Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1891-09-18
PRISON LIFE.
q TRICKS OF CoNvicrs no KILL
TINE.
Prisoners Who Deliberately Main
themselves for Purpose aud
Others Who Incite In
cipient NIutinics.

ON nic OIL convlcts that are out OF the
ordinary, 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.
rccollect on one occasion that I was
appointed special s'trusty" over tall,
lank, dark featured young Southerner
who, in. a moment of hopeless despera.
ton, had cut his throat. Teddy, as we
will call him, had been headstrong
boy, and his parents could not control
him, and, after youthful vagabondage,
he had enlisted in the regular army,
where he was always in trouble. When
Under my care in the special hospital
ward to which he had been sent he re-
lated much of his past life to me, and 1
learned flat he had attempted to take
his life when he was q soldier in the same
manner us he had done in State prison.
He was not bad sort of fellow, but be-
ing OF sensitive nature, as we'll rs I'M
reasonable, he allowed his gloomy
thoughts to master him, and this would
result in periods of depression and sub.
sequent desperation, aud he cared not
what he said or did. In fact, he was
inclined to emotional insanity.
One night, while my fellow trusty and
were engaged in conversation, he lay
on his cot bordering over his gloomy
fate, when something we said aroused
him and he flew into rage, got UP and
grapplcd me in a desperate manner. 1
quickly flung him back on his cot and
pinioncd him, telling my fellow trusty-
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 MS
the guard arrived and said he was fool
for getting into such temper, and as he
feared the straightjacket he promised to
behave himself in the future. He, how
ever, 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 gen.
orally conquered his excitability. He
finally was sent to the insane asylum.
One morning rs prayer was being said
In the prison chapel one of the convicts
set up howl and began barking like
dog, after which he clapped his hands
one, two, three; one, two, three-and
this caused general murmur of mixed
inerriment and expectation. Two guar IS
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 ut them as we'll as
at the officiating chaplain, who was par
ticularly obnoxious man to the prisoners.
Whether the fellow was insane or not I
cannot say. The prison authorities
thought he was not, aud he was roundly
punished for his escapade.
Op another occasion as we were
marching into the hall for supper one of
the convicts gave howl, threw up his
arms and dropped dead on the floor-a
fellow convict had stabbed him. There
was some cnmity between the two and it
resulted in the death OF both.
Malingering is very general method
among prisoners to shirk the monotoay
or the labor consequent on their inpris
onnent. 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 into the hospital. Another there will
quite accidentally, of course-fall
down the corridor steps and sustain such
injuries as to insure a quiet time of con-
va!escence on a hospital diet, and so
forth; but the prison doctor is al fait
with all classes Of malingerers, and uses
his experience in treating such as come
before him. Consequently the good
times often anticipated never material:ze.
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 q sickly aspect to their counte-
nances, but this fellow was sick and no
: mistake. After a course of treatment
which was in itself rs bad as the cause
for it, he was, however, restored and
sent to solitary confinement as further
punishment. He never ate soap again,
but, may remark. he was subsequent.
ly poisoned by eating some of the vege-
table growths around where he, with his
fellows, was wont to labor.
All things considered, the malingerer
comes out only second best, but it must
be terrible punishment that causes men
toresort to it in order to Tighten their
burdens.
The two most notable cases ever met
of this kind were where man boldly
put his foot under falling mass of stone
in the quarry, causing it to be terribly
crushed, and to be eventually ampu-
tated; and, in the second case, where a
man feigned rheumatism and underwent
every conceivable torture at the hands of
the prison physician, who knew the fell
low. was shamming.
Then another phase of life arises from
the incipient mutinies that take place
from one cause or another. 1t is some
what pleasurable to even tho most
''model" prisoner to listen to crowd of
his fellows singing and shouting in up
roar when something has arisen that has
irritated them. This something is a
varied thing in itself. 1t may be mean
and cowardly guard in charge, or it may
mn nj, 81 l..