Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-12-08

y
rough looking men who are usually there,
you feel rather grateful to the Sheriff for his
company. The outer door of wood is opened
and you enter sort ofiron cage, with an iron
door opening into the jail. Before the latter
is unlocked, however, the outer door is closed
and locked. This precautiOn is necessary to
prevent concerted rush of prisoners to get
out You must remember that although
these sullen fellows may have been at one
time as curious as you to see the interior of a
Jail, that curiosity is satiated, and now their
greatest anxiety is to get out. Liberty is an
article for which they would peril life and
limb to Obtain-yea, strike you and the sher-
if to the Jail foor and trample on your bleed
ing and lifeless bodies in their fight. Free
dom from restraint, which they once thought
so lightly Of, and compromised SO reeklessly,
has grown to be considered priceless boon.
Give them a choice between the snug quar-
ters, (ceIls feet by feet plain but substan-
tial fare dread and water and eOntinsed
ease of the jail, and liberty, and they would
not hesitate to choose the latter, although it
brought hunger and cold and suffering. Hu-
man nature is queer animal.
You pass through the iron cage, the door is
locked, and you are among society s inyoIun-
tary exiles. During the night, prisoners are
locked in cells, two men occupying a cell,
but during the daytime they are allowed the
freedom of the halls which surround the cells,
and by social converse, little games, &C., the
dull hours of Imprisonment are made to drsg
less heavily. Sometimes the prisoners, par
ticularly those under sentence to the Pcni-
tentiary, or those who expectto be sent there
busy themselves with schemes of escape, and
the Ingenuity of plan and industry Of exeeu-
tiOn which they often display, would have
insured them fortune and honor if employed
in the honest walks of life.
The cells are in the center Of the jail, sur
rounded by hall. There are three floors of
cells, enc above the other, reached by stair
ways and balconies. The upper floor of cells
is for condemned criminals, and is seldom
used.
As you pass among the prisoners in the
hall, you see faces seOwling at you that you
wouldn't like to encounter in lonely street
at late hour Of the night. All are very civil
in the presence of the sheriff, however, foE ne
keeps them confined in their cells unless they
behave themselves, and tho fear Of that puts
them on their good behavior. You meet all
sorts Of characters in jail. Here is a man
who keeps apart from the other prisoners and
shuns observation. On your entrance he
probably returns to his cell, and if you pass
that way and look in, you may see him sit
ting with his face in his hands. His man
ners indicate very different associations than
those of the jail, and his garments bespeak q
past gentility. He is from respectable fam
lily and is highly educated, but he was de-
tected in placing another mans autograph al
the bottom of bank check The burly fel-
low who seOwls at ysu SO aercely is a con.
victed. cOunterfeiter. 1t is more than sus-
peeted, also, that he is an expert anddanger
Gus burglar. He will take no more false i'm
pressions of bank-notes OF safe keys for thre'
years to come but will receive, instead, the
real and stern impressions of prison life.
The men of pale, reflective cOuntenanecs
are awaiting trial for the taking of human
life. You can tell pickpOcket in jail. His
face expresses nothing whatever it is inmo-
bility itself. The face of the confidence maj
wears look Of mingled innocence and meek.
ness. The lower order Of thieves have
sheePish, hang-dog look, and usually con
duct themselves with the greatest circum
spectiOn under confinement.
Passing along the hall which surround
the cells, the Sheriff may point out hole il
the northwest corner of the roof, and tell yO'
the fatal rope descended through it by whicl
a murderer was once hung. You will shud
der every time you pass that corner.
In one of the cells on the second hoor al
insane man, named Rector, Is confined. Il
has been pronounced ineurable at the Luna
tic Asylum and is likely to end his days il
Jail. His insanity is not ola dangerous type
however, and although Hercules in strengt
he is of a peaeeable and dOcile disposition
The cell and its inmate are equally curios
ity. The walls Of the cell are completed,
covered on all sides with pictures of all des
criptions which have been given to him from
time to time, and adorned with bite Of festh
ers, plumes, flowers, withered and dead, oil
bottles, knots of ribbon, &c. On sort 0
shelf IS lengthy figure of the cross, fOrme
by twisting together the tin foil in which to
bacco is put up. The prisoner himself pre-
sents most grOtesque appearance. He wear
knee breeehes and long stockings, and a
apron, resembling in form a Mason's apror
made of gilt and vari-cOlOred paper. HI
person is prOfusely adorned with medals
knots Of ribbon, &C., and his head is eOvere
with talIhat like the pspal crown. He
short and thick set, with good teeth,
pleasant smile, and musical voice. HI
constant companion in his confinement is
beautiful black and white cat, to which b
is much attached. he importunes all visit
Ors for money with whiehtO purchase tobacco
One Of the condemned cells on the thir
floor shows what expedients prisoners wi
resort to in order to acquire freedom. Th
roof is of stone, inches thick, covered
thick oak plank. Five or six years ago ii
inmates of the jail got into that cell by tai
ing of the door lock, and succeeded in PicE
. ing hole through the stone to the oak planl
ing before twas discovered. It was prObl
bly, the work Of months. They had whittle
out sticks and linked them to represent Dol
/ and when they were not at work they wOul
replace the lock and bolt it with the wOOde
bolts. An attempt to gain access to anoth'
cell on that floor BY digging out the loci
i was discovered and prevented three or fol
weeks ago. The design was, doubtless,
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