Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-06-10
BEHIND PRISON BARS.
WHAT MAY Be SEEN IN ANY oRsAY
HOME OF CRIMINALS.

A visIt 10 Sing Sine >ev York states
Famous RsceftacIe Tor Consiets The
Prison odor Tbe Apparent Lack of
Strength In visible Government.
A prison interior hus a strange, NOR
bid fascination for tine average freeman.
There is such general atmosphere u
weird unrcality about it all, accentuated
by the sternest realities of an iron disei-
pline. From the burly, hard faced
guard. who leans upon his shining " IN
chester in the sentry box on the walls.
TO the pale consunptive murderer, whose
hacking cough is the only sound that
breaks the slillna II the prison hos
pital, every body N. ng is strangely
different from the outer world. Hum
dreda Of silent, striped suited convicts
bending over their wUrkbenches, walk
ing about the yard with arms folded or
marching IN lockstep with eyes ayerted,
surround the visitor on every side.
There is peculiar odor born both 10y
the prison apartments aud 10y the prison
inmates which is as marked aud dis
tiuctive as the odor of the hospital or of
tbe steerngc. II tells Of a life of torpid
ity. barren Of sunshine aud Of change.
II tells of utensils and cells made stale
and foul with constant usage in spite If
endless scruObiug and riu-ing, The
prison is one great hive Of yellow. close
cropped, hausdog looking humanity,
speaking to their keepers or 10 their
companion laborers at rare intervals and
in suhdued tones, lut possessed Of some
secret freemasoury and means of com
munication with one another and with
the outside wG-'l HAT battles the most
rigid disci. searching inquisi-
tion.
The thing that strikes the visitor from
the outer world most Is the apparent
weakness Of the governing power. A
hundred cUnyiCts ARMED with knives two
feet long and shsrpas razors are eating
ont greit piles IT clothing in room
guarded by halt a dozen apparently un-
armed keepers. Another company II
surly maleiactors are plying thc hammer
and chiscl ia stone yard mingiiug with
"A handful Of guard whose skulls cuuld
be split in i've seconds after the giving Of
preconcerted signal. II Is the vast but
unseen simnhering power Of the state
that holds them; the knowledge of the
keen sighted, iron Eerved marksmen on
the oniCr walls, whose repeating rifles
carry seventeen lives apiece, aud the
hopelessncss Of flight 10 a world where
every mans hand would be against llein
and even temporary success could only
end IN death OF heightened punishment
Principal Keeper CauUaughton, OF sing
Sing prison. has spent seventeen years az
his life among Cagyiets aud never cnr-
ried a pistol. Dozens uf times tie has
been assaulted by dc peyate couyiCts, but
his brawny arm AID heavy stick have
carried him throBgH safely.
What was Lse msn3Wcsi escape you
ever had? a wondering visitor ked him
once.
"When fellow jumped on me with a
-knife as was sitting in my office, said
the keeper.
"N hat did you do
Sent him to the hospital when fin
ished, was the laconic but expressive
answer.
They have no heari," continued fhis
steely eyed convict driver with the
square, massive jaw In the days
when we worked tBem IA The quarriea |
have seen three hundred OF them break
away IN Il body AMI - running down
through the yard u tho railway track.
Only two guards win Winchesters
stood between TINS rushing mob and
freedom. The iir-t three shots dropped
the first three eouricts, and the rest
turned ana ran for their lives buck 10
quarters"
Among the Curiu,isigs Of every pris0u
are the famous c8nyicfs. notorious nn.
derers, fallen bank presidents, clever
swindlers and romantic d-speradoas oi
every type. The eldest prisoner is also
trotted ont for inspection by tie spa
cially favored; some old, white haired
pale faced man. VINO fur twoseare year,
perhaps has n4t looked beyond tht
prison walls. stands blinking before tat
yisitorz. When he lefl the world ths
civil war was mTaHsHt France was NJ
empire. Germany mass of disargan
ized states. Outside tie shining riYei
still draws its Watar from tho pnrpl,
hill, and busy lire lows On, but I'll i
dead to him.
As the visitor stands IN the it'll,
green courtyard at snnduwn and see
company after company Of sickly look
ing prisoners issue tom shops and store
rooms and wind around the walks iikt
SO many hinge renaPels, with the nu
dulations of the ioeks,ep. each MAJ
with a slnp pail on his arm and lnat o
bread in his hand. as he views them dis
appearing into the crypliku diniu.
room, whose ao9r i wet with the slaI
from thousand tin coffee cups. @
watches them thing INTO the tier afte
tier Of galleries th4t lead % their uar
row. stuify little cells where tAe nigh
is passed under lock uud key; rs h
comes through the low aTchcd eutraae
on his way 10 freedom and catches
glimpse Of the waiting room, where
prisoner stan4s with a look Of agony i
lis dull face beside thc sob shaken farr
of visiting sistes of mother; Is Il
hears the great iron gate shut with
harsh. jangling sound behind him an
slowly shakes of tue horror aud di.
grace tina; steep the very atmosphere O
tine place, he realizes as he never aid i.
fore that the way Il the trans gresseE
hard. New York Tribune
The Area Of the Moon.
Recent astruuemieal calculations nav
caused the 'star gazers" 70 auuoune
that the surface II tho moon Is about q