CHAPTER V

An habitual criminal of the pronounced type was my friend Dick Mallory. I have no remembrance of our first meeting, but he must have been thirty years old at the time, was in the penitentiary for the third time, and serving a fourteen-year sentence. Early in our acquaintance I asked him to write for me a detailed account of his childhood and boyhood, the environment and influences which had made him what he was, and also his impression of the various reformatories and minor penal institutions of which he had been an inmate. This he was allowed to do by special permission, and the warden of the penitentiary gave his indorsement as to the general reliability of his statements. The following brief sketch of his youth is summarized from his own accounts.

One cannot hold Dick Mallory as a victim of social conditions, neither was he of criminal parentage. One of his grandfathers was a farmer, the other a mechanic. His father was a [Pg 87]working-man, his mother a big-hearted woman, thoroughly kindly and to the last devoted to her son. There must have been some constitutional lack of moral fibre in Dick, who was the same wayward, unmanageable boy known to heart-broken mothers in all classes of life. Impulsive, generous, with an overflowing sociability of disposition, he won his way with convicts and guards in the different penal institutions included in his varied experience. I hate to put it into words, but Dick was undeniably a thief; and his career as a thief began very early. When seven years of age he was sent to a parish school, and there, he tells me, "A tough set of boys they were, including myself. There I received my first lessons in stealing. We would go through all the alley ways on our way to and from school, and break into sheds and steal anything we could sell for a few cents, using the money to get into cheap theatres."

This early lawlessness led to more serious misdemeanors until the boy at thirteen was sent to the reform school. This reform-school experience—in the late seventies—afforded the best possible culture for all the evil in his nature. This reform school was openly designated a "hotbed of crime" for the State. Inevitably[Pg 88] Dick left it a worse boy than at his entrance. Another delinquency soon followed, for which he was sent to jail for a month, the mother hoping that this would "teach him a lesson." "It did. But oh, what a lesson. Oh! but it was a hard place for a boy! There were from three to seven in each cell, some of them boys younger than I, some hardened criminals. We were herded together in idleness, learning only lessons in crime. In less than six months I was there a second time. Then mother moved into another neighborhood, but alas, for the change. That same locality has turned out more thieves than any other portion of Chicago, that sin-begrimed city. From the time I became acquainted in that neighborhood I was a confirmed thief, and a constant object of suspicion to the police.

"One evening I was arrested on general principles, taken into the police station and paraded before the whole squad of the police, the captain saying, 'This is the notorious Dick Mallory, take a good look at him, and bring him in night or day, wherever you may find him.'" This completed his enmity to law and order.

Soon after followed an experience in the house of correction of which he says: "This was my first[Pg 89] time there and a miserable time it was. Sodom and Gomorrah in their palmiest days could not hold a candle to it. You know that by this time I was no spring chicken, but the place actually made me sick; it was literally swarming with vermin, the men half starved and half clad." This workhouse experience was repeated several times and was regarded afterward as the lowest depth of moral degradation of his whole career. "I did not try to obtain work in these intervals of liberty, because I was arrested every time I was met by a policeman who had seen me before."

Thoroughly demoralized Dick Mallory sought the saloons, at first for the sake of sociability, then for the stimulant which gave temporary zest to life, until the habit of drinking was confirmed and led to more serious crimes.

Perhaps neither our modern juvenile courts nor our improved methods in reform school and house of correction would have materially altered the course of Dick Mallory's life, although a thorough course of manual training might have turned his destructive tendencies into constructive forces and the right teaching might have instilled into him some principles of good citizenship. Be that as it may, the fact remained that[Pg 90] before this boy had reached his majority his imprisonment had become a social necessity; he had become the very type against whom our most severe legislation has been directed.

