The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-03-08
RUN BY CON NVICTS.
Riot and Revolt IN the Massachu-
setts State Prison.
GOV. RUSSELL ACTS WITH VlGOR
Twelve Weapons Taken from Most Des-
perate Criminals Only Last week-A
Daring Plan for q General Escape
Nipped in tho Bud.

| BOSTON, Mass March o.-GOv. Russell
has taken mold Of the state prison mud
die ia person today aud has constituted d
himself acting warden.
TIE prisoners ar TO be locked i'm their
cells and he will personally conduct a
search for weapons.
The governor left the state house at
1890 o'clock this morning for the prison.
He will meet the members of the prison
commission there aud will take thin. s
into his own la IDS.
"All that care TO say at present" said
the governor as he left the state house,
''is that / am going to the prison and
w IL see that steps are taken for the pre-
s,rvatioa of peace and the enforcement
| OF discipline, This afternoon shall ap-
point new warden"
He has called special meeting of
the executive council and will sub
nit the name Of the new warden at
that time. 1t is supposed to be Gen.
Benjamin f. Bridge. Jr
The governors action is due to the
startling condition of affairs which ex-
lists at the prison. Escapes have been
| frequent, riots have occurred aud
officers have been severely used
| by prisoners. The convcts have
I
Alter taking charge Of the ins tuition
and taking the contr) out OF the deputy
warden's hands altogether, Gov. Russell
| gave orders that no Inspectors nor super
| intendent should be allowed in the work
shops today. These are outside men. aud
while the investigation is going on they
will not be allowed to enter the prison.
Officers at once began the search OF the
| ahops co,umanpinU with tho rapair
shops. IL will take full day to search
each shop. as every nook and corner is to
be thoroughly busted out, if the gov
ernor's orders are carried out to letter
| They have the upper hand. Not only do
| they say SO, but this is the statement OF
| one of the oldest officials Of that institu-
| tion. The watchmen are afraid of their
| lives, and expect any minute to be called
upon to face crowd Of infuriated felons
who have in their possession nearly 100 re-
| volvers
Such state Of affairs never before ex-
listed in any penal institution, and, as one
| of the guards told reporter yesterday, it
| II was about time somebody said something
about the rottenness that existed inside
| the dark. somber walls in Charlestown.
/
! than there is in boarding school" That
is the terse way an employe put it.
| One person has had the courage to come
out and say what is what, and several
others informed press representatives yes
terday they could say as much, but it was
matter of 800 a month to them, and
they
| Thought More Of Their Jobs
than they did of showing up the bad state
of affairs in Charlestown.
| According TO the stories told by the pris-
oners to the guards, it is very easy mat
ter to get all the firearms into the prison
the convicts want. Less than week ago
IL revolvers were taken away from one OF
the most desperate criminals within the
walls, and these were secreted in the pri-
vate trunks or chests Of the convicts.
| Three days ago load of coal was
brought into the yard, and underneath the
coal were two of the same kind of re-
volvers found in the trunk of the prisoner
above referred to. This comes from the
lips of man who saw them.
While one of the guards was passing
through the wings recently, he was asked
by a prisoner what he (the guard) imagined
a pistol like the one found after Booth had
been subdued would cost The guard said
what he thought would be about the right
| price, and the prisoner braced up and said
he could get a revolver just like it for $40
and it would be delivered TO him inside the
walls Of the prison within three days.
1t is common talk with the employees
that the convicts know more about the
outside than the guards do, and yesterday
they had the daily papers in the prison be-
fore afternoon.
Deputy Warden Huckins got tip yes
terday after dinner that there was to be
A Break For Liberty
during the afternoon, and Immediately
notified the guards TO be on the lookout.
As near as can be found out, the plar
was TO get out on the roof of the shoeshoI
and by means of board make their es
cape over the wall Mr.. Ramsdell is the
only guard near where the men intended
to scale the wall, and il looked like an easy
job for them to accomplish their work
Some way or other the plan fell through.
The noise Of the brawl when the mel
came upstairs with their supper last even
ing had hardly died away before another
one began. They would rub the plates
against the bars and yell a. loud as the,
could.
Soon Officer Hyde made his appearance
and he was called some pretty hard names
and many threats were made for his telling
that the prisoners had revolvers.
Those who visited the institution yester
day had the opinion that revolution
would soon take place there, and as soor
as move was made towards disciplininl
the men there would be trouble.
Mr.. Hyde says that the present difficult!
Is the result Of continually making con
cessions to the men, and they now expec
to have soft snap in prison.