• Author: Unknown
• Editor: B-6591
• Newspaper: The Umpire volume 2
• Page Number:
• Date: 8 6 1913
• Tags:
• opinion
• prison

A LARGE and disastrous fire occurred in Sing Sing prison, a week or so ago, during which a fire brigade, made up of about two hundred inmates of the institution fought the flames like trained firemen, and in several instances, at the peril of their lives. The conduct of the men upon this occasion has been the subject of a great deal of newspaper comment, and some papers have taken it asa text for lengthy editorials. Speaking of the event one paper says, in part :"One of the most significant features of the affair was the enthusiasm with which these outcasts of society went about their work. They did not wait for orders, but climbed ladders and scaled roofs with the agility and the certainty of professionals. Although the opportunity was present, not one of the convicts attempted to escape. Instead of that, the risks they took in extinguishing the fire caused two of them to be overcome by the smoke and to be so badly injured as to require hospital treatment. ‘These things are pleasant to read, because they call attention to the possibilities for usefulness and heroic conduct even among those whom it has been necessary to place behind barred doors. Humane persons have always recognized this fact, but there are many others who have been in the habit of looking on the criminals as hopeless, and only to be treated as beasts."' There is no question but, that the men who so bravely undertook the task of subduing the flames, are entitled to all of the credit that is being given them. But, there is no reason why they should be singled out for extraordinary praise for their fine conduct, simply because they are convicts. If the public could only be taught to understand that a criminal is but a misguided, God-made man, with all of the emotions of love and charity, of hopes and ambitions which animate his fellows without the walls; that the sense of duty, is in most instances as fully alive in him, as in others; that his present social condition may be traced, with scarcely an exception, to his earlier environments; that he is in short, a human being, then much will have been done toward solving the problem which is now vexing humanitarians and penologists throughout the world. The work of the men in Sing Sing was not exceptional. The history of every large penal institution tells of acts of bravery performed by its inmates in times of fire, flood, insurrection and individual peril. These men have seldom been called on, but, when the emergency arose, they have never failed. They responded to the call instinctively, with never a thought of personal danger, or future benefits. Their actions have been equally as spontaneous,as would bethose of any other man, and no matter how uncouth their manner and speech, and degrading their position, when the time comes to show the stuff of which they are made, they will come forward for favorable comparison with any other class of men. So, by all means let them be commended for their praiseworthy acts, not because they are convicts and to be coddled as children but, because they are men, ready, capable and willing to do a man's work.