The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-06-22
ENGLISH PRISON LIFE.

Iron Discipline Universally the Hulo and
Disorder Nlmnst UnInown.
A comparison OF the rules of an Amer
lean prison with those OF an English prison
shows that the American prisoner hu.
many more comforts aud liberties \ MAJ
in an English prison is almost rs dead |,
the outer world as he would be in hi
tomb. Nothing in the way of food or read
ing matter can be sent in to him by hi>
friends. He Is never permitted to see u
newspaper or magazine. He can write
and receive letters only ut long intervals
and from the time he enters the prison un
Ill he leaves. it he is not permitted to speak
unless he is addressed 10y prison officer.
A prisoner sentenced for II term of three
years or less may see "A visitor once in three
months in the presence of prison officer,
and he may write one letter. To men
whose terms are longer such privileges are
granted less frequently. For the first
month the prisoners bed consists Of moth
ing but broad board like table top.
three or four niche, above the floor Of tn,
cell. lie has no mattress, auk the bed
clothing consists of rug, Il blanket, II pill
low and two coarse sheets At the end Of
a month, if he has earned a sufficient mum
Der of good conduct marks, he has n mat
tress three nights a week. Later he has n
mattress five nights week, and at "A still
later stage, if his conduct has been uneX
cCptionable, lie may have IA mattress every
night. lie has also in his cell bucket, u
water can, "a tin wUshbOwl, IA towel, a soap
dish, saltccllur, a wooden spoon and n
tin plate. lie never has n knife or fork
and he has nothing to eat requiring the
use of these implements. He must get up
at 6 o'clock, and his breakfast is brought
to him at half past I, lie eats every meal
IN his cell In the first stage of his i'm
prSonnpnt lac has only bread aud water
for brrakia-t and for dinner pimts Of
"stirabout' "A gruelile mixture of Oat
meal and Indian meal. In the fDurih and
best stage Of his imprisonment he has u
pint Of porridge with his bread for break
fast and better dinner, but even the
fourth stage bill Of fare Is never changed
throughout he year. There are no holiday
dinners nor an extra dish on Sundays, rs
in some Of our American prisons.
Not all the prisons have workshops at.
tached to them, and where there is no
workshop a man who has labor sentence
must 20 on Il treadmil for q, hours in
the morning and for > in the afternoon.
In some prisons there is worse kind Of
lRDnr IMAM even lhe lftuumlll, IL consists
of turning a heavy weighted crank, which
serves no purpose whatever except to re
cord the numberOf its own revolutions 4
days labor consists OF from 5000 to 10,
600 revolutions. In other prisons the pris.
Oners are set to pumping water. As this
serves some purpose, it Is not so dcpress
ing as the crank movement. The entire
system Of discipline in English prisons is
military in its rigidity, and it is never re
Taxed. There ure no demonstrations Of dis
content, Of delight or Of contempt ON the
part of the prisoners, PandemOnium il
never reproduced, as it is in prisons in
some OF the states The huoting and wills.
thing, the yelling and 'cat calling in
which American prisoners sometimes in
dulge, are never even remotely initiated in
an English prison. The English convict is
not by nature more respectful or orderly
than the American convict, but he knows
that disobcdiencc will be Immediately pun.
ished. lie knows that the statutes of pan"
Lament have framed the conditions under
which he is To serve ont his sentence, and
that the power and the system of the prison
are such that he must obey the rules or
suffer the consequences. Escapes from Eng
lish prisons are so rare that they assume
the character Of marNels. Boston Herald.