition\u2014dirty, filthy, alive with vermin, and were most degrading\nplaces. Thus the king was obliged to spend the night in such horrible\nquarters, which was in great contrast to the royal palace. However,\nit was a night well spent, though but little enjoyed by the king. He\nwas touched as never before by a sympathetic feeling for the poor\nunfortunate human beings who were cast into such places. He at once\nordered a renovation of all the prisons throughout his kingdom.\n\nAside from our penitentiaries, there are jails, work-houses, and\nplaces of imprisonment, many of which are allowed to become filthy,\nwith lice and other vermin in almost every crevice, making the place\nnot only extremely unpleasant but unhealthful to every inmate. No doubt\nif many of our lawmakers and other influential people of our country\nwere compelled to spend a few days or nights in such prisons there\nwould speedily be a great reformation in the prisons of our own land.\n\nAside from cleanliness and government of prisons and jails there\nis a reformation in which we can all have a part, and help to\npoint the unfortunate ones to Him who is able \u201cto bring out the\nprisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of\nthe prison-house.\u201d\u2014Isa. 42:7. A number of our penitentiaries have\ncomparatively good libraries furnished by the state; some have not yet\nbeen supplied with libraries; and even among those that are supplied\nthere are more novels than good, wholesome religious works. However, in\nsome prisons each prisoner is supplied with a Bible of small print, and\nthere has been an earnest plea from the prisoners for good, wholesome\nreligious literature by way of books, tracts, papers, etc. Our jails\nhave as a general thing been sadly neglected on this line.\n\nA few months ago we made an effort through the Gospel Trumpet\nPublishing Company, of Moundsville, W. Va., to supply jails and prisons\nwith small libraries of good unsectarian religious books, such as would\nbe a benefit to the prisoners and tend to lead them to a higher aim\nin life. We were soon greatly surprised to realize the demand from\nprisoners for such literature. A few hundred jails were thus supplied\nwith libraries and religious papers. It was almost astonishing to learn\nin reply by their letters of appreciation that in many places they had\nnever been thus remembered before. Some prisoners had been in for a\nnumber of months without any religious reading matter and scarcely any\none to visit them.\n\nBeing thus reminded of a lack of duty brought to mind the words of\nJesus, as mentioned in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, wherein he\nwas speaking of the end of time when the nations should gather before\nhim and he would separate the good from the bad. And we read where he\nsays, \u201cThen shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye\nblessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the\nfoundation of the world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat:\nI was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me\nin: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was _in\nprison_, and ye came unto me.... Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one\nof the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.\u201d\n\nMy dear reader, how will it be with us when we appear before the King\nin all his glory in that day? Can he say of us that he was in prison,\nand we came unto him? Or shall he be compelled to utter these words:\n\u201cDepart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the\ndevil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I\nwas thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me\nnot in: sick, and _in prison_, and ye visited me not. Inasmuch as ye\ndid it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me\u201d?\n\nWhile we enjoy our beautiful homes and the pleasures of life and\nfreedom, the question comes directly, Have we done our duty toward\nthe prisoner? Have we visited Jesus in the prison? We may not be able\nto go there in person, but we can visit them by providing them with\nsilent messengers by way of good books, tracts, papers, etc. There are\ndoubtless thousands of professing Christians who never gave a dollar to\nhelp a prisoner, who never visited a prison in person or in any other\nway. There are those who could spend hundreds of dollars in supplying\nprisons and would not feel the weight of it financially, but we should\nmake an effort on this line by giving to the extent that we may feel\nthe weight of the sacrifice, and thereby God will be greatly glorified\nand many prisoners led to seek the Lord and live a pure and holy life.\n\nSome of the most intelligent and highly educated men are found behind\nthe prison-bars and fill felons\u2019 cells. It is not always the man of low\ntype, ignorant and uneducated, that thus meets his doom. There are men\nand women from every class of society. There are men who are hardened\nin crime, whose consciences seem seared, yet none so hard-hearted,\nnone so low down in the depths of sin that they have not a spark of\nmanhood to which there is an appeal. Brutal treatment will not reach\nsuch specimens of manhood; however, they must be brought under strict\ndiscipline of the requirements of servitude and given to understand\nthat perfect obedience is required; yet with all that, when they are\ntold in a kind, gentle, loving manner and given to understand that they\nare entitled to the best privileges of the prison as they deserve it,\nthat little spark of manhood will soon be kindled into a flame. There\nare prisons where a small per cent. of the monthly earnings are placed\nto their credit, which in a few years amounts to a large enough sum\nto give them a fair start at the time of their release. If they are\ndisobedient, so much is taken from their credit. But aside from the\nkind moral treatment there must be something more effective. The hearts\nof these hardened criminals must be changed by the power of God. The\nprison officials who fail to realize or recognize this necessity have\nto a great extent failed in their reformative efforts. Every effort\npossible should be extended in behalf of the spiritual welfare of the\nprisoners.\n\n[Illustration: Tracked by Bloodhounds\u2014Captured.]\n\nThere is an evil existing in our jails and work-houses that is\nstartling and alarming, nevertheless it continues throughout the\nbreadth of our land. A young man or wayward boy is arrested for some\ntrivial offense; it is probably the first time he has been guilty of\nthus breaking the law. He is placed behind the prison-bars to await a\npreliminary hearing before a justice of the peace. He is then liable to\nbe sentenced for from thirty to ninety days in jail, or bound over to\ncourt, which is to be in session a few weeks or months later. In the\nmeantime he is confined in the jail to await his arraignment before the\ncourt.\n\nLet us now take a look at the jail itself and its inmates. It is well\nsecured with solid walls, iron doors, and prison-bars. There are a few\nprivate cells, a broad hallway, and large room into which from five to\nfifty persons are confined. Sometimes even a greater number are thus\nimprisoned without grade or discrimination of crime. The tender youth\nmust intermingle with those who are steeped in sin and hardened in\ncrime. He is here taught to play cards, read novels, use vulgar and\nprofane language, practice the most vile habits, plan for burglaries,\nand comes forth a rogue at heart, and a hardened criminal. Otherwise,\nhad there been the proper discrimination, separating those who are just\nstarting on the downward course from the hardened criminals, there\nwould be a reformation in their lives instead of a degeneration. These\nare facts that can not be denied\u2014facts that stare us in the face, and\nare sad truths that will continue to hover over us, as it were, until\nthe good people rise up and protest against it for a proper reformation\non this line. The good people of our land would be surprised, yea,\nstricken with consternation, were they to visit most jails and\nwork-houses and make a thorough investigation, to behold the filth and\ngeneral sanitary condition of the place, which is infested with lice\nand other vermin.\n\nIt is right and proper to send people to jail or prison who will not\nbehave themselves. They need both punishment and reformation. This\ncan be done effectually and with good results if the proper course is\npursued.\n\n\n\n\n_HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY._\n\nWRITTEN BY A PRISONER.\n\n\nIn 1863 the state was admitted as one of the constellation of states\nof the union. Virginia had seceded from the union by a majority vote.\nThe strong and indomitable minority citizens of the Old Dominion\nresiding in the western part of it, many of whom were Scotch and Irish\ndescendants and natives of the adjoining states, who had taken up their\nhomes in the valleys and on the hillsides, were loyal to the Union,\nloved well the flag, and reverenced with an undying affection the\nbuilders of the union of states for the greater blessing of the people,\nand stood firm and unyielding for an indivisible united country. By\ntheir hands and brave hearts they built a state stretching from the\nPotomac to the Ohio river, carved out of the Old Dominion. The war-born\ndaughter of the historical commonwealth proved, in the subsequent\nyears, to be rich in the production of materials in active demand in\nthe marts of commerce, and she now outstrips her mother state in the\nrace for greatness, prosperity, and happiness.\n\nMany regions of the state are mountainous, and the principal industries\nare lumbering, mining, and oil production. Many of the white people\nare typical mountaineers and somewhat rough and uncouth in manner,\nwhile the negroes, many of them, have drifted from North and South\nCarolina, Alabama, and other southern states to be employed in the\ndevelopment of these industries.\n\nThere are very many respectable farmers, professional and business men,\nand cultured ladies residing in these almost inaccessible parts; but\nthe rough element in many places predominates, and the order of the\nday and night is drinking and brawling, ending as a rule in desperate\nencounters and murder. Most of the white and black inmates of the\npenitentiary have been and are now composed of the lawless men from\nthese regions, from the time it was only a stockade of ten acres in\n1866, when Hon. J. W. McWhorter of the Tenth Judicial District was\nappointed warden by Governor Boreman. He resigned the position after\nviewing it. In a letter to Warden Hawk he states it was for the reason\nthat there was not so much as a building erected for the shelter of the\ninmates, and he thought he could not work the convicts to advantage\nunder the circumstances. The penitentiary has been improved from time\nto time to the present, by additions, until it is a massive structure\nof stone and iron, with a high stone surrounding wall. It has 695\ninmates at the present writing.\n\nThe center, or main building, is built after the old baronial\ncastellated style of architecture, and with its several stories\nheight, it makes an imposing appearance. It is flanked on the north\nand south by the stone and strongly-barred buildings, wherein the old\nand first built stone cells and the modern steel ones\u2014900 in all\u2014are\nplaced. Entrance is to be had into the prison proper by means of a\nround turning iron-barred cage in the main hallway of the central\nbuilding.\n\nThe cell-building halls are kept in a neat and clean condition; the\ncells are in good sanitary condition and are kept in good order by the\ninmates, many of whom are artistic in taste and paint and make many\nfanciful designs as adornments of their small sleeping quarters. The\nyard, limited in area by the shop, dining-hall, engine and hospital\nbuildings, is artistically laid out in grass-grown plats and flower\nbeds in season. Around the area of space on brick-laid pavements the\nprisoners are permitted to walk in columns of two according to grade\nfor exercise during the afternoon after working hours, and Sabbath\nforenoon prior to and after chapel services. At the four corners of the\npenitentiary walls are stone turrets where armed guards are placed from\nfour o\u2019clock a. m. to 9 p. m.\n\nUpon West Virginia establishing a state government, Wheeling was\nselected as the capital where the legislature met in session in 1863,\nwith Hon. Arthur I. Boreman as chief executive. The prison was located\nin 1866 at Moundsville, Marshall Co., then a beautiful village a few\nmiles from the seat of government. The location, for drainage and\nsanitary conditions, might have been better selected from one of the\nmany surroundings hills than in the midst of the village in the valley\non the banks of the Ohio river.\n\nMoundsville has since the location of the penitentiary there, grown\ninto the eighth city in population of the state, and is now a\nmanufacturing and resident town possessing daily and weekly newspapers.\nModern improvements prevail, with water and electric light systems and\nstreet-car lines connecting with Wheeling and adjoining suburbs. The\nmagnificent mound erected by the Mound Builders many years gone by for\nthe burial of their dead, to be seen near the penitentiary, is one of\nthe attractions to the thousands of persons who visit the locality.