The prison mirror. [volume], March 21, 1888, Image 3

About The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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2?lie prison IftitTcrr.
WEDNESDAY. MARCH 31, 1888.
PRISON OFFICIALS.
INSPECTORS.
A. K. DOE Stillwater.
JOHN F. NOURISH Hastings.
EDWIN DUNN Eyota.
RESIDENT OFFICIALS.
H. G. BTORDOCK Warden.
J. A. WESTBT Deputy Warden.
JOHN COVER Ass’t Deputy Warden.
FRANK BERRY Clerk.
H. E. BENNER Steward.
W. H. PRATT Physician.
F. H. HALL Hospital Steward.
GEO. P. DODD Storekeeper.
J. H. ALBERT Protestant Chaplain.
M. E. MURPHY Catholic Chaplain.
MRS. JOSEPH CAYOU Matron.
GUARDS’ REGISTER.
W. H. H. TAYLOR Usher.
M. B. JOHNSON Hall Guard.
M. C. COLLIGAN Day Cell Room Guard.
W. W» HALL Day Cell Room Guard.
A. C. PARSONS Night Cell Room Guard.
CHARLES. P. AUSTIN.. .Night Cell Room Guard.
A. W. ROWE Night Cell Room Guard.
V. T. COVER Night Cell Room Guard.
FRANK BURGLUND Gate Guard.
HANS ERICKSON Gate Guard.
JOHN NUNAN Guard Shop A.
ROYAL C. ORFF Guard Shop B.
STEPHEN REED Guard Shop C.
ANDREW MEEHAN. Guard Shop D.
BEN, CAYOU Guard Shop F.
HENRY J. JENKINS Guard Shop G.
E. G. CROSS Guard Shop H.
FRANK CARD Guard Shop I.
T. W. ALEXANDER Guard Shop J.
HENING LONGREN Guard Shop L.
F. M. BORDWELL Guard Shop M.
SAMUEL BLOOMER Wall Guard.
GREENLEAF DORR Wall Guard.
W. A. MORGAN Wall Guard.
P. J. MURPHY Wall Guard.
JOHN S. MAY Wall Guard.
DETLOFF JARCHOW Wall Guard.
L. B. GOLDSMITH Night Guard.
JOHN DEGAN Night Guard.
NELS D, CARLSON Night Guard.
O. B. JOHNSON Yard Guard.
HEBER CHASE Relief Guard.
LOCAL PICKINGS.
—Spring, gentle spring, has—
—Will tell you all about it later,
—Removals: 220 to 445; 189 to 111
—H. C. Fogle left Saturday for a month’s visit to
California.
—The prison shops now run 10 hours a day, com
mencing Monday.
—Dr. J. E. Bowers, of the Rochester insane
asylum, paid a visit to the prison Saturday.
—Morison county sent down a couple of prison
ers last Wednesday, one for 18 months and one for
30 years.
—Burdett Thayer, county attorny of Fillmore
county, accompanied by his wife, were among the
callers at the prison Saturday.
—Judge J. S. Brown, of Lyon county, and E. E.
Carliss, Fergus Falls, spent Sunday with Warden
Stordock, and attended services in chapel.
—One of the inmates started in cutting stone,
Monday morning, and the first fail of the hammer
took the nail from the thumb of his left hand. He
will take abetter sight next time.
—After papers are ten days old they will not be
passed by the P. M. Neither will papers on which
there is writing reach their intended destination.
It is about time the inmates understood this.
—Sam Bloomer attended the reception tendered
the survivors of the old First Minnesota regiment
by Mr. and Mrs. N. J. Warner, in St. Paul, Friday
evening, and responded to the toast, "The Old
Canteen.’’
—Warden Stordock returned Thursday from a
visit to his old home at Rothsay, where he took
an active and effective part in the town election
in the interest of no license, which was carried by
nine majority.
—Capt. W. H. H. Taylor was passing around the
cigars, Monday, on his ascension to the position
of storekeeper, he having been appointed to suc
ceed Geo. P. Dodd, who retires on the 26th, to em
bark in business in Minneapolis.
—The familiar face of Charles Colgran, foreman
for Geo. M. Seymour & Co., is again visible about
the prison yard. Charley is getting things ready
for resumption of work on the new solitary as
soon as the weather will permit.
—V. T. Cover succeeds Capt. Taylor as usher,
and John Degan, who has paced the beat in front
of the prison, at nigfit, for 10, these mauy years,
takes the place of Mr. Cover as night cell room
guard. Mr. Ivory McKusick succeeds Mr. Degan.
