Milford chronicle., 1888-12-28
LIBERTY OF CANADIAN PRISONERS.
Convicts Given Great Freedom, but Never
Attempt TO Escape.

Convicts Given Great Freedom, but Never
Attempt to Escape.
'What kind of penitentiary do they have
therer was asked by Detroit Journal re-
porter while conversing with a traveller who
recently returned from a trip to the Stony
mountains, about twenty miles north Of
Winnipeg.
''Its the greatest institution Of the kind 1
ever saw. Prisoners are made to feel that
they are prisoners, yet there are no rigors of
discipline to make men unruly. There are
about 200 convicts there. Maj. Benson
proved himself an extraordinary disciplin-
arian in the army, yet he was well liked.
Surgeon Sutherland, Of the penitentiary,
told me that when a prisoner arrived there
Mai. Benson at once had private talk
with him. He gave the prisoner to under
stand that be was his friend; that he in
tended to use every one fairly; but he had
been put there to discharge certain duty,
and that the convict had been sent there to
perform a certain duty; that he should take
his sentence, just or unjust, as man. And
in every case he won the convicts over, so
that in all his time there Maj. Benson has
never had use for the dark cells or had a
prisoner escape.
Escape, by the way, would be rather diff
cult. The penitentiary and all the buildings
connected with it are on Stony Mountain, a
space covering some forty acres which rises
abruptly from the prairie some thirty or forty
feet It is the only elevation for long dis
tance, and from it a magnificent view is OBJ
tanned in all directions. The penitentiary,
on account of its location, is therefore with
out wall The guards have their beats
around the edge Of the so-called mountain,
which is triangular in shape, and looking down
they command the prairie for q long dis
tance. The warden will put the eonvicts at
no work which conflicts with an organized
trade. They are at work on the buildings
and at farming There are only twenty-five
guards. The prisoners are allowed to go to
work on their parole.
Mai Benson took me to see what he
called his strong gang and most remark
able trio it proved. The men were Indians
and aged respectively as, 50 and 81 years.
'Dressy Mann shot the first policeman at the
time of the Riel rebellion. Chief Charlevoii
commanded the Indian forces in the Riel re
bellion. The third one, Court o. Relies OF
Blue Eyes was sentenced for life for mur-
der as a cannibal He is an Athabasea In
dian. AT the time of the rebellion their sup
plies were shut off and there was much suf-
fering. Blue Eyes family consisted Of his
mother-in-law, wife and three children. The
mother-in-law was killed first and eaten; then
the children, one by one. Finally Blue
Eyes killed his wife for food
"Only the Indian chief, Of the three, could
speak English, aud he appeared quite intelli
gent When I saw them they were half 6
mile from any guard, and Maj. Benson said
he could trust them anywhere. They seemed
vigorous and well, were at work in vege
table garden and looked as though they had
a good many years of their life sentence be
fore them. took their pictures, Of course
/ for I'm never without my camera The con
victs there wear light colored uniform, one
! leg darker than the other and the opposite
side of the blouse darker.
They don't have the sullen, dogged lool
of eonvicts in American prisons. As We
drove along they would bring up their hand,
with military salute to Maj. Benson or th'
surgeon, and look bright and pleased to se'
them. A number of the prisoners have beer
taught taxidermy, and the main entrance tC
the prison, through which all pass in and out
presents a very fine collection Of mounted
/ birds and beasts. White owls abound there
/ and some magnificent specimens have beer
stuffed There are elk, buffalo, deer, ante
| lope, mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, wolve'
/ and other animals in the collection, and {
great variety of birds 1t gives the convict
an interest in their prison, and some of then
have become expert taxidermists."