\n\nHon. G. S. McFadden, of Moundsville, was the first active and practical\nwarden of the penitentiary. With the means at hand he made many\npraiseworthy improvements for the amelioration of the inmates during\nhis incumbency. The condition of the prisoners during the four years\npast and now, is a vast improvement over the old system. Skilled and\nhumane prison managers for many years were wanting. The condition of\nthe inmates was at times deplorable in the extreme. The methods of\npunishment in vogue were extremely severe, the work laborious, the\nclothing of the zebra kind, the lock-step exacting, the supply and\nkind of food indifferent and bad. The employment of the prisoners on\nthe state account or under contract was unprofitable, and expenses\nfor the prison\u2019s maintenance piling upon the taxpayers, who made just\ncomplaint. Loud demands were made by the people of Moundsville and\nthroughout the state, conversant with the deplorable condition of the\naffairs of their penal institution, for a change.\n\nAfter Governor Atkinson\u2019s inauguration, March 4, 1897, he appointed\nColonel S. A. Hawk as warden of the penitentiary. He was at the time\nof his appointment a well-known business man of Huntington, Cabell Co.\nFor a number of years he was also known as a popular employee of an\nOhio river steamboat running out of Huntington. He was at one time a\nsuccessful merchant, hotel-keeper, contractor, and during President\nHarrison\u2019s administration as President he was an official of the\nInterior Department in charge of the public domain in Arizona Territory.\n\nPrior to the incumbency of Warden Hawk the West Virginia penitentiary\nhad for years been running behind the legislative appropriation\nmany thousand dollars annually, and not much, if any, success was\nmade in the reformation of the prisoners. Altogether the prison was\nin bad order when he took hold as warden, he not only introduced\nreformatory treatment with respect to the prisoners, but he has made\nthe institution bring to the state an actual profit over and above all\nexpenses for maintenance. Warden Hawk took hold of the penitentiary\nmanagement May 1, 1897. He discovered that his predecessor\u2019s method\nof punishment was principally solitary confinement. Twenty-seven or\nmore prisoners were undergoing the punishment on bread and water, and\nthey presented a pitiable condition. Their labor was lost to the state;\ntheir mental, moral, and physical health undermined; hope seemingly was\nblasted, and they were strangers to God. The warden turned the key and\nliberated these men and put them to work, which they gladly expressed a\nwillingness to do.\n\nHe adopted the new and advanced method of prison management in line\nwith up-to-date penalogists; viz., The grade system, plain clothing in\nlieu of stripes, more and better food, first-class medical attendance,\nevery prisoner at work, more personal liberty and exercise granted; he\nmade himself approachable to those prisoners having a grievance, and\nin so far as he could within the bounds of true discipline, rectified\nthem. Religious worship was fostered and encouraged; punishment for\nwillful infractions of the rules and regulations governing the prison,\nsure and certain, by black-listing from special privileges, for a\nperiod of thirty days or more; the lock-step, by carrying on the yard\nan iron weight during working hours, and in extreme cases of fighting\nand other reprehensible misconduct, corporal punishment with a leather\nstrap was inflicted, or by buck-and-gag. Other changes of a minor but\nnot less ameliorative nature were made conducive to the moral welfare\nof the inmates.\n\nTo bring about these humane changes many and substantial improvements\nwere made in the way of buildings and additions without cost to the\ntaxpayers, for the prison was more than self-sustaining, and a handsome\nsum of money was on hand for this purpose.\n\n\nPRISON LIBRARY.\n\nJanuary 1, 1900, Warden S. A. Hawk completed the erection of a\ntwo-story brick addition to the prison dining-hall. The second story\nroom, 40\u00d740 feet, was dedicated by him to the use of a library and\nschool. The fixtures were placed in the room but there were only a\nfew mutilated books at hand to begin with. E. E. Byrum, President of\nthe Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company of Moundsville, hearing of the\nsituation, offered his gratuitous service to the warden to aid him to\nbuild up the library to a respectable proportion. Upon the assurance\ngiven him that there was no available appropriation to purchase books\nfor the library, Mr. Byrum called the attention of the members of\nhis company to this state of affairs, and upon their advice and with\ntheir consent, a splendid lot of artistically bound religious and\nother suitable books valued at $1,000 was placed at the disposal of\nthe warden for the use of the prison inmates. So grateful were the\nprisoners, the warden, and prison employees at the generous gift that\nit was\n\n_Resolved_, That the prisoners of the West Virginia penitentiary,\nthrough Warden S. A. Hawk, tender their grateful thanks to E. E. Byrum\nand to the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company, Moundsville, W. Va., for\nthe very welcome gift of books placed in the prison library for their\nuse.\n\nThis fine gift of standard literature, including 500 song-books, was a\nnucleus for the building up of an excellent library, few equaling it in\nthe state.\n\nThousands of circular letters were mailed by the warden to the leading\ncitizens of West Virginia and leading publishing houses of the country\nasking for donations of literature. The responses were generous\u2014donors\nsending from one book to cases containing hundreds of books. One year\nafter the opening of the library twelve thousand standard religious\nand secular books and magazines were donated. It is true many of them\nwere second-hand and worn, except those received from the publishing\nfirms\u2014such as the people of the state could afford to give.\n\nThe library represents to every inmate the warden\u2019s desire that every\none of them should feel that an opportunity for newness of life to them\nis open, and in such opportunity may be found an ample encouragement of\ngood purposes and well-meant efforts. Better life, better men, hence a\nhope for the prevalence of improvement.\n\nA night school from 5.30 to 7.30 p. m., for two hundred and more\nilliterate white and colored inmates, ranging from seventeen to\nseventy-two years of age, was begun in the library at its opening,\nwithout intermission during every week-day of the year. The good result\nhas been more satisfactory in the teaching of spelling, reading,\narithmetic, geography, and writing than the most sanguine could have\nanticipated. Every one of the illiterate prisoners at the end of\nthe year can read. The attendance of the pupils, thirty-two white\nand forty colored, being voluntary on their part, alternate nights.\nThe prisoners are visited at their cells every Saturday evening by\nassistant librarians (who are employed in shops during the day), with\nslips in hand, and their order taken for whatever book or magazine they\nmay ask for. The magazines are securely bound, three in one volume,\nminus the advertisements. The number of the cell is taken down with the\nprisoner\u2019s serial number. The literature is carefully selected by the\nlibrarian and made ready for his assistants to place in the inmates\u2019\ncells, and each book is charged to the prisoner by his serial number,\nto be kept for one week. If, however, the book is one that can not be\nread during the regular period of time, upon application, a further\nperiod of a week is allowed. The books issued the previous week are\ncollected and returned to the library, there to be carefully examined,\nfor intentional mutilation the culprit being black-listed and deprived\nof the use of books, at the pleasure of the warden. At the first and\nseveral issues thereafter illiterate and mischievous prisoners marked\ntheir books, but by judicious use of the black-list and reprimand the\npractice on the part of these culprits ceased, and they cheerfully\nrefrained from committing themselves again, and they are now most\ncareful of their literary treasures. For a period of seven months of\nthe year no reports for mutilation of books have been made.\n\nThe following are most in demand: Mothers\u2019 Counsel to Their Sons,\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress, Fox\u2019s Book of Martyrs, The Kingdom of God, Divine\nHealing of Soul and Body, Grace of Healing, Boy\u2019s Companion, and\nLetters for Our Girls\u2014the last being in demand by the female inmates,\nthere being twenty-seven white and colored of them. Many books on\ntobacco and its effects were also issued to the inmates above named.\nThe books are a part of the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company\u2019s\ndonation. From close observation of the readers of all this admirable\nliterature the good results are carefully and conscientiously given\nas follows: Mothers\u2019 Counsel to Their Sons is in constant and steady\ndemand from young men to the \u201cmanor-born\u201d of West Virginia. They are\na unique, original, and reverent body of criminals. Far too many are\nilliterate, possessed of high, lofty, and impulsive dispositions,\ntheir very souls throbbing with vitality, their eyes beaming with\ninspiration, doubtless inspired with the magnificent scenery of their\nnative and well-beloved state. Their hearts and minds seem to expand\nwith the thought ever present with them, \u201cMountaineers will ever\nbe free.\u201d While restraint is irksome to them, they are, however,\nsensitively susceptible to kind treatment. They love their mountain\nhomes and hearth-stones and cherish with fond remembrance the parents\nat home, and they are keen to read literature that brings these close\nto their prison home.\n\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress is called for by older inmates from other states,\nwhite and colored alike, and also those from foreign lands, some of\nwhom have enjoyed the benefit of early home religious training or have\nbeen picked up during their wanderings around the world and about the\ncountry. They seem to get much good from their reading of John Bunyan,\nhis temptations, trials, and triumphs. All of these men continue in\ntheir demand for Gospel Trumpet literature until they have read all of\nthe different volumes of the donation. A marked and decided improvement\nis noted in the good discipline and the attendance at religious\nservices of all of the readers of good literature and the warden and\nguards are pleased with their exemplary behavior. The warden has found\nit convenient to stop altogether the issue of tobacco to the inmates,\ndoubtless accounted for by readers of \u201cTobacco and Its Effects,\u201d who\nare now non-users of the weed. It is to be hoped that the contractors\ndo not issue to their employees as much tobacco as heretofore. May the\nuse of it grow less until in as well as out of prison its use may be\nentirely eliminated.\n\n\nRULES TO BE OBSERVED BY PRISONERS WHEN USING THE LIBRARY.\n\nRule 1st. Upon entering the library prisoners must promptly remove\ntheir caps and go to their seats in a quiet manner.\n\nRule 2d. Chewing tobacco, smoking, or spitting on the floor is strictly\nforbidden.\n\nRule 3d. Books, papers, or stationery required by any prisoner can be\nhad by raising the hand and asking the librarian or teacher.\n\nRule 4th. Undivided attention must be given to the teacher; his\ninstructions promptly and respectfully obeyed, and the whole time of\nthe prisoner who is learning must be devoted to study.\n\nRule 5th. Books, magazines, and papers will be issued for not longer\nthan one week. Care must be exercised not to mark, tear, or mutilate\nthem in any way.\n\nRule 6th. Should a violation of any of these rules result in a prisoner\nbeing reported for punishment, he will be black-listed, and denied the\nprivilege of school or library.\n\nRule 7th. The privilege of the library will be given to prisoners of\nexemplary record, where they will have free access to books, magazines,\nand papers, after working hours.\n\n  S. A. HAWK, Warden.\n\n\nLITERATURE FOR CONVICTS.\n\nThe Greenbrier (W. Va.) Independent says: \u201cA short time ago Judge\nMcWhorter of our town shipped to S. A. Hawk, warden of the state prison\nat Moundsville, a lot of books, magazines, etc., donated by himself and\nothers. We are permitted to publish Mr. Hawk\u2019s letter to the judge in\nacknowledgement of the donation:\n\n\u201c\u2018Your fine donation of literature came to hand to-day (March 10), for\nwhich please accept my sincere gratitude. I am gratified to inform\nyou that from donations received from the generous people of West\nVirginia and some few publishers, I have about 10,000 volumes of books\nand magazines\u2014the latter securely bound and covered. The library is\nindebted to the Wheeling Intelligencer and News for very many daily\nexchanges. The library room is 40\u00d740 feet, handsomely furnished and\nfully equipped.\n\n\u201c\u2018I have an evening school of sixty pupils\u2014thirty colored and thirty\nwhite, boys and men\u2014the hours being from 5 to 7.30 p. m. Their progress\nis very satisfactory. Taking into consideration that I sent out my\nappeal for literature January 20, 1900, I think that I have met with\nunprecedented success, for which I am certainly grateful.\n\n\u201c\u2018I feel conscious that the new and more liberal system of discipline\ninaugurated by me since my management of the prison, and the many\nimprovements made, is a duty I owe my charges and for the future\nprotection of society, because these men feel that the hand of every\nman is not raised against them and that upon their release they will be\nencouraged to make of themselves useful citizens.