The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-19

one was trying TO murder me by srrangulation.
awoke with yell and was unable, al first, 70 de-
termine where was. But the inquiry "Wnats
the matter. old man :" from the occupant OF the
hammock below, quickly recalled me 70 the
/ realities or the situation.
Il am nearly suGocating" replied; "this nor-
rDle atmosphere Is poisoning me.n
The man gave a long sigh and SAID, 'rye had
/ two months oft. It's the pals. Only fancy what
it woud be TO any one coming IN out OF the fresh
air. It'd really knock lem down."
| But this fearful atmosphere not only poisoned
my lungs ont my stomach. became so nauseated
thar feared ! should soon be seriously III, and
weary and tired as was, left my hammock and
made my way to the door. For the best part OF
three hours. Judge, remained with my face
pressed against the grating Of the door, so as to
| innale tho comparatively pure atmosphere OF the
| corridor, and only then returned TO my hammock
because was worn out.
PREsH AIR AND FRESH WATER.
Gradually the day crept In upon us, far too
slowly for my impatence but at last, acout i've
O'Clock, the cell door opened and we were at
liberty 10 60 TO the washing room. one half OF the
taps in the washing room will not run az all and
nearly all the others only send forth trickle OF
water. This, without SOAP is noe conducive 10 the
sort OF 'rnse" sam Weller was wont to revel in;
and the jack towels which 90 duty all round are
| soon wetted and very dirty. The prison regula
lions order all prisoners TO go to the wasnroom.
Many do not go. and the lazy keepers do not
trouble themselves to compel them 10 do so. In
such condition left by my night In the cell that
l was unable Co attack the huncn Of bread provided
| Tor my breakfasr. / tasted the cofree. There
was plenty OF IL, but 1t was very weak, aud served
without milk. Now CAT noU Is very nice after
dinner, especially with gloria IN IL; but at five
O'Clock in the morning, and without the gloria, 1t
is decided failure. took the precaution. how
ever, OF secreting half nv bread under my jacket,
knowing should get hungry after having been in
the fresh air awhile The remainder | turned
over TO the greedy NAV OF "Pocahontas.n We
went direct the breakfast hall TO the stables,
on our getting outside the building one OF the
4 prisoners called my attention TO mis- lip, whicn
was bleeding nom "a smack la the mouth" as he
termed IL, given him By one OF the Keepers whose
toe he had accidentally trodden upon In passing
out oil the door.
In few moments the fresh air began to revive
me. 1t was as lovely q spring morning as l can
call to remembrance, and before we reached the
stables my lungs began TO crow ike cnanlicleer,"
as the melancholy jacques has IT. our boss
not on hand, but our prisoner-foreman quickly set
us all to work. | had three horses 10 groom,
their beds to rake out and their stalls 10 sweep.
l mad also to help harness and hitch up teams and
then TO sweep the stable yard.
BY the time had finished these jobs the boss
clay pipe IN his mouth. He looked even more
surly than the prov, day, and, as luck would
have it, he caught me- doing nothing. he gave me
a wicked LOOK. Cant you find something TO dor"
he inquired, sarcastically; and then he quickly
added, "Come along with me. I'll Tx
you, damn you." Mr. Cummings set
me to work wheeling fne mould Tor his small
dover patch and tnen some heavy turf sods to
make new verge round II. He would not allow
fafr
the shovel and piled toe wheelbarrow, wnicn was
large Que. till 1t would hold no more. say.
ing, with q malicious sneer as he did So sWen
sweat some o. that rum out OF you before we're
through" Strong man as | am | almost stag
gered under the heavy loads he made me wheel,
and my elbows and wrists trembled with the jar
ring strain on them. Any one who knows any
thing OF gardening knows that fine black mould Is
very heavy wheeling. But what did Mr. Cummings
care Well, yes, he diu care q good deal. lie en-
joyed the sight, for ne had evidently taken q dis.
Ike 70 me OF first sight. thank him Tor the com.
pliment. Cutting hay for feed, unnllchine teams.
&C., carried me on TIL dinner tims-twelve
O'Clock.
THE DINNER.
For dinner we had lin dish OF very thin bu.
not otherwise bad soup, nunch Of bread, rather
sour, and some Jumps OF meat, the sight OF which
was quite enough for me. Win regard TO the
bread, this was the only occasion while was in
the prison which could complain OF It. lt
varied little from meal TO meal; but, generally
speaking, IL was very fair bread and was well
baked. The meat may have been fresh and ten
DER, but 1t was snamefully cooked and cut and re-
pelling to the eye. On leaving the dining hall
found many OF the prisoners lounglng outside the
building and carrying on o warfare OF slang and
ribaldry with some OF the female prisoners who
were hanging out clothes 10 arr. There
was no double eHtendre The indecency
was AZ plain and as outspoken as can
be conceived. and was thoroughly garnished with
profanity. To my surprise and disgust some
keepers stood listening ana Laughing ana made no
attempt 10 put stop TO so dsgracetul scene,
which must have lasted eight or ten minutes. We
had good LOAF all round at the stables that after.
noon.
Mr. Cummings was absent rom his post TIL
about three O'Clock, aud when he ana his dirty
cay pipe did appear 1t was evident that be was In
one OF his suiSlest tempers. Where he had been
or what ne had been doing cannot say; bat he
was very hot and flushed and his nose shoae Ike
the red butts eye OF railroad signal mans lamp.
Mad, We were oil loahng together; but Mr.. Cum.
mngs pounced at once upon me. "Say, didn't
set you cutting naySn be demanded In his surliest
tone. NO. replied
IL didn't, Ell y, ne rejolned, as his eyes cleaned
wickedly CT me. explained to him that he could
not have done so, as had not seen him since din
ner. This thrust was more than he could stand.
He yelled ont, go and cut nay, God damn youw
ana sprang towards me- But was TOO sharp Tor
him, the stairway into the nay loft was at mr.
elbow, aud Ilelt Mr.. Cummings to mutter himself
out by himself. Had he only known that had
been away from the stable during bis absence
ana had had q quiet chat with the gentleman
rom the HERALD, VINO mad come over TO see how
was getting on, his wrath against me would
have known no bounds. The following day
he set me to work "nxng mp" the roadway in
front Of MS cottage. In strange contrast with
this man's behavior to the prisoners
was that Of keeper OF q gang or
penitentiary men who were breaking stones