The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-09

trades occupy the prisoners in them. In
iact, even where the treadmill and the
crank IS a part of prison labor, trades
too, are taught and practiced.
The special solitary confinement prisons
for women are at Working OF Fulham and
there the picking Of oakum. sewing and
mending are carried on. Male prisoners
sentenced TO penal servitude always spend
nine months in solitary confinement before
entering the public works prison.
All of the English prisons are In the
hands Of the home secretary, and are con-
Quoted by the prison department, which
is composed Of two sections-the convict
prison board and the prison commission.
The convict prison board has two or three
directors and a chairman. while the prison
commission is composed of five commits
sioners, one of whom serves as chairman.
Each prison has a governor or chief war
den, chaplain, medical officer and assis-
tants. Usually the offices are filled by
persons who have served in the army OF
navy.
In all English prisons the routine" Of
daily work is about the same. In fact the
prisons do not differ much in styles Of
architecture, and neither DO they differ in
routine work At G o'clock every week
day morning the chief warden gives the
signal to unlock" The officers Of the diff
ferent wards hurry from cell TO cell with
keys in their hands to open each narrow
dwelling. In some of the more modern
prisons the American plan of crank,
which, when 1t turns, locks or unlocks
all the cells upon corridor at once, is
used.
AS soon as the cells are unlocked each
prisoner hurries In his undertaking for
a tub of water from the faucet in his cell,
with which he cleans out his little home.
This is done under military rule
Prior to the beginning of the days work
the Cleaners" as the men who clean cells
are called; the cooks" or those who do
duty in the kitchen, or the bakers who
work in the bakery, are marched away in
long prison files to their respective duties
Then some of the convicts wash the
cells, others sweep the pavements until
they glisten, while all are watched by
armed guards from the little midair
bridges above the stone corridor floor
a big bell In the prison summons the pris-
oners to work at $50 every morning. Men
hurry to the treadmills. the cranks, or re-
port in files under charge of a guard TO the
trade instructor who sets them to work.
Carpets are woven on looms in the cells,
shoemakers hustle to their work oakum
pickers hurry to duty, ana so on it goes all
over the prison. Every convict must work,
whether he only 'treads wind or aimlessly
turns "cranks" or is busy at some voca-
ton.
For an hour the prisons hum with the
sound of labor. Then at 1880 o'clock break
fast is served to each prisoner while at
work Work continues until II O'Clock and
then the prisoners are marched in long
files. lockstep fashion, to exercising yards
In each yard is a long rope with knots
| about fifteen feet apart, so that 230 prison.
| ers can get on the rope at time. Each
! file of 1870 men grasps the rope and then at
brisk PAGES for fifteen minutes whirl round
| i'm a circle. The idea of keeping the men
! fifteen feet apart is to carry out the idea
! of separate confinement. The only possible
time that the prisoners can communicate
is when in the lockstep, but then they can
not speak to each other, so closely are
| they watched.
At 1870 O'Clock daily dinner is served
and then work begins again and is con-
tinued until O'Clock, when another fifteen
minutes is devoted to exercise. At $3.50
| o'clock the convict has his supper of cruel
and bread, and a little before 6 o'clock
lanterns are given to the prisoners and the
gas in the prison is lighted From p. m. to
D. m. the prisoners are allowed to read,
| but at the latter hour all the lights are put
| out except one or two in the corridors.
That Is the weekday routine. On Sun
days the convicts are marched to the re-
| spective chapels in the different prisons,
and they also have usually few little It'd
bits for dinner, but except for the lack Of
labor and only one short trial at exercise
the day is passed in the solitude of cells.