Show SUNDAY AT THE PEN 1 If J j I iyji k t 9 Bi I opt Whitney Holds Services Ser-vices for the Prisoners SCENES AKb IMPRESSIONS f r 1 i > umb Exchange ofGreetings and Farewellg Hopt = Miss Sharer S < S f tt Reporters Notes Religious services are held at the Penitentiary by one of the different denominations every Sunday and on the first Sabbath in each month the Mormons confined there are permitted to have one of their own Jfcith address taem On Sunday last Bishop O F Whitney and his counsellor Robert Patrick of the Eighteenth Ward acC ac-C by several singersamong 1 whom were MM Agne Olsen Thomas and Miss Louie Wellsdrove out to the Pen for the purpose of holding the usual services and a HEEALD representative represen-tative who accompanied them took a few notes of what transpired thinking they might not form uninteresting reading read-ing at this time There were numerous vehicles in the yard as we entered and upon the wall were grouped a good many figures of relatives and friends of those inside in-side a silent view of the objects of their interest or affection being all that is vouchsafed except on the regular visiting daythe first Thursday in each month An exception was to be noted in the case of the trusties however a few of theseclothed in thezebraic uniform uni-form of the institution were talking quietly with friends and among them almost the first whom our gaze encountered 1 en-countered was Joseph Evans the I sturdy and good natured blacksmith seated on a bench with his wife We sprang forward with outstretched hand and were astonished to see him remain mute and immoveable You see he cant speak to you without with-out permission explained Jim Watson Wat-son who since his release hovers about his old confreres in a sort of minister ingangel way Jim whispered afew words to the guard who stood near by and that official nodding Mr Evans was allowed to exchange greeting with us which he did in his oldtjme hearty mannerS manner-S Passing into the narrow court yard formed by the outer gates and the inner in-ner our little group caught sight through the bars of a window the face ofMiss hafEr the young lady committel for refusing to answer certain questions ques-tions in the Such case She nodded cheerfully to the ladies of our party who gazed at her with sympathetic eyes until we were asked by a guard to follow fol-low him The huge inner gate was then swung back on its hinges with a clanking clank-ing sound and we stepped into the little space between that and a second gate The outer was then closed and locked on us a turn from a crank threw open the last barrier and we stepped out into the interior square of the four adobe walls There was only one living figure in sIghtthat ol Hopt the doomed murdererpacing at a rapid gait between the narrow limits of the dead line which hedged him in He was neatly dressed in the same black suit in which he had been sentenced He paid no attention to any of the curious glances cast upon him and seemed ntirely oblivious of the fact that he was at all observed A few steps brought us to the improvised impro-vised meeting housethe prisoners dining room Through an open door we caught sight of a sea of cleanly shaved faces cropped heads and gray striped suits and following those in advance in another moment we were in the midst I I of them and walking down between them to the other end of the room where an organ a table and several chairs awaited those who were to conduct con-duct the services What a scene met our gaze as we cast a first glance around the apartment Thereare in some of Dickens works illustrations of two places both of which were brought vividly to our mind by the room before us One is the interior of the Old Curiosity Cu-riosity Shop and the other that of Krooks denthe receptacle of grease rags and bones The room was a long low shed the rafters bare and uncovered uncov-ered overhead and the sun light visible I through seVeral chinks in the roof A I number of beams crossed from side to side within reaching distance and upon these beams was hung tacked pasted or suspended m Some shape or other such a confusion of miscellaneous articles ar-ticles as was surely never before gathered gath-ered together outside of one of the places we have mentioned From one hung an old dirty boot alongside of it was a shoe i a row of tin cups covered cov-ered with thick slices of bread sat upon another hinting the possibility that some of the inmates had been hastily interrupted in one of their meals towels shirts coats blankets neckties boxes suspenders old papers and a confused array of we know not what besides hung down from above every available inch of space ou the walls was covered with pictures from Leslies Harpers Puck or some others of the illustrated periodicals a narrow table begrimed and worn projected from the wall all the way around the room after the manner of the desk in a country school and a still narrower bench built in front of this told of the dining room accommodations of the prisoners There were 126 men in the room for the