Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-08
ITS RED LETTER DAY.
There Are Now SIG Prison.
erS Confined in the West
ern Penitentiary.
NEVER AS MANY BEFORE.
Of All This Number There Are Only
Fwenty-Three Females.
DEATH WIPES OUT A SENTENCE.
William Malone, a Noted Criminal, Died
there Yesterday.
NEVER AS MANY BEFORE.
DEATH WIPES OUT A SENTENCE.
AS he EXPIRED HIS PLACE WAS FILLED

To-day there are more prisoners in the
Western Penitentiary than were ever con-
fined there since the institution was located
in Western Pennsylvania. On q slate ly-
ing in the office of the prison last night
were inscribed these words: ''The popula-
ton of the Western Penitentiary to-day is
S76" On inquiry it was found that this
was the largest number the prison rolls
ever contained. A peculiar thing about
the makeup of this little imprisoned world
is that there are onlv % female inmates
In the past year there have been but four
deaths. The last man to leave the prison
by this route was William Malone, who
died yesterday. He was one of the 16 men
confined in the hospital department, and
since his admission there, eight years ago,
has spent most of his time in the sick wards.
Life finally wore itself out, and at just 9:05
yesterday morning he died As Malone
passed away the prison doors were thrown
open and another criminal was brought in
to take the dead mans place.
A Criminal Since Youth.
Malone was % years of age, and had been
a criminal the greater part of his life. He
Elk county. He was serving sentence of
l6 wears and six months His crimes were
burglary, robbery, assault with intent to
kill and aggravated assault and battery. He
was admitted on November "a, 1884 when
10 years of age. Malone had served q tsrm
of two years previous to then for some
other offense. He now has a brother in the
institution. Last night Malone's gray
haired mother arrived in the city and took
her sons remains to Ridgeway for burial
The $40 persons sent there for having
committed every known crime are handled
as easily as though they were as many
school children. Every soul is disciplined,
and to-day there is not a prisoner being
punished for disobedience to prison rules or
any other cause. The establishing of the
two grades has done much to better the
condition of the inmates. After a certain
time if prisoner complies with all the
rules and shows disposition to do the right
thing, he is allowed to cast aside the
striped garb and don a suit of grayish
color TWo-thirds of the prisoners are now
wearing the gray, and the other third is
striving hard to attain this mark of honor.
How Much Time Is Spent.
The male prisoners are engaged each day
making brooms, mats, hosiery and shoes,
while the women manufacture shirts and
underwear and see that all wearing apparel
is kept in proper shape. The penitentiary
exchanges its products with the West
Indies for the material used in making
mats There is also a good deal of the stuff
disposed of in the far Western States The
Pullman Palace Car Company buys all its
mats from the penitentiary.
Every evening at o'clock the prisoners
quit work, and BY 6 o'clock they have fin
ished their supper. Three nights a week
the inmates are allowed two hours to spend
in their own enjoyment At these times
they are allowed to break the intense uuie-
tude of prison lite by music, writing or
reading, or in any manner they wish,
There is great diversity in the way these
pleasure hours are used. In every cell
candles are burning, and under their glare
many can be seen reading or writing. In MANY
OF these iron-bound rooms musicians of no
mean character are confined. Often as the
shades gather along the dark corridors
sweet strains float out from behind the iron
bars, flooding the great building with beauti-
ful music. The violin, mandolin and guitar
are the principal instruments. The tunes
are generally very sad and the music is al
ways played low and sweet. At the end of
this most pleasant time in the day the
prisoners are marched off to school This is
a peculiar sight. Men with snowy white
hair and the young man of 20 alike attend
the school, and many of the old fellows are
just learning their letters