The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-07-31
Prison Life in France;

The lowest order of mankind are
probably those degraded scoundrels
who betray their comrades even in jails,
and are called Sheep" or "moutons :"
in French. As soon as their rascalitv is
suspected, it becomes necessary to sepa-
rate them from the other prisoners and
I saw q whole room full of them thus
kept apart. A little hump backed man
had lately asked to be employed as a
'sheep" or spy in this infamous SER
vice he wished to get a few halfpence.
Ely means of the "moutons plans of
escape are sometimes revealed before
they can be carried into execution, and
light is often thrown upon mysterious
robberies which have baf1ed the inves-
tigation of the police. The hiding
places of stolen money, too, have been
found out in this way.
The diet of the prisoners at La Ro-
quette is wholesome and abundant. It
consists chiefly of harricot beans, bread
and soup. They have meat on Thurs
days and Sundays. The prisoners are
in good care, and there is seldom any
illness among them. La Roquette is
not a cellular prison, and therefore it's
inmates are allowed to associate freely
together. They rise at five in summer
and six in winter. They have two hours
for recreation, and spend them chiefly
in talking and lounging about. Cards
are forbidden, but games of hazard are
played in secret. Ordinary offenses
against the prison rules are punished
by confinement in cell on bread and
weter diet. But if prisoner becomes
violent and dangerous, straight waist
coat is put upon MIN. I entered one of
the cells in which prisoners are confined,
and saw culprit come out of another
of them. He did not seem much the
worse for his confinement, and began
protesting with vehemence and vOlu-
bility which nearly got him sent back
again. The punishment cells at La
Roquette are not deprived of light or
air. They are furnished with a wooden
bench, SO that q man may sit and think
there, or walk about and take exercise.
inquired whether the more hardened
sort of criminals really cared much for
the cells or the straight waistcoat and
one of the wardens explained that the
straight waistcoat is much dreaded by
experienced prisoners. There are three
methods of using tit is merely buckled
round a culprit to keep him quiet, and
he is then simply helpless. But if he
continues to be noisy and abusive, his
hands are placed in front of him, and
this position after a while becomes irk-
some. In extreme cases his hands are
placed behind his back, and the utmost
fortitude cannot long support that pun
ishment. There are no other modes of
chastising refractory prisoners in use at
La Roquette. The condemned cells of
this prison, which are only tenanted by
criminals sentenced to death, are three
lofty, we'll lighted rooms, cool and airy
in summer, and warmed by an ample
stove in tn, winter time. They are fur
nished with iron bedsteads, on which
are placed two soft wooden mattresses,
one above the other, and bolster with
sufficient coverings. There are chairs
and tables, with other oonveniences, and
the apartments have singularly cheer
full aspect. Racquet, who murdered NJ
Rocher, a commission merchant, was
the latest occupant of one of these cells.
He was the man who had terminated
his previous sentence only twenty four
| hours before his re. arrest, and he was
such an admirable prisoner that the
director of La Roquette was called as a
witness in his favor at the trial. Pris-
oners under sentence of death are not
subjected to any particular restraints ;
they are merely watched by two warders,
and each of the condemned cells liz fur
nished with an alarm bell. There is a
good library in the prison.
Most of the French criminals who are