Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 218, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1913 — DESPERATE ENOUGH TO MOVE [ARTICLE]

DESPERATE ENOUGH TO MOVE

To Put It Mildly, Prisonej- Found His Quarters Considerably' Different From What He Was Used To. o . . Thiß is A prison story of Irvin 8. Cobb’s —in no way related except that a prison 1b back of the two. It began with a gun play and the consequent conviction of the defendant for murder. Everybody knew everybody else —judge, Jurors, lawyers on both sides, witnesses and all. The public prosecutor, at heart, was content with a nominal sentence which stowed the offender away for a short term. After this was in effect and the prisoner had had time to feel the htardshlps of the cell, his father called on the state’s attorney. He began with a rambling plea for further consideration and waß halted. Said the lawyer: “Henry had a fair trial. I hated to prosecute him, but I had to. He got off easy—you know that. The best thing you can do is to let him go along, lie’ll be out in three of four years.” “Three or four years!” repeated the prisoner’s sire. “He can’t stand it. Henry has always been used to the best of food. Your institution doesn't provide it. He’s always had a fine bed, and he’s got a hard one now. The place is damp, and he’s rheumatic. He's had plenty of friends to keep him company, and now he’s like an outcast on an island —dying of lonesomeness. He’s dispirited all the time, all in—dejected. In sect, I may say he’s plumb dissatisfied.”