Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-10-26

Mario Carara, a disciple Of CESAR
Lombroso. the Italian expert in crimi-
nal anthropology, has made special
| study of the sports that criminals en-
gage in. The innocent games Of child
hood. in the case of criminals, are tine
tured with cruelty aud sometimes &C.
companied by homicide.
Criminals skip the rope. but part az
the game Is to trip up the jumper and
let him fall heavily upon TIE stone pave
| ment.
Criminals play ieapfroc. but the oh
5ect Of the game Is that he who makes
the back" shall rise suddenly and vio-
iently just as the frog mounts and throw
him To the ground.
The criminals play blind mans buff.
but the man with the tandagcd eyes
| carries q handkerchief bearing i'm one
corner a Jagged stone. u piece Of hard.
| sharpened wood or "a bit Of iron. With
this weapon he strikes those whom he
pursues
Another remarkable form of this
game Is for the blinded one TO be struck
by one or another of his companions If
he fails to name the one that touches
him. The penalty is not the inpoc,nt
one Ct the children's game. but a blow
SO severe that a physician has often 10
ne called IN after game is over, and
occasionally the sufferer il disabled for
some time.
1t has been found III those Italian re-
forInatories where prisoners are mot
Kept in solitary confinement that pris.
oners games are often accompanied
with bioOdslled, and that it is almost
impossible to prevent cruelties. This is
especially true where prisoners work to-
gether, Tor they secrctc tools and use
them rs weapons in brutal sports.
In one Of these games the player has
III each hand n stick. having fixed i'm
the end keen metallic point. He in
terweaves his arms, revolving the st icks
with r.apidity, and the game is for an
other prisoner tn thrust his head be-
tween the arms and endeavor to follow
the revolutions of The sticks without
being wounded 1t usually happens that
he receives 10 or 16 wounds and comes
out with u bleeding head. while now
Tho victim in another game has his
eyes bandaged and places his palm upon
table, with fingers spread fanlil.e
Another criminal repeatedly strikes be-
tween the fingers with "a pointed insiru-
ment. If he wounds u finger. then the
two change places, ard wee to the man
who refuses the exchange. The game Is
dangerous, although the criminals as
sert that the wounds to the f:i:CC.s are
not deep or severe, because. they saw.
the metallic points are too short and do
not penetrate far, a grim form of phil
osophy
The sport IF criminals is accompanied
by characteristic craft. This Is especial
ly shown in the methods in which the
newcomer Is initiated into prison life
The novice Is conducted into an impro-
vised court chamber, where the judges
are his fellow prisoners He - placed
upon stand and gravely tried upon a
pretended charge, and Inc has barely
been condemned when rho stand j. sud-
denly drawn away, so that he Is thrown
violently upon the earth.
Many games necessarily imply resist
success. For example. there is the game
of needles. One of the players place;
his closed fists upon the table. holding
steadily two needles. one in each hand.
the points being slightly exposed. II is
the game then for "a coniranion 20
strike with his own fists those of the
| other and becomes a question Of endur-
ance between the one who is rrickctl
with the needles and the the whose fists
are beaten by the others knucllcs.
There are contests in which the fin.
gers and hands are deeply wounded.
and the scars are an honorable tiistinc-
tion.
The characteristic feature II all these
| games, which are the recreation e.clu.
sively of criminals in prison. Is tine love
Of combat. II, as is held by experts,
| sports are the means Of working of the
superfuous activity OF life. 1t il evident
that superfiuous activity, in the case If
| prisoners. Is especially powerful. Ii has
been noted in the case of prisoners tina;
there is q prevalence Of great agility and
| litheness. which Professor Lombroso
considers q negative evidence Of mental
| NSdhutss, s4HCt IL tt>Illt~ tp Il tsftdtt I
development Of the notorial ceuiers n,
the expense of the othorcerebral oenters.
But usually this physical energy is no,
properly used in the ordinary life of the
criminal and finds outlet and eujoymen,
in sports.
| Another characteristic If the games
of criminals is the admiration shown
for physical force, manifested i'm the
docili;y with which the vanquished in
such sports submit to the brutality Of
the victors, q thing observed among
savages.
Finally the insensibility to pain ex-
hibited in sports of criminals proves
that such men are less acute in their
physical senses rs well as less sensitive
to the pains Of others, since what seems
TO others uselessly cruel is only the
usual thing with criminals. As the
/ drunkard, his taste hardened by alcohol,
has need of . stimulant constantly
stronger, SO in the case Of the criminal,
the nervous system demands stimuiants
SO strong that to the ordinary steady