Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-06-29
'CONVlcTS At WAuPUN
Burnett" Spends a Day with
the Warden and Prisoners.
ONLY SEVENTEEN ARE WOMEN.

And Yet We Say the Sex Is Unequal to the
Baliot-The Famous Potato Mutiny-
The Escape by Tunneling--why the
Keepers Do Not Carry Firearms Seven
ty-Nine Prisoners in for Life Wiscon-
sins Need of Society to Aid the Ex-
Convict.
Madison. Wis. June 2l.--One of the
most interesting occupations / know of
Is the chaplaincy of prison. 1t is Gu
rious. isn't it. telling at waupun of
things spiritual to $50 convicts, seventy
nine Of them in ON life sentences, and
nearly all of that number murderers!
One day the chaplain was passing be-
fore the cells when he heard the ''Hist!"
with which his boys" greet him when
they wish an Interview.
Chaplain, I'm going to smash every
machine In the shop tomorrow. l don't
care If they put me In the hole for
month"
The. man was white with rage and
meant what he said.
What's the matter now, john
They broke my needle when l wasn't
watching EN-, and 1 couldn't do my
task"
Each convict is required to do so
much work during the day. The chap
lain argued with the man and tried to
show him that to raise a row would do
no good and only incur the antagonism
Of the officers
few nights afterward he was pass
Ing by the cells when he heard "Histl'
Say. chaplain" the convict said. smil-
Ing, that was good advice you gave
me the other day. / kept right on with
| my old work, and it is all right"
Cells Amazingly Small.
The mems cells are amazingly small
hardly big enough to turn around in.
| Some of the men sleep In hammocks.
| There is an electric light In each cell,
| and the cells are In four tiers. The
| dining room IL as plain as can be imag-
| ined, the seats ard tables reminding one
Of school desks, but of rude wood; and
| the tableware is largely tin and thick
crockery, each table garnished with vim
egar In bottles OF varied type once used
for varied purposes. There is farm OF
$50 acres, separate from the prison
building. On this are eighteen cows
| and some 400 hogs Garden truck is
raised fol- the convicts' tables.
One who visits Waupun has a number
Of impressions shattered. l supposed
there would be a good many weighed
/ down by the memory of their crimes.
There are men there who have killed
their wives, their children, and those
who have plotted the darkest kind of
crimes. 1t would seem as If the dying
looks Of their victims. the tragic events
In which they had participated would
haunt them day and night. 1t does in
Dickens stories, To be sure, some go
insane and are taken to an asylum And
| was told there are some conscience
| stricken men and women there. But
not many,
Where Are the Gentlemen's Sons.
Then, too. ] expected to find a goodly
leaven Of men Of education, good fam
| ily-lawyers, preachers, and others of
standing who had fallen into evil ways.
But these are but handful. There are
two or three bank officials The young
man from the western part Of the state
who got his accounts mixed up with
! bank money works in the library. He
VIII soon be out, President Mckinley
! having committed his sentence. A
| creamery official who fell m the same
way IL In charge Of the photogra phing
Of criminals and the Bertillon meas
urements The Kenosha arson case is
also assigned to work betting his in
telligence, and there are some others.
| But Observation-Disclosures are from the
| lower walks of life. Whether this Is
| because the lowly greatly outnumber
| the so-called well-born, or whether the
latter escape prison through Influence"
| do not presume to say,
| Again one Is surprised to find SO few
| women In prison. 1t Is one of the argu-
| ments Of female suffragists. There are
| but seventeen at present. They have a
| building by themselves. It opens out
| into large yard, surrounded by an i'm
mense wall, as Is, indeed, the whole in
stItution, and here they work In truck
! garden. One lady keeper is in charge
| Of them all, and you may imagine 1t is
| q tough crowd, for no jury will commit
| woman to states prison except after
| q hardening eourse Of crime, ! asked
| the lady If she had ever been attacked.
| She said but once, when convict
| woman grabbed her by the throat. She
| Is able to speedily summon relief from
| the office. 1t is necessary TO commit a
| woman to a dark cell occasionally or
| resort to other penalty.
Left Prison to Form a Regiment.
Waupun prison began business in 1853.
Up to 1874 the executive of the prison
was an elective officer-chosen ON the
state ticket. The commissioner at the
outbreak of the war was Hans c. Heg,
who left to form the famous Norwegian
regiment and who was killed at Chick
amauga. HIS son is the superintendent
Of the Green Bay reformatory. now be-