The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-07
OLD CASTLE WILLIAM FULL
CELLS TAXED TO UTMOST WITH
 ARMY PRISONERS.
Bnd Soldiers Who WiI Lose Their Citizenship - Men Under Armed Guards at An Times,

Down in Castle William in the uppe
 bay, where the stone steps of the littl
 spiral staircase leading to the ancien
 battlements above are worn deep iron
 nearly century's use, the prison cell
 at their top are taxed to their utmos
 capacity these days, with unruly sol
 dlers from the army camps of Cuba
 and Puerto Rico and the military post.
 from along the Atlantic seaboard
 Hardly a day passes but what brings z
 squad of these unfortunates, either by
 train or transport or witnesses the de
 parture of those who have served theil
 time. If these discharged ones have
 been garrison prisoners, sent up by
 summary court martial, they put on
 the uniform of blue and go back tc
 their regiments to begin their career
 anew; but if they have been general
 prisoners, convicted by a general court
 martial, they leave Governors Island
 with $5 and new suit of clothes, dis
 honorably discharged" and their cti-
 zenship forfeited-men without a coun-
 try.
 Army discipline is severely strict.
 What to a civilian would seem too triv-
 ial for police court notice lands the
 soldier in a military prison. Absence from drill overstaying a pass, or neg
 ligence In duty is sufficient cause for
 the commanding officer to sit alone in
 summary court martial, and send
 sT4L fA,, Jo,
 with fine in addition, of one month s
 pay. A discourteous word to an officer in the heat of anger, drunkenness, and
 offences leading in seriousness to de-
 sertion bring the cuprit before gen.
 eral court martial that usually ends in suspension of pay or Imprisonment with
 the accompanying dishonorable dis
 charge which, in army vernacular, is called bob" For mutiny soldier gets the limit and there are many prisoners over in th castle who are doing ten year sentence. Very often it happens that a bad" soldier is not considered worth the trouble of imprisonment, in which case he receives a kick '-that is he is thrown out of the army without ceremony.
 The prisoners who come off the trans ports from the south this winter reach here clad in yellow khaki. With their skin tanned to deep brown, their locks unshorn and their toilet generally neg lected, they make a striking picture as they are marched across the island to the castle, ironed, in pairs. together. the free hands carrying bags or bun dies containing their clothing. At the castles sallyport the sentry halts the party, calls the corporal of the guard, and the new corners are ushered before Sergeant McGowan, a veteran artillery man on detached duty, who reports to Lieutenant Cooper, Fifteenth infantry | prison officer The arrival of new squad helps to break the monotony of | the courtyard. The guard scans the | latest arrivals curiously. The prisoners | crowd to the barred window or hang | over the platform railing, looking down on the scene below. New prisoners | stare blankly back; possibly there are glances of recognition as old comrades meet again, and then, the papers being turned over and receipted, the prison CTS are given bath. When they come to don their clothes they find not the old uniform, but a dull brown suit of 1 overalls and jumpers, with great P stamped on the trousers legs, back, breast and slouch hat
 If the prisoner is thoroughly bad 1t is yellow P; if he needs watching during his work he wears red P, and white P and star if he is "trusty' and on parole
 Squads of the prisoners are told off for cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and for fatigue work about the Castle. The prisoners sleep in their iron hunks two woollen blankets to man, and no pillow. A light burns in each large cell all night, and the men must lie in their hunks with portion of their bodies exposed, so that the guard out side, who counts the occupants of each cell every half hour, can distinguish the form from a blanket roll. In winter reveille goes off at 6:30 in the morning; the men tramp to their breakfast of coffee, and bread at '. No conyel sation between prisoners is al- lowed, and rattle of cup and spoon or the gruff warning of the guard is all that breaks the monotonous silence. Fatigue call summons all to toll, the suard falls in line, and the men pass out to work, each three or four followed by ! soldier. his piece loaded with buck shot cartridges, and orders to shoot up- ,n emergency. The sentry, at the gate ,alls out the number as each squad : passes, and guard on the first plat ! orrn answers back the number left inside. At noon recall brings in the I prisoners for mess, and at night they ,ome back again, the sentries on guard . singing back and forth the number in \ md out as each squad goes by. At | he foot of the narrow spiral stairway I ach prisoner halts and raises his | lrms., A member of the squad goes trough his clothes and passes him up- tairs to his cell. Here at night no is allowed, but from the ,arred windows comes always the Ii inkle of guitar or banjo and the shuffle h If feet in a dance. n Discipline in prison is even more se- a ere than in the regiment. Bad con k uct is punished by a curtailment of r rivileges and solitary confinement in a he dungeon on bread and water; good n onduct is rewarded by reduction of a ne or time to serve. The first attempt S 0 escape in years occurred recently, p ihen two men on the third tier filed h heir way through the barred windows II
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