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THE PRISON
PUBLISHED MONTHLY, BY THE STATE
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OL. IV
THE STATE S PRISON, RALEIGH, N. C. JUNE 1, 1930
No. 6
A REVIEW OF INFORMATION OBTAINED NORTH CAROLINA’S
FOR THE PRISON COMMISSION'S USE VARIOUS CAPITALS
MANY INTERESTING FACTS
SHOWN BY ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONNAIRES
2334 Inmates Covered by Survey
A study of the data recently compiled at
the North Carolina State’s Prison regarding
»ach individual prisoner, discloses some in¬
teresting: facts as well as a number that are
[pitiful and others that almost border on the
humorous except for the tragedy of adverse
[home life and illiteracy revealed.' This in¬
formation was obtained for the purpose of
[assisting the Prison Commission in their
[study of the problems confronting them. In
an effort to arrive at the fundamental cause
of crime and its marked increase in recent
years, particular stress was laid upon in-
■ quiries concerning the living conditions of
the prisoners prior to their present incar¬
ceration, and a review of the replies to the
queries along this, line, which were, of ne¬
cessity furnished by the inmates them¬
selves, readily discloses the fact that igno¬
rance plays a large part in the downfall of
many. For instance, among former trades
and occupations, the following forms of the
word “chauffeur” are listed; sheauffer, shuf-
! fer, shofear, shofer, shopher, schauffer, seho-
fure and choofer. Other unusual occupations
given were; firring barlow, scamint finisher,
logeman, missioner, handling steam, miner
if ever get-out, gambling, making liquor
and several “nones.” In a literal sense the
lowest calling was that of coal miner while
the most lofty belongs either to the air¬
plane pilot or the preacher, according to
your preference, both being included in the
list. In fact very few known vocations are
absent from the lineup. The butcher, the
baker and the candlestick-maker are all
present.
Under the heading of the crime for which
committed, the entire category is well cov¬
ered with the addition of these out of the
ordinary ones; contempted to kill, distering
the peace, murder excessory, womanslaugh-
ter, salt on woman and shooting scrap. (The
argument as to whether this last mentioned
crime referred to shooting scrape or shoot¬
ing craps, is still undecided).
The survey included 2334 prisoners made
up of 1116 white males, 22 white females,
1136 negro males, 55 negro females and
EX-GUNMAN PREACHES
IMPRESSIVE SERMON
Evangelist’s Wife Leads Prison Choir
“Hill” Cook, ex-convict Evangelist, deliv¬
ered an outstanding sermon, on the the Pow¬
er of Clod, in the Prison Chapel Monday
night.
Assisting in the services were, his wife,
Mrs. “Bill” Cook, their small son, “Chief”
Cook, Bernice Powell, and Loomis Goodwin,
who introduced the speaker.
The ex-gangster early won the hearts of
his hearers by humorously talking out of
the corner of his mouth, prison fashion. Mr.
Cook briefly sketched his life as a gunman
and gambler.
He was converted in 1914 he said, then
a human derelict. Later he joined the Cana¬
dian army and served a year on the firing
line in France, being gassed and wounded
many times. He was honorably discharged
with medals of valor, a commission and
seventeen bullet wounds.
“After nearly twenty years of crime,” Mr.
Cook said, "I quit, with the best part of my
life spent in prisons, two dollars in my
pocket, and a ‘gat’. I was converted and
swapped the ‘gat’ for a testament. My con¬
version was a ‘Miracle of God.’”
Evangelist Cook spoke most of his ser¬
mon in ‘prison parlance’. Describing his
first theft, Mr. Cook said, “One day I
swiped a dollar from my daddy’s trousers;
that not being missed, the next day I
swiped two dollars; that too being unnoticed
the next day I swiped trousers and all.”
Another time during his talk, Mr. Cook
on inquiring how much time he had left to
speak remarked, “I would rather be thrown
out than to be locked in.”
D. D. S.
There Were Several Before Raleigh
Which Was Built to Be Perma¬
nent Seat of Government
(Continued on
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four)
THANKS
The Times was the recipient of a copy of
the "Prison Xeies,” a four-page miniature
newspaper this week. The sheet is published
at the North Carolina State Prison by the
prisoners and its motto is, “Give Hope to
Those Who Enter Here.” It is typographic¬
ally attractive and contains a world of splen¬
did material, some of it written by the pris-
| oners in the institution, some contributed.
Advertising is conspicuous by its absence.
— The New Iicrn Times
Col. Frkd A. Olds
What a number of places have been the
“seat of government” of North Carolina! In
1709 Hath Town served in this capacity. It
then had twelve houses and had the first
library in the province. The very first gen¬
eral assembly, so far as known, met at the
home of Richard Sanderson, in the county of
Perquimans, in 1715. The main thing it did
was to “revise the whole body of the stat¬
ute law,” as Governor David L. Swain, in
far later years described its work. There
must have been even earlier meetings of the
assembly, but of this one our knowledge is
official and authentic. North Carolina was
then governed by the “Proprietors” and the
laws enacted in the 1715 meeting begin in
this wise: “He it enacted by His Excellency
the Palatine and the rest of the True and
Absolute Lords Proprietors of Carolina, by
and with the advice and consent of this
present General Assembly now met at Little
River for the Northeastern part of this
Province.” Five years later the legislature
had shifted to what is known as’ the “Gen¬
eral Court House” at Queen Anne’s creek,
Chowan precinct. In 1723 Edenton was the
“Seat of Government.”
In 1731 the King again took over North
Carolina, having bought the interests of sev¬
en of the eight Lords Proprietors; one,
Earl of Granville, refusing to sell his moi¬
ety or part. Three years later, Brunswick
was the capital and Gabriel Johnston took
the oath there. The Laws thus open: “We
pray that it may be enacted, and be- it en¬
acted by His Excellency, Gabriel Johnston,
Esq., Governor, by and with the advice and
consent of His Majesty’s council in the Gen¬
eral Assembly of this province.” Governor
Johnston determined to move the Seat of
Government to Wilmington and in 1761 the
Assembly met there and lively indeed was
the contest between these two places, then
the most important in the State, as to which
should be the “capital.” So keen was the con¬
test that the General Assembly had to
step in and end it. It did this by an act of
1761, authorizing the building of what came
to be known as the “Palace” of Governor
William Tryon, at New Bern. This was not
finished until 1770 and was then the finest
(Continued on
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