The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-01-16
The richDorne Claimant in Prison.

The Claimant" had left Dartmoor for |
Portsmouth before my arrival at the
former place. I heard good deal about
him, of course. He seems to have given
an infinity of trouble. His applications
to address the Home Secretary, and to
have interviews with directors, Cover
nor, doctor and priest, were incessant
He got admitted to the church choir for
reasons-he obtained a more comfortable
seat, and he was excused from labor on
Saturday mornings that he might attend
practice. The organist assured me that
he had no notion of singing, and that the
noise he made was something between
the chirp of crow and the croak of
raven. 1t was generally admitted by the
more intelligent prisoners who came in
contact with him that his habits and man.
ners were vulgar. He was doing his
best, by the aid of French school-books
furnished him by the priest, to master
French language; and he made all sorts
of promises to prisoner who was in the
next cell to him, and who could speak
French, if he would aid him, but this
man told me that he was very stupid at
it, and that his progress was very slow.
When the Claimant first went to Dart
moor, he seems to. have had good friend
in the gentleman who was at time Gov
ernor of the prison. He was extremely
trou blesone, constantly breaking prison
rules, and constantly being reported for
| doing SO; but SO long as the Major re-
mained in command he was never pun
ished, and when he received visits from
his friend DR.. Kenealy and others, the
visits took place, contrary to regulations,
in the Governors Office, and extra time
was allowed him. The advent Of Captain
IT scf< 60.
| Castro, or Orton, or whoever he may be.
I may here take the opportunity of doing
an act of simple justice to Captain Har-
ris. / ain quite sure that if the son or
brother of the Secretary of State were a
prisoner under his control, he would be
treated with precisely the same indul-
| gence as every other prisoner, and no
more. The Claimant when next he re-
ceived visit did SO behind the bars, and
within the time specified by the rules.
| When reported for insoIence he was
sentenced to two days bread and water,
and he got second punishment for the
same offense and some others. By the
doctors orders he had eight ounces OF
additional bread per day and eight
ounces of potatoes, and on meat and
soup days he had increased rations.
presume his friend Mr.. Whalley worried
the Home Secretary into having him
transferred to Portsmouth, where, am
told, he is fetching atolerably easy ''bag
ging." Perhaps the air there is not sc
bracing, but at Dartmoor his appetite
was enormous. I know men employed
in the tailor's shop who did not need al
their food, and who gave him some con
stantly; and the orderlies who carried
round the bread were in the habit O
yielding to his entreaties to shy him .
loaf, if "good screw" happened to bt
on duty. By the way, '.good screw,
amongst the prisoners, means man wht
does not do his duty. knew little
Irishman who told me that one day ht
was able to give the Claimant six Coz
loaves, and that he came very near get
ting three days as reward for his goot
nature. The big man was very unpopu
lar with some of his neighbors, who sa,
that he was bad sleeper, and used t.
hpuf and blow and grunt and groan al
through the small hours. He was un
pular with the warders, because it wa
with the greatest difficulty he could b.
got to scrub his cell, or keep his cell fur
niture clean. But won't say any NOR
about the fellow. I should think tn
world has had enough of him in all con
science.-From "Conuict By a 1fcket-o1
| T.oone Mn, -