The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-03-04
MYSTERIOUS CODES BY WHICH
CONvICTS COMMUNICATES.
Prison Officials Unable TO Detect
How Criminals Bsfae the Silent &
System-The Fake Fight-'s Un-
derground" Telegraphy.

know nearly all the tricks of the craft
Silence is supposed to reign supremeS
in Sing Sing. A convict is forbidden
to converse with another. If his lips,
move he is at once pounced upon BY
the watchful guard and placed in soli-
tary confinement. ~
Yet they do talk, and talk often,
too. But how they do it is mystery
which the officials of every large prison
the world over would like to solve. In
Paris and in London, where the disci-5
pline, perhaps, is even stricter than in
Sing Sing, the oonvicts have system
OF exchanging information. Keepers
who have been among convicts many
years have endeavored to discover the.
trick, but without result. "
Principal Keeper Connaughton has
been employed in Sing Sing for thirty
years. He went there young man,
and now his hair is snow white. He.
has won the friendship. such as it is,
Of lnnumerable convicts, but great as
his experience and knowledge are, he
has never been able to fathom their
system of communication. '
Not only do the convicts manage to !
exchange news. but they do other
things. For instance, man who had
been confined for twenty years. left
the prison on his release whistling one
of the latest comic opera airs. How
he managed to pick up the tune and
retain the notes in his memory would
puzzle Philadelphia lawyer. g
If there were Presidential election
to-day every convict in Sing Sing
would know who was elected the first
thing tomorrow morning, and Just
how the dihfeeent States stood. Every
important news event which happens
the world over they know about, yet
to read newspaper or be caught with
one is serious offense. When noted:
prisoner arrives, like o murderer
doomed to the death chair, every CON-
vict knows all about it before the
clerk has finished taking his pedigree.
Yet the convicts are separated In o
dozen large buildings. News travels
incredibly fast there and so silently
that the vigilance of the keepers
counts for naught. It seems to soak
in through the stone walls and make
it's presence felt only to the unfor-.
Inmates. ~
1t is not due to lack of vigilance
that the men are able to communicate
with each other. The silent system is
enforced as carefully as it is possible
to enforce it in an institution where
the prisoners are not kept in solitary
confinement. When the men are in
the workshops or in the yards they,
are almost constantly under the eyes
of the guards. They march to and
from their work in the lock step, each
squad looking like dirty gray cater
pillar as it swings ross.the ysrd and
each man in that squad facing the
same way. There is not an. instant
when the men are unmatched, and it
is difficult to explain how they conn;
nunicate. OF course some Of the
tricks have been discovered, but these
are only resorted to when particular
convicts wish to converse.
The fake fight is common trick.
Two ccnvicts without word of warn
ing will spring at each other like en-,
ragged tigers aud clutching one another
around the neck will role over the
ground in perfect frenzy of rage.
Blows and kicks will be dealt with
terrific force, but all the time
valuable words will be exchanged.
Genuine fights OF this kind are common
occurrence, and so faithfully are the
fake fights carried out that it is diff
cult to distinguish the false from the
real. Criminals who were bitter
enemies in the outside world often
meet for the first time within the con-.
fines of Sing Sing, and when they
come together fierce, if short, fight
is bound to come of. That accounts
for the number of genuine fights.
Criminal lawyers, who. perhaps,
know as much about convicts as. if
not more than, the prison officials
themselves, say that they do have u
number of we'll recognized codes of
communication. One of the best
known methods of this kind consists
of series of raps corresponding to
The Morse telegraptic code. 1t pris-
ouer understands telegrsphy, he may
transmit messages to another prisoner
who is also q telegrapher by rapping
out the Morse code in his cell, or in
workshop or messroom, without very
much fear of detection.
In some of the carelessly construct.
ed prisons it has been discovered that
the convvicts have used the water
pipe to construct series OF speaking
tubes, and in several cases they have
successfully planned escapes in this
way.
The system by which prisoners COM
municate with friends on the outside
is also a mystery which prison officials
would he glad to fathom. In prison
parlance. it is known as the "under-
ground" The convicts are allowed to
write home once month, but each
letter is first read by the prison chap
lain. If there is anything improper
in it, the letter is withheld. But the
improper letters never go out by way
OF the chaplain. The Underground"
system takes care OF them.
Criminals IN Sing Sing have been
known to conduct o series OF success
iul crimes by communicating with
accomplices on the outside. brlblng
the underkcepers would be one way,
but the system is too general to be
worked in that fashion. Escapes are
o1uaus nlannad and carried out