\n\n\u201c\u2018Assuring you that I completely appreciate your kindness, I am\nsincerely yours,\n\n  S. A. HAWK.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nTHE BIBLE CLASS.\n\nHad been in an intermittent state of organization from 1890, with but\nmoderate success. Some two years ago (1899) the Gospel Trumpet people\ntook an active interest in the welfare of the Bible class, which meant\nthat henceforth renewed and intelligent effort was to be made for the\nfuture. The class under the new order of arrangement and new infusion\nof God\u2019s Spirit greatly increased in membership in a short period of\ntime. To this class of earnest Christians the Gospel Trumpet people\nand denominational ministers of Moundsville give their attention and\nbest effort in their respective turn, every Sabbath morning from 8 to\n9 o\u2019clock. The commendable progress the members of the class have made\nin their work is to a large extent due to these ministers of God. Very\nmany remarkable conversions have been brought about, and baptism given\nby the ordained ministers from the Gospel Trumpet office.\n\n\nNOTABLE REFORMATIONS.\n\n_Serial No. 2282_\u2014A veteran inmate from Randolph Co., aged 56 years,\nreceived at the prison in 1892 to serve his natural life for the crime\nof murder, this being his second term for the same kind of crime. About\ntwelve years ago he was pardoned by the governor upon well established\ngrounds of mitigating circumstances connected with the alleged crime.\n\nFor the second term he has been an inmate for nine years. He is a\nlarge man, six feet in height, with a good looking face and possessed\nof a warm and tender heart. His prison record is exemplary, and he is\nemployed in the tailor shop, filling a responsible position. Four times\nhas the Bible class selected him as their class-leader, recognizing\nhis Biblical learning, industry, and signal ability at prayer and\nexhortation. He says that during the years prior to the aid given to\nthe class at the hands of the Gospel Trumpet people, he was somewhat\nlukewarm in his class work. However, with their hearty assistance and\nmaterial aid he took on a new spirit and inspiration for more and\nbetter work for God. He is much encouraged by the many conversions made\nand by the growth of the class. He canvassed for subscribers for very\nmany Gospel Trumpet literary works; of these and the Gospel Trumpet\npaper, he is a constant reader.\n\n_Serial No. 2320_\u2014Received from Cabell Co. in 1892 to serve a life\nsentence for murder, is a young man of fine education, culture, high\nresolve and noble purpose, a scion of Christian family residents of\nOhio. The crime into which the unfortunate man was probably led appears\nto have been a concocted scheme made up and he enticed to join in,\nfor the purpose of putting him out of the way in order to accomplish\ncertain designs his enemies had against his life and property to be\ninherited by him. To make sure of their work the railroad officials and\ndetectives were put on the job, so, when he and his companions made the\nattempt to stop and rob the railroad passenger train, they were fired\nupon by a posse of armed guards, which they returned, killing one of\nthe passengers. He was seriously wounded, losing the use of his right\narm.\n\nHe was converted several years ago and baptized. His health has\nlong since been undermined by confinement and he is in a precarious\ncondition, but above all things else he is a true Christian and child\nof God and entirely fit to be pardoned and restored to society, home,\nand friends. He has served one year as leader of the Bible class, and\nowing to his lovable disposition, learning, and industry he gave entire\nsatisfaction to his classmates.\n\n_Serial No. 2547_\u2014Received from Fayette County in 1894, for murder,\nto serve his natural life in prison, age at the time 20 years, is a\nnotable example of complete reformation within the prison-walls. He\nis a native of Virginia, raised to do hard work in the coal mines,\nwhere he was without much, if any, advantage to enable him to obtain\nan education. Possessed of natural abilities and doubtless awed by\nthe shadow of the gallows from which a loving sister saved him, and\nthe prison environments, he purposed to obey the prison rules by\nindustry at his employment and civility toward the prison officials\nand his comrades. It seems also that early upon his entrance into the\npenitentiary he resolved to be a godly man. He taught himself how to\nread his Bible while in his cell at night. Attending the Bible class\nhe learned how to pray. He gave his heart to God one Sabbath day while\nlistening to a sermon. His classmates selected him as their leader and\nhe served so satisfactorily that during the end of Governor Atkinson\u2019s\nadministration he was pardoned by and through the untiring effort and\ndevotion of the sister who had saved him years before from the gallows.\nOne and all rejoiced and prayed God that the Governor, at the end of\nlife\u2019s journey may be rewarded for the mercy he granted even unto the\npoorest and lowliest prisoner in the penitentiary.\n\n_Serial No. 2504_\u2014Received from Berkley County in 1894, for grand\nlarceny, to serve a term of twelve years, upon entrance to the\nprison started in to make it unpleasant for the prison officials by\nstubbornly refusing to work and by violent acts of misconduct. It was\nfound necessary to punish him severely several times. He was one of\nthe prisoners in solitary confinement when Warden Hawk took hold of\nthe prison. He was released with others, and at once taken in hand\nby the warden for individual treatment. A good position was given him\nin the laundry and other privileges granted to him as well as good\ncounsel given and amiably received. It was soon observed by the prison\nofficials that he was a constant attendant at the chapel Sabbath\nservices, then at a pathetic and prayerful invitation went forward one\nSabbath day and gave himself to the service of God and was baptized. He\nwas in charge of the Bible class for a while. He was recently released\nby habeas corpus proceedings on the ground that having been committed\nto the penitentiary on two sentences, one for four years and the\nother for eight years, from different counties, the greater sentence\nembraced also the lesser one, in that the date of sentence in each case\ncommenced from the day of sentence.\n\nA close Biblical student and possessed of considerable natural ability,\npower of prayer and exhortation, it is hoped and expected that he will\ncontinue to be a worker in the Lord\u2019s vineyard.\n\n_Serial No. 3595_\u2014Received from Monongahela Co. in 1898, to serve a\nterm of four years for grand larceny. Upon entering the prison he\nbecame an active worker in the Bible class. He is an exemplary prisoner\nand thought well of by the warden and prison officials. It is expected\nthat, upon his release, his experience in prison will make of him an\nefficient Christian worker. Possessing some ability and ambition as a\nhymn-writer, herewith is a sample:\n\n\n\u201cA BROTHER OF JESUS.\u201d\n\n    A brother of Jesus, a comrade to fight,\n    A brother to conquer, and strive for the right,\n    A brother in daring, a comrade indeed,\n    A brother to venture, whatever the need.\n    A brother in spirit, when dangers surround,\n    A comrade in courage who stands his ground,\n    A brother who\u2019s faithful, loyal, and true,\n    A comrade who fights, and fights his way through.\n    A brother for heaven, who stands by the cross,\n    A comrade obedient, whatever the cost,\n    A brother who\u2019s ready and willing to die,\n    A comrade who will not his Savior deny.\n    A brother on duty, by day and by night,\n    A comrade who\u2019s trusting in Jesus\u2019 great might,\n    A brother so Christlike, O Savior, I\u2019ll be\n    A comrade in purpose, sacred to thee.\n\n\nDEGENERATES.\n\n_Serial No. 4035_\u2014Was received from Pocahontas County in 1898, to serve\ntwo years for horse stealing. He claimed upon his entrance to the\nprison to be a \u201cpreacher.\u201d It is alleged by persons who know his life\nand character that he is an old and experienced horsethief, who had\nserved many terms of imprisonment in the different penitentiaries of\nthe country, and was looked upon from a criminological point of view\nas a moral degenerate of the first degree. While playing the role of\na \u201cmountain evangelist\u201d in the county from whence he was committed to\nthe penitentiary, he there applied his first and only calling, as a\nhorsethief of the first degree. Upon his introduction to the prison\nhe professed to be very religious, and stoutly maintained that he was\nan innocent man much maligned and persecuted. He was made janitor of\nthe chapel, doubtless owing more to the fact that he was a cripple,\nhaving only the use of his left hand, and a glib talker and not of use\nelsewhere.\n\nHe soon ingratiated himself into the good graces of the visiting\nministers, who looked upon him more in pity than aught else, and they\nextended to him charity which covers a multitude of sins. He did\nactive and good work, however. Upon his release from prison he made\nloud professions of reformation and made pretense of going to serve\nGod and by so doing become a good citizen. It was, however, soon after\nhis release observed by persons interested in his welfare that he was\nsecretly treading the path of wickedness. Soon he was a fugitive from\njustice with big rewards offered for his apprehension and conviction\nfor the larceny of many horses from the farmers of the state and\nof Pennsylvania. Sheriffs of many counties were on the lookout to\napprehend him. Recently the sheriffs ran their quarry down and landed\nhim in the Mineral County jail and doubtless he will soon be returned\nto his old familiar quarters, there to once more ruminate the error of\nwrong-doing. It might well be said of him with Pope, \u201cWhy formed so\nweak, so little, and so blind.\u201d He has received another sentence of ten\nyears in state prison.\n\n\nPATHETIC.\n\n_Serial No. 3984_\u2014Under sentence of death for the murder of his\nbrother-in-law, is an object of great pity. This man for the love\nof his sixteen-year-old boy murdered a man, for which deed the law\ndemands his life. He and the man murdered were both wealthy farmers\nat Terra Alta, Preston Co., West Virginia. Last November (1900) his\nboy was arrested by the brother-in-law for breaking into the cellar\nof his house and getting drunk on his cider. He had him indicted,\ntried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary for the term of\none year, which angered his father, who took a shot-gun and shot his\nbrother-in-law dead in his own barn in the presence of a hired man. The\nfather escaped and lived in the mountains a month, gave himself up,\npleaded guilty, and was sentenced to be hanged Feb. 15, 1901.\n\nHis neighbors, who were kindly disposed to the erring man, at once put\nin circulation a petition to the Governor praying for a commutation of\nsentence to life imprisonment. His wife signed a remonstrance against\ngranting the petition of her husband\u2019s friends. However, the governor,\nin order to enable the condemned man\u2019s friends to present the petition\nto the advisory board of pardons for their consideration, granted him\na respite until April 13. Upon his arrival in the penitentiary he was\npermitted to see his wayward boy, and the scene between father and son\nwas truly pathetic.\n\n\nHUMOROUS.\n\n_Serial No. 3715_\u2014An illiterate white boy from Calhoun County, to\nserve two years for grand larceny for stealing a heifer, sensibly\navailed himself of the privilege afforded by the warden to attend the\nnight school. He made remarkable progress in his studies, so that he\ncould read and write a legible hand. He was so elated with his success\nthat he stated before his release that he was glad he was sent to the\npenitentiary for stealing the heifer to procure money to take his girl\nto the county fair, for now he had a fair education and could get on\nbetter in the world.\n\n\nMEN EXECUTED FOR MURDER.\n\nThe West Virginia Legislature passed an act February, 1899, viz.: \u201cThe\nsentence of death shall in every case be executed by hanging within the\nwalls of the penitentiary and not elsewhere. The officers of the court\nimposing sentence may be present, and twelve respectable citizens, a\nphysician and surgeon, and such representatives of the press as the\nwarden may desire; and the condemned may by request have his counsel,\nministers of the gospel, and such relatives as the warden may deem\nprudent.\u201d\n\n_Serial No. 3745_\u2014Colored, of middle age, who had served a term in the\npenitentiary for stealing, was brought to the prison in 1899, from\nMcDowell County, to suffer the penalty of death Oct. 10, 1899, for the\nunprovoked murder of a \u201cscarlet\u201d negro woman. Upon his entrance into\nthe prison he asked for and was given a Bible, which he constantly\nread during the time he awaited to be executed by mandate of the law.\nMinisters of his race paid him frequent visits, anxious to aid him\nin spiritual and temporal affairs. He professed sincere religious\nbelief and that upon confession of faith he would be saved, yet he did\nnot seem to accept with good grace the assistance offered him by the\nnegroes.