The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-04-12
Iron Prison Discipline.

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Island of Mauritius," said gentleman,
much of whose life has been passed in
examining and comparing the various
prison systems of the world, ssthe most
relentless discipline / have seen any
where is maintained. This, to a great
extent, is necessary, for it would be diff
ficult to find more vicious and deprayed
set of prisoners. Hanging seems to be
almost abandoned there, and il is not
uncommon for man to be sentenced to
forty years. Imprisonment. OF course,
they rarely live out these sentences, for
the climate of the Mauritius, unhealthy
in the most favorable circumstances,
becomes uncomfortable under the meroi-
less rigor of prison life. The island
belongs to great Britain, and is situated
on the eastern coast of Africa, little
below the equator. 1t is intensely hot,
and there are not a great many Eu-
ropeans there; but every night about
800 colored prisoners are locked up in
the Jail. During the day most of them
work iu chain gangs, sweeping the town
of Mauritius. They do it well, but a
pitiful and degrading spectacle is
afforded by lines of strong, able-bodied
men, loaded down with iron chains on
the legs and round the waist, or dragging
ponderous iron balls after them, toiling
through the streets.
"The rations are inferior to the prison
diet of this country, and, as far as /
know, to that of any other part of the
world. For breakfast they get quar-
ter of a pound of black bread and as
much water as they want. For dinner,
about pint of boiled rice-with q spoon
full of curry and abundance of water.
For supper, the black bread once more
and liberal supply of water. This is
the changeless bill of fare, with no diff
ference on Sundays or holidays, and no
meat at all. At night, before going in
to his cell, every man has to strip him.
self, and the keeper examines his clothes
for concealed weapons or contraband
articles of any kind. The prisoners
have also to open their mouths to show
that they have. nothing Objectionable
there. Each cell'i locked separately,
and then long iron bar fastens all to-
gether. On Sundays the prisoners are
shaved, weighed, and have their hair
cropped as close as the scissors viii
reach.
"Of course, against this relentless
discipline there are occasional uprisings.
To take care of the 1 800 oonvicts about
$50 guards are employed. OF these
some are white and some colored, but
the head keepers are all white, and, for
the most part, soldiers who have served
the terms for which they enlisted. They
are armed with carbines snd short
bayonets. Once, when the convicts
managed to organize, and broke into
open revolt in the prison-ysrd, it was
short-lived rebellion. The guards,
trained to act rapidly and in concert,
shot them down ike mad-dogs and then
charged them with the bayonets. The
rebels were quickly subdued, and after
that they were ruled, If possible, more
vigorously than before
ga prisoner, if he sees fit, may make
q complaint, and If it is q Just one, it
will be attended to - but Heaven help
the man who complains frivolouslyi
Once, when was in the jail, q convict
at dinner time protested that his allow
ance of rice was not as large as the
regulations required. 1t was measured
at once, and found to be little over the
proper quantity. His dinner was taken
away from, him, one of the most power
full of the keepers seized him, and he
was kicked and beaten until, bruised,
bleeding, and almost insensible, he was
pitched head-first into his cell. The
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wait for orders, but at the first sign of
revolt to fire.
aOne of the convicts was q cripple.
His lower limbs were paralyzed, and he
moved along in sitting. posture with
the aid of his hands. He was serving
forty-years' sentence for q peculiarly
atrocious wife-murder. This apparently
helpless brute absolutely managed to
effect his escape in open daylight, after
he had been imprisoned for about twenty
years. Owing to his crippled condition,
he did not work with the. ehain-gangs,
but inside the prison walls, and one
night, when locking-up hour arrived,
his cell was found to be empty. A fruit
less search was kept up for a week or
more, but nothing was ever heard of
him. Whether he escaped to sea in an
open boat, and made for the far-away
coast of Africa or for the Island Of Mad
agascar, distant four days. journey by
steamer, or found refuge among the
sugar plantations of the Mauritius, il
unknown. / never heard of another es-
cape being effected.
Sc said that hanging was very uncom-
mon in the Mauritius. But it is some
times resorted to, as in the case of the
murder of white man, and o hangman
is maintained on the island. This Off
.cial ought himself to have been hanged
years ago, having been convicted of
locking his wife, his mother-in-lsw, two
sisters-in-law, and two children in q
room, and suffocating them all with the
fumes of charcoal. He was sentenced
to fifty years. imprisonment, but was
liberated on condition of his becoming
town hangman-"