The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-05-26
Prison Studies by Bill Nye.

Newark has the most desirable Jail in the
state of Ohio, and possibly in the United
States. 1t is built of cut stone. in a modern
and artistic manner, with beautiful porch,
handsome lawns around it, and in every
way resembles the dwelling of a wealthy
merchant instead Of the calaboOse of city.
Criminals come here for hundreds of
miles to be incarcerated. Men contemplat.
ing crime try to arrange it so that the Offense
may be committed in Newark and them
selves also. 1t is certainly one of the most
neat and attractive iailS that l have ever
seen, and have made jail life close study
for years. While in France | visited
facsimile of the old Bastile, which had
been reconstructed exactly by a French
architect.
The Bastile was built in 1870 by Charles
V. 1t was the state prison. The stones
of the old Bastile are now used in paving
the streets at the forks of the road in Paris,
called the Place de la Bastile. or where the
Place runs into one of the Rues. Paris is
the greatest town for Rues that have ever
seen.
The Bastile had eight towers. five stories
high. in which prisoners could be confined
and be entirely cut off from the rest, and
even the prison authorities did not need to
know they were there.
Here literary people who had written
pieces for the papers over the signature of
"Veritas" were incarcerated for weeks and
months and years. only to be at last be-
headed by the light running and nOiseleSs
guillotine. Those who sasSed the admins
tratiOn were gathered in by means of the
Lettre de Cachet. and that was sufficient.
W. ho rIo1 tl,of 1;x,r
. in land where one can have not one trial
alone. but seven or eight, together with an
arrest of judgment and executive clemency.
The Bastile was destroyed by the French
revOlutiOnstS July IA. 1889. and now it is
the great national holiday. July IA all the
French women and alliance people thrOng
the streets. bringing their lunch with them,
including long. black bottle of sour wine,
with which they fill themselves in wild
and Intellectual effort to get intoxicated.
Until a comparatively recent date the use
of graphite has been confined to the produce
ton of lead pencils. the manufacture of
crucibes. and to various preparations for
stone polishing. etc. Of late, however. its
other qualities and adaptations have been
made apparent, and utilized. opening up to
the mineral entirely new and extensive
fields of usefulness. prominent among these
being its consumption as lubricant. For
the bearings of heavy machinery it makes a
superior lubricant to oil, being clean, leav-
ing no dripping of grease and one proper
application lasting as long as the bearings
themselves. When the discovery was first
made that graphite possessed the property
in question. some difficulty was experienced
to keep it. as lubricant in place-it being,
as originally employed. mixed with oil and
applied to smooth surfaced bearings. but,
though serving the purpose well for while.
the substance would creep out and escape,
requiring constant renewal. This is Obvi-
ated by the use of grooved bushings, the
grooves being filled with a seventy five per
cent. graphite composition. the box requir
ing no reflling. and the bearings needing
no new application until the box is worn
out. For some time past graphite has also
been made into paint for smokestacks,
boilers, and other metal surfaces.-N. Y.
Sun.