But this was not the Dick Mallory whom I came to know so well ten years later, and who was for two years or more my guide and director in some of the best work I ever accomplished for prisoners. Strange to say, this man, utterly irresponsible and lawless as he had heretofore been, was a model prisoner. He fell into line at once, learned his trade on the shoe contract rapidly, became an expert workman, earning something like sixty dollars a year by extra work. He was cheerful, sensible, level-headed; and settled down to convict life with the determination to make the best of it, and the most of the opportunity to read and study evenings. The normal man within him came into expression. His comparison between the house of correction and the penitentiary was wholly in favor of the latter. He recognized the necessity of a strict discipline for men like himself; he appreciated the difficulties of the warden's position and his criticisms of the institutions were confined mostly to the abuses inherent in the contract system. Never coming[Pg 91] into contact with the sick or disabled, himself blessed with the irrepressible buoyancy of the sons of Erin, physically capable of doing more than all the work required of him, his point of view of convict life and prison administration was at that time altogether different from that of John Bryan. He plunged into correspondence with me with an ardor that never flagged, covering every inch of the writing-paper allotted him, treasuring every line of my letters, and re-reading them on the long Sunday afternoons in his cell. For years he had made the most of the prison libraries. His reading was mainly along scientific lines; Galton, Draper, and Herbert Spencer he treasured especially. His favorite novel was M. Linton's "Joshua Davidson," a striking modern paraphrase of the life of Jesus. His good nature won him many small favors and privileges from the prison guards, and the time that I knew him as a prisoner was unquestionably the happiest period of his life.

We always had some young prisoner on hand, whom we were trying to rescue from criminal life. It was usually a cell-mate of Dick's with whom he had become thoroughly acquainted. And on the outside was Dick's mother always[Pg 92] ready to help her boy set some other mother's boy on his feet. Our first mutual experiment along this line was in the beginning somewhat discouraging. The following extract from one of Dick's letters speaks for itself, not only of our protégé, Harry, but of Dick's attitude in this and similar cases.

"My brother wrote me that Harry had burnt his foot and was unable to work for a month, during which time a friend of mine paid his board. On recovering he went back to work for a few days, drew his pay and left the city, leaving my friend out of pocket. Now I would like to make this loss good because I feel responsible for Harry. I have never lost confidence in him; and what makes me feel worst of all is that I am unable to let him know that I am not angry with him. I would give twenty dollars this minute if I knew where a letter would reach him.

"I have never directly tried to bring any man down to my own level, and if I never succeed in elevating myself much above my present level I would like to be the means of elevating others." However, Harry did not prove altogether a lost venture and Dick was delighted to receive better news of him later.

[Pg 93]

We had better luck next time when Ned Triscom, a young cell-mate of Dick's, was released. Dick had planned for this boy's future for weeks, asking my assistance in securing a situation and arranging for an evening school, the bills guaranteed by Dick. Our plans carried even better than we hoped. Ned proved really the right sort, and when I afterward met him in Chicago my impressions more than confirmed Dick's favorable report. But Ned was Dick's find, and Dick must give his own report.

"I want to thank you for what you have done for my friend Ned. He has written me every week since he left, and it does me good to know that he is on the high road to success. As soon as you begin to receive news from your friends who have met him you will hear things that will make your heart glad. He is enthusiastic in his praise of Miss Jane Addams, has spent some evenings at the Hull House, and goes often to see my mother. He is doing remarkably well with his work and earned twenty-four dollars last week. He has no relative nearer than an aunt, whom he will visit in his vacation. I never asked him anything about his past, and he never told me anything. I simply judged of him by what I saw of[Pg 94] him. I always thought him out of place here and now I wonder how he ever happened to get here."

I liked Dick for never having asked Ned anything about his past. Now through Dick's interest in the boy Ned was placed at once in healthy moral environment in Chicago, and he was really a very interesting and promising young man with exceedingly good manners. He called on me one evening in Chicago and seemed as good as anybody, with the right sort of interests, and he kept in correspondence with me as long as I answered his letters.

Mrs. Mallory was as much interested in Dick's philanthropic experiments as I was, and several men fresh from the penitentiary spent their first days of freedom in the sunshine of her warm welcome and under the shelter of her hospitable roof. Thus Dick Mallory, his mother, and I formed a sort of first aid to the ex-convict society.

