The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-02-21


ters affecting the other prisoners, and |
perceived that he was far from being a
| hghly-educated man, and required the
constant jogging OF his memory as TO
facts and dates from the chief clerk be-
low him. But / believed in the final
result, despite the difficulties in the way,
and | smiled once across at my wife, to
lei her see that was not Respondent in
the midst of the evidence encOmpassing
iue.
My name was called in question at
last, with sharpness and decisivenoss
That took the breath away Of myself, nay
supporters, and well-wishers. and before
the case was thoroughly understood, it
Vas dismissed III "a few minutes and set
tled The goods were found on my pre-
misses, in cupboard in that part Of the
house which ! was occupying; that was
an established fact that nothing could
shake, and my solicitor only put one
/ question TO the detective
4" Was the cupboard iocked3"
80. 10 had not lock upon it,
The case was rcmauded for a week,
and the solicitor rose, rs a matter Of
course, TO ask for the bail for me No
one in the court had a doubt of my OBJ
tanning bail; there was nothing yocon-
meet Inc personally with the stolen
property there was Sufficient evidence
81 my rcspectability alrcadyiu thc court
10 contute the suppOsition that ! had
taken TO receiving stolen goods, or WAS
IN amy way related With the MesSeu-
gers, and there were two principals Of
great firms ready as my sureticS. But
bail was peremptorily refused, and ! be-
gan 10 think that lay chances for prov
ing my Innocence might even fail me.
lis black case against Blackwell"
said the alderman very firmly, and 50
bail was refused, and [ was rcmanded
fora week along with the Messengers
and their accOmpliccs, and there was
+ nothing before me but the awful name
[ Of Newgate
My friends We're aghast, my wife was
carried out OF court, and / was left till
/ the prison van came round To take me
oil, 10 reflect upon the new phase of life
which | was about to enter on. do
not suppose that / should ever have
written this narrative had il been the
mere recital OF my apprehension and
examination for receiving stolen goods;
but have the hope that my statement
viii receive a little attention from those
III high places connected with our pris-
on system.
claim the right to trihe more deli
cacy Of feeling from the subordinate Of
ticers in Newgate on the behalf of those
men and women who are remanded
from week TO week.. / consider, speak
ing from seven day 8 service i'm "a New
gate cell, that he treatment Of untricd
prisoners Is too harsh, eXacting and IN
just. My seven days in Newgatc We're
simply seven days OF strict confinement,
Of humiliating punishment for an OF
fence of which ! had never dreamed, a
term of hard words and ungenerOUs sus- +
picions, with no one believing III me,
or caring for me. within the high walls f.
which hemmcd me in.
At half-past five i'm The morning | was
rung up for the day, and expected to
unsling my hammOck-whereln on the
first night I had found considerable diff
hculty in keeping my place, and not cX- /
changing it for the floor below, pack up
the bed clothes, pat my cell altogether +
in a iii and proper condition for the in .
specti0n of my ward officer, polish my .
Waterfowl, and all the fitting of my .
eelsi and 90 l.ree- vigorous --r.-
bing Of Il kind Of asphalte floor.
Each prisoner is compelled To scrub .
and polish the door Of his cell every day:
but a. the floor of my first cell was IT. .
regular, and full Of holes-the latter de- .
feet owing 70 the prisoner or prisoners .
before me having Nperlmcntaiizcd up F..
on il with the legs of the wooden stool
and as it was the first time that J had (
cycrhad q scrubhing-bush in ny hands /
the result Of my manual and degrading
labor was far from a success.
/ had my doubts of the general effect
before my ward officer entered, and sur
prised me not "a little by his remarks
90 him | was imply "a man who yerged /
ON convicted thief. and who would I
probably bc @ convict under long SEN
rt7ss-tqtflF- ] had flalfrlrrl ~,
hurt ia his estimation, and / was simply
Sinking my duties, and cndoaYoriug to
evadC the rules.
ooh, YOU call that cleaning, do you"
me said roughly
That is about the best that l can do,
I'm afraid,
"Then you'll have to do it again.
You're one of the lazy sort can see.
did not see that quite so plainly,
bat considered it not worth my while to
enter protest against his assertion. It
had struck me that the more silent
was, and the more accomplishing the
better it would be for me, and the less
harshness l should have TO submit 10
from the hands Of my officers. simply
called his attention 10 the irregularities
of the floor, and to the difficulties of
making u neat and tidy job of it with
my scrubbing- brush.
What YOU can't do with a brush.
you must do with a rag, he shouted
forth. Here, come out Of this Look
here
He marched me into the next cell,
where a hawk-eyed, sharp-visaged,
youthful prisoner had recently com
pleted the polishing of his floor. That
floor was great success, / saw at once,
and blushed for my own poor efforts
L. 10 l., !
prison scores of times, and scrubbed in
Vulnerable floors | learned afterwards
he had the trick of the hand, the turn
of the elbow of the practised cell-clean-
er, and l was 'nowhare" by compare
son.
"There, that's the way your floor
should be cleaned" said my officer;
land now just 20 back and do it ali
over again"
l went back accordingly, and did my
best with a very heavy heart, to win |
the praise and patronage of the turnkey;
but my labOrs were rewarded with SUI
percilious, | may say, contemptuous
glance, although allowed to pass muster
with warning for that day.
After that, between half-past seven
and eight. my breakfast was brought in;
that consisted of bowl of stogy oatmeal
paste, which turned me heart-sick to
begin with, accompanied by spoon
which had been completely licked into
the shape of spade by previous gentle
men on remand.
/ believe that there was pint of this
Cruel, but Z tablespoonful was enough
for me, and though | was assured after
wards that l should get used TO it in
time, my informant kindly looking for
ward to some years incarceration for
me, did not find in my time that my
taste grew to it. On the contrary, with
every day it became a greater task to
struggle with it; but then my appetite
was not good during my week Is remand
and | could no more eat than sleep.
1t is the custom in Newgate to pro-
vide every prisoner with bowl of salt,
by way of seasoning to his soup, which |
is given twice week, or TO his three |
ounces of meat which is doled out the |
remaining five days; but | hit upon the |
ingenious idea of endeavoring to render |
my Cruel palatable by a liberal addition
of the salt with which / had been fur
nished. L was not aware at that time /
that my cruel was supposed to have |
been sweetened by molasses, and there