—During the past week three men in the employ
of the electric light company, have been putting
up wooden bases on which to fasten the reflectors
of the electric light. The reflectors are being
manufactured in Chicago, and it will probably be
two or three weeks before they are in position.
—One of the inmates takes exceptions to one of
our correspondent’s reference to "jail fare,” in a
recent issue, and says he lived as well as the sher
iff while he was in jail. That is the case in almost
all country jails, and the article mentioned had no
reference to them, but to the large city jails.
—The Vocophone band of Muller Post No. 1, G.
A. R., has been organized, as follows: Capt. W.
H. H. Taylor, leader, E flat cornet; Frank Card,
B flat: A. F. Wing, solo tenor; Allan Hughey,
second tenor; W. B. Getchell, alto; William Sykes,
bass; R. G. Rhodes, sub-bass; Ben Cayou, French
horn; A. A. Capron, tuba; P. E. Bennett, slide
trombone.
—Through one of the “boys” working with the
crew of inmates under Guard Johnson, in the ex
cavation in the rear of the old Staples mill, we
learn that they have excavated, from Jan. 12 to
March 17. 3,976 yards of dirt and rock, or 96 loads
per day. with an average crew of 11 per day. This
we consider pretty good work, as their working
day has not been much over seven hours.
—When the robin in the tree top sits, and to
himself is humming o'er the tunes he learned
away last year, you may know that spring is
coming. When the hyacinth from out the snow
its blushing face doth peep, you can bank, with
almost certainty, that spring is here to keep. But
better never risk your wealth on the death of win
ter dear, till the posting of the horse bill shows
that spring is really here. —Fireside Guard.
—We aim to give satisfaction in prices and in
quality of goods, in all departments of our busi
ness and can. with pride, refer all strangers to
our customers since 1856. We desire, through the
columns of THE MIRROR to call the public’s atten
tion to our stock, at all times new, modern, and
by far the largest in the St. Croix Valley, of drugs,
family medicines, lumbermen’s drug supplies,
paints, varnishes, brushes, and beautiful parlor
and hanging lamps. Crandall & Barclay.
—During the fiscal year ending July 1, 1887, the
total number of prisoners received was 202, of
whom six are credited to no county, three being
sent by the federal court and three from the
United States army. Of the 190 remaining Hen
nepin county sent 70, or very nearly one, third as
many as all the 45 other counties represented com
bined. Ramsey comes next in point of numbers
with but 19, followed by St. Louis 13, Winona 12,
Aitkin 11, and Clay 5. No other county is credit
ed with more than four during the year, while
Washington was represented by but a single
delegate.
Sunday Services.
Father Murphy opened the morning services by
reading from a book on “Catholic Christianity
and Modern Unbelief,” the subject treated being
the opposition to the Catholic church. This fact
was argued as proof of the divine character of the
church, as truth is necessarily intolerant, and the
Catholic church maintains that she is the true
church, and claim to be infallible in that which is
revealed. A revelation necessitates a power to
interpret.
The Catholic service and the sermon followed
the reading. The sermon was a history of the
last days of Jesus and the model furnished man
kind by HIS love, patience, and resignation.
Closing Father Murphy said: “Christian patience
and resignation are incident to our lives. To be
a Christian is to be a follower of the Man of Sor
row, a child of the crucified God. The trials and
afflictions of life are intended : s a reproof to the
sinner and to make more perfect the just man.
The merciful God sometimes wounds the body that
he may win the immortal soul. God does not per
mit any man to be tempted beyond what he is
able to bear. Remember that God sees your
trials, and if you pray to Him as Peter did he will
hear your prayer, and all the waves of trouble and
sorrow will be calmed.’’
Entertainment.
To relieve the monotony of prison life some of
our friends gave a short but agreeable entertain
ment in chapel hall on Sunday. It consisted of
recitations, stories, speeches, etc. The “Plea of
Sergt. Buzzfuzz,” by Plim. E. Bennett was highly
appreciated by the audience on account of the
likeness of Mr. Buzzfuzz to the legal profession of
our day. More than one man is wearing stripes
through the mistakes of these gentlemen. A story
by Dr. Caine illustrated the grasping disposition
of the Hebrew. Mr. Young gave some imitations
which were very amusiug. A short speech by the
warden upon the necessity of reforming that por
tion of the outside public who seek to corrupt and
degrade men who go out of prison, was received
in a manner which showed that he had struck the
key note of the reform question. Mr. E. E. Cor
liss, of Fergus Falls, and Judge J. S. Brown, of
Lyon county, guests of the warden, each enter
tained us with a brief address, assuring us of their
sympathy and hoping for our better condition.
