The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-11-21

complain. cts the mental torture, 4 said
! Whitehead in a lucid interval after his re.
lease. 4:It was the mental torture, y rub
hing his poor head. Give me that letter
for Gods sake
"Raving again." said one Of the friends
who had him in charge. "He begs all the
time for his mail"
This peculiar species of torture has been
found so efficacious in Portland that the
keepers now consider it their pet inquisi-
ton. It reduces the prisoner to state
Of 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 commended
branch Of economy. I.
| When letters arrive for the prisoners, as
! they may once in a while, the keeper ap-
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 it. t'You can't have it," says. the
keeper. '''You itngled your cup last night
against your 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 the price
| less document bearing the handwriting Of
wife or mother or child is destroyed before
! his eyes, torn into fragments when each
word means a glimpse Of heaven to the
poor wretch in the cell, and report made
| that it contained dangerous information.
Another punishment OF these men, who
are men CT Intelligence, is the keeping Of
outside news from them An enthusiastic
| American citizen, Captain Condor, Strug-
g]ed for years to know who was president
fha taI f1fo TnIrinu f1ro MFG
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
heinous offense. A prisoner who utters a
| word against his treatment, who begs for
his letter, or for q newspaper, gets his
deserts promptly. He is f1ogged The
directors come over from their handsome
residence upon the most romantic part Of
| the island and listen to the complaints of
the warden. "F'ifty 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-
tion give hundred lashes' where the
prisoner has seized his letter or uttered an
imprecation against the jailers. \
The fiogging is done in way that is the
refinement of cruelty. The men are taken
out, stripped and manacled to. the doors
of their cells There they stand, maybe all
day, waiting for their punishment. Thirsty
and 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 keepers, who come into the
prison yard singing, 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. ss4
The cat at Portland is thing worthy
q museum. \ 1t is 81 stout stick with long
split thongs. 10 the end OF each thong is
fastened a long thorn. This catches in
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. In
side 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 are thus beaten to death, and they
must sit there and listen. They cannot
even get one look Of pity or a word Of
sympathy.
Then there is hush. The blows have
ceased. There is a scuffie on the floor, a
heavy thud. The poor, beaten wretch is
being dragged to the cell next door and
thrown in dead or alive. Next morning
if the swollen tongue and torn body can
allow him to reach the tin cup and touch
the water with his lips, he will know the
first comfort he has received An utter
silence in the darkened cell in the morn
ing oft tells the gruesome tale Of death
-fogged to death.
Albert Whitehead's worst physical inju-
ries we're received when they tied him UP
in knots Never too robust, he tainted
one day at the quarries. The keeper ap-
preached and, kicking him, told him to
get up and work. Whitehead'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
man through each. other, tying them in
and the joints sprained. < n
Dr. Gallagher's medical men say his
ribs have been fractured three or four
times each Gallagher knows nothing
about, it. but a prisoner who was released
while he was there declares that the
keepers threw him down and trampled
on him, breaking every rib in his body.
Their strong race feeling made them ac-
tually without human mercy. Gal;
laghers mind survived several years of
this horrible physical abuse, then gave
way. perhaps 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 it.
say those who have been incarcerated
and who have lived to tell the ta.e, make
it too horrible for tongue to describe
When asked if the British goverhm ent
sanctioned this treatment of prisoners,
Capt. Condor said: II do not think it
does The trouble with Portland is that
the government is far too lax with the an.
thorities. Ignorant, strong, cruel, men,
with strong race prejudices, are put in
charge of this naturally terrible prison,
with instruction to exercise discipline and
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 if they could succeedSin calling
attention to the brMtalities that are to-
day being practiced upon their country
I,