The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-23

two or three months would furnish. HIS
plan is simple. effective and without the
least danger Of mourning a criminal
reputation. The penalties for insulting
a court Of Justice are very severe. The
intention of legislators was to prevent
such offences. What they really did In
making the law was to open an easy
road to comparative comfort and a sure
savings bank for several years to any
who choose to avail themselves Of the
privilege. The aspirant to comfort and
savings begins by breaking a gas lamp.
the tramp's favorite locking-up offence.
He Is rewarded with perhaps thirty
days, when he Immediately informs the
president that he Is a pig. and in return
for the information. Is gratified with
the wv or three months he was looking
for. II he possesses a trade he Is sure of
coming out with seven or eight hundred
francs, besides living well in the mean
time.
The court Of appeals for the depart
ment of the Seine in which Havre lies.
Is at Rouen. A couple of hours ride
took me to the quaint old city. The
prison Is In q suburb called by the sim
gularly Inappropriate name Of Bonnie
Nouvelle, Good News, almost exclusive
ly occupied by German and Polish Jews
the invincible. indestructible race which
l had seen in former days in many an
cdsleIH city WHtIe III Sy IIdSOsucS Oiu
Rabbis commented on the Talmud and
announced the Liberator. One cannot
help thinking where do the poor Jews
of this quarter come FROM. How have
they established themselves in this sub
urb of Rouen with those stalls, of which
they alone and the Auvergnats alone
have the secret, those shops where the
seller finds mean to get rid of the un-
vendable old pieces Of iron, old buttons
on1 pfooac Of u,pol nnh odd httc nf mo.
terial?
Inside n Typical Frcnch Prison.
Passing tho indescribable windows
where hang the a Of the crowds that
invade the sidewalk, and through
swarms of children attesting the prom
ise that their seed shouiu be as the
sands of the sea, / arrived at last at the
prison. n of the largest in France,
built by the first Napoleon. / was re-
ceived by the chief warden. a very fine
looking man, who apolosized for the alb
sence Of the governor. sick at home.
A moment later q number OF prisoners
arrived, some to submit themselves to
the court of appeals. Ranged in a line
the chief took their names and senten-
ces. why did you appeal?" he said
to one whose sentence was thirty days.
1T was not enough" said the vaga-
bond" I wanted more. What am l to
do in the cold weather? Then you
want to prolong the situations" That's
WHAT and he passed on. Twenty
three convictions already for vagran-
Cyl the chief said to me-.
How many prisoners AVE you here?"
I asked. about two thousand" And
how much can they earn a day?" ION
an average. n franc, half (thirty
cents) of which they may spend at
the canteen. The rest Is kept until
their discharge. Some earn as much as
five and six francs a day"
While W. were talking a prisoner
came from the inside and complained
that he was not allowed to buy any
thing at the canteen. perhaps you
have no money" said the chief. "Oh
yes, l have; l have three francs"
Three francs! OF course you can take
nothing If you have only three francs"
rs you restaurant so blooming aris-
tocratic, then, that you don't sell any
thing for less than three francs?" I'VE
sell things for much less. for two sous
even, but we require three francs on
deposit with the office for the coffin"
What cofin?" Yours What"
reared the fellow. do you intend to kill
me?' mot at all. We don't intend
to kill you. But il you die who Is to pay
for the coffin?" French administrative
talent looks a long way ahead, evil
IDENTIFY.
The chiefs duties making it impossi-
BILE to come with me himself, he de-
tailed a subordinate to guide me. The
workshop resembled those Of England,
except that they We're, If possible. more
cherries, with their population of
t%ailors, binders, shoemakers, working
quickly.
1t would not be necessary for them
to do otherwise to be happySat liberty.
but when at liberty, not o e of them
will retain in the feeblesta degree the
habit of work which they seem here to
be accustomed to. / have often Won
dered what can be the spring so utterly
warped in their interior mechanism.
Some unknown influence seems to oper-
ate in nature to produce human foxes
and wolves and the best solution of the
problem probably Is the suppression of
low saloons and a strong police force.
Compared with the abject degradation
of their lives without the walls. their
condition is by contrast almost COM
Portable, but to most men 1t would seem
altogether loathsome.
The men are not confined in cells at
night; they sleep in immense dormitor-
les, entrance to which Is guarded by
heavy iron doors. A blush air was
hanging In the room where a lighted
match ought to cause an explosion.
No bedsteads were there, but the floors
were covered with filthy mattresses.
still more filthy blankets being rolled up
at the head. The place was alive with
vermin. l saw them crawling on the
beds clothing, and the stencil, sew
eral hours after the men had left, was
appalling.
How many men do you put In here?'
I. asked.
About two hundred"
"They must be in a filthy condition."
why, sir, they are not too clean. of
course. We give them a shower bath
occasionally and that is all we can
manage"
Proceeding along the corridor we met
a prisoner who failed to give the usual
salute and who was roundly abused by
the keeper for want of politeness. The
idea was peculiarly French. Here was
a rascal proud and happy to work from
4 o'clock in he morning till Q o'clock
at night for so cents a day, whose one
aim In life was to get money enough for
a drunken spree on those rare occasions
when. once q month he was allowed a
day off; berating a probably better man
than himself for not being polite. Had
he been polite all was well, falling that,
no abuse was too great for him.
Reading to the Prisoners.
Down stairs we found the men await
ing trial seated OF benches in q long
stone passageway, cold and damp as a
vault, the moisture trickling down the
walls. covering the floor with wet and
slime. At one side q prisoner was read
ing in a droning voice for the ''distrac-
tion," in the French sense of the word,
of the prisoners. and his tor was excel
lently fitted, i thought, to produce dis
traction in the English tense A mo-
ment after, q bell was sounded and they
rushed into a large yard for exercise.
The day vas very cold. A sharp frost
was biting ears and noses. Pipes were
brought out and lighted and all hands
started to walk to keep warm.
Presently the door was flung open
again to admit a new conner who was
greeted with a roar partly of %recogni-
xtoc ror<Ixy 80 lorlclor " At