Mrs. L. M. Smith, of St. Cloud, a prominent mem
ber of the W. C. T. U., was present and made a
brief speech and recited a beautiful poem upon
the temptation of the young man. Mr. Seward was
master of ceremonies and made several short
speeches. At the conclusion Deputy Westby
thanked those who had entertained us and assured
them that it was a source of pleasure to him to see
the interest shown in the unfortunates by the out
side public.
Needs a Telephone.
Editor Mirror
I Should think that Big Jake, or the “Cherub”
as he is generally called, would get a speaking
tube, or an electric bell, or a telephone. If he
only had one of these he could get the guard’s at
tention when he wanted to come in, and not come
every Sunday and work the “side door racket.”
It disturbs my Sunday nap, and will cost the
state a new door soon. If he made that much
noise outside, he would have two or three “collars”
there in no time—to go in and take a bowl with
him. 1 don’t care if I do. E. O. M.
All It Was Worth.
Yonngman (to editor) —“What do you
think I ought to get for this poem, sir?”
Editor —“You ought to get $10.”
Young man (overjoyed)—“Oh, that is
fully as much as 1 expected.”
Editor—“ Yes, $lO or thirty days.”
That was more than he expected.—Ex.
HISTORY.
BY ERNEST.
Thiel so slick,
Pockets pick.
Put in jail.
Gets no bail.
Shyster rash,
Takes his cash—
Poor thief then.
Goes to Pen.
Gets in tub.
Wash and rub.
Puts on strifes.
Smokes clay pipes.
Begins to “Jim,”
Hole—put in.
Will not train.
Gets ball and chain
Still contrary-
Solitary—
Katin’ hash.
Reads this trash—
Nuf’ ced—
Convict dead.
Eat What You Take Home.
Editor Mirror
Whatever may be the defects in the com
position of these paragraphs 1 hope the ef
fort will meet the approbation and indorse
ment of all who are in possession of the
spirit of common decency. There are
people in this world, and even in this pris
on, who never know what they want, and
there are people who know what they want
but do not know wiiat they need; and if by
chance they do come across something they
need and know they need it they are at a
loss to know how much of it they want. I
refer to that class of convicts whose eyes
are larger than their stomachs, who carry
more bread to their cells than they can eat.
After rendering it as unfit to eat as they
know how, beside keeping it over night, they
bring it back (sometimes covered with mo
lasses, etc.) where it is, as it should be,
served out again. But the men it is intend
ed for miss it more times than they get it.
There is no need of this. A man may have
a half slice of bread left sometimes, but
there is no necessity of a whole slice and
sometimes two. This is hoggishness. We
should be clean in all our actions, especially
in things that we can be clean as well as un
clean. Cleanliness is held by good people
to be next to godliness. Three times a day
we are permitted io help ourselves from
large baskets of nice fresh bread —good
enough for anybody to eat (even myself).
It reminds me of pearls cast before swine.
Why, to pass by and look at these baskets
ought to be a good meal for us sometimes,
(Minnesota is noted for its good bread)
without trying to carry it all to our cells. Jf
a man should happen to get more bread into
his cell than he can eat at one meal he
ought to be gentleman enough to keep it for
his next meal, thus doing away with this
large overplus of stale bread, although stale
bread is better than fresh bread, if it is
clean. I will take stale bread all the time,
but I don’t want it after it has been thrown
around some cell all night, and no man who
has any respect for himself will bring back
two and three slices of bread, as some do,
thinking, no doubt, that it will be thrown
away. But you are mistaken. It is not
done in the best hotels in the country.
“Give not that which is holy to the dogs.”
1 have seen men call for stale bread who
were paying four dollars a clay for their
board, from one end of the year to the
other. I notice some convicts in heie who
have just come over addicted to this habit,
too. How strange it is that they learn the
prodigality of the country before they learn
anything else. Stop this and respect your
selves, and then you will deserve the respect
of others. If you had been brought up like
me you could not wilfully waste bread as
some of you do. When I was a boy Hour
was eight and nine dollars a barrel and very
poor at that. Well-to-do people could only
afford to eat flour bread on Sunday. One
barrel of flour lasted six months in a family
of eleven. Why, the very first stealing I
ever did was the filling my pockets full of
biscuits from the tray on their way between
the dining room and the kitchen. Then I
often stole more than I wanted, simply be
cause they were biscuits. I really thought
I would go to heaven when I died if I ate
flour bread. Nobody from the south can
waste bread, especially those who were there
in war times, and still they have enough
and some to spare.
