New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-27
BEHIND PRISON BARS.
WHAT VISITOR SEES WHEN HE ENTERS A
GREAT HOME OF CRIMINALS.

WHAT VISITOR SEES WHEN He ENTERS A
GREAT HOME OF CRIMINALS.
Prison interior has a strange morbid fascihauoh
for the average freeman. There Is such general
atmosphere Of weird unrea!lty abOnt u oil, acc"nt'-
ated bv the sternc,t realities Of an iron dlciplnc
From the burly hard faced guard who leans upon us
shining Winchester In the sentry box on the walls.
TO the pale consnmpiive murderer whose hacking
cough Is the only sound that breaks the stiffness ~
the prison hospital everybody and thing j. strangely
different from the Outor world. Hundreds Of Silent.
striped suited convicts bending over their work
benches walking about the YAH with arms folded.
or marching IN loc,,tcp with eyes avcred surround
TIE visitor on every SIDE.
There Is a peculiar odor born both by the prison
apartments and by prison inmates which Is married.
and distinctive as the odor of the hospital u The
stccrage Ii tells OF life Of tOrudity barren u sun
shine and OF c,arge. II tells Of utensils and cells
made stale and foul with constant usage IN spite OF
endless scrubbinc and rinsing The prison Is one
great hive Of yellow. Closccroppcd. hangdog boxing
humanity, speaking TO their keepers or 10 their com
panlon aborers at rare intervals and IN ubdud tones
but possessed Of secret freemasonry and means
Of communication with another md with tie ont
side world that battles the most rigid discipline and
searching inquistOn.
The thing that strikes the visitor from the outer
world most IS tie apparent weakness 81 the govern
Ing power. A hundred cOnvicis. armed with knives
two long and sharp razOrs eating out great
piles Of clothing I'm room guarded by half dozen
apparently unnamed keepers. Another company Of
surly maleactOis are plying the hammer and cLisel
In a stone yard. mingllng with II handful Of guards
whose skulls c0ud BE- split In five seconds after the
giving OF u precorcertcd signal. II IS the vast b1t
unseen slumbeIing power Of the Stnte that holds
them the knowledge OF the keen-sightcd irOn.nervod
marl,,mcn on the outer walls whose repeating rthes
carry seventeen lives apiece and the hopeessncss Of
flight TO a world where every mans hand would be
agans, them. and even temporary success could only
end In death heightened punishment
Principal Keeper Conuaugton OF Sing Sing prison
has spent seventeen years Of his HE among convics
and never carried pistol Dozens Of times he has
been assaulted BY desperate convics. but his brawny
arm and heavy stick have carried him through safely.
"What was the narrowest escape you ever hadl" a
wondering visitor asked him once.
"When a fellow jumped me with n knife as |
was sitting I'm my Office" said the keeper.
"What did you dO?"
sent him to the hospital when finished" was
the aconlc. but expressive. answer
"They have no heart" continued this stecly.cycd
convlctdrver, with the square. massive Jaw. ain
the days when worked them In tie quarres ! have
een three hundred Of them break away In body and
go running down through the yard 10 tie railway track
Only two guards with Wrchestcrs stood between this
rushing mob and freedom. The first three shot,
dropped the first three convic' and the rest turned
and for their lives back t. quarters"
Among the Urosties Of every prison are the IA.
nous couvcts notorious murderers fallen bank prcsi.
dents. clever swinders and romantic deeperndOes Of
every type. The Oldest prisoner Is also out
for Inspection by the specially favored; some old
whitehaircd. pale-faced man. who for two score
years perhaps has not Looked beyond the prison
walls, stands blinking before the visitors. Whom he
left the world the Civil War unfouCht, France
Empire. Germany mass OF disorguIized States
Outside III" shining river SIN draws It's waters from
the purple hin. and busy Me flows hut all Is dead
20 him
As the visitor stands In the little Green courtyard
At shutdown. and sees company after company Of
sickly looking prisoners issue from shops and store
rooms, and wind around the walks like 30 many huge
centiprdes with Oh" fluctuations Of The Ockstep ench
man with a soppall on his arm and n loaf Of bread
In his hand as he views them disappearing into the
crypt IKE dining room, whose floor Is wet with The
sors from a thousand tn coffee cups. or watched them
fling into the tier after tier 81 galleries That lead 10
their narrow, stufiy little cells whore the nigh, Is
passed under lock and key he comes through the
low nrched entrance on his way freedom and catches
glimpse Of the waiting ROOM where a prisoner stands
with look Of agony his duh face beside the sob
shaken form Of visiting sister or mother: as he
hears the great iron gate shut with harsh dangling
sound behind him. md slowly shakes OF the horror
and disgrace that steep the very atmosphere Of the
place he realizes he never did before that the wny
OF the transgressor Is lard.