The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-10-28
SOME SCENES IN APRISON.

/ scare IN town winch soon manifest
ed itself at the penetentiary. 4
newly arrived tramp, an encyclope
dla of disease iD his own most impr0
per person, was hastily removed t.
the little disused pest house in tn,
corner of the yard and a suspicious
case reported. The local board O.
health, for once recognized what ;
clearing house for human refuse the
prison was. and ordered vaccination
OF its inmates.
Observation is the cow ;ct's predo
minant characteristic His instinct
for news is as a hounds scent. Let
the keepers whisper together, an ex
ira supply wagon rattle through the
gateway, or the deputy strut in his
Sunday uniform, and he perceives at
once that between the strong soup OF
noon and the weak tea of 5 O'Clock
something is going to happen besides
the rub dub dub of work.
| One morning there was no sick call
tho the doctor and his assistant, usu-
ally called the student, had been seen
flying in and out of the dispensary.
This break from the ordinary routine
see the ears and eyes of every man
jack on the alert. About 3 p. M the
deputy came into the can shop. He
went from one to the other with the
terse command Put your coat on and
fall into line until forty-had left the
racks and we've ready to take the lock
step. As this gang marched away iG
was hard to tell whether or not the
relief of those who were left behind
exceeded the chagrin of their igno
rance.
Up through the yard the deputy,
with the Importance of a Turkish
| pasha, led the way into the corridor
of the main hall. A gloomy barren
spot at best is prison dormltory,
but never more SO than during the
hours of work; for the sense of va
cancy seems to add to its sour and
musty ugliness. No one is around
save few pallid wretches from the
hospital taking exercise on the flag
ging which the hall men have just
wetted down, thus encouraging their
consumptive germs. As one glances
tier to tier of cells, foul and black
mawed, one half expects to see a
host of unhappy shades emerge and
noiselessly join those about to die in a
never ending line.
The preparations seemed terrible
in their mystery to the men halted
along the wall. On a small table,
over which the doctor stood with
sleeves rolled up, were boxes. towels,
a bowel of water and some glittering
lancets. Something was going to
happen, and yet no one would explain
no one ever does explain in prison.
hence the activity of the perceptive
faculties. The deputy passed along.
whispering to each one, Take off
your coat and bare the left arm to the
shoulder and the disquietude in
creased.
"What was the doctor agoin' for to
do? Some experiments likely agin'
the law. For who 'ud care # he'd
carve us all up2" Such was the
common thought conve yed by sullen
side glances.
As the student began to vigorously
rub the arm of the man on the right
with rough cloth, cuds were uneasi
" shifted or thrust into the pocket;
and as the doctor advanced with the
instrument tray, there was an undula-
ton of white lips and the man on the
left gave great gasp Of respite.
That line would have presented
curious spectacle to those who deem
convicts mere stolid Jumps of vicious
ness. The barred forms revealed no
uniformity of health Here was the
ruggedness of Bill Sykes side by side
with an emaclaticn which would have
put to shame Dotheboys Hall on a
frosty morning. And over the rough
shaven faces played the whole gamut
| of expression amusement, resigna-
ton, resistance, apprehension and ter
ror. 1t may be said with moderation
that far less active dread would have
been shown by the most hysterical
class of a girls boarding school.
Convicts fear the unknown. How
ever much they may blackguard the
doctor behind his bsck-and that
| however Is an intesitive-they have
wholesome respect for his occult
learning. He is generally supposed
| to be devoid of heart and conscience
and to be more than willing to give
fatal dose from the "black bottle" to
| whomsoever may offend him. Thus
awe and distrust led even those who
had been vaccinated before into the
pervading panicky condition. And
more than once some broad shoulder.
ed giant, who would have staggered
up from the shop, unassisted, holding
a severed finger in place, toppled over
IN faint ct the first squirt of blood.
Nor did familiarity bring contempt
Rumors of faintings and subsequent
sickness set the lines that follow in q
tremor; and though. throughout that
season, every inmate from the man
who had just come in to the man who
was just going out, was vaccinated,
not day passed that cold water was
not dashed into ghastly face.
The suspicious case in the pest
house, by the way, turned out to be
one of erysipelas.
For week the bread had been very
bad-bad it always was. Now bread
| is the staff, not of ,rison life, but OF
prison existence. Many men, those
whose stomachs are not up TO the
grease, gristle and taint of PRISON
meat, practically subsist on it. 1t is
pathetic TO see the way such a one
will borrow or steal an extra piece
and to note to what an acute state oi
mould an old crust must attain be-
fore it is beyond the nibbling point
And yet day otter day the corridors
after meal had been not white but
brown with loaves contemptuously
tossed back, and from tier to tier had
resounded the cry: "Sour bread
Sour breadw Fritz, the Dutch ba-
ker, too, had ventured one mornins
to put his beioured face into the tai
lor shop only to be fairly blasted a va,
hr-o e