The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-13
LIFE IN ENGLISH PRISONS.
a Convict's Lot There is Indeed a Most
Unhappy One.


Unhappy One.
From the New York Advertiser.
London Aug ls-A lawbrealler who
7 gets into an English prison tastes tits tuI
/ rigor the sternness OF correctioualcoIfn
meut Here there are none of the privi-
/ leges known in American prisons. Nav *
/ ish sentiment finds no place and brutal
T crime is not glorided by foolish women.
Hard 10 Dor is generally the real thing ia
/ English prisons, not a pleas
I ant occupation like in IS with us at
home. The prisoner in England serves
1 his sentence with Hut the scanlie5t kuOwl-
edge of what is passing in the outside
world. He sees no newspapers No
prisoner, however interesting is pam
pered by foolish sentimeualists from iu-
side or the outside walls of his jail; ne
. can receive no flowers 10 good things 20
eat and drink, 10 callers, no brig-a-urac
for his cell. He is cut Of from all man
kind. except that errinC section of il that
lives for term beneath the same roofs as
( himself
Not all the prisons lave workshops at
taChcd. Where there are no shops "a man
who is sentenced to hard labor must, if
the medical examination shows him lit TO
endure IL, 70 on the rrcad-mlH for p
hours In the morning and - hours in
5nc alternOOn-m qUarter-nOu turns.
with five minutes rest between
each. After the first month, when he
passes from the primary stage OF impris-
oumeut, he can work aC trade if there
are workshops in the prison, and if there
are no shops he must PICK three pounds
Of oakum day. For this purpose he re
mains in his cell. The treadmill disagree
able as IL is, has terrors only for the
novice who strains away at useless labor
aud because he does not know the trick Of
the mill grows sick and faint and easily
tagged" The trick Of Jhe mill is for
the men 10 support their weight by their
hands. as they have to grip the rings, the
rope or bars, as the case may be. sUs-
pended above them, aun then they permit
their legs TO do as little work as possible
so long as the treadmill is kept in motion.
There is a worse kind Of iaoOr than the
, trcadmiu. 10 consists of turning crank
which, being heavily weighted with lead,
works very stihiy, and which serves 40
purpose whatever, except TO record the
humble" of its own revolutions. From
5000 to 1000 revolutions will record
days labor. Pumping water is another
form Of hard labor but, as this work
serves some purpose, it is not so depress-
ing as the crank movement
There is probationary system in use
here which works very well. When
lldll III ItGNLt9 HIS tt-A4 LuGiE IS no ma u
tress, the bed clothing consisting Of a rug,
a blanket, a pillow and a couple OF sheets.
This might be called the bed of probation,
for at the end Of the first month the pris-
oner, if he has earned sufficient number
OF good conduct marks, is permitted to
use a mattress three nights "a week
This seems rather a curious regulation
nevertheless it is the prison rule. In fact,
the prisoner must pass through three
nc bp D.
luxury afforded by the establishment in
the way of beds and meals. In each
stage he must earn pa good conduct
marks. in the first stage he must for
month use his plank bed without "A mat
tress; in the second stage he is allowed
a mattress four nights a week; in the
third stage he has it five nights a week.
and which he reaches the fourth stage he
Is permitted to sleep on d mattress every
night.
his FRUGAL FARE.
The prisoners conduct determines his
period of enjoyment of the fourth stage
luxury. If he behaves himself, he con-
tinues in the fourth stage for the ne main
der OF his sentence; if not, he is lowered
to the third, the second or the first stage,
according to his dement's. But ne is per-
mitted to work his way up again if he
chooses TO do 50.
L VI btNohAcob anu ul'iiNA q ptiopntL III
the first stage is allowed eight ounces of
bread and as much water as he cares to
drink. In the second stage be has a pint
of Cruel and six ounces of bread In the
third stage he has pint Of Cruel and
eight ounces of bread The happy pris-
oner who has reached the fourth stage
has for breakfast and supper eight
onces Of bread and pint of porrldge, or
twice q week pint Of cocoa in lieu Of the
porridge.
In the first stage a convict's dinner is
the same from day to day, consisting of
about pint and half of "stirabout :" in
the second stage he dimes on eight ounces
Of potatoes and six ounces bread; in the
third stage on three-quarters of an ounce
of fat bacon, three-quarters Of pound of
boiled harico5 beans and six ounces of
bread, while in the fourth stage he has
one ounce of fat bacon, three-quarters of
a pound of boiled haricOt beans and eight
ounces of bread. This menu is varied on
different days by changed computations.
There are no turkey dinners at Christmas
as there are with US
Herr Stoecker the notorious German Jov