The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-01-10 00:00:00

LIFE IN THE PORTLAND CONVICT PRISON.

Cottinuing its aeriet of sketches oo the" seamy side "
01 bie, the Daily Telegraph give' the following experiences
of life in P rtlend couvict prison. After remarking that
it is • usimake to suppoui, because the cell, at Portland
are separated' by iron potitioos, that they are completely
liodated, the writer goes on to say :—" I hadn't been in
my hammock ten minutes before I heard a gentle tapping
It the wall, and, putting n.y mouth close to the spot, I
mead chat gr.. *ant A, and then, laying my oar to the
kilo, heard what my neighbour was whispering glum
, dimmed,. Hot I c aildo't give him any informatiou
the outside woddi that was interesting to him, and we
soot left off, when the man on the °lb. r began to
tso, and I hail a few words with him. He gave me *orbit
tto'ttui hint. as to what I thould have to do first thing
next morning, and amonget other things he made
known to me that the little broom in my veil had
other use, than to sweep with. Whenevelo a man is
locked in it is his duty to poke out the broom-handle
at the bottom of the tithe, and let it thrash' there till liii
kicked in. Yids enables the warders to be sure that all the
lodg +Fewest looms. II a man is %skim ill or wanti the
warder for anything his 0017 means of communication is
the broothetick, thought may toe half an hour sonseeimee
before it is noticed. Next morning after a good breakfmt
of a-tee-quarters of a pound of bread and • pint of cocoa,
hound out what Oretvict work at Portland was like. It
is the old *tor/ of uneou punishment, tboush I don't
well see how it is to be biped. A navvy, or • pitman,
or • bricklayer'. labourer would find It no great nsrdsnip
to haul about blocks of stone, or to handle a syck and
I shovel at trench work, or to wheel barrowloeds of earth
1 Moog • nine-ineh plank but the man Who ha. been
brought up to light employment—dirk+ and gentlemen
who have done a it of forgery or anything .4 that kind,
and whose muscles andb ends are soft La • woman's, must
dad it terrible work until they Flow used to it homes
awfully hard on • lightel-handed London thief, as I can
bear witness. I was put to barrow work, and. though I
Muck to it for • hog time, my limbs were racked with
pain as though I bad rheumatism all over the body. and I
, couldn't ce-p of nights for aching and trombilnr. If it
wasn't for the liberal feeding s new man would tweak
down under the severe work. Our dinners was always
one that thousands of honest working men woold be glad
to tuck into, A piat of soup, • Pound of potatoes, five
MOON of smel, and s's mums of breed- You have an
000 r to dinortr, and then beet till four o'clock in the
winter and six In the summer, You go to ct apel twici •
day —st half-past six in Os- morning. and again when you
knock off work in theevening and you have had • wash
and changed your hobnailed boolll for your light shoes.
A spell of rainy weather makes • wretched time, for
then you are shut up all day in yr,or dark cell, &dog
nothing from morning till stet. The oily opp,rtunity
the men have of having • talk together is when rain
corns. on while they are out at work, and they take tern-
tummy abetter together in the sheds pr ivided for the put-
s on. Of coulee the warders am supposed to look as
sharply slier the men while that are in shelter in the
'beds as when they are at work is the own, bet they
seem to regard such times as affording • fair shawls for a
swap imam theaseelves, and the gondols take eivaatallO

of that to this extent amsetlabse of playing •_osaibling
gems called 'co Liam ft.. simple enough. Taal play
torso or four and, the implement being • button or a
Peculiar-shaped *itself piece ol si-iu• 'gums whose band it
to in boort tee promote. Bit tipsy go at it as awaited',
as &bonito they we. • puying dice for large ammo( money.
'we" of wings and 'cheers' oi tobacco, or bulls' and
'Puddings '—all oil credit, of c00t,.. Bat a lititit know.
bother than to shirk such debts of honour. I don't envy
him the life he'd loud it he attempted It. DU I find that
the bard work and the cold lodging made moor of the
men ill I Toon ware very few who were ready ill, but
plenty of Loco were always ready to shun, fur tone sake of
getting into the infirmary. But the prison doctor is •
sham ono, as he bad need be, considering the set of
customers he had to deal with. I have known them to
••allow ground-up b.ittle snow, to cause them to spit
blood, and pose u being afflicted with lung disease. Bad
leg, are not uoc Names. ended ankles, and broken shins.
