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©he lit uxor. Kdited an<l Published by the Initiates of the Minnesota State Prison. Kntered at the Post Office at Stillwater. Minn., Second Class** Mail Matter. This paper will he forwarded to subscribers until ordered discontinued and all arrears are paid. Should Til k MLKKOK fail to reach a subscriber each week, notice should be sent to this office, when the matter will be attended to at once. Contributions solicited from any and all sour ces. Rejected manuscript will not be returned. TllK Mlmro« is issued every Thursday at the following rates: One Year - - SI.OO Six Mouths - - - .50 Three Months - - .-'5 TY* inmates of penal institutions. 50 ets. per year. Address all communications, Editor, The MIRROR. Stillwater. Minn. THE Mill icon is a weekly paper published in the Minnesota State Prison. It was founded ih I&X7 by the prisoners and is edited and man aged by them. Its objects are to be a home newspaper; to encourage moral aud intellectual improvement among the prisoners: to acquaint the public with the true status of the prisoner; to disseminate penological information and to aid in disj>elling that prejudice which lias ever been the bar sinister to a fallen man’s self-redemption. The paper is entirely dependeut on the public for its financial support. If at any time tiiere should accrue a surplus of funds, the money would be expended in tiie interests of the prison library. We notice among our exchanges this week, The Centrai. Citizen of Alex andria Minn., and Nicollet Inde pendent of St. Peter. Minn. Ok all the wild beasts the bear is said to be the most difficult to tame on ac count of his superior intelligence. He will never forget an injury or wrong no matter how small: revenge is always lurking in his eye and some day he is bound to have it out with his keeper. In this respect some people are very much like the bear. “A Mirage of Murder” is the strange title of a strange story contributed to the .San Francisco Argonaut of Febru ary 4th by Howard Markle Hoke. Those who read “The Reaching Hand” will recall the weird quality in which Mr. Hoke reminds one of loe at his best; and this story, “A Mirage of Murder,” will live among the thrilling and grew some tales for which American fiction is famous Another retired American actress will soon have to take to the stage again. May Yohe who recently married Lord Hope, has got the Hope sure enough: but what she hoped to get with the Hope, an English castle and liveried servants has developed into a bankrupt estate with libalities rising $3,000,000 and assets about SBOO,OOO. Would it not have been better for her to have married her leading man? he could at least have assisted her in getting a living. We learn that Frank Randall who was paroled last summer, and who was in the last stages of consumption has finally succumbed to that dread disease at his home at Lincoln Minn., having passed away last Saturday. He had been sent to Stillwater for life on a charge of murder, but owing to his ex treme youth, he is scarcely 20 years of age, and his fatal disease, (lov. Nelson commuted his sentence to 10 years, and he was released last May under the the parole system. While it is sad that one so young should leave life with all its possibilities, we are glad that he was permitted to die surrounded by friends and in freedom. How happy it is to be able to read such a beautiful picture of a life de voted to the cause of humanity, as that reproduced in this issue, from the pen of Mrs. M. A. Kimball, of St. Paul, in The White Ribboneii January l, ’OS, and how sad, that they are so rapidly disappearing from that field of action where their presence had such a power ful influence in rescuing the weak and unfortunate from lives of sin and degra dation. A lady who was for years associated with Mrs. Wormwood in her noble work for the temperance cause, writes The Mirror the following words of praise: “Mrs. Wormwood was the W. (’. T. IT. visitor at the Ramsey County jail for nearly twelve years, always faithful, always interested in the welfare of “my boys” as she called them. The last time I met her, she was eagerly plan ing a visit to the penitentiary but I lfearned later she could not go. Many of the inmates will remember her kind motherly heart and her earnest words of encouragement, also her endeavor to lead them to a better and happier life. She was not one who prayed and talked with the boys behind the bars, and forgot all about them when outside the jail, but she was always earnest and constant in her devotion to their welfare. The men who knew her in the Ramsey County jail have lost a faithful praying friend.” We publish the above, as many of the inmates from Ramsey County may remember this good lady, who has lain down life’s burdens and cares, and is enjoying the rest and peace that follows all good and pure lives. Miss Lillian Lewis who played an engagement last week in Minneapolis, and m St. i uul the previous week, in Cleopatra, made The Mirror office a call; she remarked i n passant,so many handsome things that modesty prevents our repitition. She complimented, how ever, the contributed and editorial features of The Mirror very highly; stating, that she had been a reader of The Mirror’s columns for several years, and always with pleasure, and re newed her subscription for another year. Miss Lewis is an exceedingly graceful and accomplished lady, and we can fancy, though debarred the pleasure of seeing, with what bewitching grace she lures poor Antony on that fatal trip down the Nile. The company go to Milwaukee after their Stillwater en gagement. It will be to the everlasting credit of the people of Minneapolis and its hu mane ex-mayor, who, we understand, was the originator, for