The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-04-30
Life in q State Prison.

The Wethersfeld Penitentiary is per.
haps as unpleasant a place of residence
as any criminal, of however wide a range
of experience, will be able to mention.
The building, which is rectangular in
shape, is forbidding in its appearance,
being built of dingy red sandstone. Is
is about two hundred feet long, forty feet
wide and forty feet high, and coetaios
272 cells, each cell being seven feet long,
seven feet high and three feet wide.
The cells were furnished by contract, the
furniture being of Spartan like simplicity.
An oblong iron frame upon which is
stretched a piece of canvass, and which
is fastened by iron hooks to the wall,
serves as the conyict's bed. At night it
is supplemented with a loosely filled
straw mattress. In the day time the
mattress is removed and the frame is
swung up against the wall. Each bedis
provided with a straw pillow about the
size of brick, and two cotton coverlets.
A wooden SHELF wooden bucket, an
earthenware water jug, Bible and
slate complete the furniture. II
The managers of this penal institution
believe in starting in right" with the
individuals who 60 to their boarding
house. There is no toning. down system
in vogue, The convict is made to realize
within three seconds after his arrival. that
he is in tight place, where no nonsense
is allowed. As soon as transferred to the
custody of the Warden he is required to
fold his arms, and is then put face to, the
wall, in which humiliating position he
is allowed to remain ten minutes, half an
hour, an hour or two it may be, or at all
events until the keeper is quite ready to
attend to him. After being measured
and weighed and put into suit of prison
clothes, he is led to "the dungeon"
dismal adjunct to the prison proper.
The door is opened; he is thrust in and
the door is locked behind him. After
being kept there a sufficient length of
time to give him tolerably correct
notion of the unpleasantness of the
place, he is released and then informed
that confnementin in this dungeon is ono
of the mild forms of punishment which
may be relied upon to follow an infrac.
tion of the prison rules.
He is next shown the "cat' and the
"ball and chain," and is requested to
note them carefully in his memory.
This terrorizing process over he is con.
Quoted back to the main prison and
placed in line with five convicts-three
in front and two behind him-and is
marched around the corridors an hour or
two, or until the keeper is satisfied that
he has become proficient in the clock
step." This drill concluded, the door of
one of the workshops is pointed out to
him, and he is told to fold his arms, keep
his eyes on the ground and march to the
shop-keeper, who tells him that the first
rule Of the place is that conyicts shall
never look up from their work. Other
rules, he is informed, require him to
speak to nobody and to work necessarily
from bell to bell. The shops are small,
containing on an average about twenty
FIVE men each. These poorly fed pris.
oners are expected to turn out more work
than is done by the average skilled work
man in the outer world.
If q convict working at window lifts
his head from his work for one glad
glimpse of the bright sunlight, he is inn
mediately locked up in the dark cell.
After the night bell rings, the convicts
fall in line in the shops and march with
lock-step TO the prison yard and form
semi.circle. The guards and keepers
then approach, and each convict takes
off his hat, throws up his arms and is
searched, the prisoners standing bare.
headed during the process, even though
the thermometer, as is frequently the
case, registers several degrees below
zero. On their return to the prison the
convicts are marched to q cold, cherries,
hall, where they are drawn up in line
and commanded to fold their arms and
keep their eyes on the ground. In this
penitential attitude they are expected to
Join in singing glad hymn of praise to
the Lord Most High, which is led by the
prison chaplain. A prayer is then said
by the chaplain to which the conyicts
are required to resi- pond "Amen."-M
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