But wihoidtheo • mast who •ante • skulk will make a bad
leg for himself. He will get • lot of copperas of a free
worker, and • needle Mil thread, ant. rubbing the 'tweed
e• with the potion, make • large stitch in his oslt and
let it b. there of a few hour., when, if it • take properly,'
he will not be able to put his foot to the ground, and IS
all right for a spell in the infirmary. Due of toe moot
remarksble tiling, according to my experience of prison
Iffe ia the strange Nomination tobecon has for convict. of
every degree. I b.!,, met with Judos of men an penal
servitude who never in their lives had chewed a morsel of
the weed, said who Ins seer weeks came to be as hungry
for it as thole who had basin won t° it tor lure, and ready
ti run Si great risks to oototon the 501 .11.11 teat. of It. I
have kuuwa the Paine Loma ai ominso prisons. At Penton-
rill, I b•ve knoan inen b.:looking parties,'
sod moving here ant there Oulu tiu corridor. and
pumas., keep • sharp look tor • warder's coati:unglue up,
or Wind onlre how. and it there was to. least chance sou
of toe party would a sued' '3O IPMCkOI3I woile the other,
covered him, the o ober. /wing to tied • bit of tobacco. As
isule ea could be etude,' ot the bowl of • Pipe *yen it
reg toted ad quad • prim though it has to be divided
. amongst three, perlispe—a bits. large as the tip of your
baser for each was, Toey psy • Jolt penalty if they're
tempt with a bit of iobecoo to cher mouth, or hiddeu
about them, or in their cello. The common sentenco—l
bellies It* 'bating lestie.• alio* eighteen lash..
with SUS Cat. 'rtis Du...moot 10SUAS ratter uot of pro-
port ou with the °deuce, el.eu 060 remembers the foes
Wit i mull if lb gaunter, or • man cluviciel of • UAW
'moo oduult, .tat tive-uol-itoreoty tubas in addition to
hie taros. r,ao Slime rigid rule is in force at Por:iand. I
suppose it to b.ocuuto the 000v.Cto Silllo4 to • nun set such
a out' value on a • bit of low.' regarding it as toe greenlet
luxury of their lives, that the 14111PiC44111 are et) wren to
Welt osi.deavours to keep it from them. BLit 11,7 get it
for all that. 0' cow., at con undo c one from °Mails, sad
SAPS oLIII moat buy it mid Oboe it an. Toe same', way is
through a warder, if you can get bold of ono that is 'tight'
It is only a tow, of course, woo are, but they we pretty
well known amongst the nun They make You Pay • llood
price tor it, toot they run. risk imanuelves, and won't do
it outset tuy are welt paid. A convict who bas got
"that, who are Pretty well off will gave • warner of the
rust sort on addreee salukis to write, Liking, say, fOr • a
now to be sent—nor, co, CAMS, to UM Pawnl but to a
friend of the waidere, a; Wef oo.uta, say. U tt be sent,
hi i 4 SUPPOSid to keep half toe money for nis trouble, and
toe other heir he'll lay out charging about ox times se
InoCa ae they ooet halm in tobacco eOl other done coup
torte, and snuggling Leas io. But it is toe free quarry-
men who do must in the tobacco way. Although toey du
not LniX truly with the oonvictr, toey are not very strict
in keeping them apart, and • man who. friends are so
pi.° • tut they cant afford to send him inure than a I •
ahodogs can work 1.140 trick with the quarrymeo. Toe
convict •cretcties on • small bit of stone • name aid
VolitSol and the amount he wishes to ho soot him, arm
carries it about wuo him till he catches the eye of one
ot the right mart, woo are always on the look out. Teen
he atop, the clone, and a nod is exchanged, and the
wan uadersiands. Of courier the letter may be sent
and never suawered: but it is only a penny postage-
stamp that the quaryouu speculates, and it he iota ten
shillings he'll think toe. done the handsome Mug by toe
convict if he gets him • coupe or three uparsta ounces of
led tobacco for It Toe tree inao conveys it to the
cuovict in the unto way aa tas Slone with the sddres.