most part dressed in the gray and black wool of the place those who were not could be counted on the fingers and are not called regular habitues of the Place as thev are await ing sentence or trial It was with a curious sensation that we began a search amcng those subdued lines of faces tor those that might be familiar to ugt and with a sort of electrical shock at their strangeness we finally ncked themoncorieby one from the crowd and exchanged with them mute glances of recognition Qne hour was set apart for the services and while the customary prayers the hymns and the address were going on we had ample leisure to scan in thoughtful 1VpndQ t11eunren1sceneibeforeu For turn it in our mind as we would there I was no divesting it af a certain if iHt intangibleness ofja sort of aii effect as if the whole thing were seen inl dream Many of the hardened faces in the throng were well known to us from hay ing been seen in the Police Court when i they were firejt arrested and from bay ing again Tbeenseenwhen Judge Zane I ronouncedsthesentence which brought i em here MLh des tmcUgraoWbfr crimes were here from the p etties t to the I most detestable and we could not help thinking of the mass of depravity and corruption represented in the lives of that gathering could itall be known and brought to the light To see Bishop ClawsonPresident Cannon Nicholson Nichol-son George Romney and the score of others whom we had through life been accustomed to regard as leaders among the honorable and upright men of a community to see them scattered through anrh a throng and to think of all the daily humiliations and bitterness bitter-ness to which they nust be subjected in jostling such surroundings and such companions seemed anything but reality nor could we without difficulty diffi-culty bring ourselves to realize it all as living fact They were all seemingly seem-ingly very patient and cheerful and it was easy to see with what appreciation they listened to the remarks of Bishop Whitney I The address of the speaker was Col lowed with the closest attention and the strictest silence by all his auditors One young man who we understood had learned stenography from Rudger Clawsqn took down the remarks in shorthand What impression the sermon ser-mon made upon the sinning souls that listened to it no one of course knows The bishoo snoke with a quiet thought ful eloquence taking his topic mostly from the suggestion of his surronnd ings He spoke of the promise of the Savior made to sinners as well as to the righteous adjured his listeners not to throw hope away but to cling to it with a determination to reform their lives when they had paid the penalty for those deeds which they were now atoning for He reminded them that the object of a Penitentiary was to form a place of penitence where men might rather think over their past misdeeds than spend their time in plotting new deeds of violence when they should be free He addressed them upon the boad grounds of Christianity Chris-tianity charity and brotherly love and closed 1 > 3 invoking the blessing of God upon all who felt desirous of turning from the tempter and cleaving unto the righteousness of hen j After the final song and prayer the I guard was spoken to and all except members of the Mormon Church were dismissed from the room i a hundred or more filed out not a few of them giving forth the sound of clanking chains as the walked Twentveisrkt pri soners remained in the room Among them were se eral who were confined for minor crimes and Silas T Smith who has been imprisoned for some months for failing to Pay alimony to his divorced wife The ceremony of administering the sacrament sacra-ment was performed as quietly as the previous exercises had teen and with a final songthe visitors prepared to depart Bishop Clawson here arose and requested request-ed the guard for permission to have one more song and the guard consenting con-senting Mrs Thomas rendered In the Gloammg to words from the hymnbook hymn-book in a feeling and expressive manner man-ner Many were the wet eyes among the little throng as the last notes of her beautiful voice died away The guard now announced that we were all at liberty to shake hands with the prisoners but no words must be exchanged In a dumb manner therefore we went around the room shaking hands in silence but surely with a silence more eloquent than words Out of the room we then filed and passing Hopt once more who was now engrossed in a bookand being ushered through the clanging gates we stood again in the court yard It was intimated to us that woo would be privileged to call out any one of the prisoners we might name for a brief conversation and Bishop Whitney naming John Nicholson that gentleman gentle-man was tonight out The seal was removed from our lips as far as he was concerned and a hurried exchange of news and intelligence took place between be-tween him and our party He was abruptly called after six or eight minutes min-utes and bidding him farewell again we mounted our teams and made our way once more to the city |