The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-01-10
ONE OF DICKENS CONv1CTs.
Spendinx n Lifetime In Solitary Conf1ne-
ment...DecorntinE a Cell Under Dim-
culties...A Singular Character.

Spending n Lifetime In Solitary Connne
ment..-DecorntinE u Cell Under Dim
culties...A Singular Character.
Over thirty years ago, says Phila
delphia letter, when Charles Dickens
made the tour of this country that re-
suited in his "American Notes." he de-
voted much of his time to the inspec'
tion of our prison system. Our prilci'
pal prison, then as now, was the Eastern
penitentiary, in which the system OF
solitary confinement prevailed. Mr..
Dickens in a few graphic sentences
pictured the miserable condition OF the
unhappy convicts to whom the sound OF
human voice is almost unknown for
year after year.
That Mr.. Dickens notion of the sys-
TEN was a fair one, the experience OF
many years and the testimony of some
of the best minds Of the age
have shown; but many men are
still Livingstone of them now within
the walls of the prison itself-who are
ready to testify that the institution was
as light and airy thirty years ago as it is
now, and recent personal visit con-
vince Inc that it is as pleasant and
wholesome place as is compatible with
massive stone walls and unyielding bars
of iron. Possibly Mr.. Dickens imagi
nation, as is apt to be the case with men
of such high strung sensibilities, was
wrought upon by his surroundings. At
all events, those who read his vivid de-
scription will shudder more at the
picture 80 powerfully brought before
them, than they would be apt to at the
original.
The building covers square, and
branches off from circular hall in the
center into seven long corridors, all
well lighted and excellently ventilated.
Everything is as clean as soap and water
can mako it, and within the cells,
which are ranged along tho corridors in
two tiers, there is neatness and cleanli-
ness which would shame many model
housewives.
In Dickens time there was prisoner
Of forty years or thereabouts, whose de-
iected appearance especially attracted
the attention OF the novelist. He was
in the corridor fronting the entrance,
and had devoted all the time allowed
him from his work to painting and orna-
menting his cell and cultivating his
little garden-a patch OF ground about
eight feet long and five or six feet wide.
Dickens describes the cell and the gar
den briefly, but devotes long para
graph to the downcast expression and
demeanor of the prisoner.
It was the arrest of this man-Oharles
Langheimer by name-that suggested
this letter. Langheimer was discharged
from the penitentiary in September last,
and lately was brought up before q
magistrate charged with stealing an
overcoat. He is seventy. four years old,
with busby gray whiskers and grizzled
hair, and has all the appearance of a
well.to-do mechanic. AS far as I can
ascertain, he is not q hard drinker, but
the police and the prison authorities
say that his long life has been one con-
slant series of larcenies. In prison he
loves TO work, and shows great taste and
ingenuity; but, once at large, his Itch
ing of the fingers returns, and he is soon
in trouble again. When Dickens saw
him, he was serving his third term for
grand larceny. Since then he has
'r,done" three terms Of five years each,
and five others of year or two each,
returning to the prison with the regu-
larity of the seasons.
The cell he occupied in 1912 is one OF
the side shows of the prison, but the
garden is not as we'll kept as it Was then.
The walls and ceiling of the cell are
elaborately painted in red, blue, and
green. Every time be comes back he
tries to get his old cell !; but failing in
this, he goes to new one, aud content
edly begins tho work of embellishments.
When I saw him, just before his release,
he had apont nearly year in a cell in
the southern tier, and had painted and
arranged it so thoroughly that it looked
almost inviting. The paint he obtained
by soaking colored yarns in which he
worked in water, and extracting the dye.
Such trihcs as he could obtain from the
chaplain or the warden he utilized with
wonderful ingenuity. His garden bed,
like that described by Dickens, was
coffin shaped, but his flowers were
the brightest and most blooming in The
prison. He sat at his wheel as she war
den ushered me into the cell, looking up
with pleased expression OF the sound
of our voices, but never stopping his
work for a second. An expression of
surprise at his wonderful ingenuity drew
forth faint, Pickering smile which was
painful to sec, but after the first glance
he did not look up again, although I
could SEQ that he heard every word we
said, and watched our motions sharply
out of one corner OF his eye.
He will take up his old quarters for
q year or two more, and I am glad to
soy that his comfortable cell has been
reserved for him. He is standing ar
gument for the authorities Of the prison
in favor of the silent system. "Why,"
they say, "if this man wanted to, he
could get out of this State and into New
York as soon as he is released, for our
prisoners seldom 60 sway empty hand
ed, and there he could servo his time in
Sing Sing or on Blackwell's island and
herd with his fellows. This system may
not work the same with all men, but the
stories of insanity arising from solitary
confinement are all bosh. Invariably
we find that our insane prisoners were
mentally unsound when they came to
US.
The Esquimaux Dog.
An Esquimaux dog seems to be an