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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
THEIR BEST FRIEND

Morley was put to work in the chair factory and was a model prisoner. Formerly he had enjoyed all the notoriety that he was getting, but now he seemed to shun it. I remember on several occasions when I took visitors through the prison that he either turned away or held a newspaper up before his face to protect him from the stares of the curious.

I recall a case of a large negro who had. the reputation of being the toughest negro in the pen. On a cold December day this man went on the warpath out in the yard and refused to go to the hole. Three guards were closing in upon him, one armed with a piece of lead pipe. The negro backed -up against the wall and was ready to fight the three of them when Warden Melick came along and ordered the guards to stand back. Putting his hand upon the negro's shoulder

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he said, "My boy, you are not going to get struck by that pipe as long as I am in charge." The guard dropped the pipe and the three slunk away like beaten curs. The warden and the negro had a heart to heart talk; soon the tears came trickling down his face. For four years the poor fellow had been behind the prison walls and had seven more to serve, all the time proclaiming his innocence. In all those long years no one ever spoke a word of sympathy to him until this warden came along. With joy in his heart he went back to work, and worked as he had never worked before. It goes to show that the handling of men is a matter of judgment; and that one man, the right man, with a few words of kindness can accomplish more than a score armed with guns and clubs. While there were just as many guns and clubs in the Nebraska prison as there were in that eastern prison where mutiny holds high carnival right now, they were not used, for this warden detested

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government by force and preferred and promoted government by peace and kindness.

A democratic governor had been elected. No sooner did this become known at Lancaster than the boys circulated a petition among themselves and addressed it to Governor Morehead asking that he not take Warden Melick away from them. The petition was, however, never mailed, as the warden held it back.

Now came the end of the biennium and the warden made his report to the governor and the legislature. The deficiency which former Warden Smith predicted to be about ten thousand dollars was, however, thirteen thousand dollars; and considering that the state institutions in Lincoln owed the prison nearly ten thousand dollars for electric light, the actual deficiency was about four thousand dollars. At every place where there was a chance to save a penny - that penny was saved. The coal bill was given close attention and several thousand dollars were

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saved on that item. In his report the warden said that he had managed the prison by open and aboveboard methods. There is not one receipt nor disbursement but what can be explained. The books are open and the public may come and see for themselves. He closes the report with a few words of cheer for the inmates, bids them dispense with despair, and with hope in their hearts look forward to better days to come.

Now Christmas is the greatest holiday at the prison! Usually the boys commence to make a lot of noise early in the morning but this morning everything was quiet; they were too downhearted to cheer for they had learned that their best friend was to leave them. When Chief Justice Reese of the supreme court, speaking to the prisoners at the chapel service, made a kind mention of Warden Melick, this sentiment was cheered by the prisoners. One a colored man, the same one that I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter; violated the rules