St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-05-26
q Visit to the County Prison. Some Of
Lnmates.-Leetaret By GougA.-R Wat he
thinks Of Copp~A"ads. #5S #

ccrn inc weak pOlut OK nAinlstcrS even, was
Mrs. -, The matron Of the Moyamen-
sing County Prison. Upon our arrival
there we were Immediately in,roduc. TO
MIR. Joseph Il. Chandler, formerly editor
Of the Philadelphia Gazette, at one time
U. S. Minister to Naples and now one Of
the Inspectors Of the Prison. who very
kindly offered TO conduct US throug Oh this
substitution for the wicked" One side of
the Prison is devoted to male and the
other to female criminals. They IRE TAX
en- there after their arrest and remain, until
after they are tried. If condemned to a
long Imprisonment they arc generally sent
to the State Penitentiary or somewhere else.
We visited first the female portion Of that
retired community, in whom Mr.. c. is more
especially interested. In the first cell was
woman with a face pale and tear. stained.
"Oh! Sir" she pleaded to Mr.. c., ''won't
you please get ME out Of here? have
three little children, ant' don't know what
will become of them"
'Yes. my child" was kindly answered,
II will lock into your case. You had been
drinking, had you not:'' ''Ycs Sir; you
may be sure Of that, or / nertr erould haze
been hore." There is n text in that sentence
for others to ponder, if they wonld. In
another cell was woman with q baby three
weeks old, born there, Of course She WINS
right decent looking woman, and the
nurse held up the baby for us to look at.
The sight was too painful, so much inno-
cence surrounded with so much guilt. 1t
seemed as though the little one was born
to heritage Of crime, and drew in vice
with every breath. remarked this to Mr..
c. "Why, my chilli" SAID he, 'one Of
our most eminent men, Judge -, was
born in Prison." us it possible?" said
with open noutbed establishment. "Yes
but his father WAS the keeper of It," In
dignant at such joke being played on my
credulity, l marched on to the next cell.
On peeping in l saw awoman stretched out
on some straw, wrapped in dirty blanket.
"Why, she's negro" I exclaimed
Whe,eupon she began to rail at me in
mixture Of French and English. take
care,' said Mr.. G, ''she's not q negro,
she's a Princess Hoo f-.l.~- So A. =.
st. Domingo. She speaks English as we'll
US you do, also French, German and Span
ish." "And what is she here for -
''Drunkcnness." was the answer. "She is
drunk nearly all the time, and then she is
perfectly crazy" We visited many others,
and it wa almost invariably the same sto-
ry with all-rum was the principal agent Of
their Imprisonment.
We then went into the other side where
the men were confined. We passed the cell
OF Vim. Mcguire, aged twenty one, a young
gambler who is confined there awaiting his
trial for the murder Of u girl at one Of the
low theatres.of this city. He was jealous
of her and shot her white the play was 60
ing on. 1t happened about two months
ago and created a good deal Of excitement
here. We entered a vacan! cell in which
soldier and pirate hal been confined.
The ais were covered with sketches done
in water colors, in the execution of which
they had beguiled their wearisome impris-
onment. Some Of them were really quite
ingenious. A sail boat bearing the name
Of "Old Abe" Gen. Mcclellan standing be-
side a very fine looking horse, Palmetto
tree, q rebel flag and large mansion and
grounds nicely laid out. were among the
many sketches. From there we went to
a cell in which was boy only fifteen years
old, accused of stealing pair of boots.
lie burst into tears upon seeing US and beg
ged MIR. Chandler to get him out. lie want
ed TO 20 to his father and little sisters, his
mother was dead. s'Oh, Sir:' he said, II
pray to the Good Man three or four times
every day 10 get me out" "Well, my dear
child, will see tomorrow what can be
dene for you" And as we went away we
heard him sobbing out. ooh, mother! moth
err" have since learned that he was re-
leased next day.
l asked Mr.. c. what they got to eat.
swell, in the morning they get coffee, that
ia suppose It must be coffce-because
they Gull it so; then they have bread, very
good b. cad, and coffee. that's FIR breakfast
For dinner they have soup. confess it
would he better if there was not so much
water in it, and if the meal was cooked q
lutte more; then they have good bread ;
that's dinner. For supper they have mush,
mush and molasses, and coffee. Don't you
think that is very good?" Well, is be sure
didn't think there were any great induce:
mcnts Tor permanent boarders, but as the
tea bell !rang at this juncture, and we sal
down to very nicely ordered table, I con.
cl"ded that people might live we'll even
III prison. There is one thing about thu
prison which is noticeable in all public in
sti.ntions OF Philadelphia, the extreme
neatness and cleanness Of everything. AT
ter tea one Of the convicts. a negro woman
sang for US. She has powerful voice
and said she had been pupil Of the cele
brated "Black Swan She sung scvera
songs with good deal Of taste and ex
preston. !. >'.,~a ..,~..~.s. -
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