The Irish standard., 1896-03-07
The Horrible Manner in Which
She Treats the Irish Pos
litical Prisoners.
Neither the Russians in Siberia
Nor the Armenians in Tur-
key Suffer as rluch.
Cruel Tortures and Barbarities
Daily inflicted Upon the
Unhappy rlen.

Three of the Irisll-Amefican political
prisoners confined in Portland Convict
prison, England, are stark mad. and five
others are almost crazy, according to the
statement of James II. Egan, who was
released from custody recently and who
lis now in this city organizing move
ment for the release of the prisoners.
Mr.. Egan served ten years in convict
cell in Portland. He was arrested in
Birmin CHAM, England, in May, 1884, and
| after short trial was convicted OF
! treason felony and sentenced to twenty
years imprisonment. The injustice OF
his trial was so apparent that the gov
ernment was obliged to yield TO the re-
| peated efforts made to secure his release,
and he was discharged few months ago.
| AS soon as he began to breathe free ar
he devoted himself heart and soul to fur
| thering the movement to secure the lib
erty of his less fortunate felloW-pr1s-
oners. and became an active spirit in the
! Amnesty Association. Branches OF the
Amnesty Association are established IN
eyery city and town of Great Britain anu
Ireland and through them funds were
raised to keep alive the movement for the
release of the prisoners, while an emer-
| eency aid fund was created to provide
for the wants of the wives and families
! Of the prisoners
! The associations across the sea decided
to send MIR. Egan to this country to make
| known the awful condition of the men
confined in English prisons. He arrived
| here two weeks ago, says the New YORK
| World OF Feb. /. He has already made
| known the sad condition of the prisoners
to the leading sh-Americans in the
citv. and has arranged for a monster
demonstration here and in the other big
cities of the United States. e.,
Mr. Fgan is remarkable and q mag
lsnetfc personality. OF quie6snastl tlisfaldiaa
manner. neat attire, good-natufed. open
countenance and convincing power OF
reasoning ne commands the most In
tense interest among the audiences OF
| Irish-Americans that he has addressed
since his arrival here. His theme is al
ways the sufYerings Of the prisoners. 1t
affords him {; sorroWful text, and his own
experiences were in the line OF those ne
portrays of the others. He tells them
with a realism that is dramatic, and it is
not unusual to see tears in the eyes of his
fasteners as he tells or the punlshnlents
| imposed upon those men whose crime
! was love Of country. -.- - -
There is a big letter M oyer the cell
| door of DR. Thomas Gallagher said MI.
| Egan last night to a, World reporter
''Dr Gallagher was a citizen OF Green
point, L. I. He was as fine specimen
of manly development us ever saw when
I met him in 1884. He was mental and
physical wreck when / left Portland
prison. He had been hopeless lunatic
since 1887. The letter M over his cell
door tells the visitor that the inmate is
mad. The Door doctor sits in his cell all
day long, gibbering and laughing the ter
| rible laugh of the maniac. Most of the
time he is in straight-jacket, though he
is never violent The prison officials
take NO more notice of him than if he
were dog. They don't want to trans
fer him to lunatic asylum, because he
would be more easily reached there, and
the government is chary of giving any
sort of publicity to the condition of the
political prisoners. He is denied to all
visitors now. G'i
"There is another M over the cell door
of DR.. Albert George Whitehead, another
American citizen, who has been insane
for years. His insanity is Of q VIOLENT
form, and the Alost outrageous courses
are adopted by the warders to keep him
in restraint. His sufferings will
soon be at an end, poor fellow, for when
I saw him last he was as thin as post
and it was plain that the decline OF death
was upon him.
",The case of Henry Hammond Wilson,
OF New, Haven, Conn, is the most sof-
rowful of all. Poor Wilson was just
entering the year of manhood when he
was convicted in London in 1883, and
was sentenced to imprisonment for life
on the charge of treason-felony. The
dreaded NJ is over his cell door 100.
But. worst Of all, the Warders and Gov
ernor of the prison refuse to believe tllat
he is insane, though the prison doctor
has pronounced him beyond the pale of
reason. The result is that the unfor'
turate man is continually under punish
nent. The officials order him chastised
for the slightest infraction OF the rules
OF the prison. He is not in condition
to know anything about rules, or even
to know his most intimate friends. SO
there is scarcely a day passes without
some sort of vengeful indignity being
heaped upon this man, who has not
spark of reason.
"The case of John DAILY affords an in
stance of the murderous methods pul'-
sued by the custodians Of the lives OF
these luckless men, DAILY complained
OF being suck, and instead of being
taken to the infrmary, as is customary.
with ordinary convicts, he was treated
in his eel. The medicine furnished by
the conpounder, as the convict assistant
to the prison apothecary is called, made
DAILY sick at the stomach. He told the
doctor next day. The doctor said moth
ing. Similar medicine was sent TO DAILY s
cell. He drank it and again became sick
at the stomach. This time he took to
his bed, and threats, kicks or cuffs failed
to move him.
.Then the officials became scared. They
hurriedly summoned the doctor. He
found the retching from the prisoners
stomach was SO bad that he decided TO
use the stomach pump. The contents
yuUa;,S anal zad and IL was found That