\n\nDuring his former imprisonment while he was employed to clean and\nscrub the guard-room and the main-building hallways, he frequently\nmet the chaplain; so he made request to the warden that he be sent\nfor to pay him a visit. The chaplain responded at once and devoted\nmuch of his time to giving religious consolation and words of good\ncheer. He, however, constantly maintained that he was innocent of the\ncrime charged; that the negro with him at the time of the shooting was\nresponsible for the woman\u2019s death, by means of a shot-gun. He doubtless\nwas possessed of a scheming mind, and hoped that he might by some means\nescape the penalty for his crime. Many negro prisoners as well as white\nones deeply sympathized with him, for he was considered a \u201cgood fellow\u201d\nwhen they knew him in prison as one of their number.\n\nA collection amounting to $50.00 was taken up from among the prisoners\nto pay a lawyer to procure a copy of the record of his trial to enable\nhim to file an appeal to the Supreme Court for a new trial. The lawyer\nreceived and acknowledged the receipt of the money, making in return\ntherefor full and profuse promises what he would do to save his life.\nHe took and spent it for liquor, became drunk on the money, and did not\nturn a hand to save the life of his confiding client. The unfortunate\nman, hearing of the reprehensible conduct of his attorney, and the\ntime near at hand for his execution, grew despondent and weak mentally\nand physically. He was baptized, professed repentance, confessed he\nmurdered his mistress, and the night of his execution between the hours\nof 12 a. m. and 1 p. m. it was found necessary to administer powerful\nstimulants to brace him up for the trying ordeal. With zeal and courage\nhis spiritual advisor prayed, counseled, and assisted him to the\nscaffold. His neck was broken by the fall and his death was painless.\n\n_Serial No. 3746_\u2014A splendid specimen of the young mulatto, possessed\nof a fair education for one with the limited opportunities within his\nreach, by occupation a coal miner. He was received into the prison from\nMcDowell County under sentence of death for the willful murder of a\nsixteen-year-old negro boy, while he was in an intoxicated condition;\nalso to be executed Oct. 10, 1899. He asked for and was given a Bible.\nHe was a musician, playing the guitar with skill, and possessed of\na fine tenor voice he was fond of singing hymns, which he did with\npathos, rhyme, and music, to the delight of his hearers.\n\nHe stoutly maintained that his victim was not intentionally but\naccidentally shot by him; that he accidentally fired his pistol into\nthe dwelling wherein the boy was domiciled out of his sight. Upon\nlearning that the boy was wounded, perhaps fatally, he procured a\ndoctor to whom he paid $50.00, all the money he had saved from his\nearnings, to save his life. The boy proved to be wounded beyond the\nhope of recovery and soon died. The chaplain also ministered to the\nspiritual welfare of the prisoner and became much impressed with the\nyoung man\u2019s apparent religious sincerity and his plausible story of\ninnocence of murder. So much was he interested in him that he made\npersonal and strenuous efforts to save his life. The Governor was\nappealed to, the Attorney General was called upon for assistance to\nprocure a copy of his trial record, and statements made by him were\ninvestigated, and the whole matter submitted to the pardon board for\ntheir consideration. After an exhaustive and painstaking consideration\nof the facts submitted to them the pardon board concluded that he lied\nand was in fact guilty, and should suffer the penalty for his crime.\nThe Governor, after the conclusion of the pardon board was made known\nto him, paid the prison a visit. He called upon the doomed man in the\ndeath-cell, and the latter made to the Governor a most eloquent and\npathetic plea to save his life. With tears streaming down his cheeks,\nthe Governor kindly said, \u201cWould to God I could do so, my boy, but the\nfacts as presented to me are undeniable as to your absolute guilt.\u201d\n\nNow knowing that all hope for escape from the gallows was gone and\nthat he must die, he read his Bible, sang gospel hymns, and played his\nguitar. He confessed that he was in fact guilty of the crime and was\nnow content to suffer death, as he believed he had made his peace with\nGod. He was baptized, and his demeanor to the scaffold from his cell\nwas admirable and brave. He firmly ascended the stairway leading to the\ndeath-trap, stood over it without a tremor while his hands and legs\nwere strapped and the rope adjusted about his neck. When asked by the\nwarden if he had anything to say, he replied in a manly and firm voice,\n\u201cI have made my peace with God. I am guilty. The causes of my downfall\nwere whiskey and women. Jesus will take me and I am ready and willing\nto die.\u201d\n\n_Serial No. 3772_\u2014Colored, was received at the prison in 1900, from\nFayette County, to be executed for the willful murder of a prominent\nnegro saloon-keeper who refused to furnish him more liquor when he was\nalready drunk. He asked for a Bible, and when it was given to him he\nseemed to be pleased, and constantly read it. His attorney, however,\nwas skilled in criminal law, and was an indefatigable worker. The\nprisoner, an intelligent colored man, peaceable and quiet when sober,\nbelieved that he would not have to suffer the penalty for his crime.\nStrenuous efforts were made by his attorney to save his life. The\nGovernor and the board of pardon were respectively appealed to, but\nthe guilt of the man was so conclusive, and the murder so unprovoked,\nthat at all points his appeal for clemency was refused. He bravely and\nuncomplainingly paid the penalty decreed by the law and professed his\nbelief in the saving power of Jesus.\n\n\nUNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH.\n\n_Serial No. 3944_\u2014Committed from Wirt County, under sentence of death\nfor the brutal murder (by means of an ax) of his wife and step-son, a\nchild in years, the motive being to obtain money to be inherited by\nthem, is a constant reader of the Bible, and at all times is ready to\nargue passages of the Scriptures with any one who will do so with him.\nHis attorneys secured for him a stay of execution pending an appeal to\nthe Supreme Court.\n\n_Serial No. 3972_\u2014Colored, was committed from Kanawha Co. in 1901, for\nthe brutal and unprovoked murder of a negro on account of some money\nwon by gambling. He is a large, middle-aged, gross-looking negro, who\nhas served a term in the penitentiary for stealing. From his life\nrecord he appears to have been a vagabond, gambling, preying on the\npeople of his race for a living. He is possessed of some education, a\nglib tongue, and appears to have made some friends among white people,\nwhom he says are his only friends and are the only persons who will\ngive him any assistance in his effort to escape the gallows. He was\nto be executed March 22, 1901, but his attorney procured a stay of\nexecution until April 25, pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. He is\na constant reader of the Bible.\n\n\nAN INNOCENT MAN.\n\n_Serial No. 3789_\u2014Committed to the prison in 1899 for twelve years,\nfrom Jefferson County, for the alleged crime, in company with\nother persons, of entering the Potomac river bridge toll-house at\nShepherdstown and robbing Richard Morgan and wife, whom they bound and\ngagged, is an unfortunate victim of untoward circumstances. Evidence\nhas come to light, proved by affidavit, that he is innocent.\n\n\nTHE PRISON CHOIR.\n\nThe prison choir is made up of a number of good singers, white and\ncolored, the latter predominating. They are under the skill and\ndirection of Mr. Chas. E. Woodburn, a well-known business man of\nMoundsville, who has devoted a number of years of his valuable time to\nthese boys as well as to the chapel services, and aided the warden in\nproviding amusement on holidays for the inmates.\n\n\nAPPEAL FOR A PAROLE LAW.\n\n  West Virginia Penitentiary,\n  Moundsville, Jan. 1, 1901.\n\nDear Sir: Gratified that the generous people of West Virginia have\nin response to my letters of appeal to them dated Jan. 20, 1899, for\ndonations of literature enabled me to build up a library for my convict\ncharges to 12,000 volumes of books and magazines, I desire to further\ntrespass on their generosity by asking for your support to bring about\nanother measure of reform, viz., a parole law.\n\nThe parole law is in force in a number of up-to-date state\npenitentiaries with remarkable success, bringing protection and good\nresults to society. It saves trouble to prosecuting attorneys and\ncriminal judges, and enables convicts to gain their liberty solely\nthrough their individual efforts. For instance, by virtue of the\ncriminal statutes a convict may be sentenced for the minimum of one\nyear or the maximum of five years. The criminal judge upon conviction\nof the prisoner on trial imposes an indefinite sentence. The convict\nafter the expiration of one year may become eligible to parole if his\nrecord is exemplary. Two reliable citizens are required to become\nsurety for the convict\u2019s employment and future good conduct, then he is\nparoled.\n\nUpon violation of any of the parole conditions, he is returned to\nprison to serve the maximum sentence. If the convict is a man of\nfamily, he is enabled to provide for them; and if he is a single man,\nhe has a chance to become a respected member of society and no longer a\nmenace thereto. Respectfully yours,\n\n  S. A. HAWK.\n\n\nTHE WRITER\u2019S LIFE.\n\nThat the reader may know and perhaps become interested in the writer\nof this sketch of the West Virginia prison, he herewith respectfully\nand modestly submits to them a sketch of his life. I was born in St.\nLouis, Mo., in 1844. My parents, possessed of more than the ordinary\neducation the poor people of Ireland were enabled to receive, journeyed\nacross the American desert to California, having their troubles with\nthe Indians and their Mormon allies. My father hoped to strike a gold\nmine and become rich, and in the new Eldorado build a home and surround\nhis wife and children\u2014a girl and boy\u2014with all the good things of earth\nthat money could buy. Soon after our arrival at San Francisco, the\ncholera made its appearance, the plague having been brought to the\ngolden shores of California by emigrants traveling from the east by way\nof Central America. My father was stricken with it and died. In the\nLone Mountain cemetery, of the metropolis of the Pacific coast, he has\nlain buried for years. The remainder of the family escaped the dread\nfifty-one disease. Mother was left to struggle alone in a strange land\nand among strangers to provide for her children. Not afraid of work,\nshe did her duty to her children nobly, faithfully, and well. She now\nlies buried beside my father in Lone Mountain cemetery, twenty years\ngone by.\n\nThe war-bugle of the Rebellion rang in my ears and woke me to the\nrealization that I had a country to protect and to save. I enlisted\nin a California regiment of cavalry and served three years with some\nmerit. Upon my discharge from the army I entered an Illinois college\nto perfect my neglected education, and after graduation I located in\nKansas City, Mo. I began at newspaper work, and have continued in that\nline of work to the present time, with occasional lapses from it to\nengage in other and more lucrative employment. A soldier of the civil\nwar, having been wounded, injured, and having contracted disease in\nthe line of duty, I was prompted upon McKinley\u2019s election as President\nto apply for a pension. I went to Washington, D. C., to press my claim\nin person with the Commissioner of Pensions. He turned me down after I\nhad some words with him relative to his delay in granting to me that\nwhich was mine by legal right and title, expressed by the American\npeople through their representative in Congress assembled, and in\nfulfillment of promises made to the men who saved the nation. Somewhat\naddicted to the drink habit, I became drunk at my disappointment and\nthe next day I found to my surprise that I was in the police station\ncharged with breaking into and entering a small grocery in Washington\nCity, two miles from my place of dwelling. The alleged damage inflicted\nwas small, but Justice Clabaugh, who had recently been appointed from\nMaryland, said to me that five years was little enough for the alleged\ncrime.\n\n  Serial No. 378.\n\n[Illustration: Penitentiary of the State of West Virginia]\n\n\n\n\nLETTERS FROM PRISON OFFICIALS.\n\n\nPRISON LIBRARY DESTROYED BY FIRE.\n\n  Nebraska State Penitentiary.\n\n  Lancaster, Neb., March 7, 1901.\n\nDear Sirs: Your consignment of eight books at hand, which is very much\nappreciated. We are doubly unfortunate at the present time, as we have\njust lost our entire library by fire. We realize too with you that\nimprisonment is the turning-point for the better in some men\u2019s lives,\nas we see it exemplified here. At some future time we will send you for\npublication the views of some of the above men who believe they have\nbeen benefited by their prison experience.\n\nThanking you again for the books sent, and in advance for any books you\nmay see fit to send us, we remain, Yours respectfully,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Librarian.\n\n\n  Clinton Prison.\n  Dannemora, N. Y., March 8, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Publishing Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: The books and tracts so kindly forwarded by you for the\nuse of the prisoners in this prison have been received, and the note\nenclosed to the warden handed me for reply. Having charge of all\nliterary material that comes into the prison, I take great pleasure\nin acknowledging receipt of same; and would extend to you my personal\nthanks, as also the gratitude of those whom this material was designed\nto benefit.