In his early years Prall was employed as a
clerk in a New York
newspaper office. Prall attended
New York University, studying business. From 1908 until 1918, he was in charge of a
real estate department of a
bank, while serving as the first president of the Staten Island Board of Realtors from 1915 to 1916.
Early public service In 1918, Prall began a public service career when he was appointed Clerk of New York City's First District Municipal Court. He was appointed a member of the
New York City Board of Education on January 1, 1918, and served until December 31, 1921, and was elected the board's president. He was New York City's commissioner of taxes and assessment from 1922 to 1923.
Congress He was a
delegate to the
1924 Democratic National Convention and was elected as a
Democrat to the Sixty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Daniel J. Riordan. He was reelected to the sixty-ninth and to the four succeeding Congresses and served from November 6, 1923, to January 3, 1935. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1934. ==Death==