The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-07-19
CAN'T GET AWAY NOW
NO MORE PRISONERS NEED APPLY FOR
LEAVE OF ABSENCE.
Warden Russell Looking After his Fences--A
Laundry to be Added to the Peniten-
tary in Time for The Campaign.

Warden Russell is determined that no
more prisoners shall leave the penitcn-
tiary without making formal adieus. He
feels kcenly the slight that has been put
upon his hospitality. The warden is
right. "Ingrdtitude is base" as the
copy books all agree.
The guard at the main entrance now
wears long gun and Il double row of
cartridges about his zone. No engineer on
the road dares run by without having
duly saluted The locomotives shy as
they pass and the eagle on the express
cars folds its wings i'll token of submis-
sion. The eye of vigilance is slceplcss.
Even the hip-pocket of the peaceful
warden looks like Il Tampa arsenal.
The warden has been looking after his
fences, literally and tiguratlvely. 1t
seems that during the palmy days of
John X. Smith the posts were allowed
TO decay, along with many other things.
These are being replaced. as was John
r.. and new gratingS, set III stone, put IN
all the bitches to keep the prisoners from
crawling under. When these gratingS
were set in the wood the prisoners en-
poyed the season after Strawberries in
chisselIing out. Hereafter nothing but
drills can be used for this purpose. The
guards are instructed to shoot any man
who approaches the bdstions drill in
hand.
The United States prisoners. said the
warden, are Il tough lot. What they
do not know about crawling through
trap doors. under fences, eluding guards
and generally making life Il burden for
those who keep watch and ward is little
enough. The State prisoners are easy
to manage, but nothing other than Il
battalion of bull dogs can keep the gov
eminent pets corraled. They never sleep
and they never wake the guards who
do
Warden Russell says it's a mighty
hard job to get good guards, only about
one in hundred according to his care
fully compiled experience measures up
to the standard. THE Democrats did
not find this troubled The war increases
the difficulties. There used to be n
few full companies standing outside
every morning waiting for the gates TO
open. but now they have all joined the
army, and those who apply either do
not have insomnia or do not know how
to shoot a convict running in the tim
Der.
Despite all these drawbacks, Warden
Russell says. only four prisoners have
escaped during his administration. AS
there were 2l4 in all by far the larger
part of them are still left. These can
not escape if the guards do their duty
since the fence has been strengthened
and locks put on the trap doors and
two extra guards added to the force.
The orders forbidding guards to in
spect any save the lower tiers of cells
have been revoked since the recent es-
cape The guards used to go up to the
tiers next the trap door and swap pocket
knives and yarns with sociable prisoners,
and they had to be forbidden to go there
at all to stop the nefarious practice. The
guards had been so worsted in these
commercial transactions that scarcely
one on the force had pocket knife
with all the blades intact or Il vocabula-
ry that did not show spots Of rust. Any
exchange of sleep powders is now rigidly
forbidden by prison regulations.
The shirt factory will enlarge It's
plant so soon as the force of prisoners
can be replcnished. A few men more
nimhle in their fingers and less nimble
in their legs can get steady work on APP
pication.
A laundry is soon to be established and
will he in full blast by the time cam
pdign linen begins to arrive.