Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1889-08-07
In the Penitentiary.

VINO reau the ABOVE HedulnR VIII say
they are sure that / have at last got
where l belong. So L hasten to say
in explanation that L went to the PEN
itentiary of my own free will and |
left it without interference. This may
show culpable negligence on the part
of the authorities. Nevertheless it is
fact, and it is with facts that | al
ways deal.
Upon the shoulder of the North
Carolina mountains overlooking the
picturesque valley Of Round Knob,
can be seen small settlement of white
washed cabins and shanties. AS a
person stands on the peak of Little st.
Bernard and looks across the tremen-
dous valley at this white collection of
buildings standing out against the
dark green of the mountain, it must
be admitted that it looks very pictur-
esque. From the Round Knob hotel
this settlement by railway is four or
five miles. But going up the track a
bit and climbing a steep section OF
the mountain, the distance is less than
a quarter of a mile. From the penal
settlement to the hotel the track curves
and winds and twists so that a person
who undertakes to walk along the
track, which, by the way, is forbidden
by the railway company, generally
gets tied up in a knot as he winds
round and round. Track-walking is
very hazardous undertaking if a
train should suddenly pounce upon
one in some of the narrow cuttings or
along the steep embankment. Still,
in defiance of railway authorities, the
champion pedestrian commonly known
as the tramp sometimes walks along
this crooked iron pathway.
There are about 100 convicts in the
penal camp at Round Knob. Most
of these are black. There are only
five or six white men among the con-
victs. When our party reached the
camp they were making preparations
for dinner. The kitchen is big
shanty on the side of the mountain
and in it are large brick ovens and
another brick fire place in which is
a fixed kettle of prodigious size, in
which soup is cooked, Here and
there around the inclosure stood men
with shot guns or rifles in their hands
and round their waists belts of cart
ridges. One such guard as that was
in a little elevated sentry box, where
he could see most of the camp. There
arc thirteen guards altogether, or else
there are seven guards and they get
$13 a month, forget which it is
The State of North Carolina rents
out its convicts. The railway compa-
ny pays the State 1925 year for each
man, and the State feeds, clothes and
guards and lodges the convicts.-
There are penal settlements all along
the line Of the road, and the convicts
do the work that ordinary section men
do in other parts of the country. 1t
was Sunday when l visited the camp
and the men ordinarily are not sup
posed to work on Sunday.
However, in the night it had been
raining hard and landslide had taxi
en- place, so that thirty or forty of
them were then at work on the rail-
way. For this they get extra pay,
and the men are very glad to have a
chance of doing any Sunday work.
When they work after hours they also
get extra pay, and the men eagerly
accept the chance of earning few
dollars. The money is not paid to
them at once but is put to their credit
and when they are released the total
sum is handed over, so that by this
arrangement the convict in North
Carolina does not leave the penal set
tlement entirely destitute, and many
of them have quite sum at their dis
posal when they are free. When they
are released they also get railroad
pass which carries them from one end
of the road to the other.
Sometimes the men make dash
for liberty. They very rarely escape.
AT the time of my visit one man was
in irons, he having escaped week or
so before. His fate was that of the
usual escaper. He tramped through
the mountains for two or three days
and finally had to apply to some farm
house for something to eat; then he
was caught. The average prisoner
has no fetters on. 1t is only when a
man makes his escape and is captur-
ed again, that for time the fetters are
used. However interesting it might
be from newspaper standpoint 10
write up the horrors of a penal camp,
there were, as far as | could see, no
horrors in the camp of North Caroli-
ma. | saw the men at dinner under a
long wooden shed. The food that
they had was plentiful and whole
some, and very much better than a
oreat numher of peonle pet i'm the