The evening times., 1899-06-27
CoNvIcTs' DUMB-sHoW.
emn rIknble Powers of Secret Com
municntiOn Between Jnilbirds.

(From Cassell's Saturday Journal)
A former governor of the Jail at Armley.
near Leeds. once caused eli-conducted
prisoner but an old jailbird, to exhibit
his powers as a weight gauger in the pres
ence of the writer. The man gave to the
minute fraction of an ounce the weight of
various objects in the office that he
handled and in regard tc prison rations.
Intentionally short in weight, that were
brought in. his judgment was simply won
de rfui The writer afterward independent
ly tried the powers OF man "out on IL
cense." and he was just as clever in gaus-
ing weight where provisions were coz
cerned.
None but those who have to deal regu-
larly with old prison birds know what fine
MISUNDERSTANDING the word pantOmime
in its better sense of dumb -show''-are to
be found among the class: indeed, the most
modern and progressive of all our prison
governors declares that no class, not even
the professional theatrical one, possesses
greater powers of dumb-show than does
that consisting of regular jailbirds. and he
adds that all the accomplished habitual
thieves that he has met were admirable
actors. Long practice and the necessities
of the case have no doubt given this power
of dumb show pretty generally to old con-
victs, but there are many cases in which
a man can not only convey TO another a
few sentences. but whole histories. given
the time. by the minutest signs. either dur
ing church service or working hours or at
exercise. and no plan for preventing this
has ever been found.
A prison chaplain of vast experience
who was consulted by the writer on this
subject. says: "Old iailbirds can defy tie
vigilance of all the warders in Europe.
With mouths half open, they can speak
to a companion hard by with absolute
impunity, the lips and lower jaws never
even being moved. II the companion fails
to hear. he indicates the fact by putting
his finger into one ear as though it were
itching Their dumb alphabet is marvel
ously complete. prisoner wants to say
that some one is dead-he spells the name
on his fingers, then rests his head upon
his hands and stamps on the ground; So
and-so is dead and buried. Some one is
imprisoned for so many years, and this is
conveyed from one prisoner to another
by the former putting as many fingers as
correspond to the years across his ear
the man has got. say, three ear; for
months similar sign is made on the
mouth.
Coughs and sneeezs of different kinds
indicate all manner of distinct things. One
we'll known cough means listen. The
prisoner who gives it has received let
ter: he looks at the palm Of one hand and
pretends to scribble with the other. IL he
has got a newspaper-prisoners do receive
such things some times. l can assure you
he pretends to be reading the palm Of the
hand very intently. He pretends to whip
to Indicate that he has been fiogged; he
puts his hand on his stomach to denote
short allowance; he has written letter.
so he pretends to write on his hand and
then to throw the words into the air."
And thus 1t goes on through the entire
chapter. absolutely genuine dumb show.
where no code has been agreed upon be-
forehand, telling whole histories.
A large bark from Liverpool. called the
Diomed, was in 1892, while trading. wreck
ed ON one Of the smalled islands, Of the
Pacific great number Of savages, who
seemed quite friendly. surrounded the ship
wrecked men; but none Of the latter knew
q scrap Of language that the natives could
understand But one Of the crew, a mid
dle-aged man known a. Mac the Con-
vict"-he was a man who had turned over
a new leaf-intimated to the captain that
he could make the natives understand
anything" and he actually succeeded in
making communication easy on every sub
Ject required. solely BY means of signs
and acting. The captain of the Diomed
was the writer's Informant, and he gave
a second similar instance that was told to
him by another shipmaster.