When
San Quentin prison was still a rather young institution, there was a
need for a skillful man to manage the business end of running the
Jute Mill. A candidate for the job was C. J. Walden, a skillful
accountant and a man very familiar with the problems of the Jute
Mill. Walden's experience with the Jute Mill related to the time he
had served in San Quentin as a convict. The authorities knew this,
but the man seemed completely rehabilitated. He was married and he
and his wife lived in a home near Greenbrae, not far from the prison.
Walden was apparently doing a fine Job for the prison, and his
pleasant personality won many friends. But his criminal instincts
were probably still dominant, for he began charging out more sacks to
the customers than were actually delivered. He was selling the extra
sacks to a San Francisco junk dealer and pocketing the money. This
embezzlement ran up into thousands of dollars. Finally, the
authorities started an investigation, but before they could get very
far Walden disappeared and was never heard from again. Mrs. Walden
never lost faith in her husband and believed that he would return to
her. When the stage would pass her home near Greenbrae, carrying
passengers from San Francisco, she would always be at the gate,
expecting her husband. It was a sad sight to see her disappointed
face as the stage drove by without stopping.
Author:
William J. Duffy, Jr.
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