The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-03-08
NEwaATE pRlsoN.
An interesting History of xsondonss Nos
Famous Penal Institution.

| NEW0ATE PRISON.
An interesting History of xondonss Most
Famous Penal Institution.
! 1t Is deemed certain that Eewgate
prison viii soon be torn down. A Lon
Ion newspaper gives it's history. So
+ lar back as the reign Of King John
there was a prison there, maintained
/ by the corporation of the city of Lon
/ ion, who had also the Compiler, in the
/ Poultry. for the detention of minor Of
lenders, and who, at a much later
/ period. used Bridewell, near Black
.riars, for the punishment of disorder
/ y apprentices and women. The an
! sient prison at Newgate was destroyed
/ by the great fire of London in 1866; an
other prison was then erected, which
was that out of which Jack Sheppard,
/ the notorious hOusebreaker. cOntrived
/ TO make his escape in the reign OF
I George H. This building was pulled
/ down in 1892, and the one now stand
ing was erected, in different portions,
4 between that date and 1872,
the architect being Mr.. George
/ Dance, r. A; but one part was
/ burned down almost as soon as
/ 1t was built, in the Gordon riots of
+ 1880. The outer walls of granite are
feet thick; the front in Newgate
/ street is 115 feet long, and that in the
Old Bailey is 295 feet. with stern,
/ imposing aspect. There are two lodges
/ for turkeys, and the keepers house in
the center of the Old Bailey front, be-
/ hind which is the chapel. The in
/ terier of the prison was rearranged in
/ 1857 and 1858 from the designs of Mr..
Burning, the city architect. The
/ quadrangle, occupied by men con-
victed of felony, is 124x64 feet, and
/ each of the two wings forms another
! quadrangle. There are 1853 ordinary
cells, each measuring 13x7 feet, feet
high with barred window 8 feet
1 inches high and 2 feet 6 inches wide;
the cells were warmed by hot air, and
/ the furniture was ahammock-bed, slung
| at night across the width of the cell,
wash-stand with basin. close-pan.
folding table fixed to the wall, stool,
and shelves of slate. Besides these
there are eight punishment cells for
/ the refractory, and sixteen reception
coils.
The prison is calculated only for the
accommodation Of 1913 male and forty
/ five female prisoners, on the separate
/ system, which is a small number for
the extent of the buildings. In former
| times. before the separate system was
/ introduced, Newgate was horribly
overcrowded, and its condition excited
the strong disapprovaI of John How
ard. There was no classification of
/ the nVsiroino1o on6 1a1atOrau
! the old and the young, convicts and
those awaiting trial, were confined to-
4 gether; some who had money could
bride the warders, buy liquor, and in
dulge in drunkenness and gambling;
the free conversation, with profane
| songs and tales of vice, was most cor
rupting. At one time nearly eight
hundred persons Of both sexes and all
ages were huddled up in Newgate, and
/ a contagious fever broke out which
caused many deaths. Mrs. Fry's be-
nevolent labors were begun among
/ the female prisoners here, of whom
there were 100 at that period. By the
removal of the debtors to GiItspur
street, Compter, some of the grosser
disorders were checked, but the place
was found unsuitable for any proper
/ course of prison discipline. 1t was
therefore resolved in 1918 to use it
only for the safe custody of prisoners
committed for trial, and the house of
correction in Coldbath Fields and that
of Holloway were erected for penal es-
adjustments, in which those under
/ going their sentence are confined.
Newgate, however, still remained in
an unsatisfactory state, and the re-
ports of the Government Inspectors of
| Prisons from 1886 to 1913 repeatedly
urged the need of its alteration. There
can be no doubt that the City Lands
/ Committee of the London Corporation
have acted judiciously in proposing to
demOlish the building, which is ill
adapted for its purpose and is not now
required, and to make a profitable us
of it's site. The old associations of
| Newgate are dismal and detestable;
many LondOners can remember seeing
murderers hanged over the gateway in
the open street before the act of Par
lament in 1868 which provided that
executions should be privately per-
! formed within the prison. Five or six
| persons at the same time were occa-
sionally hanged there in the ''good old
days" of the reign of George IIL-N.
| 7. Mail and Express.