Omaha daily bee., 1886-10-03

! murderer whose knife pierced his victim
! six years ago, and number OF others OF
! the same class,
! VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS.
The kitchen, store, clothing and dining
| rooms of the help are in the basement.
! TN the three first enumerated. the assist.
/ inE COnviCtS have siurcuros, If such
! term be applicable in this connection.
! Their work is easy, thcil surroundings
/ healthy and Judging from appearances.
/ their appetite aud digestion suggest no
! craving necessity for sarsaparla or
! vegetable bttCr>. They resemble the
! fat cook in Robson n Cranes Drumio,
! Among them, however, ! saw the black.
! osl whitCman with the most furbIddlnr
! set of features | had ever noticed. lie
! was Crouchcd beside u doorway and |
! feared that he might brain me with his
! ladlc rs passed The others were at.
! tcntive and at the waricn'S request.
! treated our party to a couple Of sips of
! the soup, which was being poured into
! huge pals for dinner. 1t was about rs
| thick as moasscs, and as savOry doubt
| less as that which Walter Scott tells Meg
| NcrrliGs used to make. Sections of
| turnipS, beats, potatoes and other csru-
! lonts We're llomdcring in its murlly rich
ness while shrcds and hunks OF meat
were constantly coming to the surface to
show that they also had hama or
The odor was grateful even to Il
satiatcd palate, and if strong enough to
have gone beyond the walls would have
, made many Il tramp who had Travelled
to the fair, bemoan the lot that had thus
far kept him from within the wall, of the
pcnitcntiarv. ] could not help recalling
the fact that, two years ago, when the
state legislature was quarreling ever this
same institution, in the city of Lincoln
were involuntary trampS, whom parties
VOuchcd Tor as honest, begging for work
and assistance, while, within the pCnitcn.
tiary walls, outcaStS of society were be-
ing fed, like converted prodigal> at the cN-
pensc of the good and true ofthc state. OF
course, these things must be, but they are
rather unplcasantly suggestive of an I'm.
equal balance somewhere when recalled.
In the making of this soup, two.hundrcd
and fifty pounds of meat are consumed
daily, and about scvcnty-iiVc gallons of
1t is required to supply the hungry jail
birds with midday sustenancc, We re-
turned to the wardcn's office where I
rambling conversation drew forth a
number of
MINOR FACTS.
There was no place for solitary con.
tinemcnt, except that in which prisoners
are detained for insubOrdination. As a
consequences when mans sentence
conslgns INN to one days isolation, es-
pccially on the anniversary OF his
crime, he is there quartercd.
When the sentence is for Il longer period,
however, it is not noted, because it can.
not be carried out. Some time ago,
Judge Gnslin'S peculiar method of
adapting punishment to the grade of the
crime, sentenced an unfortunate to soil
tary confinement for ten years! 1t Is,
therefore, to be announced. that ut least
in one instance, this celebrated Judges
Snntpnnn has bnnn Ta rinI n for tho
reason above given.
Five men have escaped from the pen
itentlary in the last twelve years, and
these have, it would seem, turned Their
backs on the institution for ever. They
have never returned, In this respect,
there is something remarkable When n
Il man escapes from Jail, he rarely if
ever, returns under sentence of court;
but, if discharged, his ruling propensity
TO crime generally brings him back TO
his old lot. The reason of this is prob
ably the severity which runaway would
be most likely to meet, should his re-
entree be discovered. There are now
twcnty-scvcn convictS serving life SEN
tcncc, and these have been committed
because of the two most heinous
crimes known in the legal calen
dar. One of these Is murder and
the majority of the twenty-seven con
victs have been incarccratcd for its com
mission. To Judge from the appearance
of the inmates, it would, indeed, be a diff
cult task to determine which are those
whose sentence gives them no hopes of
again entering the world beyond,
as was inStanced in the case of Harry
Hall. In fact, unless when alone, and
his isolation impels him to retrospectiOn
with the fearful consequences Which that
past has entaied, there was nothing
about him to suggest that he was to be in
tnl hnVnnI thn And
yet, unless by means of intirmity un-
wise executive clemCncy or unlawful pO-
htical influence he will 90 forth from
those walls only to his grave.
The records of the penitentiary, with
respect to the men who have been i'm
prisoned it it.. are most complete and
interesting They tell almost everything
necessary to be known about the physical
condition and appearance of the convict,
and these are supplemented by tie
camera. They are large books, each
page being divided into columns for a
specific purpose, the entries being made
in Il legible and beautiful hand. These
columns tell the name, number, date of
commitment, crime, sentence. expiration
of term, time OF discharge, age, occupa-
ton, height, complexion, color OF hair,
eyes, place of birth, social standing, re-
llgion, habits, education, guilt or innO- !
cence together with other descriptive re-
marks OF the convict. l must admit haY-
ing read the latter concerning II number
OF our more prominent criminals with |
interest. Among these Were, Oliver,
Richards, Bohannon, and several others. |
Those of the man first mentioned were
short yet to the point, while those |
OF the others Were more numerous and |
detailed, AS specimen, quote from the |
remarks made about certain convict |
selected at random. dim scar
on right of neck, light vaccination, |
scar on the upper part of left |
arm, mole one inch to the right of the |
back bone, at the lower end of the shonl- |
der blade; large mole on right hip; two |
false upper teeth; weight 100 pounds" |
These facts are asccrtained soon after |
the convict's entrance. His hair cropped, |
he is weighed, measured, given berth, |
and then inyentoried, so to speak, after !
which he is dressed like zebra and goes |
forth into prison a full-tlCdged pcniten. |
tary bird. This description is invalua- |
bic in identifying him for future arrest
or other identification. In the vicinity of !
the penitentary is
a FARM OF FORTY ACRES,
which is titled by the conyicts under
guard. Upon this is raised ali the yeget- |
abes used by the prisoners. When the |
workers are Whnta1 hphiud thp wells q /