OAS couveyed to him. When the two see each other
again, if it, 'no goo' the former touches hi, ear, it it Ls all
right no touches his PPS!, and the prisoner guards well the
spot where he too um toe tree moo atrup, for he knows
that be end there [lnd • cake ut the precious weed hid
under • stone. It has cost him a lung price, but it is of
groat value to him l( he likes to dispose ot part of it
emormat li, CJlnpitutons. Tosy have no money, but they
coo pay tor it iii kind. There tie rec.igoi.ed bald, and if
• prisoner has a particularly healthy appeuie he eau eat
bpi till tor • week on the strength or an ounce of tobacco.
A quarter of an ounce will *score bin. 'two bulls and •
puudiog,' or in other words, two day: meat notions and .
s x ounces of suet pudding, whch the convict coocul• in
the hreast of Ina shirt, and boinge out otter dilutor. A
puce ae large us horse-bun celled • 'chew' is regarded
as Me equivalent for • twelve-ounce bat and a meat ,
ninon, aud emen • mutest—a mere taste that can only be •
laid oit the ;Lingua and sucked like • email sweetmeat (it
is called • ' wiog, and is not larger or of more substanca
then a iittle Wiser nail), it • ' good' for • sixounu
loaf. D the convicts give much trouble to taus in
charge of them I Comma:log the huodreds there are at
Portland, and the out-anti-out mauls scores ot Cuero are,
they give very little trout,* I wog. Toe dieciplane is
very severe, and toe *met of coaracters, tally aware how
they will he dealt wito if they attempt to kick against
authority, soon learn to knuckle under. Besides theie
is every inducement for them t o hause well and earn
a* massy 'marks' as they can. During hie first year at
Portland • COuviCt cahoot earn any Works at all. Bit
at the and ot the drat twelve months he eaters on
his 'tint stage.' and his good marks reckon. They
don't count up very fast as regards money's worth, It.
has to make twenty before be has earned a penny, but he
may, if he is lucky, turn twelve shillongs in the year. Toe
next year he ire • autond•siage man, and the 'Aua of ho
marks are reCitoosil at three ballPelaCri 111Stikid of II penny
fur • score. Consequeuto v he may earn eightuo stooling'
to the twelve wouchs. Next stage be is better off still.
To, value of his awoke Moreau', and be can earn thirty
shillings, all of which is saved for him 111411 his tome is
up. Aud when a man know. that he had two or three
pounda ID store he id putty our, to go on behaving better
Wall our, end he knows that by once putting his foot in
it he sue, lomo the It. But there are other advantegu a
man gets if thafa IWO 110 report. against him. A 110:013ii•
stY4O ULU is allowed two ounces of chaise owed with his
dinner on bunday. That may not
deem much to moose
who can get cheeee when they con got mast, but it is
loJeed on MS quit, • laxoty by Oman who h., hot even
emelt • hit of cones for a couple of years it, tan Otte
to another treat b.:shies—the weekly two ounce.. lustoad
of gruel tor his tea or supper, woichever you may please
t r call it, beget. a pint co goad Ira wits Milk and wow;
an 1. speaking for myself, I dool remember ever tasting
morning more delicious than that first pint of tea. Toe
third-stage men is better all still. Not only is he allowed
tea mid his hoodoo, ch.., but he is permitted to remain
PP an hour actor the ordinary bed-time. Men of every
other stage never get any other than boiled meat—done to
regs generally for the lake of th • soup that ts wade from
it—but the third stager gate baked meat three day. •
wuk. It was MY gvo.i luck to earn all thy Portland
privileges, and when my day of freedom at Length came
I found anyealf on the extra gratuity list as well, so that
I had Lb io take. That is eighteen months ago, so I have
just worked out my Licketoodiseve, mod ever since I have.
been workiog at the same job !started 00, aa a masons
labourer. end have got fairly In sinonoet h meat working
moo, so I don't think it is very likely I shall over be such
a fool as to bid for ladgiogs in a Potion,! cell again."