uld do most anything with them, and make better
men of them in the future. Before God, I honestly swear and believe
that Mr. Osborne could have taken that same bunch of men from Auburn
Prison that Sunday, and put them on the road to work and 99 per cent.
would have made good--and that's a very good percentage. I have seen
a good deal of this country--east, west, north and south--but believe
me Oct. 5 beats everything. It is a scene which I shall always
remember. Well, Mr. Osborne, I expected to have a little talk with
you on Prison Reform but you have been very busy, so if I get a
chance some time I'll drop in and see you. I leave the Hotel Rattigan
to-morrow morning a wiser and better man.

Believe me, sir, you have the love and respect of every man behind
these prison walls.

With God's blessing, a long life and a happy one to you, dear sir.

I beg to remain yours truly,

TOM CURRAN, Steamfitter, Auburn Prison.

I am going to work Tuesday morning at my trade in Syracuse.

The writer, Curran is not his real name, also refused to accept a loan of
money which I offered to him so that he could fit himself out with the
tools of his trade. He did not get the job in Syracuse, but drifted into
another state to a city where, quite by chance three months later, I ran
across him in the county jail. The trouble with Tom was the same as in the
case of so many others. Perfectly straight when sober, he could not help
stealing when drunk, and he hadn't enough strength of mind to keep out of
saloons. How could he have? What had the prison done to aid him in
developing strength of character?

The following letter is a very characteristic one.

Auburn, N. Y., October 6, 1913.

Mr. Thomas M. Osborne.

Dear Sir: I trust you will pardon the liberty I take in writing you.
But I wish to thank you for the interest you have taken in the men
here. I know there are hundreds of people who have our interests at
heart, but they imagine we are a sort of strange animal, and treat us
as such. You know if you put a dog in a cage for five or ten years,
he will become unfit as a pet. Just so with us, we enter here
intending to become better men, but the treatment we receive from
some of those who are in immediate charge of us, causes us to become
embittered at the world in general.

You have done more