Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1894-03-09
Will WEAR STRIPES.
convicts In the P~enitentiary Will
Be Fitted Out With a New
Style Of Clothing.
One Hundred Suits Of Regulation
Striped Clothing Received for
Their Altering.
Various and Varied l1tems Of Local
News Gathered In and Round
The City.
Convlcts WIN wear stripes.

Convicts Will Wear Stripes.
Should q convict escape from the
North Dakota ~penitentiary in the here.
after, his road to freedom will not be SO
easily travelled as it might be-, did he
have q change of outer clothing. In
fact, about the first efforts he makes will
have to be toward securing a suit OF
clothing which shall be less conspicuous
than the ones in which he is attired when
he makes his escape. In his failure to
secure such a change, he will be forced
to do his travelling by right, and to alb
stain from eating, except what fruits and
nuts he can gather in the solitude of
North Dakota's woods and prairies.
Should he approach q settlement, or
seen by anyone, his appearance
will arouse a mild suspicion as to his
right to be at llberty-for he will wear
q suit of striped clothing, of the very lat
est style in %penltentiary fashions, and
conspicuous enough to attract immedi-
ate attention.
The adoption of stripes in the %institu-
ton is an idea which will result in good,
and will render much more difficult the
escape Of any prisoner, should he sue
coed in once escaping from the prison
walls. They would have been of great
service last year, when twelve %convicts
made a break for, liberty, when being
driven home from work, for they would
have afforded a means of description
which could not have been mistaken by
anyone seeing them. AS it was, the men
we're not attired so as to excite much, if
any, suspicion from a casual observer.
They wore blue ~overalls, dark flannel
shirts, aud other articles Of apparel,
such as any ordinary laborer might have
worn. AS il. was,the men were.all recap
tured with once exception, and without
much trouble, but there might have been
more difficulty in experimenting them,
when their wearing of striped suits
would have been of great service 10 the
pursuing officers.
These and Some other considerations,
such as uniformity of appearance and
general conformity to prison customs,
have induced those who have charge of
the penitentiary to inaugurate the new
system of dress. The suits were ordered
some time ago, and arrived yesterday,
one hundred in all. They we're taken
out by Warden Boucher last night, and
to-day and for the next few days, the
convicts will be attired in their new hab-
ilaments, and become accustomed to the
new pattern of cloth.
The suits are of a rather neat pattern
for prison CARDS, being gray in color,
with a broad, dark stripe, and a narrow,
light stripe, conspicuous enough to be
d~istinguishable at a reasonable distance.
They are all Of the same texture of fine
ness and width Of stripe, so that no one
convict shall be made to be envious, be-
cause OF the possession by another Of a
broader stripe than his own. Down in
Saltwater, according to Warden Boucher
who visited there recently, there are
three patterns of olothing,in use. One, a
narrow stripe, and not conspicuous, for
the best behaved Of the inmates; another
a little broader, and a sort of crossbar.
for the second class. For the tougher
class, they have a broad, homely stripe,
Indicative in conepicuity of the necessity
of having the men who wear it so ap-
pareled. None OF this discrimination,
however, will be made here.
Warden Boucher, speaking of peni-
Tertiary matters generally, is making
preparations for the putting of men 10
work again next summer. He has rented
the Quinlan quarter section Of land, and
the institution will go into gardening
more extensively than before. This will
be a source Of profit to. the institution,
and also furnish occupation to the men.
AS soon as spring opens, a number Of
them will be put to work at brick max
ing and other occupations, as they were
last summer. Altogether the peniten-
Tertiary, always q model institution, will
be improved wherever there is an oppor-
tunity afforded by circumstances.