The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-09-24
An CnEo overnnb bio u eii...iiii lsj In ':ap,
,''!'' '|' Enelish Pris0ni!l = ';:i''-: -; -

Moncure o. Conway. iii one of his
realable letters TO- the Ciihcinnati!* Com.
;nMte:rc'ol, q gives The history Of q Lady, pris.
onSr which isextrsmeeIy interys, '':.rhs
cNlef difficulties Of the; prison, authorities
have Ialways, been with female: prisoners,
since fiogging and various other penal
Pun!sh.nents are not ,ptrmitted in: the
ease ofw.'men. But therewas one. .yqpng
woman, the lneption Of whose name Istill
btanehes the cheek, of the ,Milibank, ;ofi-
Gals. This was Julia st. Clair Newman.
i:r prison career was so revolutionary
that >he was discussed in Parliament and
rt'erred to a SPECIAL Committee If the
House; OF Lords. She as-may vet,
s'e: for all known at Mii!bank "a Creole,
born in the WIS Indies, a lady by birth
and education, and accomplish. d as artist
and musician. Nay, she III ote clever,
poetry Or any: thing else; She pleased.
H:r' e giu'a! djinnfin Trinidad1 having given
her mother and herself too small :. an al.
lowance, thy attempted to j, ,crease it hy'
the lapdlady's silver. platte; The mother
died.in Milibank soon after arrival, and
this yong; girl, whose sent ence| +, Of trans
poEtati9n had been commuted because she
wss "a lady,, began to It'll, and bribe the
wardsw woman. She , afterwards by.: a
:killful Use Of chalk, went into a swift
decline, deceivng. Inc physicians: She
invented i:'k, and aexteinpo-ized paper,
and smuggled letters in and out, despite
all 'sigilance.,1When caught in any mis-
demeanor she cla>ped peoples knees,
wept,: and set all the wardens and keep.
er< TO sobbirg around her. Her acting
>howcd power. enough to have made a
fortune: She feig ned insanity. and, an:
cient as the trick was, she deceived every:
body until She took whim to try some
hing Else. She sent a police hunting
up fictitious criminals. She wrote .verV
clever ,lampoons Of: the, chaplain, and
al able paper on the character Of the
Queen. She wrote this impromStu on
All i'll hundred matron. '"i'' :
""ha a pity. he'll gates are not kept by
dime King. u; =
S" surely cur would let nolndy in" ::
:'ller hands were so small that,no hand.
cuffs could hold them. They sent her to
: dark cell. and she refused to eat; was so
near death that the keepers had to yield.
They sent her to Bed'am, but the physi-
clans there discovered she was fe,gning.
and she had to be sent back to Alillbank,
She :perpetua'y tore up h. r clothes, and.
TO keen her from parading in .paris nat,
uralibqs, whole wardrobes :of clothes had
to be sacrificed. Surgical Instrument
makers took the exact, measure TO, devise
some >con,riyances that would hold her;
she beat them: all. The greatest man'i.
facturer ofre*traintsf for the insane t.''made
a pair OF leather sleeves Of extra streng 9Th
and fitted them himself: They camc.
up to her shoulders, were strapped across,
then also strapped around her waist, and
again below, fastening her hands close to
her side. Next morning the task-n,is.
trcss took the sleeves to the Governor.
In theTnight Julia had extrica,ed herself
from them and cut them into ribbons,
using a piece Of glass she had <ecreted." i"
A,,yer more NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. was
devised, and a COLLAR pilt!earound her
neck to keep her from biting II with he,
teeth: Next morning She was. free, a.
u>nat. Finally the authorities Of the
l,rison notified the Cove, ntnent that they
Sad p5t the power, to rcstain Or rule; this
Cisole girl, and that she, kept the whole
establishment in panic. So she was sent
or the Nautilus to; Van, ;Dienans Land
Whether she has carried thi,her her
reign Of terror IL o know, mot, but her
Career makes the great chapter in {, the
history Of Milibank. s,o1 >n.y