The San Francisco call., 1898-04-24

'
 from the Ingleside car in the
 dust of a genuine country road,
 and make our way slowly
 through turnstiles and along footpaths to a broad and shaded ave nue which would be beautiful were 1t not that one side of it is a glacial precipice of whitewashed wall-a bar rier built by society ] tween adjudged offenders against its laws and those who have been fortunate enough not to offend or to have escaped conVic- tion.
 To meet us comes loping tall young fellow. with a figure of an athlete, and a fresh. smiling, well-featured face.
 "We were on the lookout for you, sir" he says, raising his battered hat as he reaches us, and instantly relieV- ing MT. Tubbs smarting hands and aching arms of their load. And then, as he strides on before us, l notice, with a queer little shock at my heart, that one leg of his dusty overalls is bright blue and the other yellow brown.
 ] came out here to City Prison No. for the express purpose of seeing portion of San Francisco's prisoners, and 1 know, now that l have noticed his garb, that he is one of them, but that frank face and those honest eyes seem strangely out of place in such livery.
 Before We reach the office I discover that it is only the outside working bees in this hive that wear these diversi fled denims. The others, no matter what fashion of garment covers the up per portion of their bodies-and they range from the unobtrusive and insuf- 1icient underVest to the nattiest of top coats-wear trousers of wide black and yellowish gray stripes, which, running perpendicularly, give the impression that a universal characteristic of these sinners against society is the posses sion of abnormally long and slender legs and a general Brownie-like per sonality.
 have not been a guest or the place many minutes, however, before con- cede that the unhandsome lower gar ments are really very good thing, for modest glance downward prevents me from making mistakes embarrassing both to myself and my new acquaint- ances, since, in the house part Of City Prison No. ? it would be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish the sheep
 
 that the goats are thus branded.
 And this Is not at all uncOmpliment- ary to the sheep, mind you. It is not that the officers and guards look like prisoners, but that the prisoners look so Confusingly like honest men; and most of them are, for that matter, for these truSues, or trustees " as they call themselves, preferably with a large emphasis on the final syllable, are se- lected from the better class of offenders and have rarely done anything worse than get into a contest with alcoholic liquors, in which they were badly out classed, or mildly disturb the peace in other ways
 1 am taken on the usual tour of in- spection and find everything clean and well mana ged, though the grated win dows and striped legs cast a gloom over my spirits. l don't even care for the excellent lunch, though the festal board is bright with flowers and an ideally polite and attentive waiter stands be- hind my chair. The flowers were grown in a prison garden, the sunshine that brightens the room sits in through ir1n bars, and my waiter doesn't get any wages and can't jump his job because Of a paucity of tips.
 Lunch over we go out into the TO- tunda, the real prison portion of the establishment, and after we have looked at the offices, the temporary HOSDltdl, the tODDltI anu DdIDeI SUODS, and all that the obliging turnkey lets us through the tall iron fence which separates the tiers of cells and their corridors from the rest of the place, and when he locks the door behind us the real business of our visit begins.
 A small stand minus one leg has been set forth in the lower corridor by some of the trusties likewise a rickety chair for the especial use of the lady" A pile of newspapers topped by a second hand brown Derby hat-a promised gift to prisoner whose time" is nearly at an end-is placed on the impromptu pulpit, which is tenderly supported at one corner by trusty's hand, and a brief service begins
 Opposite and above us are rows of doors composed of a wide-meshed lat lice work of iron, though strong enough 10 keep giants in, does not keep out a single intrusive glance of trusties. guards or visitors. Against nearly every one of these are lounging figures of men and youths looking out at us. some with real interest, some with merely idle curiosity, others with az gressively emphasized expressions of amusement or ennui, and a few with open though quiet scorn.
 It is noticeable that it is mainly the younger ones who assume the attitudes of cynics and scoffers, and it is also * < x x < > * 7 x < < x < x X < <