The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-07

daily. made from unbolted flour "a pint of gruel for breakfast and supper based upon four ounces of oatmeal; and a week and three ounces of meat for the other three days, with eight ounces of potatoes daily. The food is clean. served in the cell hot, and is ample for a man not working in the open air.
 No one except the keeper comes into the cell. The governor of the prison passes the open door daily. and the doctor comes if summoned. No books except a Bible, hymn book and prayer book are given. and there is no varia- ton in this awful period. in which many men break down physically or mentally. The keeper is not allowed to speak to a prisoner except in the briefest terms, and then only to issue an order. I spent six months in this separate confinement without hearing a human voice except at church ser vice. and the whole nine months of Separates without speaking a word to fellow prisoner. The intention of this imprisonment Is to give the pri oner a realizing sense of his position, and 1t fetches him every time bv its cold. calm, silent, unchanging oppres- sion.
 The separates D6lIlS HTlSHcu, IHc prisoner is transferred to the public works prison. of which there are now four in England-Dartmoor. Portland, Parkhurst and Borstal-with female prison at Aylesbury. in Oxfordshire. Men who were engaged in the same offense. or brothers. are not sent to the same prison.
 The transfer Is made in a prison car. which is simply an exclusive carriage, and the traveller is not made the wretched victim of public curiosity. Arriving on the public works, the pris oner is assigned to outside labor. and kept at 1t. There is an average of one warden or assistant warder to every ten men. besides battalion of the Royal Infantry for guards at each sta tion. These warders are long-service men with first-class discharges from the army. navy or marine corps. in which school they have learned that an order from a superior authority is sacred. They are forbidden to con- strue any offense they may observe in any other way than as subject of re- port, and report means punishment in 999 cases out of 1000.
 Punishment consists of confinement in separate cells. light and warm, with one pound of bread and one pint of water daily loss of class. privileges of writing or receiving letters or visits. For assaults on officers the-penalty is fiogging with either the cat or birch. not more than thirty-nine strokes of either; but no man fails to be taken to the hospital who has received twen- ty cuts of the cat. The work is re- deeming marsh land. building fort resses, quarrying stone, or cutting 1t for building purposes. But the days ;y, iG 60 than seven hours. Meals are taken in the cells and the food is not sufficient. There are no fat men in penal servi- tude. It is prescribed to the fraction of an ounce and if the prisoner feels that he has not his allowance he can, at all times. have it weighed or meas ured in his own presence.
 As his sentence wears away the prisoner passes into different classes, which are shown by the facings on his jacket. with increased privileges; and the last year of his sentence. If he has been a good conduct man throughout, may be spent in the special class, which gives him a blue dress, visits every two months. and more frequent letters. The burden of penal servitude falls in with the perpetual supervision, which never relaXes. No man can go out of sight of the officer in charge of his party, nor pass behind him. He must not talk. laugh, nor even smile. He Is not allowed any other article in his possession than a handkerchief. He can have no paper nor pencil, but one piece of soap, one towel, one wooden spoon, one plate, tin cup. and wash basin.
 He must be silent. obedient and all though the rules do not say so, he must look as miserable as it is intend ed to make him feel. The weekly diet ary scale never changes. There are no holidays except Good Friday and Christmas and these are only marked by chapel services, which never change. No outsider ever comes to speaI, nor are any visitors ever admitted into the prison. In eight years I never heard a woman's voice in speech or song, never tasted fruit. noI any other vege- table than potatoes; never spoke to fellow prisoner except surreptitiously. During imprisonment the worst offense possible is to have tobacco. The heel of an old pipe that Is blowing about, snatched up. will cost six months short time-if caught. Every man Is searched five times a day; his cell is visited and searched two or three times vNaek. and yet the men do get to- bacco and take long risks to get it.
 On discharge the prisoner receives a ticket of leave, which may be canceled at any time before the expiry of his whole sentence; also three to SIX pounds sterling gratuity C$l5 to S3o or United States money). His hard treat ment has done him no good, for 5o per cent. of the men in penal serviture are second timers. and 20 per cent, are .6axr aV-a