\n\nI am glad that the spirit of the \u201cinasmuch\u201d as inculcated by the\nLord Jesus, in relation to those who are in prison, is occasionally\nmanifested, and that the rush and friction of wordliness does not\nwholly shut out from view the moral and religious needs of the \u201cmen\nbehind the bars.\u201d The good people to whom you refer in your letter,\nwho are endeavoring to supply our prisons with good and wholesome\nliterature, are entitled to great credit for their efforts in this\ndirection, in these last days of the dispensation. May the blessings of\nour Divine Master be with them in their good work. Sincerely yours,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Iowa State Penitentiary.\n  Fort Madison, Iowa, March 17, 1901.\n\n  The Gospel Trumpet Publishing Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: The books sent by you to the penitentiary have been\nreceived, and will be placed in the hands of the men. Thanking you for\nthe same, I am, Sincerely yours,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Onondaga County Penitentiary.\n  Syracuse, N. Y., Jan. 17, 1901.\n\nDear Sirs: Received three packages of books from Gospel Trumpet\nPublishing Co., Moundsville, W. Va., for the benefit of the convicts\nin our institution. Hope the gift is accompanied by the prayers of all\nconcerned in the donation. Yours truly,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Kansas State Prison.\n  Lansing, Kans., March 6, 1901.\n\n  The Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: We have received to-day your donation of books to this\nprison. We assure you that this gift of books is highly appreciated by\nus, and will be of great benefit to the inmates of this institution. We\nwish to thank you and others who are placing these books in the prisons\nof this country. Thank you for donations of the \u201cGospel Trumpet\u201d to\nprisoners each week. Yours truly,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\nBOOKS WANTED FOR FEMALE PRISONERS.\n\n  Penitentiary at Anamosa.\n  Anamosa, Ia., March 6, 1901.\n\n  The Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nWe received this day one copy each of \u201cThe Kingdom of God,\u201d \u201cThe Better\nTestament,\u201d \u201cMothers\u2019 Counsel to Their Sons,\u201d \u201cDivine Healing,\u201d\n\u201cThe Secret of Salvation\u201d (English and German editions), \u201cSongs of\nthe Evening Light,\u201d a Bagster\u2019s Teachers\u2019 Bible. I find we have now\nseven copies of the book \u201cThe Secret of Salvation\u201d in our library.\nWe are obliged for copies of these and shall hope to inclose them in\nour revised catalogue which we hope soon to publish. You perhaps are\nnot aware that we have a female department to the prison, but seeing\n\u201cLetters of Love and Counsel for Our Girls\u201d listed, leads me to refer\nto this fact. Your letter to the inmates is appreciated. Yours truly,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Acting Chaplain.\n\n\n  New Jersey State Prison.\n  Trenton, March 5, 1901.\n\n  E. E. Byrum.\n\nDear Sir: The package of books and tracts which you sent for the\nbenefit of the prisoners in our state prison came duly to hand, and\nthe warden desires me to thank you for your timely gift. I will see\nthat the books and tracts are judiciously distributed, so that good\nunder the divine blessing may come through the reading of such good\nliterature.... I will be glad to have you send religious reading matter\nfor the prisoners, knowing that with His blessing much good can and\nwill be accomplished by such a course. One of the factors leading to\na life of crime has been the character of reading allowed in the\nhome. Parents, ignorant or indifferent, have permitted their boys\nto devour dime novels and kindred literature until their minds have\nbecome saturated with evil. Now the antidote is good reading for the\npoor victims of parental neglect such as you propose to furnish....\nThanking you for the interest you have taken in the welfare of those\nincarcerated here, and praying the blessing of the Great Head of the\nchurch upon you, I am, Yours truly,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\nMORE GOOD BOOKS DESIRED.\n\n  Louisiana Penitentiary.\n  Baton Rouge, La., March 13, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.\n\nMy Dear Friends: Please allow me to thank you in behalf of the\nprisoners for the six books and Bibles you so kindly sent recently. We\nall appreciate the kind interest you take in us in sending the Gospel\nTrumpet and sincerely trust you will continue sending same, as we all\nvery eagerly look forward to receiving it. If you have any more good\nbooks to spare we will be very glad to receive them, as we all enjoy\nreading very much. Again sincerely thanking you for past favors. Very\nrespectfully,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Librarian.\n\n\n  Allegheny Penitentiary.\n  Allegheny, Pa., March 20, 1901.\n\nDear Sir: I feel very glad that you are now and have been for some time\nso deeply interested in an uplift of the moral forces in prisons, and\nthat your laudable work may result in much good, is my sincere desire.\nWe have no prison paper published here to send you. We have a school\nsix hours every day except Sunday for the illiterate, a Bible and\nhymn-book for each man that will use them, a library of 8,500 volumes,\nhundreds of daily and weekly papers and magazines, Moody\u2019s books and\ntracts, etc., by which we are striving to give light and spiritual help\nto the prisoners. Sincerely,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Connecticut State Prison.\n  Wethersfield, Conn., March 6, 1901.\n\n  The Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: The eight books sent this institution, including a Bagster\nBible and song-book, came duly to hand. The Bible has been given a\nlife prisoner, the song-book went to the choir, and the other books\nwere turned over to the chaplain\u2014who is the librarian\u2014to be placed in\ngeneral circulation. Respectfully yours,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Warden.\n\n\n  Idaho State Penitentiary.\n  Boise City, Idaho, March 8, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: Yours of recent date enclosing letter to prisoners and\nreferring to printed matter sent under separate cover at hand. The\nletter referred to shall be placed in a conspicuous place for review\nby the inmates of our institution. The reading matter will also be\nplaced at their disposal. Be assured that this effort on the part of\nthe \u201cfriend\u201d who has paid for them is appreciated by the present Idaho\nPrison management. Yours sincerely,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Warden.\n\n\n  Georgia State Prison Farms.\n  Statefarm, Ga., March 5, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nMy Dear Sir: Your books received, and the Bible which is a very nice\none. The song-book was sent to the female congregation for use by them.\nWe have eighty-eight women there, some of them with good voices, and\nthey sing well. We hope the words may prove a savor of life to them.\nThe other books were sent to the male department, where we have one\nhundred and forty men and boys. We hope they too will prove a blessing,\nfor the thing most important for a convict is salvation. I was pleased\nwith the very excellent quality of books sent.\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Supt.\n\n\nLETTER FROM A SHERIFF.\n\n  Wheaton, Ill., April 23, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.\n\nDear Sirs: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of a package of books and\ntracts sent me for the use of prisoners under my charge. Please accept\nmy thanks for same. I heartily commend your efforts and work. Very\ntruly yours,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Sheriff.\n\n\nPRISON CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETY.\n\n  Jackson, Mich., March 22, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: The above named society desire you to know of their grateful\nappreciation for the donation of several valuable books. They comprise\na splendid addition to our C. E. S. Library, which is eagerly read by\nthe members and others. Thanking you for remembering us, I remain,\nSincerely yours,\n\n  6890, Corresponding Secretary.\n\n\nHELP SUPPLY THE PRISONERS.\n\n  Maine State Prison.\n  Thornston, Maine, April 30, 1901.\n\nSirs: Your letter to the warden has been passed on to me. We are\npleased to receive religious reading to be distributed to the convicts\nin this prison. I have an arrangement with many Christian friends who\naid, so I am able to furnish some Christian book or paper to each\nconvict each week. Yours in the work of saving the fallen,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Sing Sing Prison.\n  Sing Sing, N. Y., March 7, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nDear Sirs: The books you sent for use of the prisoners in this prison\nhave been received, and I thank you for the same. They have been placed\nin the library. It is always a pleasure to know that we are in the\nthoughts and consciences of the people on the great outside world....\nThanking you for your gift and wishing you success in your efforts to\nlift up fallen humanity, I remain, Fraternally yours,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain and Librarian.\n\n\nPRISON LITERATURE APPRECIATED.\n\n  Alva, Woods Co., Okla., Dec. 20, 1900.\n\nDear Sirs: Yours along with the books you sent were received last week\nand, as directed, the library was placed within the steel cage, where\nthe prisoners could have free access to it. We would love to say a word\nof encouragement to the good people who are interesting themselves in\nbehalf of the poor unfortunates behind iron bars, but we have not the\ncommand of language to express our admiration of this most commendable\nand noble work. No one can tell the good that may result from these\nsilent companions, read by the poor unfortunates when shut in from the\nworld. While we have never hoped to start a reform in prison life,\nwe have often asked for more Christian interest in behalf of the\nprisoners. Accept our humble thanks for this most generous gift.\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Former Jailer.\n\n\n  California State Prison.\n  Represa, Sacramento Co., Cal., Feb. 13, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of eight books for prison\nlibrary. We are very grateful to receive anything in this line, and any\nsent will be thankfully received. Respectfully,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, General Overseer.\n\n\nFROM A JAILER.\n\n  Guthrie, Logan Co., Okla., June 14, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Publishing Co.:\n\nI am glad to address you with a few lines to inform you that I received\na package of books and tracts for the prisoners in my charge. The same\nhave been handed them to read. I am glad to say that they enjoy reading\nthem very much. I take an interest in reading them myself and think\nthey are the best books and papers I ever read, and a great gift to\nthe prisoners. They seem to condemn them of the crimes that they have\ncommitted. I am glad to say that the gospel can not be preached plainer\nthan your books and papers preach it. I learn through your books and\npapers what it takes to constitute the church of God. The prisoners of\nthis jail send their many thanks for the literature sent them.\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Turnkey.\n\n\n  California Prison.\n  San Quentin, Cal., March 8, 1901.\n\n  Editor Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.\n\nDear Sir: I beg to acknowledge receipt of your kind favor of books and\none fine Bible for the prisoners. I have added the books to the library\nand presented the Bible to one of the most worthy and appreciative of\nthe prisoners, whose letter I have enclosed. I believe our prisoners\nhave been much helped by the distribution of your excellent religious\nliterature and kindly gifts. I shall be pleased to receive any further\ncontributions in this direction. Thanking you in the name of the\nprisoners, I am, Yours,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  North Dakota State Penitentiary.\n  Bismarck, N. D., April 11, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Publishing Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGents: I have to acknowledge receipt of yours of March 21st and owe\nyou an apology for not giving you an earlier answer to same. You are\ndoing a good work which is, I believe, appreciated by the unfortunates\nwhom you are seeking to benefit, as well as by those who have them\nin charge. This is a small institution; we have at this date one\nhundred and fifteen inmates, all men. The moral conditions are, I\nbelieve, fairly good in the institution but there is great chance for\nimprovement and I will be grateful for anything you may be able to do\nto assist in that direction, and trust that I may be able later on to\nassist you in the noble work in which you are engaged. Respectfully,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Warden.\n\n\nBOOKS USED UNTIL WORN OUT.\n\n  Kentucky Penitentiary.