, 1879-08-03

sire, ana Tile coffee fair" The prisoners qe,
| thrlr dinners At noon, the meal at that houl
1nnre of soup,-uot the kind on whicl
utpsF 1aost was forced to subsist, ana of which
hls soul cried for moro, but q good, nutrition.
J article, and plenty Of it. In addition to tie
meat aud soup, the inmates get potatoes and
! Dali pound OF bread. Supper is served ut {
O'Clock, and, IN hot weather, consists Of bread
alone, the coltce being omitted just now for two
reasons, viz: its exciting tendencies, and tue
1act that the County Commissioners have lately
Erumhted ut the expense of getting up steam in
the evenings tor heating purposes.
THE NORMAL CONDITION OF THE PRISONERS
Is IN their calls, but certain hour in the morn
ing Is set apart Tor exercise, anu then they have
the tour of the inner jail. During that hour
they walk, talk to their friends, on yisitinl:
days-Tuesdays and Frilays-throush the wire
netting of the "case," hold consultations with
their lawyers in tine other "cage" set apart for
that purpose, aud, in short, enjoy all OF sibcrty
that is consistent with their circumstances and
surroundings. While in their cells, the prison
ers spend their time iu various ways. Those Of
literary turn, as well as some of those who
SIGH for anything to pass the time, do consider
able reading. Through the kindly offices Of
Mrs Harris ind other philauthropic ladies, Il
jail library was started lew years ago, which
has grown by voluntary contributions from the
500 or LOGO volumes. The prisoners hare access
to this respectable store of history, romance,
and general literature books being d'strb-
utcd twice a week. It Is noticeable, how
ever, as usual among such institutions,
that novels are the most popular
reading matter lit tile collection, a!u their we'll
thnmbcl appearance tells the tale OF many
weary hour made endurable By the supply Of
something on which to feed the imagination.
Smoking is allowed without restriction, the
prisoners friends furnishing the tobacco. Card
PLAYING in the cells is iayorite amusement,
and seems to make time fly and counterart the
inclination to moodiness and sulkincss that
Comes along with confinement behind stone
walls and iron bars. Tie prisoners arc giyeu
the privileges of the bathroom tw1ce week, hut
in some cases the effort to persuade Il prisoner
that cleanliness is next to godliness is like the
effort to persuade horse to drink when he has
made up his mind that he isn't dry aud that he
won't drink. Some Of the customers
have close affinity for dirt and
q corresponding horror Of water; but the clean
illness of the place requires certain amount OF
personal ablution. and hence compulsory duck
ings sometimes becomes necessary. The jail is
scrubbed twice a week, aud is kcut as clean as
the average prison, If not cleaner. On the
whole, the jail is better place for nine-tenths
OF its inmates than they could ever hope to ut
tain on tllr outside. It costs them nothing for
their 'skeep," and, SO long as they are in, they
roam at will attends them still, and, when their
Jail slime: is up-unless they are candidates
for further term in the Penitcntiary, or are
about to become the chief actors in 4 hanging
match-therc is much rejoicing at the thought
OF again heing on the outside.
The stone walls, the stone and iron cells, the
bolts and bars, and all the other ordinary and
e1s1ao'utnai3 apou'lsuanses oe''sAeo " eon-
THE SECURITY OF THE JAIL,
serve to give one the idea that, once inside,
there was no getting out until taken out BIZ due
process OF law. The lail looks secure. But
looks in this case are deceptive, for the numer-
Gus 'fbreaks' u within its history demonstrate
that nothing in the shape OF locks or bars is
strong enough to hold man unless his every
novels watched. So, unlcr the present rcgllnc.
there is always one man on the inside who al
lows nothing to escape hiin,-0r Ut least in
tends that nothing shall. In spite OF all
precautions taken against the passing
along with packages Of clothing and food con
tributed By the prisoners friends, the jail pco-
pie are always finding such articles aud couts~
eating them without mercy. Tile cells are al
ways locked while the prisoners are in, and at
night a. the braRe"is uut on, by which means
every eei, III Iier 5 oouo1e-lochea. lhT VIII
;ro 49, ~ ttle S ~ an tn
,a+to;.h it;t,,5n on1 ;rn; exnso, 'a-d;
t;nn ran,cr,no thcm rn1cefrahIe nh;cnts of ~
nn1 H., ~ ahron; 7;I hr,a1.ar ,r9 err,o ~ -
i, ai;ofhf.r wav Ti,rtne The twn years VIM
d. a agnasr Sae Shcr;;f 1harn ware "1oA !
NO LESS THAN slAri-fouR ESCAPES,
effected in various ways. In one case a fellow !
known as "Slim Ji1n,' who was in the boys de- |
paitment, picked the lock- on the inside, got up
to the roof through the coal-scutte, madea rope !
Of the sheets, and was arranging to drop down
into the alley on the west when he Struck on |
the window-siIf. slipped. fell, and was thrown |
into the alley, where he was found III the MORN |
Ing, man.led and mashed. and ab1c to live about |
an hour. Richards, tile O'Hara burglar, escaped |
one night, and it was afterwards discovered that
he had cut out tile vcntiator III his cell, drilled
holes in the stoue, ami then pried Off the pieces.
Then he struck hole in the top OF the cell re-
scnbling chimney but too small for egress
The thing to do was to make it larger. Hc took !
out the bricks, flied his mattress with them, |
chuckcd more behind the protusc paper lccora-
tons in his cell, aud thus worked through about
thirty feet OF brick aud mortar. Through this
enlarged hole he climbed up to the roof. crawlcd
along, and dropped down on to Illinois street by !
4 rope which his wife had probably passed in to
him on one Of he: visits to :tle jail. Richards
has never been heard Of from that day to this.
In both these cases the inquiry as to what the
officers we're doing is AEn0st pertinent Que But |