The men who take more bread than they
can eat and leave it in such a condition that
at cannot be eaten are anything but gentle
men, no matter who they are. We don’t
want to eat your leavings. The deputy
should put a stop to it. There is a large
difference between stale bread and old.
mouldy bread, too. Don’t forget that, and
when I say stale bread is good I don’t mean
old bread. A man who never knows what
he wants nor what is good for him ought to
be in. prison, but I have great respect for a
man who knows what he wants in prison,
for I believe he will know what he needs
when he gets out. W. T.
Subscribe for The Mirror.
The Difference Retween Two Nation*
alities.
Editor Mirror
Allow me through the medium of The
Mirror to give or show to the readers of
that paper the one important difference be
tween the colored people and the white.
Some say there is no difference, more than
one is white and the other black; that we
were created by the same Creator; that our
mental abilities are the same when they are
exerted. That is pretty true, which I will
prove in the following statement. But,
nevertheless, there is, or seems to be, a vast
difference between the white and black
people. Remember lam a colored man.
Here are some of the proofs that our men
tal abilities are the same as the whites: We
have celleges, churches, public schools and
secret societies. Then we have lawyers,
doctors, aldermen, financiers, millionaires,
detectives, professors of every branch of
science, and a great many others of import
ance which I need not mention, for they are
too numorous to be detailed.
Now, I will proceed to give you the dif
ference 1 find between the two races, and
a proof. I have been confined here three
years, and since my confinement there has
not been one single colored person made an
offer or a single effort to visit or speak to
us in the chapel, or in any way tried to make
our burden lighter. Still. 1 see in the
papers every week that the colored churches
of Minneapolis and St. Paul are having a
good time converting sinners; that the min
isters are traveling around doing what they
can to bring the sinner to repentance, but
they never visit Stillwater, or think of the
unfortunates behind the bars.
Now, let us look briefly at the white
people, and see how things will compare.
Three times in the past year the Scandina
vians confined here have been spoken to in
their native tongue by ministers of the gos
pel. Christmas, some of the white eitizens
of Stillwater furnished us an entertainment
composed of songs, recitations music solos,
etc. Thanksgiving the same thing occured.
Previous to Thanksgiving the W. C. T. U.
addressed us in a way that will long be re
membered. Since Christmas the Catholic
Total Abstinence society of St. Paul enter
tained us: a dramatic company gave us a
nice and enjoyable entertainment, and
several other entertainments and lectures
have taken place here during the past year,
in which no colored person has taken a
part. I think if our colored friends of
St. Paul and Minneapolis would come over
and speak to us once we could not and
would not complain, but we would bebene
fitted by their coming, not only the colored
inmates but a large majority of the whites,
L. C.
Our. World.
Editor Mirror
‘A wheel within a wheel” is an old proverb, but
here is an actual fact of a world within a world.
Excluded to a certain extent from the outer
world, we live like monks of former ages the life
of a recluse in peace and industry. Governed by
able and Christian men our lives pass on like the
waters of a smooth-flowing river without the least
obstruction and almost without notice. Morally
we are far in advance of the outer world. No
minion of the law is ever needed to carry to a
dreary dnngeon the poor victim of that accursed,
poisoning liquor called alcohol, which, by the way.
is distributed by the wholesale among the more
uncivilized portions of the outside world. Here
each day has its routine of work, and each single
individual is of the sober and industrous kind,
filled with ambition to reach at some future period
the topmost round of the ladder from which a few
occasionally slip and find themselves precipiated
to the bottom, but with joyful hearts and willing
hands again make a start as if nothing had ever
happened to stop their career. Of what wonder
ful material are our inhabitants composed—edi
tors, lawyers, doctors, army offcers, and others of
high standing. Is it any wonder, then, that our
lives pass on smoothly, without a crime being
committed, without the necessity of overtaxing
the nation to provide courts of justice and officers
of the law? Year by year passes by without any
thing occurring to disturb our peace, unless it is
some paltry depredation scarcely worth mention
ing, and for which the individual committing it is
not always to blame. What a great liUle world
this would be for anyone that wishes to emigrate
and seek peace and comfort, regular habits and a
life of quiet.
Well, my fr ends, I must close, for at my door
stands one of our good-natured night watchmen,
who tells me that it is growing rather late and ad*
vises me to be very careful of my health, and not
to fall into irregnlar habits—thus he admonished
me in the kindest possible manner to extinguish
my student lamp. Night watchman? Of course
we have night watchmen! Do you think we would
consider ourselves safe surrounded as we are by
uncivilized barbarians, whose papers we some
times read and which contain accounts of more
crimes committed in one day than our little MIR*
ROR publishes in the course of a whole year.
Nothing can be more plain than that the
spirit of the old persecutors is active among
us to-day.—James Parton.
MARTIN.