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Inside and Out!, by John Josiah Munro
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Title: The New York Tombs Inside and Out!
Scenes and Reminiscences Coming Down to the Present. A Story Stranger Than Fiction, with an Historic Account of
America's Most Famous Prison.
Author: John Josiah Munro
Release Date: November 5, 2020 [eBook #63641]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
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John J. Munro
Ex-chaplain of the Tombs.
───────── THE ─────────
New York
Tombs
Inside and Out!
Scenes and Reminiscences Coming Down to the
Present.—A Story Stranger Than Fiction,
With an Historic Account of
America’s Most Famous
Prison.
By
JOHN JOSIAH MUNRO,
Ex-Chaplain of the Tombs.
(Illustrated)
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
Printed and Published by the Author,
at 186 Ainslie Street.
PRICE, $1.50.
Copyrighted, 1909,
by
John J. Munro,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Thomas J. Blain, printer,
PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK.
INTRODUCTION.
By Rev. Madison C. Peters, D. D.
I have known the author of this book for many years. He was once associated with me in my ministerial work. I
know all about his work as Chaplain of the Tombs, and have often spoken with him about the conditions prevailing in
that institution, and have again and again urged him to tell the public all he knows about its inside workings. I have every
reason to believe from what I know of the author, that he has written a true story, one which every citizen of Greater
New York should read, and which ought to arouse the red-hot blood of every lover of his kind.
The book ought to be in the hands of every clergyman, lawyer, physician, and of every good citizen. It will furnish
material for sermons and addresses, and give impulse and impetus to all the workers for social betterment, and bring to
us the blessings of Him who said: “I was in prison and ye visited Me.”
THANKS.
In the preparation of this work, I feel I am under lasting obligations for discriminating advice and kindly suggestions
tendered me at different times by many friends. But I am under special debt to Mr. George H. Sandison, Managing
Editor, and J. A. Belford, Art Editor of the Christian Herald, for valuable suggestions.
I also express my sincere thanks to the Rev. Madison C. Peters, D. D., whose clarion voice against wrongs and
abuses of various kinds has been heard all over Greater New York, for many helpful suggestions. I am also thankful to
many of the New York magazines and papers for kind words and much interest in articles of mine on Prison Work that
have appeared from time to time. These magazines and papers include Harper’s Weekly, Success, Van Norden,
Intelligencer, Christian Advocate, Examiner, Press, Presbyterian, Witness and many others.
I extend my thanks also to Messrs. Harper & Bro., for the use of a cut, and to the Evening Journal for the loan of
photographs.
The Author.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Author, Rev. John J. Munro
Children’s Court
General Sessions Judges
Criminal Branch of Supreme Court
Ex-Police Commissioner Theodore A. Bingham
Police Commissioner Baker at His Desk
New Tombs Prison
Corridor of Women’s Prison
Old Tombs Entrance on Leonard Street
Davis, Who Pardoned Himself Out of Prison
Sing Sing Prison Entrance
Sing Sing Chapel
The Death Chamber at Sing Sing
New Police Headquarters
Sunday Morning Service in the Old Tombs
Old Police Headquarters
Justice Blanchard of Supreme Court
Justice Goff of the Supreme Court
The Bridge of Sighs
Hon C. V. Collins, Superintendent of Prisons
Hon. John F. McIntyre, Criminal Lawyer
Scene in the Tenderloin Station House
Mrs. John A. Foster, the Tombs Angel
Putting a Crook Through the “Third Degree” at Police Headquarters
Roll Call in a Station House at Midnight
Men’s Prison
Women’s Prison
CONTENTS.
FOREWORD
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
The strange circumstances of a visit to the Tombs on an errand of mercy.
—Early impressions more than thirty years ago.—Recollections—
Humane Overseers.
Page 11
CHAPTER I.
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE TOMBS
A modern Prison Barracks—Personal Experiences—Amazing stories of
corruption—Ruth Howard’s bomb—Charges pigeon-holed—
Commissioner Hynes’ Administration—Bissert in clover—Drunken
prisoners—The gamblers’ paradise—Lawyers and clients—Privileges
for the few—Abusing the unfortunate—The food—Tammany Politics—
City Prisons in charge of State authorities.
Page 17
CHAPTER II.
AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF AMERICA’S MOST FAMOUS
PRISON
The Collect Pond of three generations ago—King William’s Experience
—Agitation to fill up—How it came to be called the Tombs—Size of the
old Tombs—Retrospect—The New Tombs—When Opened—The
semiofficial characters.
Page 29
CHAPTER III
MODERN EXCUSES FOR CRIME
Criminal instincts—Moral defectives—Inducing men to commit crime—
Examples—The fair sex as tempters—The irresistible impulse—Drawing
the line.
Page 38
CHAPTER IV.
