The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-05
TALK IN PRISON.
How Convicts Elude
Their Turkeys
and Converse.
MODES OF COMMUNICATION.
News of the Outside World
Quickly Dissem-
mated.
MODES OF COMMUNICATION.

The statement is often made that
convicts have means of acquiring and
diffusing intelligence quite as mysteri-
Gus in accuracy and rapidity as SINH
lar powers possessed by savage tribes.
However it may be with this cognate
illustration, there is really nothing that
is strange and but little that is surpris-
ing in prison communication.
When conviots in adjoining cells
wish to talk each one stands at his
grated door, close to the dividing wall.
The stone is so ready a conductor that
the faintest whisper can be heard.
Thus neighbors may talk by the hour
without attracting any attention. Old
convictS, too, are able to direct the
voice, so that one who is expert will
stand at his grating and talk to a pal
on the tier below or above in such a
way that the conversation will not be
noticed by anyone else.
Should a keeper be stealing along the
gallery, it is the simplest thing in the
world TO send a warning ahead Of him.
The man in the end cell gives two or
three soft raps on the wall; this is re-
peated by his neighbor, and so on and
on, with almost the velocity of sound,
with the result that the keeper will
find the men whom he may suspect
harmlessly engaged, reading or whit
Ting ship or doing on their hunks.
An old convict always has some
scraps of paper and stub of pencil.
He will write a note, roll it into a pei
lnt nd CO 0lrillf1.llxy fAc fhrn1TCb "a
bars that it will light directly in front
of the cell for which it is intended. In
an instant stick with a pin fixed in it
will be thrust out and the note har-
pooned. If he wishes to send this
scrawl to a pal on the tier below he will
attach to 1t a string, give it a throw
and swing, and land it flying at its
destination.
All this implies caution on the part
of the sender and observation on the
part of the receiver; but the old con-
Yict is both cautious and observing to
a marked degree. When he is in his cell,
all day Sunday and evenings from I'M
til 8, when the retiring gong sounds,
he stands habitually at the grating of
his CELL
"a pathetic sight" one will say; 1.-THE
poor man is yearning for liberty"
How stupid he Isl another will re-
fleet. why doesn't he strive to i'm
prove his time by studying and read
ing?"
In reality, however, the convict is far
from sad and far from idle. Nothing
can occur in that long prison hall and
escape his notice, though his horizon is
a stretch of whitewashed wall only 8
few feet wider than the narrow en-
trance to his cell. Every sound has
a meaning to him. He knows the
creaks of the different doors, those
leading to the dispensary, the hospital
the office and the kitchen. Let one OF
these open and shut and he will make
a shrewd que SIS as to the identity and
errand of the person passing through
He knows just what time it is and just
what ought to happen at any particu-
lar moment, and so is able to tell il
any commotion is seasonable or not
In the latter case he will set up, exam
Inc and discard hypothesis, until he ar
rives pretty nearly at the true solution
His powers of deduction are as acutely
developed as those of the blind; and the
more rigid the discipline the finer dc
they become. There is nothing abnor-
NAL about all this; it is both natural
and inevitable, for otherwise men with
out intellectual resources would soon
become insane. When the old convict
reaches what he deems the right CON
cluSion, he makes haste to enlighter
his neighbor. Very likely the latter
has been similarly engaged. The two
then, Will compare mental notes are1l.
ing pro and con until they agree and
then the news is further disseminated
with greater assurance.
Then, 1t must be remembered, that
when the men march to work and back
| again, in lockstep, they are in very
close order, indeed. Look at this line
winding down the pathway. The lead.
er has his arms folded and his heaf
thrown back for he is proud of the
! rhythmical way he is sending his bow,
along. But all the others shuttle ahead
| In hang-dog fashion, with necks craneG
forward. Examine as closely as yol
Will the set, colorless faces, and YOU
Will detect no motion save a slight
grind of the lower jaw You think they
are chewing tobacco; so they are everI
man jack of them who could beg. bor.
row or steal cud, but they are ais6
talking, each one to the man In fron,
OF him, talking in a breath, which col.
| lectively does not amount to an audj.
| BILE whisper
NOW, suppose, as the last man masses
you. the distinguished visitor, Won re.
marx casually to the officer beside Won
near you are going to have a Iag.
islative investigating committee come e
/ down upon you SOON
How long do you think it will be be.
| fore every man knows this delectahIe
DIT OF intelligence and is conjuring how
- mag ass IL 10 MS personal advan.
tage? Not half 50 long as it takes tbr
line to pass through the shop door.
Then walk through the shop. Side hV
side sit the convicts cutting out lea.
Iner, stitching, hammering soles
! Everywhere the colorless. expression.
less face bent down; everywhere tn,
stolid, motionless features, save for tht
monotonous grinding Of the lower law
And yet these automatons are takins
your measure, and commenting unor
It, too, in terms far from fiattering
They note the minutest detail of Won,
| appearance; how closely the barber
has shaved you or how carelessly yo,
have shaved yourself; the sparkle. yea
| or fictitious, Of the diamond in YOU
| shirt front; the probable strength q