Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-02-26
THE PRISONS OF FINLAND

typical Dungeon of the Twelfth Cent.
ury.
ABOUT midway between the observa-
'ory ana the sea stands Abo Castle.
Whlch is the oldest building in Finland,
l. oates back to 1157, to the DAYS of
Hric the SAINT, the first Swedish con-
Iuerof' Who with St. Henry. Bishop of
Cpsaia, introduced Christianity into
lniand. Henry has since been regard
GU as the patron saint of the Firms.
IN the hfteenth and sixteenth cent
urles the old castle witnessed the fall
VI many calamlties upon Abo. The
Town was ravaged in 145S with fire.
hinoied by lightning, and within TWEEN
y years 1t was burned again. In 1909
'he Danes sacked the place, and half a
century later three fires occurred sue
ceSSiVeiy within six years, after which
IN Iol4, the castle itself was burnt dur
lhS visit of Gustavus ii. Adolphus,
when the royal kitchen took fire.
y few rooms in the castle are now set
apart Tor museum of antiquities.
Another part of the castle was used
as a storehouse, but the portion that
attracted me most was the prison. nv
nrst visit to which, in 1874. | had never
forgotten. In those young days of my
prison experience | had seen nothing
worse than the 1olbooth in Edinburgh.
and knew nothing of dungeons in baron
lal castles save what | had gathered
from Robin Hood and similar stories of
my boyhood. But when came to Abo
witnessed what my imagination had
pictured. flight of steps brought us
10 damp dark passage, through which
we made our way. illumined by the
hght OF lantern, to a heavily-bolted.
clumsy door. This was duly opened.
and we were invited to enter. Having
SO done, we found ourselves in
a good-slZed room, dimly lighted by a
window. which was shaded by a high
building only a few feet distant. The
embraSure of a window exposed a wall
should think twelve feet thick. and on
the inner side of which We're grated bars
so that the glazing could be opened and
shut only by means of a long rod. The
floor was of bare earth, and the furni-
ture, If such it could be called. was of
the toughest description. \ ricl5ety.
wooden bedStead. an carthCn ever with
water. lump of coarse black bread.
and wooden tub containing salt fish
heads, showed us prison fare which
looked coarse enough; but, to our sur
prise, we We're told that in spite %
such drawbacks, some of the poor come
to the Jail in autumn and beg to be al
lowed admlttance, in preference to en-
during the hardships of a northern win
ter. This would have seemed to me
hardly credible had not heard a sim
liar story when visiting one of the
prisons in Germany.
There is one point in which Finnish
prisons take precedence of all others l
have visited in Europe, Asia or Ameri-
ca. | mean in the chains used therein.
and their enormous weight. In two
cells at AbO we found man in each
laden with terrible irons, weighing in
the first ease three Finnish lis-pundS, or
sixty pounds, and in the second ease
more than q hundred-weight. IN the
latter instance the unfortunate man
had iron bands round his neck and
waist. fastened together by Il heavy
chain. which continued nearly to
the ground. and was further at
tached to two chains securing
the ankles. The hands We're likewise
scared by links riveted to the waist
band. | obtained photographs of men
thus chained. but not representing the
worst. for | have seen also in F-alland
thick iron anlllets pierced with holes.
through which is passed an iron bolt
thick as crowbar. and the forty
pounds weight of which rests on
pads on the insteps The prison
authorities inform me that these irons
are used only rarely, and principally
for the transport of dangerous Grim
inals. | remember hearing when in Fin
land in 1876 that it some times happened
when prisoners We're on their way
from the country districts in farmers
carts that accomplices waylaid the Off
GERS and released their comrades
Henry Lansdell, ID, in Harper's
Magazine.