| Show FEW CHILIAN CRIMES y Refreshing the Memory of a Yery Bold Thief r A MODEL PENITENTIARY ATliore Murderers Are Burled Alive Tlie Very Sad Story of a very Rich Young Man SANTIAGO DE CHILE April 17 1891 Special correspondence of THE HERALD One of the institutions of this famous capital to which the citizens point with pride is theIr model penitentiary It is an enormous structure of red bricka rare building material in these parts the houses being universally of stone or adobe covered with grayish plaster surrounded by a massive wall of the same on top of which soldiers are continually pacing to and fro The visitor hardly knows whether to be most impressed by the immensity of the concern it being nearly largo enough to hold the entire population its scrupulous cleanllnessor the dead silence that prevails as unbroken as if there were not a living creature within a hundred miles though at t present there are about two thousand human beings inside the walls As our little party filed in between a double row of glittering bayonets and the great iron gates closing with a crash of bolts and bars SHUT US IN AMONG THE CRIMINALS the usual stale jokes common to such occasions occa-sions were exchanged First we were conducted Into n large wellfurnished reception I re-ception room lined on all sides from ceiling ceil-ing to floor with thousands of photographs Every prlsonermust have his picture taken i on entering this place and again when ho leaves and these are put in cases on the walls each labeled with its > s number During Dur-ing his prison life the convict is known by that number only and never hears his name The records are kept in a score of big bookseach mans number being followed fol-lowed by his name the particulars of his crime and everything pertaining to his history his-tory that can be ascertained Gazing around this Rogues gallery my attention was attracted by two fresh and handsome young faces evidently those of husband and wife and I asked the superintendent superin-tendent who they were I will soon tell you all about it he said Taking down one of the big books he ran his finger down the pages till the number on THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS REACHED Oh yes ho continued This case I remember re-member was a rather interesting one They were newlymarried down in Valdi via a couple who stood high socially and of whom everybody thought well Want ofmoney was their undoing For a small amount of it the husbandmurdered an aged relative and the wife assisted in hiding the corpse They had funds enough to fight the law in all the courts but after repeated trials he was sentenced to be shot she to be compelled to witness her husbands execution i execu-tion and then to remain in prison ten yea rs longer The sentence was carried into effect and the story may be clearly read in the photographs photo-graphs Next to the youthful couple is i a picture of the criminal taken on the day of his execution the wild eyes and haggard face showing that he realized his doomand beyond that is the face of the widow ten years later a prematurelyold woman with the expression of one who HAS NOTHING TO HOPE FOR Another face was that of an innocent looking lighthearted school boy apparently appar-ently not more than seventeen years old Certainly this was never a criminal I said fle was one of the worst I ever knew replied the superintendent In a fit of rage he beat his fathers brains out because the latter refused to let him ride a aoritemare and er mare then deliberately murdered mur-dered his mother because she knew of t hem facts and might tell them He was co he-m demned to be shot seven years ago Truly this gruesome art gallery upsets ones ideas about the face being an index of character eyes the windows of the soul and all that sort of thing for the most hardened hard-ened wretches ol the lot wear looks of baby innocence There area great many women in the collection and we aro told that the so called gentler sox of South America commit com-mit a large proportion of the murders jealousy jeal-ousy being the moving cause Then wewent to the work shopsthrough HUGE IRON GATES WITH PONDEROUS LOCKS and bars each guarded by soldiers with loaded muskets into an Immense circular patio or inner court yard surrounded by massive arches Each arch closed by another an-other iron gate and guarded by soldiers is the entrance to a smaller yard in the rear of which is the shop Between thesommor patios arc igh walls of red brick like those outside and on the top of them watchful sentinels are forever pacing so that no man could stir out of his place in any part of the rrTniinrlc without timnrr instantlv tvivnrvvl oy a gun barrel here seems to DO no possible pos-sible chance for escape and the superintendent superin-tendent said that during the seventeen years he had been hero not a single attempt has ceenmade In the shops everybody was working silently and steadily his eye bent upon his work not a whisper being permitted or a moments pause of the busy fingers But when we entered at a signal from tho overseer over-seer of each department every man made o military saluto and remained standing until PERMISSION WAS GIVEN TO RESUME TffjlK Among tho hundreds of prisoners one sees few really bad facesand most of those seem to have been made so by some care lessness of Dame Nature in outline out their features There were a few with the Cain mark of crazy Guiteauabnormal creatures born to crime and therefore perhaps no more responsible for their deeds than other lunatics Doubtless the iron hand of environmentthe force of circumstances i circum-stances that none of us can escapeled most of these