The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-11
REVOLT AGAINST SILENCE.
How Solitary Confinement Prisoners Rest
Themselves In the Evening Hours.
n-... 4 M .t.l.I-Ls. E...... 49,

How Solitary Confinement Prisoners Rest
Themselves In the Evening Hours.
From he Philadelphia Evening Telegraph.
When the p~resumptive system OF segregate
confinement enforced at the Eastern Peni-
Tertiary aroused the indignation OF Charles
Dickens and his trenchant pen gave express
sion to his horror OF such punishment. the
institution on Paramount avenue was given a
sinister reputation beyond its deserts. Since
the great novelist wrote In terms 80 severe Of
solitary imprisonment the results obtained by
the management Of the prison here have re-
futed in the main the structures passed upon
the Eastern Penitentiary. Penologists have
given their testimony in favor of the system
which Dickens condemned. and solitary con-
inement is in vogue in many OF the peniten-
t%iaries Of the country. Il enforced to the
letter and Q man was compelled to sit within a
o oSTrf 9So SsIi hdsy 70 a oeeup YAK Si si min n0t tSen' i R%t eis
solitary confinement would be a barbarity that
would shame civilization and humanity. Mad
ness and death could only result In the major
But when the convicted man stands before
to the words solitary confnement.h their
that his Loneliness shall be relieved 81: hard
the Eastern Penitentiary requires that two.
and frequently three, conyicts shall be con-
i hnea tn t"g pa saG of the Ses; sentences ena E Sae is s @oro Or i less
a legal fiction.
While a man has the company Of his fellows
and the boon of work in the prison there is i'm
posed upon him a punishment the severity and
irksomeness Of which can only be apprehended
In its full force by one who has undergone it.
The punishment is silence. Throughout the
day no man dare speak to his fellow save of ne
cessity or by stealth, To q man who has yield
ed to temptation and fallen. from an honorable
place in society, the need. OF human sympathy.
the. sound of a kindly voice. a friendly ear into
which to pour the torturing surgings OF his
mind is most necessary. and must make this
imposed silence terrible to bear.
The prison authorities recognize the severity
OF the punishment of these long brooding
hours and the mental strain imposed on the
convict. Many in passing the peniten-
tiary in the early hours OF the evening
must have been. startled by the cries and
tumult echoing from behind its stone walls.
and wondered as they hurried by il a bloody
revolt was going on within. A revolt 1t is. in
deed. that nightly takes place. but It is the re;
souls, and black. evil minds against the silence
they have writhed under during the day. From
9 O'Clock until 9 each night the ban OF silence
is raised. and the inmates of the prison are free
to give vent to the tumult of their minds.
Locked there in their cells the great majority
OF the prisoners await eagerly the hour OF o.
At the given time pandemonium breaks loose.
The corridors echo and re-echo to the yells,
shrieks and songs OF the miserable. Gagged men.
Many Of them have musical Instruments. and
these add their volume to the general discord.
stroke OF the electric lights, in the cells 60 out.
place, and fortunate the man who finds free
dom in sleeD.