Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. IT was while serving the last days of my five years' sentence in Clinton Prison, that I began to think of what I could do to earn an honest living after I should once more be a free man. No one who has not worn the prison uniform can realize how almost impossible it is for a man with the brand of an ex convict upon him to find employment. The curse of the penitentiary is upon him, and it pursues him with relentless energy wherever he turns.