into error It is a question sad as puzzling whether crime should be treated as a disease sort of mental or moral leprosy and a cure sought rather than a punishment Certain it is that if the majority of Chil ian rotos the word literally translated meaning ragged people here used to des ignate the poorer class were confined for a term of years in the Santiago penitentiary their condition would be vastly bettered They would be sure of shelter sufficient food and clothes enough to cover their nakedness nak-edness VERY UNCERTAIN BLESSINGS in their present state besides being compelled com-pelled to keep tolerably clean for the first time in their lives and made to work ai t something useful All are obliged to learn trades blacksmithing carpenteringshoo making etc There is a school also where even the oldest and most densely ignorant aro taught to read and write and a chapel where all receive religious instruction After a year or two here the roto who came in ragged dirty and worthless to a degree may go forth clothed and in his right mind having formed now habits o f industryand with a resource against future want in the trade he has learned Nor is this all Those who never in their palmiest days of freedom possessed a dollar that they did not steal may actually have money laid up with which to begin lift anew Good conduct does not count here toward shortening ones term but extra diligence in welldoing is paid for in money The men are kept steadily at work but by exerting themselves they may 9 J5ASILT ACCOMPLISH MUCH MORE than the amount required and for every extra bit they are fairly paid In the sho department for example The contractors who pay the government po much per annum an-num for working the prisoners encourag the men to their best efforts by keeping a careful account of exactly how much each accomplishes every day A stipulated sum is paid for tS0 much work and if a man doubles or trebles the amount as many do it is so much the better for all concerned A workman easily makes from 20 to30 cents a day and the amount is charged to his credit The money is not put into his hands but a ticket representing that sum If he fails to do a reasonable amount or spoils material purposely or through care lessness something is deducted from the money he has already earned or he may be otherwise punished Though strongly advised to Hoard his funds until the day of release he may spend it if he likes The regular prison food is better and more abundant than most of them HAVE BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO OUTSIDE but on certain days market people are al lowed to come in and sell tobacco fruit dulces etc and there is no law to prevent the men from spending all they can earn in this way Once in three months each prisoner may have visitors and then his relatives and friends if ho has any flock to see him Many ol them are glad to have saved up a respectable sum to give the wife and chil dren or the aged parents or young sisters who perhaps have sadly missed their sup port Said the superintendent a prisoners prison-ers term is long it is not uncommon for him to have credit for from 8200 to S500 which is paid Him in cash on the day of his discharge and is wealth to a rote This with a good trade at his fingers ends and the thrifty Habits he has acquired makes anew a-new man of him and if he gets into mischief mis-chief again it is due to innate depravity rather than to force of circumstances But when a man has been accustomed to the QUIET AKD ORDER THAT REIGNS EERE he has forgotten how to think for himself and even his former name has become strange to him When first turned adrift Into the world even with money in his pocket he feels an overpowering sense of helplessness and many come back and beg to be taken In again But there is another side to the picture one so dark and terrible that as we contemplated contem-plated it the bright day seemed suddenly overcast the sun ceased to shine and the birds to sing In this splendid model building there are slimy noisome cells where daylight never enters in which human hu-man beings are literally buried alive Hav ing heard of them we requested to be shown one of these cells The gentlemanly super intendent denied there were any such and showed us the interior of two or three twi light cells which he said were the worst in the penitentiary and designed for those con demned to solitary confinement But wo knew better and later the judicious Investment In-vestment of a dollar induced a subordinate to give us a glimpse off WHAT WB CAME TO SEE Under the massive arches of the enormously thick walls where perpetual twilight reigns even in the outside rooms are inner cells two feet wide by six feet long destitute of a single article of furniture Until recently those confined in them were walled in the bricks being cemented in places over the living tomb Now there is a thick iron door which is securely nailed up then fastened all around with huge clamps exactly as aults are closed in tho Santiago cemetery i and over all the great red seal of the government govern-ment is placednot to be removed until the man is dead or his sentence has expired The tiny grated window is covered by several sev-eral thicknesses of closelywoven wire net ting making dense darkness inside so that the prisoner cannot toll night from day There is no ventilation except through this netting and no opening whatever to tho tomb Low down in the iron door close to the ground is a tiny sliding panel a foot long by two or three inches wide arranged like a double drawer so that FOOD AND WATER may be slipped in on shallow pans and the refuse returned Twice in