The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-28 00:00:00

THE LATE FENIAN OUTRAGE IN CLERKENWELL.

The following communication was received from
the Secretary of State for the Home Department,
containing suggestions for securing prisons from
attacks from without :

" Whitehall, Feb. 12, 1868.

"Sir,—l am directed by Mr. Secretary Hardy to
transmit to you the accompanying suggestions for
more effectually securing prisons against attacks
from without, and I am to request that you will
submit the same to the next Court of Quarter, Ge-
neral, or Gaol Sessions for your jurisdiction, with
Mr. Hardy's recommendation for t!►eir adoption, so
far as the Court may consider them applicable to
existing circumstances or necessary for the object
in view.

" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
" ADOLPHUS F. 0. LIDDELL.
" The Clerk of the Peace for the County

_
of Middlesex.
" Suggestions for more effectually Securing Prisons

against Attacks from Without.
" Precautions for this purpose are applicable to
two conditions :

" 1. Where a military guard is stationed. —ln
this case the period of relief, the distribution of the
force, the posting of the sentries, the piercing of
loopholes for musketry, &c., must depend upon the
judgment of the military officer in command ; the
division of supervision, upon the agreement at which
the civil and military authorities may jointly arrive.
The portions of the prison more immediately en-
trusted to the protection of the military should be
defined and distinguished.
"2. Where no military assistance is called for,
or where the military guard is kept i❑ reserve.—
In this case the following precautions are recom-
mended :

" The space between the outer gate and the
prison door shoul.d be made more secure by the ad-
dition of an inner open iron gate, or safety gate, as
it is usually termed.
" A door of iron, or of wood plated with steel,
should in all cases be placed on the prison side of
the governor's private door of entrance.
"All windows giving upon points without the
prison walls should be strongly barred internally,
and, if 'possible, provided with iron shutters readily
closed. •

" The drains should be carefully barred in diffe-
rent places, and examined daily.

" The prison should be provided with reflecting
lamps and tin candlesticks, kept in good order, and
regularly inspected, in a place readily accessible.

" The interior of the prison should be invariably
kept securely closed, the yards or spaces inter-
vening within the exterior walls being regarded as
altogether outside of the prison itself ; and the ad-
mission of strangers into these yards or spaces
without a written order should be forbidden.

" Where firearms are in possession of the prison
authorities they should be kept within the interior
prison, unless actually in the hands of officers on
duty, and then loaded.

" In case of an actual assault being apprehended,
and when the outer grounds of the prison are of
considerable size, the force of warders, &c., should
be kept within the prison, and those without be
withdrawn to the interior on the first alarm. The
force should not be weakened by patrols without
the external walls, but should be told off to sta-
tions from which all points between those walls and
the prison can be best commanded."

Mr. N. LAURIE thought it was extremely com-
plimentary on the part of the Home Secretary that
such precautions should be brought under the no-
tice of the magistrates.
Mr. PAYNE thought it would have been well if at
the same time suggestions had been made for the
protection of the outside of the prison.

This communication was referred to the visiting
justices of the prisons.

THE CORONERS AND THEIR EXPENSES.

The report of the Committee of Accounts and
General Purposes was presented, which recom-
mended the payment of the following sums to the
coroners of the county for expenses :—Mr.
Humphreys, £476 18s. ; the representatives of the
late Mr. Bird, £l3 9s. ; Dr. Laukester, £476 18s. ;
and for Mr. Humphreys (taken since the decease of
Mr. Bird), £64 14s. 6d. ; and Mr. Bedford, £69 3s.

After a few observations from Mr. KEMSIIEAD,
the matter was referred to a committee for investi-
gation.
Mr. F. H. N. GLOSSOP moved :—" That in con-
sideration of the long services of 33 years and effi-
ciency of Mr. Thomas Fillary, the engineer of the
House of Correction at Coldbath-fields, his
salary be increased from £260 to £3OO a year
from the 25th of day of December last." In
support of this motion, he said Mr. Fillary entered
the service of the county on the 29th of March,
1835, at a salary of £1 18s. a week, and in conse-
quence of his very meritorious services that salary
had been increased from time to time until it
amounted to £260 a year, at which sum it had re-
mained for seven years. He was still an efficient
officer, and he trusted it would be many years be-
fore be would require to come to the court for a
pension. He had been able to effect numerous
works in the prison, thus avoiding the necessity of
calling for the services of an architect, and this was
the means of effecting a considerable saving in the
county expenditure by having so able an engineer
on the premises.

Mr. TURNER seconded the motion, and said the
sum proposed was not one farthing more than Mr.
Fillary was fully entitled to. He (Mr. Turner) had
an opportunity of seeing how Mr. Fillary had done
his duty, and by the construction of a large dormi-
tory he had saved to the county the services of from
20 to 30 officers.
The motion was ultimately agreed to.