The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-11-15
4 VISIT TO SOME ITALIAN BKI
0ANDS.


That of Tie bresnds of the south of Italy; bat, at
the present time, it Il possible TO visit many OF
them, and to feel that the visit, 90 far from being
alarming, 10 full Of interest. Fortunately, the
savage beings are Gagged. and one can now see
and talk to them with 81 much security 80 child
has amongst the wild apimals In the Geological
Gardens. In the prison Of st. Antonio-once
monastery. on an eminence above the
town of Ealerno, and commanding beautiful
views Of the gulf and the surrounding hills, there
are at this moment upwards Of eight hundred
malefactors, o great number of them being bri.
gands, or what are called msnutengol THAT
is aiders and sbettors OF brigands or murderers.
Many of them await their trial ct the courts OF
sssise; many of them have been condemned, but
have appealed for mitigation Of their sentence
to the superior court at Naples and many are re.
to transport them to other prisons, where they
may undergo the punishment Of hard labor for
life, or for such period of years as they have
been sentenced to. The prison itself Is a very
massive building. Though built for monastery,
it is well adapted for jail. II there is no intention
to adopt what We call in England the separate
system. Its walls are of immense thicknessi 1t
has rooms and salens of all sizes, many capable
of holding only one, two or three prisoners others
for ten or fifteen or twenty, and several large
enough to contain over hundred, and all very
lofty and well ventilated. In the long, wide cor
ridors and In all the rooms the GOODNESS was de-
licious, especially when compared with the heat
and glare outside and throughout the whole
orderly. A in all prisons. there are numerous
locks and bolts and bars, and much noise OF big
keys turning here and there in grating locks
but at the same time, the impression made upon
q visitor IL entirely different to that pro.
duced by . visit to an English or German or
French prison. In German and English prisons
there reigns fesrfully gloomy sesce-a con.
slant suggestion of inevitable punishment; and
two classes Of human beings are seen between
whom there is an utter destitution of sympathy
the jailors, who appear Though they really may
not be) hard task masters and the prisoners,
who submit to their lot with logged sullenness.
If, by chance, one meets any Of these latter In the
corridors, they cast furtive side glance at the
visitor, but show NO signs Of recognition or COM
municstion. They seem to feel that they are out
cast and degraded beings, enemies to all society.
In French prisons strict military discipline is OBJ.
served. the least infringement of which is visited
with severe penalties. Here. on the contrary, no
sign or sense of disgrace sppeared-no restraint
or constraint, nothing alarming or repulsive, no
hostility between the keepers and the kept, no
badge of degradation In the shape OF closely cut
solitary confinement, no signs of bringing timidity
on the part of the prisoners, no token Of austere
authority on the part of the jailors. Everything
seemed TO 60 on in q friendly way.
In the room which served for the infrmary were
some seventy or eighty invalids. A few Of them
looked very delicate and i'll. but most were suffer
ing from some wound or eruption on the hands or
legs. In one bed lay q sturdy brgand named
Giuseppe Gronesse, who had only been captured
q fortnight before. He had joined the band Of
Ferrigno Plea Of Montella, and had scarcely
belonged to II three weeks before he was taken.
He is q stouty built man, forty -four years of age
with high and broad forehead, large under jaw,
and fabby, feshy cheeks, with strong look OF
brutal ferocity about him. When he was RAINING
away from his pursuers in the mountains, he ap-
preached the edged of q cliff With such impetus
that he could not stop himself, and so fell dis
lance Of some fifty feet. His leg was broken by
the fall, and his face was also considerably cut
and bruised. Next to him was q sickly looking
youth, not yet twenty, who had been condemned
to three years. imprisonment for theft, but was a.
yet too i'll to bear removal. 1t seemed pity that
one 30 young, and condemned for comparatively
trfiiug ofense, should be in such close contact
with so confirmed villain as that wounded brig
and. But throughout the whole prison all kinds Of
offenders are mixed togetber-brigands, thieves.
murderers. forgers, and manutengoli." OF these
latter both in the infrmary and the other parts of
the prison, there were great number. They are
at least as bad as the brigs ds themselves, for
without them the brigands could not carry on
their trade. They are, for the NEST part, country
people, who inhabit the district infested by the
and drink. and clothing, and not unfrequen1y
with lodging also. From all accounts they are
hard dealers with the brigands themselves. As
no brigand dare show himself in q town or mar
ket place, and as all of them are in constant fear
of capture, they depend entirely upon these
" manutengoli " for the means of subsistence; and
thus very hard bargains are generally driven.
The manutengoli' act also as spies; they give in
formation to the brigands as to where booty may
be found and when the plumber is obtained they
get the greater part Of it in exchange for few
loaves, and at times some flesh meat. Now
that both "manutengoli' and brigands are caught,
it is evident that they never loved each other
much. The brigands speak openly of the extor.
tons they had to endure, and lay the blame of
their crimes upon the shoulders OF those who en-.
eouraged and supported them. The "manuten-
goli,' on the other hand, protest their innocence
every way, and think the government desperately
cruel in consigning them to a prison. >" What
have we done :" some of them say, with an injur.
ed air. Nothing. People came to the houses to
buy bread, and we sold IT to them; but ia that an
ofense for which we are to be condemned to
hard labor?" And perhaps they really believe
themselves very ill-used individuals. So long as
they remain in the infrmary, they have little to
complain of, except loss of liberty. They
have evory attention that invaids require,
and, to Judge from what we saw, he recon-
mends very excellent fare,-good wheat bread.
beef, soup, macaroni and wine. Looking
round at the place and at the inmates, you
fancy yourself In comfortable hospital. But
even those who are not invaded have nothing to
complain of IS far as their physical comforts are
concerned. To be sure, they have meat only
once week, on Sunday, but that is oftener than
the Italian laborer or peasant has it, aud every
day they have an abundant supply of good brown
roni of Amalf. Fruit, however, which generally
forms so large part Of an Italians food, is not
given to them.
When these prisoners are brought into jail,
they have to go through much the same ceremo-
MES as in England. They are Invested of their
own garments (Which are-csrefully kept, and re.
stored 10 them when their term Of imprisonment
is over,) have bath, and are then supplied with
shirt of sufficiently fine calico, and jacket and
trousers Of coarser material. In winter they have
warmer clothing. but neither in their winter nor
their summer clothing is there anything particular
to mark them out as prisoners. To most Of the
larger rooms are two doors-not solid, but made
up of large bars, so that anybody passing can
see what is going on inside-secured by great
bolts and locks. As the first key was put into
the lock on the occasion of my visit,
general movement took place among the
Insiders. Each man glided quickly to the end o.
bis own particular bed. Some, who had bees
lying down, hurriedly donned their jackets; while
lot few toe cut their combs, and arranged theis
hair, with an evident desire to show themselves
of TO the best advantage. When the second door
was opened, and two or three visitors. with the
governor Of the prison, entered, all was orderly
and quiet thet II was extremely difficult to realize
the fact that one was amidst o crowd of desper
ADDE'S. In the room were more than one hundred
and twenty prisoners, nearly every man q muir
derer. In England one murderer Is o sight at q
jail; and to behold even one man who has dipped