The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-01-08 00:00:00

TIIE OXVICTS AT PORTIAND.

.%u ti•ain of • emviut hulk, writing from SUM,
oti.Trruit. 6110,0

The large nomber of convicts usnally at Portia.,
d.verages 1.500. and thee etre princiimlly • oployed •n the
•poirricsoldtalning Mono for the breakwater now building
to form a Ic.drbsicr of refuge. Mass 700 dm wry stow-
s:l Iliad truck. ; 1141 cut tel dross stone for the break-
.sator and other ; Odic works ; mechanics. Malodour a
pjelge.l party to auperintend the cranes, 150 ; at school
150. Esch man is halls day at school, no aliool being
11.1,1 Saturday or Sunday. T. • reutainieg 100 are em-
ploye I on prison duty as bailors, shoemakers, cooks.
bakers, kc. Deduct front Metre. say, 40 in hospital Sloe
refrattory cells. and it gives 1.480 itsefully employed ;
the working hours biting ten in summer and during day-
iight in winter. The prixoneni are sidelis bled in gangs
•d• parties of ten to twenty men ea Ii under a civilian
warder, who has to note daily against each man's regisd
'erect number Icia work—V.o.. very good ; 0.. gond I;
.nelitferent ; P., bat; V. 8., very hl. This report ha'e
nothing to do with Itis milord conclact ; every convict
has daily placed to his Ammon' • fund. on the follinring
V. 0., lid. ; ; I ii.; IL nothing.
did c dutioned to iniorove ; V. R., punished —gencralty
ley being placed in refractory cells Ennis one let tWentv•
,ight day.. This looks lilt, system, and a capitol art-
tam it is : and I must Acknowledge that Colonel Jell,
has brought the establishment. so Ca- es order, regulari•
tv, and .cliscidiline go. tee perfect' . The work done is
valued by the clerk of works. The quantity of atone
remove I by each nom is "ter three tone • day ; und thy
convicts are said to earn daily —lalsourers, 2s. ; stony.
dradmrs. 24. GA. •. mechanics, such as blacksmiths, car-
penter; kc.. 3e. 0.1. This looks well; but I must
insist, tor all this, that convicts are not hard•workel
I was lures number of years an officer in the colootil
convict service, and all one eteeala 4444 Male to England
atilt ahead a hundred men to be discharged on ticket of
leave. I applied to the ficeretsry of State to be attached
Portlinol Prison for a mouth, and gleaned at that
'lmo the particcilsrs I now submit to your notice. Tlic
sin .t' I 1101// hold as foreman ejeVea lite api oeleattel•
nity of drawing cornier:sons and I am convinced that a
oath in ',Motu et is ex, edited to ,10, andt does perform. at
twice as myth as the convicts at Portland, and the
Portland activ:cts are said to be barter worke I then it
any other estsblishinent. I ant aware of the difficulty
in getting men in bondage to work like free men ; but
at must also be borne in mind tit ct the exceesive
iteduel-
truce as regards food, both as to cm cntity cool diti ditv.
is insisted on solely on the ground of the but labour
uncle I out 14 the ellen. .

I m tat bog particularly to direct your attention to the
following e...01e. Each convict receives daily I pint tee,
I pint COCOS. I pint soup. ilk. vegetables, 6 oz. fresh
:neat without hone, 27 es. brea.l. The meat is well bed
after toeing cooked, awl is considered equal to lb. ; the
mop ii 11nd4lass. being mode from the raw bone, mar-
row, and gristle taken front the meat (the mete Ii cut
from the hone, tont scraped), pearl barley, rice, 011i011`,,
nllll other vegetables well seasonal ; the bread is mole
from the hest wheaten dour and is of the very soundest
quality. This is loelow the mark, for convicts, I under-
stand, are now allowed beer under certain eireumetan•
ces, but I cannot give partieul:ons ; but this I 0100 know
and mark it- 'each convict at (iibral r receirmo a stick
of Cavendish tootataco, two ounce, every week, whhl, he
eih,wed to, nooks I'. fort breskfaat end after tea ;
I employed at wet or dirty work lota loalf a gill or rum
m.l a quarter of • smound of biacnita per served to
kiln at eleven o'clock. Now, sit, any one who is disposed
to recommend an investigation into tloe present system
will not require me to draw comparisons lotween tho
Nod all honest I:tbourer or artisan I sum aff•Dr I. earwax
use he 15.. or is. ner week ;el 1 I will merely say,
this feeling ADd pauspeoing oof erione ju.t eoth-r to /W-
-iwiy at large, or to, the en,,, I whom you home 4,
hater front coo 'Wog hint.elf? Tu., petty thief, tle.
;orger, the apiller of MOM'S Ono I, are all turre.l with the.
• 'tile brush ; anol need we he totem-is. ot at in.,. .ett.n
into et mks, and ~ayis, tier iIW.to be sent oot
vo• country. or at the impudent hard hoe.' Atli which
moo Si. ketoof.l,vave•rnan, tut others of lois strop, moll
the jot 643 wheot a I.enal u.stahlice is 1p jug le-Sf
then.? Ti,,• INAIe of oliet I would rrrootsllo.ll.l
IIIOWN korrekt •st, I phut ot cocoa, 7 oz. coarse 1.1 visit
am- at supplied to the flo.joit 11:111^1 ;
oc, fat poOrk. I pint 'WA 1111:111. 7..1. of o. •rA, hut ve.uhr•
wool of coos' hoed toets,esrv, a little I•ele
iee every alteriose dee. s.uz. fr a,o met, I pint mop,
I 9t. potatoes. slot 7og Ireal. sopper, lit
roi. I anol 7 'us. II asi.on hj.. Ms.

