Washington sentinel., 1898-06-04
An old Time Prison.
THe Lndgate.

houses as eloquent OF the uoulSSuS
tastes of another and an Older
time, is a prison which was form
erly as we'll known and even more
dreaded by malefactors and Grim
inals than Newgate. The exterior
OF this prison, which is officially
known as "The Liberty of her
Maiesty's Tower and the Precin It's
thereof" looks like a sombre
private dwelling house, with a
heavy portico. But the ground
floor windows of the building that
stands in Wellclose Square, E,
at the corner Of Neptune street,
gave light to a court house pan
elled with wood from floor to cell
ing, its Judge having the powers OF
lite and death. AT the end of this
room is a raised desk, in the centre
of which stood a vast and high
chair, upon which the Judge sat;
on either side OF him were the as
SCISSORS; below is the seat OF the
clerk of the court, and on the right
hand a wooden pen, where the
prisoners 70 be tried were placed
ca NzaSSe. On the lett hand is the
jury box, and in tine centre ol the
court, facing the judges seat, is
the witness box, railing behind
marking off the portion OF the room
reserved for the public, whilst on
either side of the green baize GOV
cred table in the we'll Of the court
are seats that were once occupied
daily by the brethren of the law.
From a broad passage out
side the court a superb staircase
with wide balustrade and carved
banisters leads to a large board
room, in which stands long mar
row table surrounded by slender
wooden armchairs, left exactly as
when last used. The FIVE windows
Of this last room look upon the
garden of the square, which is filled
with fine trees, and must at one
time have BEEN beautiful; its centre
is now occupied by school. but
sufficient open space remains to
indicate its appearance when Well
close Square was word of horror
to criminals.
No wonder Wellclose Square
possessed an evil reputation. for its
two cells, standing just as they
were lett by the last prisoners, are
sufficient to terrify the most expe-
rIenced and hardened offender.
Standing side by side, the further
Of the two cells which was occu-
pied solely by criminals con-
demned to death, can only be
reached by passing through the
first cell. But both, in their COM
fortlessness and general appear
ance, are similar. Each has a
strongly barred window, placed so
high on the wall that only a
glimpse of the sky Could be OBJ
tanned by the prisoners within, and
each has sloping platform at the
end opposite to the window, which
served as a bed. In the first cell,
given up to ordinary evil doers,
there formerly stood some stocks,
but these have disappeared. By
an ingenious arrangement a shut
ter can be placed over these win
dows so as to exclude all light. and
permitting of only sufficient ventil-
alton to enable the unfortunate
prisoners condemned to solitary
confinement" to breathe. In the
old times a sentence Of SOLITARY
conhnsment' meant that the un-
happy wight must expiate his
wrongdoing in total darkness.
Sometimes he was chained to the
floor by manacles round his ankles
or by the chains attached to the
back Of a straight-waistcoast a
photograph is given showing this
according to the seriousness of his
crime; but chained or unclaimed
he passed his days and nights in
Stygian darkness, the visits of the
warder with food being the sole
means of marking the passage of
time. AS the cells are only built
OF wood they must have been bit
terlv cold in winter and hot in the
summer, and the crowding of pris-
oners, that was one OF the greatest
evils Of the old prison system, must
have added untold horror to the
miseries OF the incarcerated. AS
many as twenty people are said t.
have been at one time confined in
the condemned cell. Among these
is the name of John Burke, the
plasterer, OF bodY-snatching celeb
rity, and. evidently cut by the
same hand, those of Edward Stock
ley, Thomas LYnel, and James
Parks. who were all confined
under sentence of death at the
same time. For centuries
this prison was known as "The
Sly House," and this name has de
scended to the "King's Arms"
having originally been gained by
the act that prisoners, after being
condemned to death IN the court
house, were never seen again until
they faced the gallows upon Tower
Hill. A second bricked-up door
way beneath the staircase leading
to the cells is pointed out as the
opening OF an underground pass
age that ran to the Tower, through
which the condemned were taken
to execution; but as the opening
in or near the ancient fortress has
not yet been discovered, it is inn
possible to speak with any GER
taInty as to the truth OF this state
ment. The popular name for the
nrison however. still remains. and
the bricked-up doorway, at any