HOW CRIMINALS ARE MADE
Increase in crime—Fierce modern temptations—Strong drink as a crime
maker—Immigration—Gladstone’s dictum—Finding the causes—Is
there a remedy?
Page 45
CHAPTER V.
THE SCIENTIFIC CRIMINAL
The criminal product of the 20th century—A crook’s outfit—Criminal
character—Beating the law—Anthropology—Lombroso as an authority
on crime—Crime and the Nation—Repressive measures.
Page 50
CHAPTER VI.
SOME FAMOUS TOMBS PRISONERS
The irony of fate—The innocent and guilty—Monroe Edwards—
Murderers’ Row—Scannel, Croker, Erastus Wyman, Ferdinand Ward,
Buchanan, Carlyle Harris, Patrick and Thaw.
Page 57
CHAPTER VII
THE DANGEROUS EDUCATED CROOK
The fallacy that education cures crime—Moral training necessary—John
Howard and education—Industry and crime—Elmira’s experience—
Where the educated crook is dangerous—Examples.
Page 62
CHAPTER VIII.
LEAVES FROM THE HISTORY OF A CHECKERED CAREER
The remarkable confessions of one of the brightest, brainiest and
smartest crooks of his day.
How He Pardoned Himself Out of Prison
Admits total depravity—His prayer—Serving time in a Coal Mine—
Impersonating a clergyman—Feigning to be deaf and dumb—Bemoaning
His sad condition.
Page 67
CHAPTER IX.
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CROOK
How a Young Life Was Wrecked
A New England ancestry—An indulgent mother—Idleness and bad
company—The feelings of a guilty conscience—Work or crime, which?
—State prison—Liberty—Again arrested—A new career in crime—
Many burglaries.
Page 75
CHAPTER X
WANDERING STARS AND BUZZARDS OF THE TOMBS
Thrilling Experiences
The study of human nature—Deception of the looks—Chronic liars—A
deserter from Russia—Chump of Harlem—Many dark records—Four
years for telling a lie—Capt. Jack—Crooked Kahn—The Panel Crooks
—Wilson’s career—The dress slasher—Amazing cheek.
Page 81
CHAPTER XI.
BRILLIANT FORGERY CROOKS
Forgery as a fine art—A skilled crime—Forgery experts—Becker, the
King of Forgers—His career—Three of a kind.
Page 100
CHAPTER XII.
CHANGING THE GRAND JURY INTO A BOARD OF CRIMINAL
EXPERTS
A New Classification of Criminals
Popular demand to abolish the Grand Jury—Judges ask for legal
indictments—Too rapid work in Grand Jury room—The weakness of
the system—Rich men on the Grand Jury—Under the control of District-
Attorney—Board of Criminal Experts—Save the county millions of
dollars—Cases—An original classification.
Page 108
CHAPTER XIII
SCHOOLS OF CRIME
How Young Crooks are Educated
Crime both infectious and contagious—Importing crooks—New York
prisons, crime breeders—Modern Fagins—Breaking up Faginism—Best
remedy morality in the public schools.
Page 120
CHAPTER XIV.
YOUTHFUL DELINQUENTS AND THE CHILDREN’S COURT
The cause of temptations—Reasons for children in crime—Evil resorts—
Conversations with child criminals—The German boy—The Children’s
Court—Its origin—Crime among poor children the result of social
conditions—Incorrigibles—The good work of the Children’s Aid
Society—Foolish “coddling” of lawless children.
Page 126
CHAPTER XV.
THE ROD AS A REFORMATIVE AGENT IN THE EDUCATION OF
YOUTHFUL LAWBREAKERS
A recent ruling on corporal punishment—Favored by best prison
reformers—Horace Mann—School Principals and teachers—Supt.
Brockway—What they do in England and Germany—Rights of parents
—Lawless homes—Crime more demoralizing than pain—An
experienced probation officer—What others say.
Page 133
CHAPTER XVI
CRIME AMONG WOMEN
(1) The Social Evil. (2) Felonies. (3) The Shoplifter.
Causes of crime among women—Reasons for moral leprosy—The
Cadet system—How carried on—Examples—The celestials of
Chinatown—Women of the Tombs—Mother Mandelbaum—Queen
Bertha—A belle from old Kentucky—Others—The modern shoplifter—
Examples.
Page 139
CHAPTER XVII.
THE STEAL OR STARVE UNFORTUNATES
A great omission—Poverty and social conditions the cause of crime—
The unemployed—Hungry children—Poverty homes and crime—What
ex-convicts say—Hungry men commit crime to be sent to prison—Want
food.
Page 151
CHAPTER XVIII.
HOW YOUNG MEN BREAK INTO PRISON
Startling facts—Save young men—The way of the transgressor—How
young men go down—Example—Percentage of young men—Opinion of
Supt. Brockway—Generators of crime—Fast living—Examples—Bad
associates—Need of agencies.
Page 157
CHAPTER XIX