creating and supporting the ex-drunkard’s home recently established for the ac commodation and shelter of those who have taken the gold cure administered at the workhouse. There are few men more to be pitied than the one who has been run down by the terrible curse of drink. Depriving him as it does of health, position, money and reputation, he is like a ship wrecked at sea. tossed here and there without rudder or sail; with intellect shattered,, and physical powers weakened, it is but a short time until he becomes a physical wreck and sinks into his grave. That growing Christ-like spirit of brotherly love, which, forcing aside other issues, takes up the cause of weak humanity and devises means of rescue from the worst curse of this age, cannot be too highly commended, and the promoters of this grand cause will have their reward. And we trust that no man who has found himself tottering on the brink of the precipice -a drunkard's life and its terrible death and has been res cued, will ever fall back into the old habit. But is it not strange that the laws of our land will counte nance the sale of that which makes this condition necessary? Legalize the sale of a commodity, the effects of which require so great an outlay in money, and which is sapping the very life out of our youth, yearly adding to the crimi nal records and the registers of our prisons, and undermining the very foun dations of society itself. Everything is possible to the great people if they so will. The solution of the liquor prob lem is in their hands, and the only way it can he successfully solved is to get at the root of the matter. What makes the drunkard? Heredity and pre-natal theories sound well on paper, and make excellent discussions for the kindergar ten; but they don’t stop whisky drink ing, whisky selling, or prevent the many bright men, young and old, who are rapidly going down the road that leads to the penitentiary and the potters field. They never will. Men will pose before the people as reformers, advo cating some of the most beautifully worded theories as to “what shall we do with the drunkard, how shall we relieve our workhouses, our inebriate asylums, our large centres that breed disease and pauperism,” the result, in a large meas ure, of intemperance, and yet they vote for the sale of, or the reduction of a license, to sell the very thing that makes these conditions possible. Was there ever such inconsistency; was there ever such seeming insincerity. .I nst so long as the dive and joint are allowed by law to thrive in our cities, so long as the gilded concert hall and the reeking groggery are permitted to exist, to at tract the unsophisticated youth on the ons hand, and harbor the bum and the criminal on the other, just so long will the drunkard, the thief, and the black leg be with us; and this, in spite of all theories and attempts at cure that can be devised by man. It is the history of the century. There can be no security for the youth so long as saloons are permitted to open in any locality a man chooses to hang out his shingle. There is a certain amount of vice inborn in man and woman, an uncontrollable desire to look upon the vulgar side of life; witness the crowds of supposed to be respectable and cultured people that invariably attend a sensational divorce case or heinous murder trial; and good morals demand that all avenues that lead to a gratification of these human weaknesses should be closed. The sa loons, if they must exist, should be re moved from the daily paths of the youth. Lewdness and immorality of every nature should be strictly forbid den in those that do exist, and licenses should be placed at figures so high that their numbers would decrease, and is sued only to those whose integrity is absolute. The youth would be pro tected, as no man of integrity would lure them into his place, would prohib it their entrance, in fact; and, for the saloon keeper’s own preservation, the same rule would apply to the drunkard, the bum and the criminal. Were there none of these low dives, these so-called barrel houses, the burn and criminal resorts in our cities, insti tutions such as the one recently started by these kind, well-meaning people would be unnecessary. But so long as they exist, these homes must multiply to supply the ever increasing army of whisky wrecks, many of whom hail such a,refuge from the c»ld winter's blasts with deep and heartfelt gratitude, conscientiously resolving to reform and endeavor to be men, hut many of whom will, with the opportunity, return again and again so long as these tempters snares are open to them. We admit that these movements do some good, and add our blessing to that of the many who are benelitted and res cued by these means. But m the light of the past, where so many have fallen and continue to fall by the wayside, we would urge, that the avenues where men and w omen are wrecked, be closed. Men can make laws that will accomplish this end. The coming gen eration needs it. Society, to become better, purer, demands it. And thou sands of men today, who m the past have found themselves too weak to combat this evil and feel themselves yet, perhaps, too weak to face it, cry out. “Suppress the evil." In this way only is weak man safe, is complete ref ormation possible, is society secure. There is said to be one editor in heaven. How he got there is not posi tively known, but it is conjectured that he passed himself off for a minis ter, and stepped in unexpectedly. When the dodge was discovered they searched the realms of felicity in all their length and breadth for a lawyer to draw up the necessary papers for his ejectment, but they couldn’t find one, and of course he held the fort. Breckenridge Telegram. There was a great man once who