The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1888-05-05
CONVICT TElEeRAPHY.
A Very Strange System of Signs in Use
in All Prisons.
Indianapolis Journal.

veillance so close that a convict
never from under the eyes of guar
or taskmaster. No matter to wha
extreme the rule prohibiting cor
versation between convicts may b
enforced, they find some means b
which to inform themselves of wha
is going on or what is to occur. Blu
more than this, a convict may con
ceive the idea Of escape or revolt
and for him to communicate it t
one he wishes to have as an accom-
plice is not difficult. They brin;
others into the plot or plan unit
twenty or thirty know it, in the de
tails for the carrying out of whicl
each is assigned his particular part
This necessitates a thorough expla
nation of minuti@ and calls for /:
system of communication for which
a limited use of signs would no
answer. The system, whatever i
is, involves no doubt an elaboration
of signs, aided whenever chance
offers the means b7 written com
munication. The secret use Of the
latter means for expressing ideas
and purposes will not account fol
the completeness of information
convicts obtain of what takes place
in prison walls, for, whether any
thing occurs in the office or the
most distant part of the prison,
within fifteen minutes there is not
a convict who does not know all
about IT. Pcnitentiary officials have
tried again and again to obtain even
a clew to the system, but they are
no nearer a solution than when they
first began to investigate the mat
ter. They know there is system,
and that it rests on signs, but
whether.on those made with fingers,
eyes and lips, or the bringing into
play of other features, or whether
it depends on all together, they do
not know. Prisoners, to curry ia
vor with the officials, often tell them
what they have learned from other
convicts. They go to especial trouble
at times i'll exposing plots, and are
ready to reveal everything except
the means by which they learned
the facts. No convict has yet given
the slightest suggestion which
would lead to the discovery of the
secret that has deiied the shrewdest
detectives.
II have seen," said an ex-prison
official, two convicts, six feet apart,
facing each other. They did not
utter word, nor could | discern
The slightest movement Of the lips
Or eyes, yet | knew they were COM
nunicating something. They gazed
1t each other for q minute or
.wo before / had a chance to inter
ere, but lam satisfied that one told
he other all he wished to tell.
Three or four of them will be stand
ng around a stove or together in
,ther places of the prison, and yet
With sufficient distance between
hem to lead one to think that they
iave nothing in common. but while
here is not the least sign of con-
observable, they are talk
ng to each other in their own way"
Attorney-General Michener re-
ates an incident or two showing
he perfection to which the convicts
ave carried their system Of con-
eying information among them
elves. OF his first visit to Jetier-
onvi!le to look into the matter OF
ack Howard's shortcomings as
Warden of the Southern Prison, he
yas sitting in the office Of the prls-
n one afternoon when the Deputy |
Warden or some other subordinate
sked him if he did not wish to so
trough the shops. 1t was some
hing he did not expect to do, but,
the invitation, they
assed through the inner gates,
rossing the first cell-rooms, out
ito the courtyard and across that
irectly to the shoe factory. They
ere not three minutes in going.
or did they stop anywhere until
ncy reached the factory. The At
orney. General had gone but few
,et into the room with the prison
fficer when a convict stepped up,
nd asking the latter if he could
peak to the gentleman with him,
aid, on permission being given
i'm: "You are the Attorney Cen
-al?"
"Yes," was the only reply Of the
hcer.
"Your name is Michener?"
"Yes; but how do you know that?
have never seen you before"
That is true, nor did ever see
gu until now, although | am from
helby county" He then went on
, tell who he was, where he lived
the county, and what ne had
one to bring him into the peniten-
ary. But the convict gave the
ttorney- General further cause Tor
onder by telling him. that he knew
his reaching the city the day
efore, how many visits he had
lade to the prison, and for what