twentyfour hours this panel operated and if the food remains untouched a certain number of days it is known the mania dead and only then can his door be opened unless his time has expired If the food is not eaten for only two or three days no attention is paid to it for the prisoner may be shamming but beyond a given length of time he cannot live without eating Not the faintest sound nor glimmer of light penetrates these awful walls In the same clothes he goes in unwashed uncombed un-combed without even a blanket or a hand ful of straw to lie on he languishes in sickness sick-ness lives or dies with no means of making his condition known to the outside He may count the lagging hours sleep rave curse pray long for death dash his brains outgo mad if he likenobody knows it He is dead to the world and burled though liv ing Six months is the usual sentence and u until lately two years have been the limit They told us that but I ONE MAN HAS EVER BEEN KNOWN TO LIVE A TEAR and the majority do not outlast the second month Those that survive the six months are almost invariably driveling idiots or dangerous maniacs The door is always open at night when the sentence has expired ex-pired because in his enfeebled condition after long darkness the glare of day would be torture ff not death They expect to find the wretch stone blind emaciated to the last degree unable to stand hair and beard grown long and as white as snow nails like talons and garments rotten with mould One man of education and refinement kept himself in tolerable condition through his halfyear of solitary confinement by means of a handful melon seeds As ho was going in somebody gave him part of a musk melon Strange to say it was not taken from him and be carefully hoarded tho seeds which he put to a variety of ingenious in-genious uses With them and reckoning from the number of times the food pan slid in and out he contrived to keep track of the number of DAYS OF HIS INCARCERATION h o invented games of solitaire which ho played thousands of times in the darkness and to vary the dreadful monotony he would throw away the precious handful and grope around on his hands and knees until they were all recollected He says that in those little se ds he Is indebted for his almost miraculous escape from insanity idiocy or death On the day of our visit to the Santiago penitentiary there was one man in solitary confinement under two years sentence whose time had expired within seven weeks It was the only case on record and a marvel to all who were acquainted with it A great deal of speculation is rife as to what the poor wretch will be like when the door will be opened if he manages to exist so long blind no doubt and hopelessly ruineu in health and intellect if he does not die of the shock of liberation The most harrowing tale remains to be toldono that murdered sleep for us through many a night We stood outside THE LIVING TOMB OP A TOUNG SCION of the Chilian aristocracya petted mothers moth-ers boy only eighteen years old who has been buried in this manner on a five years sentence the longest ever given Five yearswhen rough men accustomed to hardships hard-ships seldom survive two months of itl The youth is a nephew of a former minister of war and belongs to a family of wealth and highest social standing He was a lieutenant lieuten-ant in the regular army and shot his cap tain It is said to have been deliberate D murder calling for no clemency except on the score of his south Ho was sentenced to be shot but through the influence of his relatives the penalty was changed to one far worse death by slow degrees in soli tang confinement a prolonged cruelty compared com-pared to which shooting would be a blessed boon and the northern barbarism of chok ing l a man to death with a rope around his neck seems a luxury He was a handsome lad of the style here known as rubio mean ing fairhaired blueeyed and rosychecked His last words UTTERED WITH A SMILE as ho entered the awful place were ItI shall cnly be twentyfour whim I come out Not yet too old to marry Poor boy I His cheeks are not rosy now We stood lout beside his door thinking what his hourly torture must be and wondering how his mother and sisters can livemuch less en joy fashionable society as they are said tc be doing lathe common jails people are so treats that one imprisonment is generally sufflci ent to cure them of most faults A house e servant in the Santiago family where 1 lived absconded one day taking several articles of wearing apparel was soon appre hended and according to rule locked up ii solitary confinement for twentyfour hours without a mouthful to eat or drink This was done to break his spirit and render him tractable Thenhe was called into court confronted by his late master and told to confess all he had stolen THE FRIGHTENED JFELDOW knowing well that every article confesses I I rt to meant months of imprisonment falter ingly owned up to one or two thefts only The master declared there were more and the judge naturally leaning to the stronger side ordered a sergeant to take the man out and refresh his memory The re freshing process meant a sound flogging tied to apost In the jail yard where thirty one lashes were well put on After the first whipping the servant confessed to one or two more thefts but as his employer still insisted there were more he was whipped again and yet again every day for a week until the irate master was abundantly sat isfied Then the thief was sent to the pen itentiary for three years though the full value of the goods stolen did not amount to S20 and his aged mother begged on her knees to be allowed to refund the money FANNIE B WARD |