Another of Mallory's protégés was Sam Ellis, whose criminal sowing of wild oats appeared to be the expression of a nature with an insatiable appetite for adventure. The adventure of lawlessness appealed to him as a game, the very hazards involved luring him on, as "the red game[Pg 95] of war" has lured many a young man and the game of high finance has ensnared many an older one.

But Sam Ellis indulged in mental adventures also—in the game of making fiction so convincing as to be accepted as fact, for Sam was born a teller of stories. Perhaps I ought to have regarded Sam as a plain liar, but I never could so regard him, for he frankly discussed this faculty as he might have discussed any other talent; and he told me that he found endless fascination in making others believe the pure fabrications of his imagination. I always felt that as a writer of fiction he would have found his true vocation and made a success. He had a feeling for literature, too, and I think he has happily expressed what companions books may be to a prisoner in the following extract from one of his letters:

"I have been fairly devouring Seneca, Montaigne, Saadi, Marcus Aurelius, Rochefoucauld, Bacon, Sir Thomas More, Shelley, Schopenhauer, Clodd, Clifford, Huxley, Spencer, Fiske, Emerson, Ignatius Donnelly, Bryan, B. O. Flower, J. K. Hosmer, and a host of lesser lights." Of Emerson he says: "We are friends. It was a great rise for me and a terrible come-down for him. I've[Pg 96] done nothing but read, think, talk, and dream Emerson for two weeks, and familiarity only cements our friendship the stronger. It must have taken some extraordinary high thinking to create such pure and delightful things. He uplifts one into a higher atmosphere and carries the thought along on broad and liberal lines. Instead of making one look down into the gutter to see the reflection of the sky, he has us look up into the sky itself." In hours of depression this man sought the companionship of Marjorie Fleming. Truly he understood the value of the old advice: "To divert thyself from a troublesome fancy 'tis but to run to thy bookes." And to think of that dear Pet Marjorie winging her way through the century and across the sea to cheer and brighten the very abode of gloom and despair! No desire had this man to read detective stories—he lived them—his life out of prison was full of excitement and escapade. When seasons of reflection came he turned to something entirely different; and were not the forces working upward within him as vital and active as the downward tendencies?

However that may be, neither Dick Mallory nor I succeeded in getting any firm grip on that[Pg 97] mercurial being; but he never tried to impose on either of us, was always responsive to my interest in him, and found a chance to do me a good turn before he disappeared from my horizon in a far western mining district where doubtless other adventures awaited him. Dick Mallory always regarded Sam with warm affection, and his clear-cut personality has left a vivid picture in my memory.

I find that Dick Mallory was the centre from which radiated more of my acquaintances in the prison than from any one other source. His mind was always on the alert regarding the men around him, and he was always on the lookout for means of helping them. In one of our interviews his greeting to me was:

"There are two Polish boys here that you must see; and you must do something for them."

"Not another prisoner will I get acquainted with, Dick," was my reply. "I've more men on my list now than I can do justice to. I've not time for another one."

"It makes no difference whether you have time or not, these boys ought to be out of here and there's nobody to get them out but you," said Dick in a tone of finality.

[Pg 98]

I saw instantly that not only was the fate of the Polish boys involved, but my standing in the opinion of Mallory; for between us two was the unspoken understanding that we could count on each other, and Dick knew perfectly well that I could not fail him. Nothing in all my prison experience so warms my heart as the thought of our Polish boys. Neither of them was twenty years of age; they were working boys of good general character, and yet they were serving a fifteen-year sentence imposed because of some technicality in an ill-framed law.

My interview with the younger of the boys was wholly satisfactory. I found him frank and intelligent and ready to give me every point in his case. But with the older one it was different; he listened in silence to all my questions, refusing any reply. At last I said: "You must answer my questions or I shall not be able to do anything for you." Then he turned his great black velvet eyes upon me and said only: "You mean to do me some harm?" What a comment on the boy's experience in Chicago courts! He simply could not conceive of a stranger seeking him with any but a harmful motive. And we made no further progress that time, but when I came again there[Pg 99] was welcome in the black velvet eyes, and with the greeting, "I know now that you are my friend," he gave me his statement and answered all my questions.

