, 1870-10-23

These who have read Charles Resde's |
interesting and valuable story Ut "Nerer
too Late 10 Mend, " will have m apprecia-
tion they could not otherwise hare obtained
of the rcasons which might induce the con-
vict recently tried for the murder OF his
warden in..the Wethcrsaeld (Conn.) Prison,
to say thaf, "Hanging sEonld be q mercy
compared with imprisonment in the Noth-
crstiell Prison."
committed the murder Immediately after
coming out from an imprisonment OF forty
eight hours in the dark cell. Mr. Reside
represents The combination Of dense nntcr-
ground darkness, absolute solitude and
silence. the cold metallic lining Of the cell.
the absence Of any mems of occupation or
Of determining the length of time which
PASSES during this punishment, the feeling
Of being buried alive, compared with
which ordinary prison lif., is liberty itself,
as absolutely naaddening in its effects on
the imaginatious Of many convicts. Men
who would take the rack or fifty lasles
t without IA groau, faiut, aud their pallid
faces drip with the cold sweat Of fear and
| agony, as they are marched for the second
| nr third time into the dark cell, They
| emerge from it often weakened rs If they
had suffered some loss of blood. or heary
drain upon their vitslity. The physical
effects Of the pnnishtncnt, to say nothing
more seyere upon ths nervous and inlagin-
atiyc clcss than the lash. It il not a
mere pain, hut mental terror mud agony.
Aftcr tie frst hour, the convict begins
TO feel that his allotted time,
sl,ongh i. be q day, has passed. lie has n0
means Of knowing or Judging Of time. Dss
the second or third hour he believes hi
has l,esn there for days, aud the intent ot
the ja,1er is to kill hia- At length hs
grows hungry, mud hunger brings him Wis
ions. The darkness fills with iaaages aut
he cannot ts1l whether it is dark or day
His memory and reason ssagser, and b.
loscs all conception of the reasons why b.
is imprisoned, anl, naturally snperstitious
perhaps ignorant, he feels TINT devils ar
pe1secuting him--ofteu believes himself il
the i,,nl blackness Of darkness of tn
damned. -.-..
/ 3lr. Charles Keadc, one of whose heroe
IS a convict, aud the other practical Re
| former, makes tho later 50 down into th
sla.k cell for only two hours. He volun
: tsrily takes the medicine himself in orle
[ that he NAV realize its sensations II tn
keeper Of the WetheEs6eld Prison had ha'
!, the humanity to try the dose himself befor
/ he inflicted it up another, he would q
! least. have understood ii. Tho Weather:
:, deld Prison has always been one in whic
discipline WIS carried to the verge of tol
L. ,nrc. While it was under Mr. pilshur,
IS the discipline was strict, as it ought to i
is in every prison. But after he left j
St q discipline" has been magnided into II
II end instead of the means. We would nj
ot apologize for the conviet>s crime. He I'M
e very likely be ignorant, brutal. nozos
1e and dihscu1t 10 manage This does n,
10 appear. however. The offence for whis
b. he WIS punished was ONLY that of attemp
uf Jug to escape. This very love of liber'
ID which prompted him to make the astemp
as | n,ay be 50 utilized as to become the mo
IL effectuai means Of securing the ohelien
or of The convict. In Wethezs6eld it was CT
OF cited instead Of utilized. The result NJ,
i, he very criminal and wrong, but it * no
r. tho less the result, and, so far as it goes,
On / proyes the failure Of the system.