As to religions* instruction. li-ave the snorelinz pra.er
n•I 8..1.1.ath services; let the ehaolain and hie oh part
"cut ((or they are all iteli•petwahle) otelerrand von
woold i.refur a mon: cheery totie %lieu whlreorng tlo
vaiweislly in their cell+ (nienlitiews will t
.ritv). Ito away altogether rith the evening prayer.
Any man. who is a Inc.,, will latii.l the knee or I hie
r. Virg./ the [Amor. .1 the ttly lwfore retiring to rest.
listroduee instead • IrCture,oou or Iwo every week.
I. NA W.* rtigtue for our mechanic.' institute+.
.c. Itepen.l. this ...Olen is worth toinkinx over
Fancy thsoni Junes. Groeunith, anl io coy uth,
.ud £lO lora I mull meal 4444 •IVOIK one or a aerie.. of
he;r lectures ! It would lire iir fffff notonv. put
forth, elevate.l.ft u (you uirler+t .n.I what I mean. Sir,.
infuse ccc. life into the in in ; and. illOrrad of • rofoe of
tlianka to the lecturer, let the cliaphin give out lb. Ito..
.lugy, snit depend knell • ell Wile Of deep. heartleg
ghelners Would aaten.l, that the angeli of heaven wuul
look down with heparin our pensl priaolt.

Stlvitnotc•r_—The Rev. E. NI. Acock. late inu•ic-
'neater ~f Slicrborne School, ha* been electe4 Vicc.
Principal of the South %Vara Training School at
'arinarthen.

tirklA I. Boast). —A vestry WAS hell at the Two.
hall nil Friday for appointing three members of the
Burial Board for this parish in the place or stwid
of hlessrs. E. Fus+ell, W. Hooks, and T. Penny,
who went out if otlice on the let of January, and
for appointing two persons to be auditors of the
accounts of the said board. The ..1,1 members were
re-elected. and Messrs. Itnegg and Ellis re•elucted
auditors for tho coining year.
Bitinemer.—Diaring the gale oil Monday evening :
a brigantine, the Marie, from Riga, with flax.
entered the harlpur in safety, and, during the
height of it, on Tuesday uiorning, A beautiful
+choosier WAS launch...l(l-nm the yard ..f Mr. E. Cos.
She I+ named the Billow Crest, aud was launched
with her masts and fully rigged.
Fine, Bump, AND STOIIII. —On Saturday, at
dusk, 4luring • gale ..f wind, a tire broke at at
Itothenlinuintini, which in a brief space reduced
eight dwelling+ to a heap of ruins, and rendered
fourteen families tummies+. It originated in the
chimney of the Anchor fun. We understand that
tine of the poor tenants were inmreil. This cala-
mity was sumeeded by the greateA VOOd known
here for thirty years. By daylight on Sunday
morning tile waters hall risen b. upwards of four
feet in many dwellings, whilst the surrounding
field* were no emit lake. The high tide helped G.
swell the rivers. On Tuesday morning, dining
heavy gale, the riling of buildings in course
of erection for the manufacturing firm If J. Gundry
and Co.. WAS completely smashed for upwards of
200 feet. Fortunately it occurred during the break•
fast hour when the workuien were absent.

.\14,1-liaJer, it ig yd.), Ii reeeiee.l st Mier from
S.:hamyl cour.tiil,tinghim oh his
the insioncrei. of Syne. It is biped " Schaiuyi, who II
le the power of the infidel."