\n  Frankfort, Ky., Feb. 8, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nWe have received from your publishing house a nice package of good\nbooks. I take this opportunity to acknowledge receipt of same, and to\nthank you kindly for this generous donation. The books are turned\ninto the hands of the prisoners, who take them eagerly, and are very\ngrateful for them. They are passed from one to another until they\nare literally worn out. Allow me to say in this connection, that the\nproblem of criminology in this country must be solved by other means\nthan the punitive, and retributive idea. We have been more than a\ncentury trying every plan that man can devise to check and cure this\ngrowing curse. We must turn to the means provided by God Almighty. The\ngospel of Jesus Christ is the only and true remedy. Disseminating good\nliterature, and instructing in the ways of life, is a step in the right\ndirection. I have made a study of the subjects under my charge, for\nnearly three years, and find that the man who fails to accept Jesus,\nand have his soul washed in his blood, in most cases leaves this place\nstill a criminal. May God help us to lead them into the light. Many\nblessings upon you for your act of mercy. Very truly, your brother and\nco-worker,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Michigan State Prison.\n  Jackson, Mich., March 11, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nGentlemen: We are in receipt of the very excellent collection of books\nyou sent us for the use of the men in our institution. Please accept\nour grateful thanks for the same, and be assured they will be eagerly\nread and highly prized by the men. Too much can not be said of the\nbeneficial influence of good books in the prison. Men will carefully\nread books in here that they would not look at outside. And then too\nthey have time to digest what they read. Again thanking you for your\nkind remembrance of us, I beg leave to remain, Yours truly,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Chaplain.\n\n\n  Dover, Del., Aug. 6, 1900.\n\nI received the tracts that you sent, and distributed them among the\nprisoners. They seem to enjoy them more than anything they have ever\nhad in the way of reading. I shall be more than glad to distribute all\nsuch reading as that proves to be. Yours respectfully,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Warden of the Kent County Prison.\n\n\n\n\nTESTIMONIES OF CONVICTS.\n\n\nFELLOW PRISONERS, TAKE COURAGE.\n\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nThrough the kindness of the warden I am permitted to present a small\nsketch of my prison life. I am glad to avail myself of the opportunity\nof relating my experience in the earnest hope that some one as\nunfortunate as myself may be benefited thereby. That this is written\nwithin prison-walls will, I feel, prove none the less interesting.\nThe first night I spent in prison will never be forgotten. When the\ncell-doors clanged, closing in upon me, I felt my very heart sink\nwithin me. Then with a contrite heart I looked to Jesus, and spent the\nnight in prayer. Oh, what a comfort he has been to me! I then and there\nmade up my mind to follow in his footsteps, and devote my life to him.\n\nWith a change of heart, Christ has ever been with and bountifully\nblessed me. I meet with great kindness from Christian people, and every\nconsideration from our noble warden and his officers. Because I am in\nprison I need not be useless nor unhappy. I accept my situation as of\ndivine appointment, and will try to be contented with it. Lamenting\nover the past will do no good, for I can not recall or change it.\nComplaining of the present will not mend but make myself and others\nwretched. Anxiety about the future will not make it any better. My\nheavenly Father has permitted things to be just as they are, and I know\nhe loves me. I will therefore leave all to him. No rebellion shall be\ncherished in my heart, and no murmur shall escape my lips. My Savior\nhas promised that his grace shall be sufficient for me. He will never\nleave me, but be a present help in time of need. Trusting in him and\ncommitting all to my loving Father\u2019s care, I will do what I can. I\nwill make the place where my lot is cast as bright and cheerful as\npossible, and work and wait with patience till I am permitted to go to\nmy heavenly home.\n\nI am indebted to many of my Christian friends, to all of whom I extend\nmy heartfelt thanks for many acts of kindness, of which one is in\nsupplying me with a fine Teachers\u2019 Bible and other good religious\nreading matter. My Bible has been to me a constant source of pleasure,\nit has dispersed the dark cloud of sorrow and let in the sunlight of\nGod\u2019s love. There was a time when I believed every earthly friend had\nforsaken me, and that I was only known by a number\u2014the number on the\nbooks of a prison. In a cell, yea, shut away from the full light of\nday, shut away from man, I was lonely, friendless, forgotten\u2014a boy who\nwas once free as heaven\u2019s sunshine, free as the birds whose songs I\nloved to hear. I remembered my home, my mother, the good-night kisses,\nthe lilacs, the roses, the orchard, the swing, the schoolhouse, and the\nplaymates. Then I thought of that beautiful and pathetic hymn, \u201cOh,\nwhere is my wandering boy to-night?\u201d and I resolved that I would flee\nto the One whom God had appointed to bring forth the prisoner from the\nprison-house of sin. My brothers, you are not forgotten. If mother is\nalive, she is praying for you, and the God to whom she prays loves\nyou. \u201cYea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love\u201d; \u201cand, lo, I\nam with you always.\u201d He has all the angels of heaven working to help\nfallen humanity to be saved from sin. \u201cAre they not all ministering\nspirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of\nsalvation?\u201d\u2014Heb. 1:14. And I am glad that I can testify to the facts,\nthat behind prison-walls, in the dark shadows of a prison-cell, are\nsons and daughters of God, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, heirs\nof salvation, and to these heirs of salvation angels are sent forth to\nminister. The angel in your cell waits, brother. Kneel and pray. \u201cIf we\nconfess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and\nto cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d\u20141 Jno. 1:9.\n\nCan I, can you, live a Christian life in bondage? My answer is in the\naffirmative. It has been tested and proved beyond a doubt. I will\nrecall the incident of Joseph. When he was a mere boy he was sold by\nhis brethren and cast into bondage. He resisted temptation, even when\nhe knew that in so doing he was taking just so many steps toward the\ndungeon. Gen. 39:7-20. In adversity, as well as in prosperity, he gave\nall honor to God. Gen. 41:16. He forgave his brethren when most men\nwould have been tempted to punish them. Gen. 50:15-21. We can learn\nfrom Joseph\u2019s prison life a remarkable lesson. That God was with him in\nall things was unmistakably true. He was blessed and elevated to noble\npositions. This honor he gained by his uprightness in his daily walk\nbefore God. Gen. 39:21-23; Acts 7:9. God used him as an instrument to\nunfold his plans. Gen. 45:5-8; 50:20; Acts 7:9-14. If Joseph, a mere\nboy, could walk uprightly before God and receive a blessing in prison,\nI or any one else can do the same by the grace of God, and by his grace\nI will. And again, Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ, was imprisoned\nby Herod and was delivered by an angel through the prayer of the\nchurch, yet he could not realize that he was released from his bonds\nand imprisonment, but thought that it was a vision. Acts 12:4-9. Paul\nand Silas suffered bonds of imprisonment, and stripes of persecution\nfor proclaiming the gospel of Christ, and during all their persecution\nsang songs of praise and lifted their voices in prayer to the Lord.\nActs 16:22-26. If all of these men could offer so much praise to God\nunder such trying circumstances, I or any one else can do the same, but\nonly through his grace. By his grace I will. When we fully submit our\nminds to God\u2019s mind and plans, then God will teach us the sweet lesson\nthat \u201call things work together for good to them that love God.\u201d\u2014Rom.\n8:28. Trust him and open your heart to him and you will experience this\npeace which he gives to his followers, a peace such as the world can\nneither give nor take away.\n\nIn conclusion I must say, if the dear readers could but hear the\npleading, fervent prayers and the touching testimonies of these\nunfortunates, they would place a higher estimate on the prisoner, and\nby word and act help him rise, as it were, above his surroundings. The\nprisoners are given to understand by our warden that the prayer-meeting\nservices are theirs, and let me say there are about fifty of the boys\nhere who try to make the best of it, and in no single instance have\nthey violated the privilege granted to them during this service. I\nconsider it a privilege to stand up for God, even within the confining\nbars of a penitentiary. My brother prisoner, the Master is calling\nfor you. Think of it, whosoever believeth on God\u2019s only Son, a free\nand a full salvation shall he have, for God is both willing and able\nto save. \u201cWhat must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the\nLord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.\u201d\u2014Acts 16:30. Salvation is\nin the name of Jesus; \u201cneither is there salvation in any other: for\nthere is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must\nbe saved.\u201d\u2014Acts 4:12. \u201cChoose you this day whom ye will serve.\u201d\u2014Josh.\n24:15. May God bless and uplift the fallen everywhere.\n\n  Serial No. 2282.\n\n\nSAVED BEHIND PRISON-BARS.\n\n  Washington Co. Jail, Potasi, Mo., Sept. 23, 1900.\n\nI was a very wicked man when I was put in here, but by reading books\nand tracts sent me I soon realized my condition, and oh, how I repented\nof my many sins and called on God for mercy! Now I am so happy to tell\nyou that he freely forgave me all. Praise his dear name! Although I\nhave been in here long time my hours have been sweet since I found\nJesus. I expect to leave here in a few days for the state prison at\nJefferson City, but oh, I have the sweet promise: \u201cI will never leave\nthee nor forsake thee.\u201d I have promised God that the rest of my days\nshall be spent for him who has done so much for me. I expect to work\nfor God all I can while in the penitentiary, distributing papers and\nbooks that are sent to me for that purpose. Dear ones, pray that God\nmay ever use me.\n\n  J. H. R.\n\n\nFROM A CONDEMNED PRISONER.\n\n  Santa Fe, New Mexico.\n\nThrough the kindness of a lady in California a few copies of your\npaper, the Gospel Trumpet, have found their way into this prison (Santa\nFe, New Mexico). Each copy has been met with a hearty welcome, and\nwell read. This prison has about 230 men behind its walls. About one\nhundred of these men can read the English language, and are in need of\nthe true gospel. If any of God\u2019s children who read this feel that they\nwould like to send a few copies of the Trumpet, or tracts, or any other\nspiritual literature to this prison, the writer will take pleasure in\ndistributing the same.\n\nI am happy to say that I feel the effects of the many earnest prayers\nthat are rising daily in my behalf. I am a condemned man and have been\nlying under a death sentence for over thirteen months. My case will be\ndisposed of in August, and I need the prayers of all God\u2019s dear people.\nBrothers and sisters, pray for me. I have many friends and loved ones\npraying that it may be God\u2019s will to give me my liberty next spring.\nWill every one who may read this join us in this prayer, and always\nclose with \u201cGod\u2019s will be done.\u201d Dear ones, I am only in one of God\u2019s\nschools, and his great Spirit gives me strength to rejoice with all my\nsad trouble. I was placed in this dungeon April 4, 1899, and have not\nseen a star since. Oh, I know they would look beautiful! The sun never\nreaches my little palace; but I am happy to say, \u201cThere is sunshine in\nmy soul to-day.\u201d Have not been sick an hour since here. All the praise\nto my dear Savior. I am expecting to get my case reversed in August, am\nputting my trust in higher power than man. \u201cIf God be for us, who can\nbe against us?\u201d\u2014Rom. 8:31. I know that I have the prayers and sympathy\nof every one that loves Jesus Christ and his cause, and when my case\nis decided I will let you all know the verdict through the Trumpet. My\nenemies are many, and I will ask you all to remember them daily, in\nyour prayers. I love their souls, and my earnest prayer is that I may\nmeet them all in heaven. Reader, meet me at Jesus\u2019 feet.\n\n  W. B. H., Box 426.\n\n\n  Territorial Prison of Arizona.\n  Yuma, Ariz., Nov. 17, 1900.\n\nDear Sirs: Our honorable superintendent gave me your letter\naccompanying some books and tracts you sent to the prisoners in the\nTerritorial Prison at Yuma, Arizona, a few days ago. As it happens to\nbe my misfortune to be one of the number incarcerated in this place, I\ntake pleasure in writing you and telling my experience of what Jesus\ncan do for a man behind the prison-walls. Like many others behind the\nprison-bars, no doubt, I enjoyed the blessing of being brought up in\na Christian community, but had never been brought to the realization\nof the fact that I needed the protection of a loving Savior to guide\nme through this life, and like the prodigal son I thought I could take\ncare of myself. But like so many hundreds of others that take no heed\nto their earlier training, fell into bad company, which finally led to\nthe cause of my misfortune that placed me behind the prison-walls.