Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-05-02
LIVE HIGH In PRISON.
MANY DISTINGUISHED MEN BE-
HIND PARIS BARS.
Visit TO the Great Mazas Luxurious
Sainte-PeIaGie. Wherein Those Con-
fined Have a jolly Good Time
Anxiety for Work.


Paris prisons at the present time con-
tain more distinguished set of guests
than ever before in their history. Ex-
senator's, eX-deputies bankers, direct
ors, and managers of newspapers, Off
GERS, noblemen, and wealthy manufac-
turers have of late been arrested with
marvellous rapidity. \ hundred years
ago they would have Deen led 10 the
guillotine without delay. The progress
OF a century has for such cases sus-
pended and probably put an end alto
gether to the ''veuve," the slang term
for the terrible knife. but the disgrace
is as complete as ever There are eight
prisons in Paris-the depot and Jail of
the prefecture of police. situated behind
the Palace OF Justice. the Mazas prison
and house of cellular correction, house
of correctional education or Petite
Roquette; prison and house of colrec-
ton of La Sante; Sainte- Pelagie; st.
Lazare, for females exclusively; La
Concierge, and La Grande Roquette.
In addition to these there is the prison
OF ChercheMidi for military prisoners
only. and of which so much was recent
ly heard during the trial by court-mar-
tial of the traitor Dreyfus. The largest
and by far the most important prison
in the capital is Mazas both as regards
the number and the quality of the
prisoners. OF all persons condemned by
the tribunals of Paris those only who
are to serve term of one year or less
remain in the capital The others are
sent to one of the twenty-six peniten-
tiary houses in the provinces The Ma
zas covers seven and a half acres.
ThnrA "a I oil 1fa I IN
prisoners. The cells measure II feet 10
inches in length. are 6l5 feet wide, and
about 740 cubic feet Each prisoner is
shut up in seperate cell. A small win
dow, almost a peephole, strongly
barred. is cut out in the wall, the pris-
oner being al liberty to open and close
II at Will 1t let's in neither a great
amount of light nor great quantity OF
air. There is one chair in each cell and
II is chained TO the wall The prisoner
sleeps in hammock. The most inter-
esting objects on the walls are the
chaplain's almanacs, which are freely
distributed among the prisoners. They
contain good moral advice and solid
arguments to prove that the worst
criminal may later on lead a good life.
Some Of these almanacs contain short
stories and the subject OF more than
made by criminals from prisons. These
almanacs constitute the reading matter
Of most of the pr ieners. All the doors
are of solid oak and have little hole
in the top, through which the warder
can keep an eye on the prisoner The
warders seem to be prisoners them
selves They always talk in an under
tone. never laugh and. were ii not for
taken for their charges. They never
leave cell without taking the precau-
ton of walking backward The direct
or of the prison alone is allowed to In
fiict purishments, and his powers In
this respect are limited to five days
dungeon. Orders from the project of
police are necessary for anything be-
yond this penalty. Prisoners work eight
or nine hours a day at matmaking
bootmaking, or tailoring. and are al
lowed one hours fresh air and walking
exercise. Only prisoners who have
been condemned are compelled to work
but the majority of the accused, to pass
the time and rid themselves of the ter
rible ennui that overtakes the most
buoyant ask permission to work also
Twice a week prisoners are allowed to
receive visits. and it is on such occa-
sions that the brutality of prison laws
become manifest The parlor is COM
posed of two rows Of cellars. separated
by railing. The time for each visit,
under the vigilant eye of a warder is
limited to a few minutes The parlor
scenes in French prisons would bring
tears from the eyes of the most stone
hearted of men. 1t is not strange that
the realistic playwright should have
transported so pathetic tableau to the
stage. In the prison of La Sante the
prisoners are divided into two groups Of
500. one lot being confined to cells and
the other working together during the
day. This system is called lin com
mon" and is said to meet with more
success than the strict cellular arrange
ment that prevails at Mazas. La Sante
is one of the finest, if not the finest
prison in Europe. Sainte- Pelagie is
used nowadays as a political prison
Newspaper men are allowed also to serve
their terms here when condemned for
a cause that does not come within the
criminal law Sainte- Pelagie once was
a private house. it was transformed
into a prison in 1865 and during over 100
years enjoyed the reputation Of being
the most immoral prison in Paris. The
prisoners sent there made chignons and
many a noble duchess wore a wig fab
ricated at Sainte- Pelagie.