The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-04-05

only indication that these men were not
a force OF ordinary pick and shovelers-
Even the prison itself did not look
formidable. as the great gates stood
wide open, with the convicts passing In
and out. In the shops within the In
closure men were found engaged In max
ing various tools and trinkets. which
they were allowed to sell for their own
benefit. The native woods Of Arizona
are rich and varied. They are apparent
| ly unknown to the cabinet makers Of the
East, but the Arizona convict is familiar
with their capabilities, and many of
these ingenious fellows make work
boxes, writing desks and other articles.
HEAT IN THE CELLS.
There are 132 men in the prison, thir-
| teen of whom are serving life sentences.
The discipline ISL not military in any
sense The convict's comfort depends
largely upon whether he has any money
or not. II he is poor he enjoys the ordi-
nary prison fare. which is wholesome
food. but he is forced to sleep in one of
the inner cells, which in this climate are
converted into miniature Turkish baths.
One of the convicts when questioned
said:
mo one can have any idea of the heat
and lack Of air in the inside prison cells
at night. From June until. October. and
sometimes November, the temperature
In Yuma every night ranges from ninety
| to los degrees. In the daytime it is
above 10 degrees. 1 have seen it UP to
| 120 degrees every day for three straight
weeks. Imagine the horror OF those in
| side prison cells in such q spell of wealth
| er The prisoners lie in their hunks
painting for air. 1 have come out of one
| of these holes In the morning, after
| vain attempt to sleep, reeking with
| perspiration and as weak as a cat. 1t
| took me an hour outside to regain my
strength. With a man who has any ten
! dency to lung complaint or who has any
| chronic disease Of the organs such
! sweat bath every night is werranted to
| carry him off in a few months"
Those convicts who have money can
| secure any extras in the way of food
| that they may desire, which will be pre-
| pared by the prison cook. For sufn-
| cient bonus also they may obtain the
| inestimable privilege of a cot in the
| prison yard, where they may sleep COM
! fortably the year round without any dam
| ger from cold or rain.
| There have been some highly exciting
| scenes in the Yuma penitentiary, and
several united attempts at outbreak by
the prisoners have been most desperate.
| In one Of these efforts to gain their free
| dom in the winter of 1884 four leaders
among the rebellious convicts were shot
| QedQ anu TOUR IndlIneQ TOT lie. but the
most daredevil and boldest contest for
| liberty that has probably ever taken
place within the walls of any penal in
| stitution in this country was that OF <ne
morning in October, 1887. The old
| timers of Yuma, who have seen terribly
! exciting and sanguinary scenes in this
| section, have not yet ceased talking of
the event of that morning.
| Thomas Gates was superintendent of
| the penitentiary at the time AS he
| came from his private quarters he
| passed in the rear of brick building,
| where he was set upon by four prison
| ers, who were serving long sentences for
stage robberies and murder. The attack
was made outside of the range of the
armed guards upon the walls. Mr..
| Gates was thrown to the ground and his
! two pistols snatched away. He was,
| however, able to shout once for help be-
| fore his assailants broke his skull with
| the butt of his own pistol and shot him
| through the shoulder. In a second more
| twenty other prisoners who had waited
| for the signal to make a united break
| for liberty ran from their work shops
| to the prison Office, knocked the two
| guards there into insensibility and de-
| spoiled the place of its rifles and pistols.
| At the same moment the guards upon
the walls turned their Winchesters and
| Calling gun upon the rebellious convicts.
| while the dozen guards in the prison
selves literally into the breach to keep
other prisoners from joining in the re-
| bellion An eye witness of the affair,
who has been through two Apache and
| Comanche Indian wars, says he never
saw so many men instantly stand up
| and face death as did both the prison
guards and the rebellious convicts that
| October morning.
A FEROCIOUS FIGHT.
Shots were exchanged at a range of
less than twenty feet between the guards
and the prisoners. A dozen Of the lat
ter who were near the gates darted out
| side of the walls, and, rifles in hand.
started for the town of Yuma No Cat
ling gun was ever worked more rapidly
and unerringly than that on the peni-
tertiary walls at that time, and the
Winchesters in the hands of another
guard on the walls fired a ball every
three seconds. Nine of the fleeing con-
victs dropped wounded in their tracks.
Three more threw up their hands as a
sign of surrender, and in this fashion
walked back to the prison yard.
The attention of the guards was
turned to the mutiny in the yard, but
there the Calling gun could not be used,
! be trained. Only the Winchester rifles
| could be used. For a few minutes there
was a terrific exchange of shots, and few
of them went astray from their marks.
| Five prisoners and three guards fell dead
| almost at one another's feet, while three
| prisoners were wounded for life. One
| guard was shot four times through the
body and lived several years. The unin-
| jured prisoners threw up their hands be-
| cause they were out Of cartridges, and
were marched to their cells. The wooden
| building in front of which the guards
| stood in their hand-to-hand battle is still
shown in evidence of the ferocity of the
| fight. There are LOT bullet holes in 1t.
Some Of them were made by lead after
it had passed through a mans body.
The battle was all over in five minutes.
Not word was spoken by any of the
participants. Guard Hartlee stood like
statue at his post, shooting whenever
he could get a bead on one Of the con-
victs. After the fight, when asked how
he felt during the contest, he said: Il
started in like had a hard days work
to do, and wanted to get through as
quickly as possible" The experience of
these ten convicts during their five min
utes' taste of liberty has gone far to-
ward preventing any similar outbreak.