Evening star., 1900-11-24

w
Two things were to note in respect of
the round which Capt. SIrode, governor
of John Howard prison, n. w, made on
gusty morning of March. The first that
1t was an early hour for him; the second
that he had put his uniform in place OF
the old tweed shooting jacket whlch ne
wore in ordinary. These things being oo-
served, the staff concluded that somebody
was coming.
The common tourist of prisons arrives
with printed order from the home ONCE
which allows him to walk through the
building at stated hour tC the company
of a "prinCipal warder, who shows isi'h
the clean corridors, the cleaner cei.s am
the prisoners. who are cleanest OF all. me
visitor may not speak to the prisoners ana
the prisoners may not speak to the visitor
who goes away thinking that prison Is
very clean. quiet place-which 1t is But
the governor does not put off his shooting
jacket c7,
Having finished his round. Capt. Serode
called a parade of the warders VINO w W.
not on duty and inspected them careiu'lS
in the outer square of the prison DISMISS
ing them, he turned to his chief Warder anu
said: Il will go through { again.
Yes, sir. :, IL,
Chief Warder Sykes stout and fiorid his
gray beard trimmed to a point, knew no
more than the rest who was the soniepouS
that was unquestonably coming,
The steel-barred gate of hall was uh-
locked again and the governor ana the
chief warder entered. Oh, the silence ana
the cleanliness of those halls. lr one coula
shout or sing out once or spiLl pucAe1 Tho be-
water over that spotless concrete! ne
noiseIess shining hall, with its three tieES
of cells on either side. had the Ialnl st:eii l
of clean but Gagged humanity. There Were
100 prisoners locked in C-3o0, all but the
I,1f w thp waTtpr was ltdCHiIS
to stitch bags at a table in the center VI
the long, narrow ward. ,
The governor stopped at cell on the
left side. ,s
.Open c 23's door, he said to the chief
warder. and the key turned in the lock ana
the governor went in.
A sailow little wiry man sat at an IRON
hand loom weaving towels. He let Iiie I
beam go and stood up at attention, MS
hands at his sides. the governor en-
tered.
Amy complaints, Orloff?'
'.No COMPLAINTS sir" answered the pris-
oner who wore the knickerbocker sult Oh
a convict as distinguished from the trous-
er suit of a short-term man. Your En-
,-Iish prisons are too comfortable His
English was fluent, with foreigners stress
ON the wrong syllable.
More comfortable than the Russian
ones?"
Much more comfortable than the Rus
sian ones, sir.
Then 1 hope you won't be making the
change again just yet"
Sentenced recently for a crime OF Tlo-
ience in England. the prisoner Orion lay
under suspicion of completely in a worse
affair in Russia. He smiled.
1T will be time for me to think of that,
sir. when l have finished my sentence here
[ am very comfortable here.
Returning to his office. Captain Strode
said briefly to his chief warder
"A lady to visit the prison this morning
The Princess Trubetskoi. Russian She
Will be here at H."
1t is rule of the home office, very. rarely
departed from that no lady may visit the
- male side Of H. NJ prisons If she is
unhappy enough to be the wife, sister or
lever of a convict she sees him at an IN
tsrva! of months in the visitors room. with
a war1er at her elboW-She is never admit
ted within the prison proper. During the
service of Chief Warder Sykes one very
august lady had been conducted as Wis
itor through the halls, and no other.
But the chief wdrder had taken TO hlm-
self the governors habit of silence. He
waited for a further word, but Capt STROBE
walked ahead and said nothing. Mr. sykes
followed him to the door of his ONCE under
the coonnade. with the pretty little garden
plot in front. just against the boundary wall
of the prison. Captain Strobe passed into
his office without Il word
Very well, sir said the chief warden,
and withdrew.
Within, as without, there is super
fluffy of ornament in prison Can economy
which is, perhaps, not wholly of the WisesD,
ran furniture the governors room was
, Only less bare thar the cell he had just
quilted. The unpapered walls. tinted a fee
BILE mauve. had for their sole enbeli1sh-
ments a map of England, a copy of the
rules and the table of the warders' hours:
and the contents Of the bookcase of var
uished deal included nothing more alluring
than a blue book. The governors table
was heaped with papers, and the papers.
ike the books, We're mostly blue. Unlock
ing his drawer. Capt Strobe took from it a
letter (blue AGAIN. and q telegram.
The letter, which carried the printed ad-
dress of the home office, and the legend.
Private and confidential" was exactly a
fortnight old: the telegram had been re-
ceived by Capt. Strobe that morning. The
letter. to which was affixed signature
well known in the service, ran to the effect
that II. NJ commissioners of prisons had
granted special permission to Princess An
ma Trubetskoi to visit John Howard prison
on any day and at any hour of her choice.
One sentence in the letter given the
forpirx pf arii ri