The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-03
BEHIND THE BARS.
AN INSIDE VIEW OF THE PENlTEN-
TIARY GIVEN BY A PRISONER.
The Anont of JOY or Misery Convict
May Find in His Incarceration
How Prisoners Employ Their
Leisure Hours.
Buffalo Courier Interview

whether guarded doors and iron bars
stand between him and freedom or the
whole world is his to wander in at will,
said prisoner at the Erie county peniten-
tiary to reporter The speaker and his
companion were standing in one of the
corridors of the mail department. gazing
upward at the whitewashed cells which
rose tier above tier TO the roof A chorus
of peculiar sounds strangely but not in
harmoniously blended broke upon their
ears. Signs and grOaus, whispered CON
versation. cheerful chit-chat, the subdued
notes of a familiar hymn. and the air of a
favorite ballad softly whispered, told of
the varied moods Of the occupants of the
narrow apartments. The speaker was re-
lating some of his peculiar personal ex
periences and striving to convey to his
companion some idea Of what it means to
be behind the bars.
"W hen a man is sent here for long
term, he continued. 1.-The amount of en-
oyment or misery he gets out Of his in
generation depends entirely on himself.
At first, Of course. the confinement chateS
him and be longs to regain his freedom,
but after becoming accustomed to his new
surroundings this Impotence or restraint
is succeeded by a sort of philosophical
resignation. He has tried the strength of
the bars and looked into the reSOlute faces
of the keepers IN vain for some sign OF
weakness, and he concludes that escape
DSIIOTCc
berry of the attendants is out of the queS
ton The city papers say no more about
his case; his friends. one after another,
cease to call upon him, and he comes to
the conclusion that he has been
forgotten by the world, and moth
ing remains save to serve out
the time of his sentence in a living
tomb and strive by cheerful compliance
with the prison regulations to cut short
the period Of penal serVitude. With the
short term men it is different The eX-
pectation of an early return to their &C
customed haunts keeps them from form
ing any settled habits or laying out any
plan of procedure
The more intelligent long term man
IS the less he suffers. The iliiterate and
the dull are apt to become mOrOSe and
melancholy, and spend their time in I'M
awaiting lamentations, while the educated
and ambitious man feels that he has made
a grave mistake in life and sets his mind
at work to devise some means OF regain
ing a portion of what he has lost With
out purpose in life an intelligent pris
oner would 90 crazy. A few days ago
one of the prisoners brought me the
model of an ingenious and complicated
machine which he had invented since his
incarceration, and this model is now in
the hands of a patent solicitor with a
fair probability OF the inventor reaping
handsome reward for his industrious
hrain-work Another man who recently
completed five years terms here, wrote
technical work on electro plating dur
ing the odd hours spent in his cell.
Others are skillful whlttlers and fashion
wonderful things with their Jack-knlveS
One of these whittlers carved handsome
model of a lake steamer, perhaps two
feet long. out of solid block. and fitted
it up with cabins, stacks, paddle
wheels, lasts, and all other features and
furnishings of one of the fresh-water
boats I his was placed on exhibition in
a down town show window and attracted
much attic ton. t;t.ners make a careful
study OF certain games such as checkers,
chess, etc and in time develop wonder
1ul SIX. al Then there is a certain class
nose chief aim seems to be to gather as
much money as possible, so as to go out
into the world with enough to give them
business start.
managed for them by their families or
agents, and these give up their thoughts
to the best course TO pursue in the manag-
ment of their pOssessiO s. There are,
perhaps two or three who devote all
their spare time to the formation of plans
for escape, but these are destined to moth
ing save disappointment. Still, if they
are not easily discouraged, even this Occu-
Ia ion of mind is better than none at ALL
for it keeps them from despair and mel
anchOlia Even prison life can not crush
out individuality, and we have here invet-
crate punsters. good story-tellers, misan
thrOpes violent infidels. devout believers,
cyclists, men as humble as Uriah
heep, and al the other types of character
common TO the outside world. We even
have our poets.
Il believe if a long timer has a special
talent he should be given full opportunity
to cultivate it Society has no right to
permanently dwarf a mans powers while
he is undergoing punishment for some
misdeed as warning TO others The ends
of justice are sufficiently satisfied when
the intelligent man is compelled to I'M
dergo the ignOminy and disgrace of prison
cell, and after incarceration the idea
shou be reform rather than revenge
The prisoner should be given full scope
in mis- efforts to prepare himself for an
honorable career OF industry when his
sentence has expired. If he is prepared
to enter one of the learned professions, or
excels in one of the fine arts, so much the
better Society applauds the man who
rises from a boOtblack to positions of
wealth and honor and there is no reason
why she should turn cold shoulder upon
the reformed cUlprit or refuse TO recog-
niZe his genius because he has slept in
prison cell.
"a shOrt-term prisoner is never in
better condition for reform than when he
leaves this place the whisky is all out of
him, his person is clean, he has become in
some degree Infatuated to daily labor. his
head is clear. his digestive powers good.
and his mind in measure freed from evil
influences Let him return to his former
haunts and oId-time associates and all will
be lost. Then, if ever, society should
throw about him her protecting arm and
see that he is started on the right road
All this may seem rose colOred to you,
but we who are inside know more of the
nature of the so-caled criminal classes,
and, while it would be idle to expect
general reform, l feel confident that
sufficient number would be saved from
going back to their old ways to make the
system a success.
That Early Spring Cough.