Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1888-07-20
BRITISH DUNGEONS.
How Ireiand'sg Political Prisoners Are
Treated by Tory Officials.

1TobJoW ny
A reporter had an interesting in
terview with recent arrival in the city
from the County Wexford, Ireland, who
has felt the inconvenience Of sleeping
on plank bed and living on prison
fare for using in the course Of public
speech quotation from Lord Byron's
dramatic poem Of "Cain."
II will be something new to the gen.
eral public to learn that the author Of
"Childe Harold" and ''Don Juan"
wrote treason against the English gov
eminent. though there can be little
doubt but such catholic lover of free
dom as 1.-THE noblest of all Gordons"
would, if alive to-day, be as warm
sympathizer with the Irish people as
his granddaughter and her husband,
Sir Wilfrid Blunt. Lady Blunt is the
daughter of Byron's only child, whom
he loved with passionate fondness
which he has immortalized in the open
ing line of one of the cantos of "Chldo
Harold"
The treatment of John ], Heating,
the gentleman above referred to, is the
same as that accorded to all Irishmen
thrown into prison. The details of an
Irish patriots life in an English prison
in Ireland will be read with something
approaching to incredulity by the
American people.
II was arrested" said Mr.. Heating,
'for using language which was as
serted to be violation of the seventh
section of the Crimes act of 1882. The
language for which was arrested and
incarcerated as common criminal for
one month is simple quotation from
Byron referring to notorious land
grabber and cruel exterminator in the
neighborhood of Davidstown, the place
where made the speech. / quoted
from "Cain" the well-known curse:
May the grass wither from his feet,
The woods deny him shelter, the earth home,
The sun its light and heavenits God.
"Oi course only used that quotation
in the peforation of my speech. l was
promptly arrested and tried at the petty
sessions at Enniscorthy, place famed
in the rebellion of 1893. The magis-
trates who tried me were two crown
officials-one R. R. Kennedy, the regu.
lar stipendiary of the place, and the
other Captain Keogh-who were i'm
ported from Dundalk, in the North OF
Ireland, to assist at the mock trial.
Captain Keogh is a brother of the infa.
nous Judge of the same name who
| committed suicide some years ago, and
has borne the title of the Irish Jeffries.
II dare say you would like to hear
my treatment in the Wexford Jail, Fol-
the thirty-one days was there l spent
twenty-five hours out of every twenty
four alone in my cell, which measured
fourteen feet by seven, and was lighte(
by small iron-barred window about 6
foot square. had hard plank bed tc
sleep upon, with a thin blanket to covel
me. For food l got eight ounces o
black bread and pint of water foI
breakfast, half-pint of vegetable soul
at dinner, and eight ounces of blacl
bread and another pint of water fo
supper. This was all l got the hrs
week, and was by way of initiation int
the mystery of living without nourish
ment. The second week, and durin!
the remainder Of my work, my dali,
allowance OF bread was reduced to 81,
ounces in the morning and in the even
ing with halt-pint of coffee withOu
sugar or milk. During my entire sta,
in Jail never got single atom Of mea
or any thing else but what have toll
you. need scarcely add that locke
like ghost when l came out, but ba
as l was l was able to quote Byro
again and use stronger language tina
he ever wrote against the Englis
tyranny in Ireland.
II don't think l told you that durin
the two hours l had freedom from m
cell each day was engaged breakin
stone in the prison yard. When in tn
cell had three pounds of oakum t
pick daily, so l had plenty to do. Ever
prisoner sent up for q month gets eN
actly the same treatment as l did, BIT
those whose terms are longer get littl
more food. You can now imagine wins
people get for telling the truth in lrt
land about the manner in which tn
country isrobbed by the landlords, an
crushed to the earth by English o.
ticials. San Francisco Examiner