\n\nAt first the thought of being in prison, and loved ones at home, almost\ndrove me wild. The days were too long, the nights too long; I could not\ncontent myself with reading, and could scarcely work. I thought I was\nthe most miserable man on earth, and almost wished I could die. Finally\nI concluded to try to read the Bible. I had scarcely looked in a Bible\nfor nine years, much less read a single chapter. So I secured a Bible\nand began at the first chapter of Genesis, and read a few chapters at\nleisure hours. I would mark the place where I left off and commence\nthere when I had another opportunity to read. The more I read the more\ninteresting it became; so I finally read it through. By the time I\nread it through I had become so interested I would take the Bible to\nthe cell with me at night and read till the lights were turned out,\nand I concluded to read it through again and take more time in reading\nand try to get a better understanding of it. Before I got through the\nsecond time I was convicted by the Spirit of God. I realized that I was\nnot only a convict, but a sinner. I accepted Christ as my Savior, and\nhave been trying to serve him ever since.\n\nIt has made a new man of me. The days and nights are now not too long,\nand I can work as though I were drawing a salary. The Bible is the\nmost precious book in the world to me, and the longer I serve Christ\nthe more I am determined to serve him the remainder of my life. My\nprayer is that every man behind the prison-bars may accept Christ as\ntheir Savior, while in prison; for if they wait until they get out, the\ntemptations are too great and the chances are against them. My advice\nto my fellow convicts is to read the Bible; if it is not interesting\nat first it will become interesting; it will broaden your minds, it\nwill make better men and women of you, it will help you to bear your\nburdens, and may be the means of saving your souls.\n\nI thank you for the books and tracts, and assure you they will be read\nand appreciated by quite a number of the men here, and trust God will\nbless you in your efforts to lead fallen men to the Savior.\n\n  R. C.\n\n\n  Jackson, Mo., April 4, 1900.\n\nWe, the prisoners of Jackson, Missouri, thank you for sending us those\ngood papers. We would to God we were able to express our gratitude\nfor the Gospel Trumpet and to you for your great desire to help us to\nbe better men. I wish we had thousands of such men and women as you\nare. I do wish that every poor soul in this world could get a Gospel\nTrumpet and read and see the great light it gives to any one trying to\nserve the true God. I desire your faithful prayers to help me bear the\ncross, and also wish the prayers of all your brothers and friends that\nI may be a better man. Pray God to deliver me from my enemies and out\nof this prison. I have a dear wife and six little children and want to\nreturn home to them. I will leave here to-morrow for Jefferson City Mo.\nprison, and hope to hear from you again. May God help you to help every\npoor soul.\n\n  L. L. B.\n\n\n  Charleston, Mo., April 18, 1900.\n\nIn reply to your letter of April 16, it was kindly received by the\nprisoners in jail, and we were very thankful to you for those papers\nyou sent. All the boys send their many thanks. There are nine here and\nexpect to be here for quite a while, and would like very much if you\nonly had some one come here and talk to us and bring us papers. Hoping\nto hear from you again and receive some more papers. Many thanks from\nall the prisoners in jail.\n\n  \u2014\u2014\n\n\n  Greenville, Mo., March 27, 1900.\n\nYours of the 26th received with roll of papers. Must say we were\nglad to get them. We are glad to have plenty at all times. As may be\nexpected, there are some in this prison who need something to encourage\nthem, and should you deem it expedient you may send us some papers,\nsuch as you may think best to send. I for one need reformation and will\nbe pleased to have your assistance in trying to follow the steps of the\nSavior. Your well wisher.\n\n\n  Jefferson City, Mo., April 10, 1900.\n\nWe, the prisoners of Cole County Jail, received your kind letter and\npapers this morning. We are very thankful to you for your good wishes\nand appreciate your interest in us to help us to be better men. It is\na matter to be deplored that in the great state of Mo. there are so few\nwho would put out the hand of mercy to fallen humanity. Your papers\nwill always be welcome, and we hope they will do the good you intend.\nWith sincere good wishes we subscribe ourselves\n\n  Prisoners of Cole County Jail.\n\nP. S. A Bible and gospel hymn-book would be very much appreciated.\n\n\n  Nevada, Mo., April 19, 1900.\n\nIt is with pleasure I answer your most kind and welcome letter received\nthe 18th with joy and delight. There are ten men in this jail and each\nsends his thanks to you for your kindness. Nearly every word in the\npapers has been read. I am not a Christian, but I ofttimes wish I could\nbe converted, for the Christians seem to be so happy, and I cherish a\nhope that I may soon get out of darkness into light. I was in here four\nmonths without any Christian influence or Christian papers to read, and\nmy mind seemed to wander away to some unknown realm of darkness until\nthe last night of March, when the door opened and we were presented\nwith some little books, and on the first day of April we received\nanother roll and also some papers which were sent to us by the good\nChristian ladies of Nevada, and you do not know how it brightened my\nhopes and prospects. It made me think that I had some friends to speak\na word of encouragement to me. We like the Gospel Trumpet. It is a\nsplendid paper for any one to read, and I hope I may have the pleasure\nof reading more of them. Your true friend,\n\n  \u2014\u2014.\n\n\n  Centerville, Ala., Sept. 9, 1900.\n\nI will answer your letter. I was glad to get your books; they gave me\nmuch light. I have been in jail a long time and you are the first one\nthat has ever sent me anything to read. I would like to have some more\nbooks to read. Yours,\n\n  J. D. W.\n\n\n  Will County Jail, Joliet, Ill., April 7, 1900.\n\nWe, the inmates of this institution, surely appreciate the\nconsideration which you have taken in us. And as the County of Will\ndoes not furnish a library we the inmates will be pleased to receive\nany literature which you have to spare.\n\n  Inmates.\n\n\n  Georgetown, Del., Aug. 7, 1900.\n\nWe received those little books and tracts, and we prisoners were very\nglad to receive them, although we are all sinners in this place. There\nare nineteen of us at present\u2014seven white men and twelve colored men.\nWe are treated very kindly by the keepers. Please send us more books.\n\n  From the Prisoners.\n\n\n  Hartford, Conn., Aug. 12, 1900.\n\nWe have to again thank you for sending us books, tracts, etc. We fully\nappreciate the motives with which these books are sent, and are sure\nthat they will bear fruit in due season. The books, etc., are very\ninteresting and are looked forward to with great pleasure. We trust\nthat everybody who reads them will be benefited by their teachings. And\nwhen we are permitted to go forth into the world again, we trust we may\nbe able to render assistance to some needy brother or sister who is\nseeking to find Jesus. May God bless you in your good work. In behalf\nof the prisoners in Hartford Jail. I beg to remain yours sincerely,\n\n  J. W. C.\n\n\n  Jefferson City, Mo., Aug. 22, 1900.\n\nI will drop you a few lines in answer to yours, which I received, and\nalso a package of books which I was also glad to receive, and pleased\nto hear from you. I am still trusting in God, and will trust in him\nuntil death. There are five boys in here beside myself, who are reading\nthose books that you sent me. They think them good. It does me good to\nknow they like them. I am going to live for God the rest of my days,\nand keep out of trouble. I have sadly repented of this, and I know God\nforgives me. I have promised my God that I will serve him the rest of\nmy days, and I am going to keep it by the help of God. Many thanks for\nthose books. From your saved brother,\n\n  H. T. B.\n\n\nFROM A CALIFORNIA PRISONER.\n\n  San Quentin, Cal., March 8, 1901.\n\n  Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nMy Dear Friends: Your very kind letter addressed to the prisoners has\nbeen given to me by the chaplain to answer. It is a great consolation\nto the prisoners to know that there are good people in the world who\nsympathize with the unfortunate. The Gospel Trumpet has been eagerly\nsought after and read with interest and benefit by many of the boys.\nIt is casting bread upon the waters of life. We frequently have\nit thrown in our faces\u2014those who are trying to live the Christian\nlife\u2014that state\u2019s prison is a poor place to come to get religion. Now\nI admit that this is true, also that it is a poor place to come to\nfor any purpose provided that we are obliged to come as so many of us\nare; however, I thank God that I have found the way to a better life\nnotwithstanding I am in state\u2019s prison. It is better to find Christ\nin prison than not to find him at all. If we repent and ask Christ to\nforgive us, he is willing and able to forgive us in prison as well as\nanywhere else, and to cleanse us from all sin. I thank God that I can\nreport victory through grace. Christ is able to save me and keep me in\nprison. The farther along, the brighter the way grows. Salvation has\nmade such a radical change in my life that I can scarcely recognize my\nformer self. God has so strengthened my faith as to banish all doubts\nand fears and filled me with humble, peaceful love. Thank God for this\nglorious change. I am indeed in full possession of a new nature; old\nthings have passed away; behold, all things are become new. I received\nfrom our chaplain the elegant Bible which you sent. I assure you that\nI appreciate it very much and will keep it as a great treasure while I\nlive. Those other books are highly appreciated. Surely it is casting\nyour bread upon the waters of life. Christ said he that giveth unto the\nleast of God\u2019s creatures a cup of cold water will receive his reward.\nYour gift is a well of water flowing over, and God will reward you in\nproportion. Your brother in Christ,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Serial Number 1055.\n\n\nPAPERS AND BOOKS SOLICITED.\n\n  Walla Walla, Washington, Feb. 19, 1901.\n\n  Mr. E. E. Byrum,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nMy Dear Sir: A fellow inmate of this, the Washington State\nPenitentiary, has been kind enough, on two or three occasions, to\npermit me a perusal of your most excellent publication, the Gospel\nTrumpet. I feel certain that I have been benefited through the\nprivilege, as within a sinful environment, such as obtained here,\none needs the wholesome and uplifting encouragement that is breathed\nthrough the columns of your magazine. In one of your issues I note\nthat you have a fund set aside the proceeds of which are devoted to\nfurnishing Christian literature to those whose lack of means precludes\nthem from otherwise obtaining it. Had I the money I would gladly remit\nfor a supply, but isolated as I am I am unable to provide it, and\ntherefore, if I may presume upon your charity, I assure you that I\nshall feel truly grateful for any remembrance which your goodness may\nprompt you to tender. Thanking you in advance for a response, I remain,\nYours very truly,\n\n  \u2014\u2014, Prisoner.\n\n\nFROM A LIFE PRISONER.\n\n  Nevada State Prison.\n  Carson City, Nev., April 18, 1901.\n\n  The Gospel Trumpet Pub. Co.,\n  Moundsville, W. Va.\n\nDear Friends: Your kind letter and the books were duly received, for\nwhich please accept my thanks. I read your letter to the men one\nSunday morning just at the opening of service. The effect of its\nkindly expressions upon the men in general I am unable to state,\nbut personally I wish to thank you. I have read your books and like\nthem. I like the plain speaking which I find there, in denouncing this\nmakebelieve Christianity. Above all men, the prisoner is quick to see\nthe non-practice of the teachings of Jesus by his professed followers,\nand seeing it, they conclude it is all pretense. I speak of those who\nread the Bible. Consequently very few make any effort to lead a true\nlife, and care very little for Christian reading. Of course they are\nwrong in that respect, as they have been in many others, but being\nblind they are unable to see, I know, and so does any one who thinks\nor reads, that our penal systems are of the most unChristlike nature\npossible, breathing more of the spirit of hell than of the spirit that\nlifts heavenward. Why our people will continue in this spirit I know\nnot. Perhaps some time a true soul will arise in this special subject\nand bring about more righteous conditions. God grant that it be so.\n\nWith many thanks for your kindly interest in the prisoner, and for the\nbooks sent, I am, with Christian love, Respectfully yours,\n\n  E. S. \u2014\u2014, Life Prisoner.\n\n\n  Jonesboro, Ark.\n\nDear Friend: We received your letter and books. We were so glad to get\nthem. We were playing cards when the sheriff handed them to us. We laid\nthe cards away and went to reading, and the more we read the more\ninterested we became. I have prayed to God to forgive me of my sins and\nI believe he does, and I want you to pray for me. There are three other\nmen in here that have turned to God, and it all came about through the\nletters and books. We thank you for the Testament. Pray for us and\nplease send us more of those books and papers. They help us so much.