The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-12-06

of them. They may come in the guise of an old
friend, but if he asks you to drink. look out for
him. This class of friends will only do you harm,
and if when you leave here you will avoid them.
you will have taken big step in the direction of
REFORM"
Directly following the Warden, Deputy westby
made brief and well received address. He said
that it afforded him much pleasure to say few
words to US. I'VE have been together about two
years." continued the Deputy, and in that time
have become fully convinced that you are all
trying to get along in peace and harmony. If any
have been in trouble wish to inform you that as
soon as the trouble is over the occurrence passes
from our the officersO minds" He closed his
address by announcing the program for the after
noon. The exercises closed with the benediction
by our Chaplain. Filing out of the chape., each
inmate was made happy by the receipt on the
way to his cell. of a we'll filled dsh-his Thanks
giving dinner.
IN THE CELL.ROOM.
After eating dinner, consisting of roast turkey
and dressing with mashed potatoes coffee with
milk and sugar, and other concomitants, the in
mates were released in the cell.building for
couple af hours.
Here is a picture that every worker in the cause
Of prison reform should witness There is the
joy of meeting friends to whom the God-given
faculty of speech has been denied since July 4.
There is the good story teller entertaining his
hearers with patent yarn. Perhaps little stale,
possibly chestnut, but laugh crowns the climax
and we pass on to where cell is crammed full and
every one of the group singing The singers are
familiar with the strains of that melody and
smile lights up the face of each singer of whom
we can catch glimpse, and the listeners at the
entrance of the cell are held in rapt attention or
smiling at a happy thought expressed in the
words of song. Here gentleman of marked Afri-
can extraction is singing Then carry me back to
old Virginia" and playing accompaniment on
the banjo. Then encounter the "song and
dance" group. away off in the corner. The fiddle
of the "somebod y-madeit-themselves quality, is
ringing forth the melodious strains of Fishers
down to business, while the crowd gathers round
the clog comes the Jig with one participant
taking the part of the female. Everybody laughs
until the dancers from exhaustion Then a
quadrille is organized and the ladies are repre-
scented by kerchief tied around the left arm
"HonOrs right and left, join hands and circle to
t. the left" Now see the boys throw themselves
old. OF course the girls" get little mixed oc.
casionally, but ION with the dance" We leave
them in the height of their enjoyment and
pass on a block. What is this group? We
mount the gallery and look down. Our
genial P. M. is doing an artistic dance of
the Jig variety, and right swift he is, too. Not
growing DID, no boy of fifteen step to the
punk, apunk, punk punk of the banjo more 1.-THE
and graceful. But before he had finished, bang
bang! bang! goes the warning notes Of the bell,
and all start for their cells. Ten minutes and the
scene of genuine joy. and light hearted sport. is
prison.
glimpse of liberty. Two hours of life. Social
enjoyment, even for this brief period. makes us
brothers: and officers and prisoners mlngle to.
gether a common level of sociability and good
fellowship.
Why are not such occasions multiplied in prison
life? Could they be productive of aught but good?
Can harm come from developing those social traits
which are the foundation of the moral nature of
man? We think not. We know that good results
come fro such days in prison, and believe
this the best proof that if social and intellectual
training formed greater part of our prison life,
the prison would not he school of vice, but a
place for treating criminality.