said “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Never was a truer thing said than that. If we want to be free, if we want to have liberty, we have always to be on the guard. We have always to be attending to our affairs. We have always to be looking after our selves. Whenever we stop guarding ourselves, then we lose our liberty. So that it is by never-ending, constant watching that we can have liberty. Reformatory Record. An exchange remarks that it is pass ing strange that people cannot learn that true friendship is shown by stick ing up for their friends when their friends are absent. The person who is your friend only when you are around and ever ready to say mean things when not around is not only incapable of true friendship but is void of the qualities which go to make up true men and women. Such peo ple do not seem to know that, sooner or later, their stories become twice told taies and eventually find a har bor in the breast of those most directly interested. Rushford Star. People are apt to think that fully two-thirds of the crime is to be found in the “wild and woolly” west but according to latest reports the east beats the west in that respect. In the counties of Luzerne, Carbon and Schuylkill, Penn., there have been during the last ten months nearly 100 murders and only eleven of the murder ers were caught and convicted and none in the first degree. Last year, so an exchange says, the number of deaths by foul means bordered close onto 150 with a ridiculously small porportion of arrests and convictions and none at all in the first degree. An agent of the largest arms manufac turing establishments in the east, when asked how business in his line was flourishing replied; “Better this year than for a long time; despite the hard times I sold in the above mentioned region 8(50,000 worth of revolvers and this year I expect to add 820,000 to that figure. It is, however, but just to state that the principal buyers were Huns, Slayos and Italians and they of the lowest class. —Wheaton (Minn.,) Footprints. The Santa Clara Magazine says: One of the most interesting exchanges received at this office bears the title The Prison Mirror —interesting because of the pathos surrounding its publica tion. It is a weekly paper printed en tirely by prisoners of the Minnesota State Prison at Stillwater. According to its title page and announcements: Edited and printed by the inmates, it gives the convict an opportunity of conveying his best thoughts to paper, and having the same reproduced and placed before him each week. It was founded in 1887 by the prison ers, and is edited and managed by them. Its objects are to be a home newspaper; to encourage moral and intellectual im provement among the prisoners; to acquaint the public with the true stat i s of the prisoner; to disseminate penologi cal information and to aid in dispelling that prejudice which has ever been the bar sinister to a fallen man’s self-re demption. The paper is entirely de pendent on the public for its financial support. If at any time there should accrue a surplus of funds, the money would be expended iu the interests of the prison library. Surely this is a noble impulse, one that should be encouraged by every struggling one of us who are, or should be, conscious that only good fortune and our guardian angels, and not our own merits or strength, have led us thus far in paths lying at a safe distance from the precipice over whose brink just as good as we have fallen. The very least we can do is to give them a lift up to a safe footing, help them to brush off the dust and debris of their fall, and make them feel that because they have fallen once is no reason why they should do so again. The Santa Clara holds out a fra ternal hand to The Prison Mirror, and prays: “Cod bless you my brother and make your Mirror not one in which you “see darkly” but one wherein many down-cast souls may see as “face to face” the guiding hand of the Divine One even though His dicipline leads through prison enclosures. JUSTICE COURTS. There is more or less discontent manifest over our present system of justice courts. Each township is al lowed one or two of these officials who are in many instances elected to this important position without any quali llcation whatever. Hardly a week passes without an illustration of igno rance of law. and an inability to make out proper papers. Many other es sential things can be cited to show the farcical nature of these lower courts. A law should be placed on our statute books tending to give that part of our judicial system the rank and dignity commensurate with the work to be per formed. We clip the follow ing extract from the Litchfield Review, which is pertinent and suggests itself as being well worthy of consideration: The present system is a very poor one. A man to be a justice should be learned in law, and a man of ability. Instead of having justices in every township in the county, we believe it would be better to have only two or three in a county the size of Meeker, and they should be men qualified for such positions. This would, we believe, be more satisfactory and often save long and expensive litigation. Prince ton Union. ASSOCIATIONS. When we are about to make a friend we should always be careful to think whether his company will improve or deteriorate our moral condition. We must remember that there is no in fluence so great upon the human charac ter as associations. Nothing outranks this power in determining what we shall be and do. Although heredity is a powerful factor; yet it has been held in abeyance by the power of associ ations. A friend says that the child, who has inherited traits of character which need only opportunity to assert themselves in order to send him head