The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-06-16

London, Tune For the time being
st least Oscar Wilde has escaped the
agony n ignominy' of working the
%treadri1 Of old Pentonville prison.
The influence of powerful friends,
the expenditure of considerable money,
or a combination of both, have saved
him from the treadmiIl, the punish
ment melted out to him when he was
sentenced to two years at hard labor.
: Physicians have declared that Wilde
has a weak heart. h declaration is
what has put off the dreaded day when
he must jump on the wheel and do his
share of the work.
Just now Wilde Is performing the
comparatively easy task of picking
oakum in the NORWOOD Scrubs
prison. Picking oakum is a species Of
heaven TO the work of the treadmill.
1t is believed that the regular and
systematic life of the prison will soon
restore Wiide's health, which really is
badly shattered. When this improve
ment takes place there will be no
longer any excuse for keeping him
away from the treadmill OF Penton-
vile, to which the sentence of the
Judge practically condemned him.
Just VIA kind of picture Oscar
Wilde, the fallen idol of astheticism,
viii present in the treadmill, is COM
paratively easy TO f~oretell, for the
reason tina he will look and do eX-
actly as the criminals who are work
ing there now and who have worked
there for the past many years All
prisoners are the same there as far as
externals go.
Wilde's hair has already been cut
short. his expensive clothing taken
nc Fro,. him and ha cots neither
more nor less than the common thief
imprisoned for housebreaking. The
cutting of his long hair has made a
complete change in his appearance,
although his strongly lined face can
easily be distinguished from a long
line of the faces of fellow-criminals.
No Luxury Here.
At Pentonville the prison suit is of
dirty drag canvas, marked with three
arrows, heavy rough shoes, and an
ugIv Scotch cap. Life in this prison
is not pleasant by any Wilde's
sleeping accommodations Will be of
the scantiest. Cots are unknown to
the prisoners there. A plank bed,
composed simply of a board raised
six inches above the floor. without a
mattress, is what he will sleep on.
He Will be given each week two clean
sheets of heavy, coarse material and
two rugs as rough as ordinary horse
blankets. The rules about cOmmuni-
cation with the outside world are eX-
ceedingly severe. He cal neither write
nor receive a letter from his friends
or family until three months of his
sentence have been served, and then
he may write and receive one letter
a month. and be visited for twenty
minutes by three friends.
The treadmilI is the reat bugaboo of
the English convict. It is almost bar
barrie in its severity and saVorS some
what of the torture inflicted upon I'M
fortunates 800 years ago.
How it Looks.
II is shaped somewhat like the vince
of a stern-wheel steamer or of a pad
die wheel of a ferry boat, except that
the treadmil Is considerably wider
than these. For the accommodation of
the many involuntary workers at a
height which a man Of ordinary
physique can easily reach, Is a long
bar of wood When al is ready the
prisoner jumps upon one of the steps
of the wheel and grasps the bar with
his hands. The steps are called floats
in the far land of Pentonvlle. The
weight of the men turn the wheel II
as thew sink down on one foot they
must step up to the next float when 1t
comes round. 1t is much like climbing
A particularly nasty flight OF steep
stairs with no ending at the top.
The Work Cannot Be DOdged.
What is more, there is no lodging
or Sinking the work. When the hoat
comes round, oscar Wilde, TX all MS
hrother feIons. must step on it, other
wise he will get an ugly knock on the
shias by the e-ver-turning wheel, which
will peel the bark off from the knee
to the instep. 1t is not pleasant work
bv any means. 1t is the kind that
completely takes the heart out OF the
most hardened criminal. AT the end