The Penn's Grove record., 1888-11-24
A PRISON.

A JAPANESE PRISON.
The interesting Things Seen by an
American Correspondent.
With tho exception Of the Yoshi.
wara, OF which plenty hereafter. the
two prisons Of Toxic = the most in
teresting things I have seen in Japan.
These are, first, the great prison upon
the Island of Ishikawa, at the south OF
the city. and, second, the convict and
female PRISON Of Ichigawa, in the cen
ter Of the city itself. The former Is
completely isolated, all communication
with the main land being BY police
ferry, and contains '2,052 men and
boys, all Of whom are serving terms Of
ten years or less. The latter contains
LOO men and ITO women, among
whom arc many serving life sent.
ences. There Is q convict farm at
tached, and 1t il here that capital
punishment Is inflicted. Otherwise
the two prisons resemble each other so
closely that 1t is not necessary to dis
tinguiBh between them In description.
The entrance is through q massive
wooden gateway into . guard room,
adjoining which are the offices OF the
director and officials. The prison II.
self consists Of q score or more Of de-
tached one story buildings, all OF wood
and some of them merely substantial
sheds, under which the rougher labor,
like stone breaking, Is performed. The
dormitories are enormous wooden
cages, the front and part of the back
formed Of bars as thick as ones arm
before which again is q narrow covered
passage whore the warder on guard
walks at night
On leaving TIC ao7mitories We passed
"a Samap,| Isolated square erection,
I'd and gabled like Q little temple.
The door was solemnly unlocked and
dung back, and I va motioned to
enter. 1t was the punishment cell,
another spotless wooden box. well ven
tilated but perfectly dark, and with
walls SO thick as to render It practically
silent. "How many prisoners have
been in 1t during the last month";" !
asked. The director summoned the
chief warder and repeated my Ques-
ton to him. "H'torl mo gozaimasen
none whatever" was the reply.
"What other punishments have your"
"None whatever" "No f10ggingr"
When this question was translated the
director and the little group Of ofic-
ials all laughed together at the bare
idea. l could not help wondering
whether there was another prison In
the world with no method Of punish
ment for 2 900 criminals except one
dark cell, and that not used for a
month. And the recollection OF the
filthy and suffocating sly used as a
punishment cell IN the city prison of
San Francisco came upon me like a
nausea.
A Japanese prison may be divided
into two parts-dormitories and work
shops. ut cells or prison buildings,
ing, there is nothing
liking r the yard
FIRST workshop, where
a couple of hundred prisoners were
making machinery and steam boilers.
One warder, armed only with a sword,
Is reckoned for tevery fifteen men, and
here the prisoners were working on
contract orders for outside Ii ms.
under the supervision of n sk:tied
teacher and one representative of the
frm giving the contract. So 1t was in
tie 6ne art department and every
other of the score Of workshops.
Prisoners employed at the higher
classes Of labor are credited with one
tenth the sum received for their hand
iwork. But As the work was 80 good
and the running expenses seemed &C
light I was much surprised to learn
that the prison vas not yet self sup
porting, only seven-tenths Of the tota
cost being realized from the sale o
prisoners work. Another curiou:
fact il that every adult prisoner IL
| detained for six months after his sen
tence expires If he il not claimed in
| the mean time by his friends, and
| until be is OF adult age IL no has moi
reached 1t and is unclaimed. These
prisoners wear blue instead Of red,
| after their sentences have expired.
The women's quarter at lchigawa II
separated from the mems by q high
wooden fence snd gateway guarded by
. sentinel, and consists Of two O.
| three dormitories and one large, com
| Portable Workshop, where all the III
are employed together at labor lei
out by contract. When l was there
they were all hemming silk handker.
chiefs, each seated upon the matted
door before q little table, and very neal
they all looked and very pretty som'
Of them, with their loose red gowns
and simply twisted hair. Those art
forgers," said the officer, pointing u
49,. l. - ill., khA-n .,
DO 90 pretty" One of the women hac
q young baby playing beside her, ant
another OF them. as she glanced up a.
US, showed q face entirely different
from the rest, pale, sad and refined,
aud [ saw that her hands were small
and very white. 1t was Hanai Ume
the once famous geisha Of Toxic, ia
nous for her beauty, her samisen play
ing, her dancing. her pride, and mos
famous Of all for her afaire d'amour