\n\n\nFROM A PRISON WORKER.\n\nThe prison work is growing and precious souls are being saved. It\nis wonderful how readily these men accept the full teaching of the\nBible, taking Christ as their Savior and Healer. When I read their\nletters so cheerful and so happy in Jesus, it makes me to rejoice.\nThe work is spreading from state to state and calls are coming in for\npure literature. The state prisons have libraries in them, but they\nare filled with novels (so the prisoners tell me), and they desire\nsomething better. When these books and papers are put in their hands\nthey forsake the cards and novels and read something that will do them\ngood. We thank God for those who have helped us so much in this work,\nbut our need this morning is greater than ever because the work is\ngreater, and we are praying God to touch the hearts of his people to\nsupply the free-literature fund with ample means to send us another\nshipment of books and tracts. A prisoner in Jefferson City and one\nin Menard, Ill. have permission to distribute books and tracts they\nreceive and they are faithfully discharging their duty. May God help us\nto keep them supplied, and not them only but other prisons as well. We\ndo not feel like it is God\u2019s will for us to quit the field now and turn\nit over to the enemy when souls are being saved. Let each one do his\nduty and the work can be carried on without any one feeling the burden.\nYour co-laborer in the work,\n\n  L. P\u2014\u2014.\n\n\n\n\n_RELEASED FROM PRISON._\n\n\nA sentence to a term of years in prison in many states is commuted to\n\u201cshort time,\u201d so many days being deducted from each month for good\nbehavior. An attempt to escape or continuance in disobedience will\nrequire a full-term service. In some states there is a parole law\nwhere for good behavior prisoners may be paroled or given liberty to\ngo anywhere in the state by reporting once or twice a month, stating\ntheir whereabouts, and at the end of a given period, if they do not\nabuse their privileges by leaving the state, they will be given a final\ndischarge.\n\nThe state of West Virginia has recently passed a bill to create and\nestablish a free public employment bureau, which came into effect May\n15, 1901, as follows:\n\n\u201cBe it known by the legislature of West Virginia:\n\n\u201c1. The Commissioner of Labor is hereby authorized to organize and\nestablish in connection with the bureau of labor a free public\nemployment bureau for the purpose of receiving applications from\npersons seeking employment and applications from persons seeking to\nemploy laborers.\n\n\u201c2. No compensation or fee shall be charged or received directly or\nindirectly from persons applying for work, information, or help\nthrough said department. The Commissioner of Labor is hereby authorized\nto employ such assistance and incur such expense as may be necessary\nto carry into effect the purpose of this act, but such assistance and\nexpense shall not exceed $500.00 per annum,\u201d etc., etc.\n\nIn compliance with this act of the legislature a free public employment\nbureau has been established at Wheeling, twelve miles from Moundsville\npenitentiary. This will not only be the means of furnishing men with\nwork who have never been in prison and thus keep them out, but will be\na privilege much appreciated by those who have just been released. It\nwould be wisdom on the part of the lawmakers of every state to thus\nprovide a similar institution somewhere near their state prisons.\n\nTo the prisoner whose term has just expired we desire to give a few\nwords of advice. You now start out in life anew. There are great\nresponsibilities before you. No doubt many of you the world will\nmeet with a frown, and look disdainfully upon you because of your\npast career, or that you have been in prison. Do not give way to\ndiscouragement under such circumstances; face the world with a smile,\nshun the places of vice and wickedness, shun evil companions; and on\nthe other hand, seek society that will be elevating. If strong drink\nwas at one time a temptation to you or the cause of your downfall,\nshun the places where it is sold or used as you would shun death\nitself. Likewise shun the card-table and pool-room, which only lead\nto a drunkard\u2019s life. Always have courage enough to say No when evil\ncompanions seek to lead you astray. There is a God in heaven who will\nhelp you. Let not a day pass by without prayer to him for his direction\nand his protection. If you have never received a change of heart, do\nnot rest satisfied nor cease pressing the battle on that line until\nyou have obtained the peace of God in your soul, which is beyond\nunderstanding and flows as a river from the throne of God. You may\nhave many temptations to fall back into your old habits of life, but\nby persistent resentment and applying to the Lord for help you will be\nenabled to come out victorious. I remember a few years ago a young man\nwas released from a prison in New York because of his good behavior\nand was given an honorable discharge. He did not care to take up his\nold habits again, but as he wandered about from place to place meeting\nold companions and associating with them, he found great difficulty in\nrefraining from picking people\u2019s pockets, as he had been in the habit\nof doing in former years. When the temptation came upon him it was\nalmost like the mania of a drunkard for strong drink, but by asserting\nhis manhood and making a firm resolve and acting upon it, he decided\nto live a true and honest life. He left his associates to attend a\nreligious meeting where he heard the gospel preached in all its purity,\nand there he yielded himself to God and was pardoned of all his actual\ntransgressions. Although the effects of his sinful, wicked life had\nbeen so great that he had many struggles for months afterwards, he had\ntaken a step forward and there was a marked change in his life from\nthat time as well as in his heart, and soon he became established in\nthe ways of truth and righteousness, married a respectable lady, and\nhas ever since lived the life of the righteous and been highly esteemed\nby those who know him.\n\nA more striking illustration of the appreciation of freedom could\nscarcely be given than that of the recent liberation of the Younger\nBrothers. A little over a quarter of a century ago the state of\nMissouri and surrounding country were terrorized by daring raids made\nby the Younger Brothers and James Brothers, who formed a company of the\nmost daring outlaws and bandits known in this country.\n\nThese desperadoes were captured and incarcerated in prison at\nStillwater, Minn., in close confinement for almost twenty-five years.\nIt is reported that for fifteen years their lives have been reformed,\nand in July, 1901 they were liberated under the parole law with the\nrestrictions that they were not to leave the confines of the state of\nMinnesota. Neither are they allowed to drink intoxicants nor lead a\nlife that is anything but sober and industrious.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  COLE YOUNGER.      JAMES YOUNGER.\n]\n\nDuring the twenty-five years of their prison life the outside world\nhad made many changes. There had been many wonderful inventions, and\nwhen released they were like school children on a playground. They\nhardly knew which way to turn. The outside world was all strange to\nthem. Although being men whose years number into the fifties, they\nwent about as children, laughed and cried alternately for joy, talked\nby telephone, rode in an electric car, and enjoyed themselves in many\nways, while kind friends aided in clearing away the mists caused by\ntwenty-five years of awful solitude. In order to better understand\ntheir appreciation of freedom we here quote their conversation upon\nentering the city. Cole Younger remarked to his brother: \u201cI assure you\nthat this is the best moment of my life. Just think of it! From now I\ncan act just the same as any one else, but I suppose it will be hard\nfor me to confine myself to the new rules that I find on the outside.\nI have been accustomed to going to bed early, and I expect I will want\nto keep early hours when I get out. You can not imagine how I felt to\nput on this brand-new suit of store clothes this morning. Only once\nbefore since we came to this prison, a quarter of a century ago, have I\ndonned citizen\u2019s attire, and that was when I put on the deputy warden\u2019s\nsuit and sat for a photograph. My clothes look a little odd to me; they\nare not quite in style with my regulation first-grade prison suit, but\nI suppose they go on the outside. Bless God and our loyal friends for\nthis moment, which is one of supreme happiness. For the first time in\nmany years I feel relieved. I feel now as if a great unbearable load\nof some kind has been lifted from my shoulders, and that this is the\nbeginning of a new life. Boys, I want to thank you from the bottom of\nmy heart for your assistance.\u201d\n\nAlthough these men were daring desperadoes when placed in prison, yet,\nnotwithstanding the great reformation that has taken place in their\nlives during these years of solitude, we do not wonder that their\nactions were like those of children, when we take into consideration\nthat they were both sentenced for life. We trust their future days\nmay prove to prison officials and the world at large that the Younger\nBrothers are worthy of such a favor, and that their future career and\nthis action of the Minnesota officials may be an impetus towards the\nliberation of every life prisoner, giving them a chance once more to\ndelight in the freedom which men should enjoy.\n\nA few years ago, in conversation with the Governor of Colorado, he\nrelated an incident of a boy seventeen years of age whose mother was a\nwidow. He came to Denver and one day while on the street met a young\nman who was a stranger, with whom he had not been in company very long\nuntil the stranger friend suggested that they take a ride. A horse\nand carriage was near by and as no owner was present the stranger\nproceeded to untie the horse and order his young friend to get in.\nScarcely realizing what he was doing he obeyed. And away they went,\ndriving as rapidly as possible for several miles, when they stopped\nand the stranger bade his young friend good-by, leaving him in charge\nof the horse and carriage. He was then to some extent awakened to the\nsituation, but thought he would return the carriage to the place where\nit was procured, or if possible turn it over to the owner. But before\nreaching the destination he was captured by the authorities and taken\nto jail and was soon bound over to answer to the charge of stealing a\nhorse and carriage. The Governor stated that at that time he was judge\nof the court. The boy and his mother feeling so sure that he would be\nreleased on account of his innocency, as he had not the least intention\nof stealing, did not procure a lawyer, and after the witnesses had been\nexamined and the prosecuting attorney had made his plea, the Governor\nstated there was nothing for him to do only sentence the boy for a year\nin the state prison, although he said at the same time he was sure the\nboy was innocent.\n\nI would not feel clear in closing this volume without making a further\nplea to the reader, and especially all Christian people, to put forth a\nspecial effort in supplying prisons of every kind with good religious\nliterature, such as will appeal to the consciences and hearts of men\nand women and lead them to a better way. Aside from our penitentiaries\nthere are many thousands of jails, work-houses, infirmaries, hospitals,\nand places of confinement, which have been so sadly neglected that we\neven wonder how we can all be held guiltless in the day of judgment if\nwe do not put forth some effort in this line. Aside from the good books\nand tracts placed in their libraries a number of good religious papers\nshould be sent to all these places weekly. If you can not visit the\nprison in person use your dimes or dollars to expend in supplying the\nprisoners with good literature.\n\nWith the knowledge of the fact that our own boys, our dearest friends,\nor even ourselves, are liable to be falsely charged and sent to prison\ninnocent, our sympathies should be awakened all the more to help those\nwho are guilty, that we may therefore lend a helping hand to turn\nthem from the ways of sin and wickedness into the ways of truth and\nrighteousness.\n\n\n\n\n  Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n  pg 43 Changed: former passions crop out irresistably\n             to: former passions crop out irresistibly\n\n  pg 93 Changed: was sentence to be hanged\n             to: was sentenced to be hanged\n\n  pg 123 Changed: I am with you alway.\n              to: I am with you always.\n\n  pg 123 Changed: cleanse us from all unrighteusness.\n              to: cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\n\n  pg 131 Changed: Many thanks from all the prioners in jail.\n              to: Many thanks from all the prisoners in jail.\n\n  pg 133 Changed: surely appreicate the consideration\n              to: surely appreciate the consideration\n\n  pg 138 Changed: denouncing this makebelieve Cristianity\n              to: denouncing this makebelieve Christianity","title":"Behind the prison bars : $b A reminder of our duties toward those who have been so unfortunate as to be cast into prison","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":30788}