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Show v V ENOLISII PRISON LIFE ONI WHO KNOWS BAYS IT IS UNALLOYED HADES. Tbe rtrst Mine Months of Solitary Cos.-flnaanonl Cos.-flnaanonl la tho W'oral A arstesa Whleh Broiallsea rrlsonsri Vary -Soro Dlaelplaa, j Sing Sinn (N. V.) Letter. The foilowinit eitntct from the SUr of Hope, piihllnhi it by tho prisoners at fin HlriK. nlv.s a vivid InsiKlit Into Knallxh ptl.-oii life and Is doubly In-tereailng In-tereailng beenuae written by one who "did time" In England. "The discipline In the prleons of Orcnt Ilrltiiln Is stern nnd unylelillna-. and every day uf a sentence has hoiira of time In II. It has fallen to Diy lot to aervn a lung term In a public pub-lic work prison III KiikIiiiiiI, and the experience hus no nllevlntlna: memory. It was simply linnlloyeil Hades. On conviction nn. I sentenced the prisoner a taken to a county prison to do nine mnnthi of u parale confinement. Thia la spent In a latae rell. well-wunned. 1 1 Klit -il and ventlluted, without a bed for the first three months, with a lied two niKhts In tho week for another three mouths, and then with liicrena-liix liicrena-liix frequency, until n Inst inonlh a bed. with sheets, rilK and pillow, la Klvon every nlnht. The work la aew-Ing aew-Ing lings and weaving, and the task la aa much aa a green hand enn do with Industry. Tho food la nmpln but unvaried. "No one except tho keeper cornea Into the cell. The governor of the prison passes the open door dully, and tho doctor romes. If atimmnticd. No books except a illble. hymn-hook nnd prayer book are given, and there ui No Varlatloa lo this Awl.il I'arlml. In which ninny men breuk down phya-lcnlly phya-lcnlly or inentnlly. Tho keeper la not allowed to apeuk to a prisoner c xi-'ept In the brlefcHt terms, and then only to Issue an order. I spent six month! In thia aepurnto cunlliieinent without bearing a bumnn voire exrept at Mlfiifenllll mm A FIXIOOINO. church service; and the whole nine months of 'nepurntea' without Hpcnklng word to a fellow-prisoner. The Intention In-tention of thlk imprisonment la to glvo the prisoner a realizing aeuse of his position, . nnd It fetches him every time hy Ha cold calm, silent, iiih bunging bung-ing oppression. "The 'aepanttea' being finished, tho prisoner la transferred lo the public wnrka prison, of which there nre now fnnr In England Dartmoor, l'ortlnnd, I'nrkhurst nnd Ilorslnl with a female prison at Aylesbury, In Oxfordshire. Men who were cngimcd In tho same offense, of-fense, or brothers, aro not sent to the same prlnon. "Tha transfer la miidu In a prison car, whlrh la simply an exclusive carriage, car-riage, and tho traveler Is nut matla the victim of public curiosity. Arriving on the public work the prisoner la na-algned na-algned to outside labor and kept at It There la un average of one warder or asalstuut wnrder to every 10 men, bo-aides bo-aides a battalion of the Itoyal Infantry Infan-try for guards at each station. These wnrdcra are long-service men with flrat-clnsa dU. hurgca from the army, navy or marlno corpa. In which school they have learned that an order from a superior authority li aucred. They are forbidden to construe any offense they may observe In any other way than aa a subject of report, and report meani punishment In UD9 ruses out of 1,000. rnslasnast, consist! of confinement In !eparate cells, light and warm, with one pound of bread and one pint ot water dully, loss of class, privileges of wnltlng or receiving letter! or visits. For assaults as-saults on officer! tho penalty la flogging flog-ging with either the cat or blrcb, not more than 39 stroke! of either; but no (uui fail! to be tuxun In the hospital who baa received 20 cut! of tbe cat The work Is redeeming marsh land, Kulldlug fortresses, quarrying atone or cutting It for building fortreeiei, quarrying quar-rying alone or cutting for building build-ing purposes. But tbe dny'i work, even In summer, la rurely more than aeven hours. Meals are taken In the cnlli and the food li not sufflclent-Thore sufflclent-Thore are no fat men In penal servitude. servi-tude. It la prescribed to the fraction of an ounce, and If the prisoner! feel! that he has not Ills allowance, be can, t all times, have It weighed or meua-ured meua-ured In hi! own presence. "As his sentence wears away the prisoner pttonua Into dlfforent classes, whlrh aro shown by the facing! on hla acket, with Increased privilege!; and the last yeur of his sentence, if he hui been a good-conduct mnn throughout, may bo spent in the special class, whlrh gives him a blue drejis, visits every two months, and more frequent Icttera. No man can go out of eight V l -ysaax..- ... of the officer In chsrge nf his party nor pass bshlnd him. He snust not talk, lauth. nor even trolls. He U not allowed any other article la bla y-ssssion y-ssssion thsn a handkerchief. He can have nu patter uor pencil, but one piece nf soap, one towel, one wooden spoon, one plate, ttu rup, and war.li busln. He mint be silent, obedient and althoush the rules do not say so, I Aa must look as mtucrnhlc as It Is tn- 1 tended I .ike b.lll feel. The weekly dietary s.ale never changes, except Threa Aro No II. .lids'. Ootid Friday nn.l Chruimita, nnd these are only marked by chapel service, w hli h never iIihiim'S. No oui-sldeta oui-sldeta ever t'ottie to (peak nor are any visitors ever ndniltteil Into the prison. In eight years 1 never heard a woman's wom-an's voice in npeei h or song; never lusted fruit, nor nny other vegetable than peas and potatoes; never spoke lo a fellow prisoner exiept surrepu-tlouely. surrepu-tlouely. Dttr'ng Imprisonment Ilie worst offense possihlu Is to hnve tobacco. to-bacco. The heel of an old pipe thai I la blowing about anut"hcd up, will cost six months' time If cuiiKlit. Every man la searched fivo time n i dny, hi! rell I visited and aenrclied two or three times a week, and ye; the men do get tobacco, and take long risks to get It. "On dlschargo tho prisoner receives a ticket of leave, which mny be canceled can-celed nt any time before tho expiry of his whole sentence; also three to six pounds sterling gratuity f l.r lo 1 10 of L lilted Hlates money). Hla bard treatment haa done him no good, for 65 per rent of tho men In pennl servitude servi-tude are seiond lliiiers, and 2u per cent are third-tuners." |