Evening star., 1901-11-16

! he had not been shot on the run, and con-
| signed to the mines with shackles about his
| legs.
! At each of the mines are gangs of a dozen
| or fifteen men-burly negroes, principally
who are directed by white bosses, and
about the edge Of each excavation, which
will average an acre in extent, and the
guards. There are little towers, to which
they can ascend and be under shelter In
rain or noon shine. Many of these fellows
have been used to guns from childhood
they are quick, straight shots, and 1t is
pleasant to see them take new g~.o on
| their weapons and look inquiringly toward
one as he advances into the forbidden
ground They are courteous enough, how
|, ever, on closer acquaintance-Just dull
usual crackers, without whisky AMI with
out guile. There are a few negro women
employed at some of the lighter LABOR about
the breakers and washers, and they are
without any guard soever.
The southern phosphate country Is OF un-
Known extent, but the Florida beds are
scattered and are seldom more than a cou-
pie of acres in area or more than forty feet
m In tnickness. The convicts are employed in
breaking up the soft, gray rock with picps
ana shovels, loading it on barrows which
are dumped into cable cars and carried up
long inclines to the crushers. The work re-
qu1res muscle, but no skill, and is such as
would be allotted to the poorest paid la
borers. If it were paid for at ALL And aost
OF tnese men get as much out of ii as do
the PAID iaborers-food, clothes and shelter
ing company. On the contrary they are i'm
good physical condition, they work steadily.
but without haste or anxiety, and they
look up out Of the pits with the usual iolly
grin or the negro when they find strange
eyes upon them. 1t is hard to believe them
to be as bad as their accusers have made
them out. At the set Of sun they will
march to quarters, where supper will be
ready for them, and where if the night is
falling cold, a roaring wood fire will par
tally warm the room. Till o'clock they
can talk, read. dance, sing and play: then,
at the stroke of gong, they will undress,
put on night gowns and lie down to sleep,
two on each mattress. In some camps the
mattresses are on the floor in some on
platforms and in others there are hunks.
Make No Complaint.
Several prisoners with whom I talked had
no complaint to make. Indeed the only
critic was the cook, whose Kitchen he said,
was so loosely put together that on a windy
day the sand blew in and bothered him and
got into the food. which was true for even
as he said it the sand was whirling in drifts
across the barrens and threatening to play
hob with such houses in the neighborhood
as could boast of glass windows, and, al
though there was no open window in this
place, l was able to take a photograph by
the light that poured in through the crew
Ices. If Florida were often struck with a
frost the people in these barn-like prisons
would have pneumonia and other troubles
put the general neaItn Is good, and the
anttseptic value of air is appreciated 1t
is customary to build the barrack in u
shape, reserving one wing for the hunks
and the other for dining and lounging
room. Each wing Is twenty-five or thirty
feet wide and of a length proportionate to
the number Of occupants that an employer
expects to keep about the place. Iron bars
are seldom used for the small windows
which are generally shuttered against heat
anu Mes, but there are stout bars of wood
instead. The buildings look as IL they would
be easy to burn, but no wholesale escape
would be undertaken, even in such an
event. The moral restraint of the Winches-
Ter is great. and there are dogs at every
camp.
Most of the whippings are given because
OF the men fighting among themselves A
strap twenty inches long is the instrument
of rebuke. but only fifteen blows may be
struck at one session. Two weeks must
then elapse before physical pain is again
inflicted. There is little doubt that in the
evil days prisoners were whipped to death
some of them receiving $50 lashes at a
time, every lash tearing the skin and draw
ing blood. The punishment Is milder now.
Yet it was the significant remark of a
guard the other day that when we take a
strap to one Of those fellows he amt no
good afterward."
White and Black Fare Alike.
The democracy Of crime exposes white
convicts to the same suffering and degra-
dation as the blacks
Stacking Is seldom practiced. except as a