long to destruction, is often held in the path of virtue by moral aud upright surroundings: while, perchance those with a heritage of honor and nobility have been drawn to the lowest depths by vicious associations. They fell, as did Lucifer, “from heaven to hell.’" When we sit down and think the matter over, we are forced to ac knowledge how often the power of as sociation bas been exerted upon our own characters; even here in the Re formatory, we are often judged by the men we associate with. A thing which at first seemed abhorrent and revolting becomes by custom less so. until at last we find ourselves doing the thing we despised, and, worst of all, with no sense of our descent, no due realization of our moral lapse. -Elmira Summary. REFORMATORY JOFRAAES. During the past year great improve ments have been made in the reforma tory journals, indicating progress in all respects. Yearly they are getting better, both intellectually and mechanic ally, more independent in discussing the questions concerning their peculiar line of work, getting out of the rut that leads to imbecility and good-f or-nothing ness, less under orders from the boards of control relative to what must and must not be said about their institutions and reformatory matters generally, and therefore more useful to those around them. Under these improved conditions the editors have an opportunity to show that they have a fair modicum of common sense and are able to discrim inate between what is good and what is bad, and the kind of matter to be published m their journals. The insti tution authorities are also showing that they appreciate this change, and are becoming quite liberal in their appro priations for carryingon the good work, and are stocking many of the printing offices from which these journals are issued with all necessary materials to execute their work m a respectable manner, and enable the managers of such establishments to properly instruct the youths employed therein- This is as it should be everywhere, for-‘if any thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well.” So many changes for the better, and many really fine specimens of work manship and enterprise have reached us that we have not time or space to note them individually at present. We therefore simply congratulate all of them in a bunch, and hope the good, work of improvement will goon during the years to come. The Advance. Litepapy Kotes Conan Doyle's impressions of the literary, phases of American life are to to be continued in an article to appear in the next issue of The Latin s' Horn-’ Journal. The article was originally intended to be the novelist's impressions of American woman, but this plan was altered and the article to be printed in the Jon nut! will give Dr. Doyle's ideas of “Literary Aspects of America.” Colonel Alexander K. McClure, in McClure's Magazine for Feb. .says: Lincoln was quickened to the exer cise of his full authority as commander in-chief by the multiplied misfortunes of his generals. He accepted as com manders the men in the army most con spicuous in military service, and it was one of the saddest lessons of the w r ar that not one of the commanders then prominent before the country and most trusted, became chieftains as the con flict progressed. The contrast between the Union and the Confederate com manders is indeed painful. The Con federate officers who started out as military leaders in the beginning of the war. as a rule were the chieftains at the close. The Johnstons, Cooper, Lee, Beauregard, Jackson, Longstreet, Hill Kirby Smith, Ewell, Early, Bragg, Hood Fitz Hugh Lee. Stuart, and others.. either fell in the dame of battle, lead ing high commands, or emerged from the war with the highest distinction On the other side, not one of the men who came out of the war with the grateful plaudits of the country as chieftains of the Union, was known to military fame when Sumter was bred upon. One by one Lincoln’s command ers fell by the wayside, and he was con stantly perplexed with the sense of the fearful responsibility he was compelled to assume in the assignment of com manders to the different armies. This necessity natural ly cal led f< >r the employ ment of his supreme powers, and com pelled him to exercise the soundest discretion time and again, as failure in his great work of overthrowing the rebellion. THE BEAUTIFUL ROCKIES. They Contain the Grandent Seenery and the Richest Cold ITliues in the Known world. For unknown wealth in fabulously rich mines of gold and silver and spark ling precious gemstones, not to men tion the lovely scenery, our own Rocky mountains excel any region on earth. The Illustrated Weakly, of Denver, Colorado, (founded 1890) illustrates the choiest scenery each week and tells all about the wonderful w'est. Also, true stories of love and adventure. This big family paper, containing eight large pages, fifty-six columns, will be sent on trial three months (thirteen weeks) for only ten two-cent stamps; club of six for a dollar bill. Hand some gold rings set with beautiful Rocky mountain gems are given free as premiums. Address as above and mention Thk Mikkok when you write. A GREAT SUCCESS. The recent change made by the New York Weekly World in issuing tw r o papers a w’eek in place of one is meet ing with great favor. The people appreciate the change, and are taking advantage of it. Why pay a dollar a year for a weekly paper when you can get the New York World twice a week for the same price ? Keep informed of what is going on in the world and particularly in your own country. Congress is now r in ses sion. Every movement will be of the greatest interest. Keep abreast of the times by reading the twice-a-week world —two papers a week — lo 4 papers year for only SI.OO.