usually older than the other children in his class, and was held back
a year in the third and fourth grades. He left school at the age of
fourteen, while in the fourth grade. He then worked in a shoe store,
commencing at a salary of four dollars per week, and receiving six
dollars per week at the time of his separation. As far as is known he
did his work well, as he was promoted during his stay there. Soon
after commencing to earn money he began to indulge in alcoholics. He
became intoxicated one day and set fire to a store, which resulted in
the death of a human being. It did not take much at that time to
intoxicate him--two or three glasses of whiskey being sufficient. He
does not definitely say why he set the place on fire; adding, "Perhaps
I was drunk and did not know what I was doing and maybe I just wanted
to see the fire. I always did like to see fires. Of course, I did not
know that somebody was going to get burned to death." He is not
certain whether he felt sorry for the deed, adding: "Why should I
care? I did not know the man that was burned. He was no relative or
friend of mine; anyway, the people around there said he was no good,
and that it served him right." He was sent to the Elmira Reformatory,
where he remained three years, when he was transferred to the New York
State Hospital for Criminal Insane at Matteawan. He did not like the
Reformatory a bit, they were nagging him all the time. He says it was
like a deaf and dumb asylum; a fellow could not even talk when he
wanted to, and if he did he was paddled for it. The paddling didn't
make him behave, because, he adds: "You can't make a fellow behave by
beating him all the time." He was later transferred to Dannemora,
spending about two years in all, in both these institutions. He did
not like it at the hospital either, because they made him work, and he
hated to work; so finally he asked to be transferred back to Elmira,
which request was granted him. On returning there he was put to work
at brick-laying, but could not get along with the fellow in charge,
the latter was too much of a bully and worked him too hard, so
finally, they shipped him to the new reformatory at Napanoch, New
York. Here he was given employment by the physician in charge of the
hospital, and after ten months of good conduct, was paroled. He says
he behaved well these ten months because he was treated well by the
d