The Portland daily press., 1891-07-21
pREARY PRISON LIFE,
MuItifarious Tricks Of the ConvIcts
to XIII Time,
New York Herald. I

New York Herald
There are many incidents in the prison
life of convicts that are out of she ordi-
nary, and may be said to form part Of
| their pleasures, although some are weird
| and tragic enough in themselves to be
classed as anything but pleasures. Tree
ollect on one occasion that I was appoint
ed a special "trusty" over a tall, lank.
dark featured young southerner who, In
moment of hopeless desperation, had
cut his throat.
Teddy, as we will call him, had been
headstrong boy, and his parents could
not control him, and after a youthful
vagabondage he had enlisted in the req Re
ular army, where he was always in troS1-
BILE. When under my care in the special
hospital ward to which he had been sent
he related much of his past life to me.
and learned that he had attempted to
take his life when he was soldier in the
same manner as he had done in state
prison.
He was not a bad sort of fellow, but
being of sensitive nature, as well as
unre asonable, he allowed his gloomy
thoughts to master him, and this would
result in periods of depression and SUBJ
sequent desperation, and he cared not
what he said or did. In fact, he was in
clined to emotional insanity.
One night, while my fellow trusty and
We're engaged in conversation, he lay
on his coz bordering over his gloomy
fate, when something we said aroused
him, and he flew into rage, got up and
grappled me in desperate manner.
Iquickly flung him back on his cot
and pinioned him, telling my fellow
trusty-a mere boy-to ring up the
guard.
1t was terrible struggle to keep him
in subsection until the guard arrived, for
his frenzy gave him almost superhuman
strength. He quoted down as soon as
the guard arrived and said he was a fool
for getting into such temper, and as
he feared the straitjacket he promised
to behave himself In the future.
He, however, in another of his frenzied
attacks attempted to tear open the wound
in his throat, and it was by no means an
easy matter to prevent him doing So
But a reasonable and sympathetic talk
generally conquered his excitability. He
finally was sent to the insane asylum.
One morning as prayer was being said
In the prison chapel one Of the convicts
set up howl and began barking like a
dog, after which he clapped his hands.
one, two, three; one, two, three-and
this caused a general murmur of mixed
merriment and expectation.
Two guards Immediately passed to the
end OF the form on which he was sitting
and were hustling him out of the chapel
when he flew into rage, struggled with
them and hurled horrible curses at them
as well as at the officiating chaplain,
who was particularly obnoxious man
to the prisoners. Whether the fellow
was insane or not l cannot say. The
prison authorities thought he was not,
and he was roundly punished for his
escapade.
On another occasion as we were march
ing into the hall for supper one of the
convicts gave howl. threw up his arms
and dropped dead on the foor-a fellow
convict had stabbed him. There was
some enmity between the two, and it re-
suited in the death of both.
was hospital trusty, and a long line
OF prisoners were being attended to by
the doctor for real or imaginary ills. One
of the prisoners on this particular occa-
sion had nearly served his term of sem
tence, and he was to have been exam
med In order that the medical officer
could report on his condition.
was preparing a dose of common
STUN for the prisoner standing next but
one to him when he fell forward on the
moor ana blood gushed from his mouth
In a stream. He had ruptured a blood
vessel, and in spite of the doctors efforts
the poor fellow died
Malingering is a very general method
among prisoners to shirk the monotony
or the labor consequent on their impris-
onment Anything that will relieve the
tediousness and is at hand is brought
into action. One here in the quarry
will mash his finger in order that he may
be sent to the hospital.
Another there will-quite accidental
ly Of course-fall down the corridor
steps and sustain such injuries as to in
sure quiet time of convalescence on a
hospital diet, and SO forth; but the pris-
on doctor is au fait with all classes Of
malingers, and uses his experience In
treating such as come before him. Con-
sequently the good times often antici-
pated never materialize
know one ignorant. soft headed fell
low who became really i'll by eating the
soap he was allowed with which to per-
form his daily additions. Often had
cases come before me where soap eating
had put men into feeble state of health
and lent a sickly aspect to their counte-
nances, but this fellow was sick, and no
mistake.
After course of treatment which was
in itself as bad as the cause for 1t he
was, however, restored and sent into
solitary confinement as further punish
ment. He never ate soap again, but,
may remark, he was subsequently poi
soned by eating some of the vegetable
growths around where he, with his fell
lows, was wont to labor.
All things considered, the malingerer
comes out only second best, but it must
be terrible punishment that causes
men to resort to it In order to tighten
their burdens.
The two most notable cases I have
ever met Of this kind were where man
boldly put his foot under falling mass
of stone In the quarry, causing 1t to be
terribly crushed and to be eventually
amputated; and, In the second case,
where a man feigned rheumatism and
underwent every conceivable torture at