1886 - A Newly Released Prisoner Gets Advice

The man had just been released from the Barton Street jail on January 22, 1886. Having no money, no employment and feeling very low about his situation, he encountered a man on the street hoping for some sympathy, the encounter, as published in the Hamilton Spectator on January 23, 1886, did not end well:

“He had just been released from the Barton street home for delinquents and met a well-dressed man on Mary street. He poured out his wrongs and misfortunes to the citizen and wished advice as to what he had best to do. He thought that probably Toronto would be the best place for him to strike for. But he wished he was dead.

“The citizen heaved a sigh from away down beneath his vest and asked him if his muffler was of good texture.

“ ‘Yes,’ said the unfortunate, ‘it is the best article I own.’

“ ‘Then,’ said the citizen, ‘you are all right. There is a nice little cell in the police station down in Toronto where a prisoner asphyxiates himself about once a week. They have bars properly placed, so that a person can, with the aid of a good muffler, hang himself comfortably in about ten minutes.

“The recent languisher in captivity fired about a dozen new styles of oaths at the citizen and started for the market.”