The record-union., 1897-02-04

Having pleaded guilty to writing the
article, and making no further defense
than that the statements contained
therein were true and written with no
other purpose than that of serving the
public good. the prisoner rests his case
and sums up This is his much-coveted
impressively to all the persons adj
dressed, he begins:
'Messieurs les Judges. lie Procureur-
General, Mes Confreres, Mesdames ct
Messieurs. His speech has been care
fully prepared, and is usually brill
liant effort, sparkling with wit and full
of biting sacasm, directed by skillful
inuendo at the defenseless head of the
complainant
In ordinary cases the sentence i'm
posed is from one week to three
months confinement in the prison of
Ste. Pelagie, or La Sante, both situated
Within the limits of Paris. In eXecut-
ing the sentence of the court the au-
thorities usually consult the wishes Of
the convicted one. Upon giving his
word of honor to the Warden to repor t
al the prison on a certain day and be-
-
allowed to depart, perhaps fer a holi-
day, in the country, or to finish some
urgent work in hand. As the day
agreed upon draws near, the journalist
receives a reminder like this:
"Monsieur-You are requested to pro-
sent yourself at the Prison de Ste. Pc
lagie On the 1st of February, at 3 q. m
Accept the salutation of yours truly,
JEAN FROCHARD, Director"
This is draft upon his honor which
the French journalist will break his
neck to meet Most of the newspaper
delinquents are consigned to the Prison
Of Ste. Pelagie, which has a section
dubbed the Pavilion des Princes, re-
served for prisoners of this class. Here
the cells" are hight and clean. Here
incarcerated scribes are permitted to
furnish them with such things as they
need for the pursuit of their newspaper
work They are treated with great
indulgence by their jailers, almost as
honored guests. They have the liberty
Of the corridors and the Jail yard, and
are permitted to pass their time as they
see fit, being only nOminally bound by
a few prison rules If man has money
he can command for his table all the
delicacies of the Halles Centrales, and
if impecuniots, his more fortunate fell
low prisoners will contest for the honor
of having him a guest at dinner.
At nightfall there is an orderly but
none the less speedy jail delivery from
that section Of the Ste. Pelagie. One a
a time Well-dressed men with SLOUGH
hats drawn over their eyes may be seen
to slip out of the prison door, mix with
ithe crowd in the street, and then drop
down a by-Way. They are not escaping,
but merely paying visit to a nearby
marchand de Vim for game of piquet
and bottle or two. In justification of
themselves for extending this privilege
to the journalists. the prison authori-
ties naively explain that men who have
been writing all day in cell need
change Of scene in the evening. The
cabaret in which they gather is one
patronized exclusively by the royalty"
as the people of the neighborhood have
nickna1ned the denizens of the "Pavil-
ion des Princes" Here
Many a wassail bout
Wears the long winter out:
Often their midnight shout,
Sets the cocks Growing.
To get leave for THESE night excur-
sions the talismanic parole dhonneur
again does service. No especial limit is
set as to the duration Of their stay out
side, but there rs a tacit understanding
that they shall be home" by a. m, an
eminently seasonable hour from jour
nalistic point Of view. There is no rec
ord that any scribe ever violated his
parole by failing to return to the prison