River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-10-01
A FAMOUS PRISON.

sing sing prison, says Inc NEW
York Times, has a convict population
of $50. and there is at least one man
in authority who knows every prisoner
by sight and is able to tell at glance
whether or not new arrival has ever
been in prison before. This is Chief
Keeper James Connaughton. When
cx-Police Sergeant Crowley was adj
mitted to the institution, he was
accompanied by six other convicts.
One of these was named William Hall,
according to the papers in his case.
Before Hall was questioned in the
regular way Keeper Connaughton said
the man had been in Sing Sing before,
butn as Hall The latter was asked
whether he had ever been in prison
before. Yes, he had been in Sing
Sing. Under the name of Hall? No,
his name had been William Smith.
Had he any other name? Yes. William
Dwyer. Not once in a hundred eases,
the prison officials say, are any OF the
routine questions answered untruth-
fully. The men have a wholesome
fear of being discovered in a lie and OF
being made to suffer for it.
As there are in Sing Sing only 1924
cells, a number of them have two
occupants, much to the delight OF
those who are paired. Life in Sing
Sing is not what it was, and for this
keepers and convicts are devoutly
thankful. Prisoners are no longer
treated as if they were brutes, and
they have shown that kindness is not
thrown away on them. There are ten
dark cells in the prison. Under the
old regime these cells We're seldom
empty, and the sound of the paddle and
the curses of the poor wrctches on
whom it was being laid could be heard
at all hours. The paddle has gone
out of fashion. 1t has been supersede
by punishment as eilicacious as 1t
is simple. Men who were pad He'd
seldom improved under the punish
ment. Some the punishment made
irredeemably bad. 1t destroyed the
last vestige Of self-respect, and filled
the victim with longing for revenge
at any cost Since its adjustment
the dark cells seldom have an occupant,
and the average this year has been one
contumacious prisoner per month.
The punishment most in vogue for
prisoners who refuse to obey orders is
an invention Of Chief Keeper Con-
naugton. Two uprights, with slots in
them, are fastened against the wall
about three feet apart. Fitting neatly
into the space between them is a broad
board, which can be moved up or down
on the principal of an elevator. In the
center of the board is a steel hook.
The candidate for the punishment is
handeulftd. He is stood up in front
Of the board The chain which fastcns
the handouts is thrown over the steel
hook in the board Then the latter is
gradually raised until the victim is
standing on tip-toeS, with his whole
weight depending on his wrists.
Around the latter are the thin steel
cuffs, which cut into the flesh without
drawing blood. The pain is excuciat-
ing, and is increased if that were pos
sible, bv the efforts of the victim to
change his position in a vain attempt
to lesson the agony. The toughest
criminal in the prison has not taken a
second dose of this punishment. The
first trial is always sufficient. The vic
tim IS lowered upon crying Enough. :"
Few have been able to endure the pain
over thirty seconds, but one man stood
il for minute and twenty-five seconds.
When he was lowered it was found
that he had bitten hisloWer lip through
in his efforts to withstand the punish
ment without giving tongue to his
agony. Knowing tnat nothing is to be
gained By disobedience to orders few
prisoners rebel against the strict, bat
not at all harsh, discipline enforced.
There are eighty-tiye officers of all
grades in the prison. Forty-lve of
these are Keepers. These are answer
able to the chief keeper for the proper
performance Of their duties, as he is in
turn to Warden Brush.
During the day the difference be-
tween the lot of the keeper and that of
a prisoner is very slight, and is, if any
thing, in favor of the prisoner. The
latter is employed. while the keeper
stands on a raised platform in the cen
ter of a huge apartment in which
hundreds of desperate men are at work,
aud upon these men the keeper is com
PEELED to keep his eyes at all times.
During the day there is no rest for
him. He stands with his hand much
of the time on the handle of a revolver,
with every sense alert. Not motion
of the throng under his eyes escapes
bis attention. Conversation between
the men is forbidden. and the sound of
a human voice is seldom heard from
morning until night in the busy
work shops OF the great prison.
Comparatively few of the prisoners
are unemployed. Nine hundred
and twenty-nine of them are en-
gagged IN stove-making. On the day
after his arrival at Sing Sing, Crowley
took his station in the stoYe-mOlding
shops. Keeper Connaughton expressed
the opinion that Crowley would give
the officials little trouble and would
make clever craftsman. Three hun
bred stoves of various sizes and pat
terms are made every day in Sing Sing
/ They are sent to all parts OF the world
almost, and every prisoner engaged in
making them is presented with plug
/ of tobacco at the close of each week.
! This is customary on all contract work.
+ Two hundred dozen of shirts are
washed, starched and ironed in the
prison per day, Some of the prisoners
+ become wonderfully expert ironers,
and two or three out of the $50 men
employed in this department are so
deXtrous that their tasks are invariably
+ finished before noon. When employed
in certain kinds of work, prisoners are
4 given 9 task. They can work quickly
or sIowly so long as the task Is finished
when the whistle blows for knocking
off. If they finish their tasks three or
four hours before the regular hour for
stopping work, they are allowed to re-
tire to their cells, where they read and
j smoke or go to sleep. Three hundred
men are engaged in making boots and
shoes. They make $500 pairs per day
or nearly II pairs per man. The boots
and shoes are al made with the AID oi
machinery. One machine makes
wooden pegs and drives them into
place in the shoe or boot about fifty
times as fast as an expert workman
could do the work. 1t keeps man
busy to supply this pegging-machine
with soles. Another machine makes
STEEL screws, cuts them OFF proper
length. and screws them la place in
countless soles in an hour, One man S
task is TO put heels on 1900 pairs OF
boots per day He begins work at
O'Clock in the morning, has an hour
for dinner, and has generally finished
his task at 5 o o'clock. He does it with
the aid of a machine. which heels a
pair of shoes in less time than an ordi-