The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-27

soup out with few poor rags hanging
to it, told one Of the political prisoners
that Christmas day had come and gone
But 1t Is not of the physical horrors that
those who have suffered in Portland com
plan. ITS the mental torture" said
Whitehead In a lucid interview after his
release. 1T was the mental torture" rub
bling his poor head. ooh, give me that let
ter. Give me that letter, for Gods sake
for Gods sakev'
"Raving again" said one of the friends
who ha6 him in charge. He begs all the
time for his mail"
This peculiar species of torture has been
round so efficacious in Portland that the
Keepers now consider II their pet inauisi-
ton. II reduces the prisoner to a state
or subsection, and as long as his reason
holds out, makes him i'll and unable to
eat. This reduces the expense of keeping
the prison table, always a much com
mended branch Of economy.
When letters arrive for the prisoners. as
they may once in a while. the keeper APP
proaches the cell with the letter in his
hand. The prisoner, with the first smile he
has worn in months, reaches out his hand
for 1t. You can't have it," says the
keeper. you jingled your cup last night
against the tub and woke the guard. You
can read this letter three months from
now" And putting the precious letter in
his pocket he walks away. Remonstrance
is worse than useless. At word tho
priceless document bearing the handwrit-
ing of wife or mother or child is DESTROYED
before his eyes, torn into fragments when
each word means glimpse of heaven to
the poor wretch in the cell. And a report
made that it contained dangerous infor-
nation.
Another species of these men, who are
men of intelligence, is the keeping of out
side news from them. An enthusiastic
American citizen, Capt. Condon strug-
gled for years to know who was President
of the United States. During Grants sec
ond term and the first two years of Hayes
term he could not ascertain who was our
President. He did not know of the Franco
Prussian war until two years after it was
over Newspapers are not allowed.
Talking back to a warden" is a most
hetnous offense. A prisoner who utters
word against his treatment, who begs
for his letter or for a newspaper gets his
deserts promptly. He is logged. The di-
rectors come over from the handsome res
fdence upon the most romantic part of the
island and listen to- the complaints of the
warden. Fifty lashes" is the verdict.
zone hundred lashes," this to some half
crazed man who has reached out and tried
to grasp the warden's clothes in supplica-
ton Five hundred lashes" where the
prisoner has seized his letter or uttered
The fiogging is done in way that is
the refinement Of cruelty. The men are
taken out, stripped and manacled to the
doors of the cells There they stand
maybe all day, waiting for their punish
ment. Thirsty. wild with apprehension,
weak from hunger and praying to die,
they must stand there, with the weight
of the heavy chains bearing them down
and tearing their flesh at each movement.
They must await the pleasure of the keep
ers, who come into the prison yard sing
ing, full of the food and wine which they
have taken to strengthen themselves for
the task. The right arm of these men.
from constant practice with the cat. is
like iron.
The cat at Portland is a thing worthy
a museum. 1t is a stout stick with long,
split thongs. To the end of each thong
is fastened a long thorn. This catches in
the flesh. and when the keepers arm tires
the thorns can be depended upon to rip
their way through the skin and tear the
intestines, no matter how feeble the
stroke.
But the refinement of cruelty is not
yet told. When the beating takes place
all the doors of the prison are opened.
Inside OF the dark cells sit the other pris-
oners. listening. Outside they can hear
the strokes of the lash and the groans OF
the men becoming weaker and weaker.
Men a-e being beaten TO DEATH and they
must sit there and listen. They cannot
even get one look of pity or a word of
sympathy.
But there is hush. The blows have
ceased. There is a scuffie I'm the halls,
a dragging sound, a grating of hinges, a
heavy thud. The poor beaten wretch 20
being dragged to tho cell next door and
thrown in dead or alive. Next morning,
If the swollen tongue and torn body can
oil. ~
the water with his lips. he will know the
first comfort he has received. An utter
silence in the darkened cell in the morning
oft tells the gruosome tale Of death-fog-
ged TO death.
Albert Whitehead's worst physical in
juries were received when they tied him
up in knots. Never too robust he tainted
one day a. the quarries. The keeper ap-
preached and, kicking him, told him to
get up and work Wh.tehead's uncon-
scious set face was the only response.
"Then I'll fix you" said the keeper beck
oning TO another. Together the two lusty
men pulled the arms of the unfortunate
man through each other, tying them in
to - knot. The bones we're dislocated and
the joints sprained.
DR.. Galagher's medical men say his
ribs have been fractured three and four
times each. Gallagher knows nothing
about 1t, but a prisoner who was released
While he was thcre declares l1at the Keep
ers threw him down and trampled on
him, breaking every rib in his body. Their
strong race feeling made them actually
without human mercy. Gallagher's mind
survived several years Of this horrible
physical abuse, then gave way, per.
haps never to dawn again to the light OF
reason.
Portland prison is the most dreaded OF
all English prisons. Compared TO Port
land, the prisons Of Dartmouth and Chat
ham are pleasant summer resorts. Port
lands location, It's rigid climate. its hard
work and the policy that dominates II,
those who have been incarcerated and
who have lived TO tell the tale say make
II too horrible for tongue 10 describe.
When asked II the British government
sanctioned this treatment Of prisoners,
Capt. Condor said: 81 do not think II
does. The trouble with Portland is that
the government is far too lax with the au-
thorities. Ignorant strong, cruel men,
with strong race prejudices, are put In
charge of this naturally terrible prison,
with instructions 10 exercise discipline ana
economy, with the results as told. Prison
reform could well be exercised at Port
land, and both Gallagher and Whitehead
and the others would think their lives well
spent II they could succeed in calling at