The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-04-15
From the yincennes Times
Letter frO0 Je0eRDO0vf11e.

From the yincennes Times.
| Letter froo Je9eFsosvalle.
| JEPFERsoNvILL IND,
| - Apriik, 1eEA !
Twill Nv give You . BRIT himory
Of prisou In, as Sens Of yoar res1ers
my be 1xiens tgkaew hew conpict
10 heated in Che Ifana Se<fe Prkon
South. Well, in tie Grst place, ] will
inform you that l am taking it rough
and tumble with the rest, there being
nearly 400 souls here at present. l
am treated in accordance with my
conduct, as that is the rule of conduct
here And there is an old saying
that, IF you make your bed hard
You must lie hard so try to make
mine as easy as possible, knowing that
discretion is the better part Of yalor,
and that it is no use. to kick against
the pricks, or, IN other words, to war
against the government of the Institn-
ton, as punishment will be the conse-
quence. And perhaps you won.2 like
to know n what manner we ere pun
Ished- l will inform you as we'll as l
can. have received no corporeal
PUNISHMENT since my Incarceration;
but perhaps l would not have Jared
20 we'll had not the Warden and his
deputy have been among the very
nejs Of men, who lake no especial de-
Mgnt IN punIs ling the unfortunate.
The Warden never inhicts punish
mint On convict SO long as good
words have. reformatory effect upon
him, ma when he does, great discre-
ton Is observed. The stern discipline
OF The prison is tempered with mercy,
anc. two men are scarcely ever punish
ed. alike. At one time, convict may
aave his tobacco ration "eut off for
q week or two, but it is almost invari-
ably restored to him when he shows
signs of good behavior. At another
time, the Warden may order a convict
to be locked up in his cell for an hour
or two, or perhaps for q week on bread
and water until his refractory symp-
toms may have Gained down. Our
Warden, Col. l.. S. Shuler, is a hu-
name man, and is, in fact, the right
man in the right place."
As. l stated before, We have nearly
four hundred souls (if eonvicts have
souls y ''cribbed" in this world of
ours, and most of that number are
employed at work on railroad cars,
DC, that being the principal contract
work. 4 portion are working in the
shoe and clothing shop, doing hospital
duty, etc. There is no great press of
work here at present, as times are
hard, and the men are therefore seeing
a good time of it. ,.
Now, as some persons may wonder
WOW We are fed, and what kind of
grub we get, l will tell you some
thing about that, too. In the first
place will inform you that milk and
honey don't flow in stream through
this establishment, and consequently
we are not snrfeited with such luxu-
rles- But bread, meat, soup, pota- !
toes, coffee, Vegetables in season, etc,
stated periods, ike Thanksgiying Dav.
and Fourth Of July, we |
get an overflow of good things, such
as turkey, cakes, pies, ice cream,
fruits, cigars, etc.
The sanitary state of the prison is /
in excellent condition, and the general |
health of the prisoners is good. The
Hospital Department is neat and |
clean, and it is the pride of the War
den and the Prison Doctor to keep it
in that situation. Great care is al
ways taken of the sick and afflicted,
md careful nurses are put upon day
md night reliefs when necessary.
There are only about eight or ten
'ick in the hospital at present, and
only a few Of that number are con-
ined 10 their beds. But of course
here are always a number of dead
beats" lying around loose in the ward
adjoining the hospital, who, from
piping, and whining, and cringing,
when spoken to or looked at by any
body, hope to excite sympathy enough
rom our excellent Doctor Sheets, to
,e excused from work for day or
wo This is what the old soldiers !
lsed to call playing off, GAFF.