Now it seemed impossible that such a severe sentence could have been passed on those boys without some just cause. But I had faith in Dick Mallory's judgment of them, and my own impressions were altogether favorable; furthermore, my good friend the warden was convinced that grave injustice had been done.

It was two years before I had disentangled all the threads and marshalled all my evidence and laid the case before the governor. The governor looked the papers over carefully, and then said:

"If I did all my work as thoroughly as this has been done I should not be criticised as I am now. What would you like me to do for these boys?"

Making one bold dash for what I wanted I answered: "I should like you to give me two pardons that I can take to the boys to-morrow."

The governor rang for his secretary, to whom he said: "Make out two pardons for these Polish boys." And ten minutes later, with the two pardons in my hand, I left the governor's office.[Pg 100] And so it came to pass that I was indebted to Dick Mallory for one of the very happiest hours of my life.

When I reached the prison next day the good news had preceded me. One of the officers met me at the door and clasped both my hands in welcome, saying:

"There isn't an officer or a convict in this prison who will not rejoice in the freedom of those boys, and every convict will know of it."

As for the Polish boys themselves, the blond, a dear boy, was expecting good news; but the black velvet eyes of the dark one were bewildered by the unbelievable good fortune. I stood at the door and shook hands with them as they entered into freedom, and afterward received letters from both giving the details of their homecoming. And so the purpose of Mallory was accomplished.

These are but few of the many who owed a debt of gratitude to this man. Only last year a man now dying in England, in one of his letters to me, referred gratefully to assistance given him by Mallory on his release from prison many years ago. Mallory's letters are all the record of a helping hand. Through them all runs the silver[Pg 101] thread of human kindness, the traces of benefits conferred and efforts made on behalf of others.

And what of Dick Mallory's own life after his release from prison? He had always lacked faith in himself and in his future, and now the current of existence seemed set against him. He was thirty-two years old and more than half his life had been spent in confinement, under restraint. In his ambition to earn money for himself while working on prison contracts, he had drawn too heavily on both physical and nervous resources. In his own words: "I did not realize at all the physical condition I was in. If I could only have gone to some place where I could have recuperated under medical attention! But no! I only wanted to get to work. All I knew was work."

The hard times of '93 came on, a man had to take what work he could get, and Mallory could not do the work that came in his way. His mother died and the home was broken up. He again resorted to the sociability of the saloon, and with the renewal of old associations and under the influences of stimulants the reckless lawlessness of his boyhood again broke out into some action that resulted in a term in another prison.

The man was utterly crushed. His old criminal[Pg 102] record was brought to light and he found himself ensnared in the toils of his past. He was bitterly humiliated—he was in no position to earn a penny, and no channel for the generous impulses still strong within him was now open. The old buoyancy of his nature still flickered occasionally from the dying embers, but gradually darkened into a dull despair as far as his own life was concerned. But his interest in others survived, and the only favors he ever asked of me were on behalf of "the boys" whom he could no longer help. He still wrote me freely and his letters tell their own story:

"At one time in our friendship I really believed that everything was possible in my future. I never meant to deceive you— And when I realized my broken promises my heart broke too. I have never been the same man since and can never be again. I cannot help looking on the dark side for life has been so hard for me. Ah! it is a hard place when you reach the stage where the future seems so hopeless as it does to me."

And hopeless it truly was; imprisonment and dissipation had done their work and his death came shortly after his release from this prison.[Pg 103] Since his life had proved a losing game it was far better that it should end. But was not Robert Louis Stevenson right in his belief that all our moral failures do not lessen the value of our good qualities and our good deeds? The good that Mallory did was positive and enduring; and surely his name should be written among those who loved their fellow men.

To me the very most cruel stroke in the fate of Dick Mallory was this: that in the minds of many his history may seem to justify the severity of legislation against habitual criminals. With all his efforts to save others, himself he could not save—and well as he knew the injustice resulting from life sentences for "habituals," the sum of his life counted against clemency for this class.