CHAPTER X
WANDERING STARS AND BUZZARDS OF THE TOMBS
Thrilling Experiences
What a field for the study of human nature the careful observer finds in the Tombs Prison! I do not know of any other place on this continent where such a display of types may be found as here; not only every nation, language and color on the face of the earth, but the variety is kaleidoscopic and leaves on you a deep impress. The moment you see a real crook his personality stamps you at once for good or evil—rather for evil; nor can you help yielding to such impressions. But then the face is the expression of the individual and reveals to some extent the character of the inner man. Although there are many exceptions to the general rule, these are few and far between. I find that backsliders in crime after a few years show a vitiated and debased brutality in their physiognomy.
During the ten years that I have been connected with the Tombs Prison, I have met a great many brilliant men who were at heart dyed-in-the-wool crooks and bent on a criminal career. I do not care to call a man a criminal if I can help it, but how can one avoid it when called upon to describe a modern social anarchist but use such terms as will best describe the one who lives on crime.
It is a most difficult thing to know just what to do with such people; but unless they are reached by the milk of human kindness and the love of God there is little hope for them. I have found by observation and experience that the average recidivist is insane on criminal matters, and is besides a notorious liar! Nor is it best to believe a word of what he says, unless it is supported by some other testimony. The fact is, he will not tell the truth even though in the end it might do him vastly more good than a lie. And any man who denies the truthfulness of total depravity needs only visit a prison and hear the confessions of crooks and then seek their corroboration, and it will not be long before he will be compelled to abandon his foolish denials.
I find that in youthful degenerates the face holds a pleasant expression sometimes for years, but then the long confinement behind the bars reveals a white pallor and dull sunken eyes that cannot be mistaken; on these crime seems to have written itself indelibly!
Young sixteen-year-old Stewart, who was sentenced to twenty years in Sing Sing for killing a boy his own age on Randall’s Island, whose facial lineaments I often watched and studied, had a most attractive physiognomy. No one could have believed from his looks that he was a criminal, but how long he can retain these looks is a matter of conjecture.
Our prisons are full of young buzzards who need to be watched continually. These boys are cunning, sly and treacherous. When you see them coming be sure and give them a wide berth. Do not believe what they tell you, even if they swear on a monument of Bibles. Most of them are in the business to lie and they know how to attend to their own business!
The Untruthful Crook
Nor can you rely on any of their promises. If they speak to you sweet words you will find that they have the poison of asps under the tongue. They are born buzzards and can no more change their ravenous nature than a leopard his spots.