The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-01
THE MANSION OF SILENCE.
ytLLED OUT PR0M ETEN TIES SOUND
or TIfE VOTOES or MEN.
Living Tomb Rae Peniicnttarv to which
the Nation Oon~ials. Sonte Offenders who
ytolttc the Laws Of the Nation - Gen.
pifsluryi- Prison MANAGEMENT.

Pilsbury's Prison Management.
The system introduced In the Albany
reuiten,iary thirty years by Den. hmoe
pii.nury, and still thor iughly maintained 10y
nj. son, Mr. Louis u. rebury, IA mo,iiar alton
Of tho Old cellular prison system md n combina-
ton " what have been deemed IL best leat lures
with the beat parts of the ounRrcGate plan OF
nanarcmunt obtaining DOw in ea' b Of cur other
New YORK prisons. IL Is customary among pri-
BON unical, 10 speak OF this pententilry ~ a
"model institution" aud In one sense the phrase
b correctly applied. It is certainly model in
the development of q systen. Gen. Pilsbury's
IDEAS were all IN cubic i form. Regularity, pre-
elsion, and an uncompromisine adherence to
what he had enc 1xed ~ that which should
be. wore this DISTINGUISHING trait. Fortunately
Tor him, rather Tor the ssicooss OF hts plan of
prison m .uaRement aud deciphnc, he was given
tutOcratic control. That absolute sway
BIO maintained during his life, and
has, since his death. been equally
enjoyed by his son. Ia that systcm the
basic principle was a profound impression upon
The mind Of the convict that Implicit obedience
bad to bo tho nr-t law VI his being while under
the pilsbury iron rod. The sorry 10 told that
tho General when receiving n new conner usu-
ally as,id to him: "While you are here YOU win
have TO obey, blindly aud unquostiouinglv, all
orders givcn you. II YOU do 40, your life VIII he
made ~ comfortable for you IA will be consist
out with the punishment OF your offence against
the law II Won rcbcL however, you will he
COM eled 20 obey Do you think compulsion
wei. no -lr." the convict replied. I'm do
nv heat To Uhey.'
" Very vol let us see how far YOU mean that.
Look ~ tina cracktn the door for Ave minutes.
without speakins. moving or raising your eyes.
II the pri-ouer stood the test satisfactorily he
Wa snco ragged and sent IN to enter upon his
nfn n he pr lOpked N n h.s
perceived a stern admonition that a second dlso-
bcdicncc would entail punishment. What the
life Was to which THE mtght be supposed to
BE- the Introduction, u Will be Interesting to
karl.
THE PRISON oN hill.
The An nv Pcnitentiary stands on a hin inst
outside The city near tue Park. Looked at frOuI
the r. NJ, II resembles nothing less than a
pr-,n. 1t n lght he mistaken for college. Tall
sll,d path before the door; Towering vines
droou over the Windows: a smooth lawn slopes
down to q little rivulet and rises again to the
distant road; the mr. - full 81 the perfume ~
flower, tine songs Of birds. ana the hum OF bees.
In'l' AZ. no o.hrt suunus .unn tnese', LNcn
when YOU en- or the spacious hallway and are IN
the institution itself, there IL not a murmur to
denote the presence Of ne1rly nine hundred
eouNHis Ouly Few steps distant. Tht- Is the
Finest distinguishing characteristic OF the sys-
ten silence.
Under ne escort Of Superintendent Pil-burv,
Assistant woodruff Or Clerk Brewer. the visitor
Will pas- through the guard room, where good
w store " repeating reviewers and rifles are
cell building The thorough cleanliness of the
place h worthy OF notice / he cor.llor. are,
fully fifteen feet IN width. and the great hall Is
thirty feet IN height with perfect ventilation
and publication. Not a trace II the pr SON
smell h perceptiDlc. Even In the cells, which
are small and VA the PR sent ovcrcrowded CON
dltlon OF the Institution have iu some instances
70 Accommodate two prisoners where the sys-
OF the air.
At the moment Of our VI IT, several convct-
are silently Receiving, throuE an a. efture ~ the
wall between this hall and the kitchen, hun
dreds Of deep TN pans, eaca Of which contains
the dinner Of convict These pans they place
IN the cells whose doors are standing open-for
there Is no common diuiug-hall oh convict
must eat alone IN silence In the solitude OF hs
cell
From here We step out into the yard. The
walls and the two story brick shons are al the
opposite end of the yard, and the sides are all
whtcWhshci and glare with a spO tless dazzling
wilderness In the sunlight. Guards with repeat
Ing rides on their arms, pace the tops of the
walls, or perch In their airy little lookout sta
Hons.
HUMAN MACHINES.
In the shoe shops the manu- facture Of shoes.
by contract. being the principal Industry earned
here-we hnd about nvc hundred men NJ
work From one hundred to one hundred and
lfty men ire In each long room. under the con-
slant supervision OF vlgilant keeper. They do
not have task work, as IN other prsons, but are
expected TO labor steadily about ten hours dav.
Here We FIRST besin 10 ap9re late the worAiug Of
the system. These men seem mere human ma
ehines' ~ thoroughly have they been subjected
20 discipline. Not one Of them dares permit
himself even furuye glance at Ne as we pass.
Ia
their lips are closed their hands are busy. Even
when the pile o. work on cuuyict's bonch or
table has been cont letc lac does not venture
- look up or ask Tor more or ri nee about him.
He must fold his arms before him on his bench
aud look downward in patient silence until the
FOREMAN or instructor sees " q give him FUR
ther employment. Whether e has 1--we minutes
or three hours 70 wait, he must not In that time
occupy himself with uught else than mis- wretch
ed sell cOmmuuings. In the state prisons men
who have no employment are permitted TO be.
guile their leisure by reading, the fabrication
OF some Ilttle kutgh. kuagEg that tlcw
70 visitors. or in ovcrwork FOR the contractors,
ioI WHICH tney receive pay. In the LententiTy
nothing Of the kind Is allowed The pris lner
mus (, ct that during his ncar cerati On mere he
has no right 10 himself
NOR convcts emerge from one Of tho shops
snd passes uLdcr charge OF keepers along tue
s sni o''Hintn MIX, toward tny ooor oil me
locked step, in single Gle each mans left hand
a. in-t nl- breast, his right upon the SHOULDER
o. ,lr one IA 'front.' all IN silence. The Me
e der leans backward against the one behind
hun, that close cpntaot may be commun Gated
s along the line, and he marks time with a
bard stamp OF HE left foot every time he puts II
down. An the others must stamp when he
does This line, thus n.oNin. AID 30 comp ctod,
IaWls along Ike an enormous centipede. At
Le uoor each convict In passing must turn bis
hce toward 4 keeper stationed there, that he
o. cxIrcs-ionles, faces pass oit of the sunlight
O1e ~ one tney are swallowed up IN the gloomy
cells, the non duors CT mixing and tho bolts
shp IN" mt place AFTER each. They are locked
~ to f. d.
Another M another OF these ugy Centlpedes
orawis ont, * tctly - this one has done and
Ike II falls TO pieces at the cell doors, until all
tho cOnyicte are sup. osed 10 be Al dinner. They
Will have IN hour IN which 10 swallow that
cherries meal. Then the centipe es Will re
form AMI Criwl back to the shops in which
shcut labor viii nll I'm the rest OF the day until
$50 =. NJ when thcy will march to their cells
AZ In to wash AMI get supper.
SILENT WOMEN AND MEN.
One other industry b, carried Oh here-cnnine
anu biaid.ng chairs-but only one hundred
men and women are employed IN Il.
Although IN this department the convicts
ere nearly all petty criminals, they are subject
ed To the saIno rigid discipline that prevails la
the shoe shups. and the perfection OF It's en-
forcemont may he understood when II Is said
that even the women do not dare talk or look
NJ at visitors. One woman here, Kate Rush, Is
curiosity. She belongs In Albany, and has
served pretty nearly all the time during the last
past twenty hNc years in the pcnltentiary. She
has not been convicted ot any other offence
than drunkenness, aud Is not at liberty more
than two or three days 1t time. Generally she
n sent To the Insulation On six months sen
fences so that she manages to have two sprccs
eyeiy year
Life on week days in the poniteutiary Is the
aane oil tie year round. GA SlHlays there is a
htue change. Then the female prisoners are
nnt marched up TO the chapel hall and stOwed
away IN the gallery, where they can neither zee
Tho male prisoners ncr be seen by them After-
ware the ccntipcdes form again and marca
into the body of the hall Each man