Sunday morning globe., 1901-10-27
PART H.
TWENTY SIXTH PAPER.


While lying ON my prison pallet fighting
OF the buruins maddening thoughts which
come to a man who had fought In the open
and been trapped ia the thicket by his enc.
mics aud trying TO WOO oblivion 10
sleep, / heard my cell door unlocked. and
sitting up iu .hc cot to ascertain the cause,
as knew it was long after the hour of
locking up, which was Q p. mr when all
lights had TO be put out aud the conyicts in
bed An mbrokcu silence was then the
order, but not the practice, as convicts in
adjoining cells talked TO each other after
the guards made their rounds When my
cell was unlocked. therefore ! was natural
ly curious as TO the cause. The guard
simply said Arise aud come with me- the
doctor desires TO see you ut the hospital"
Iobeycd the summons. marvelliug much
as lo the doctors business with me. On
arriving at the hospital was soon set at
my ease by the warm greeting of tine assist
ant prison physician, Dr Ward. whom had
forgotten, or the fact, rather. that he was
night physician at the peniteuuary. Ire
manned iu his private room and enjoyed his
hospitality until after o'clock a. 10. was
then returned through the silent corridors
of the prison TO my cell The doctor feared
] would collapse aud had sent for me to eN-
anime my condition and brace me up with.
out the knowledge of either the officials or
the watching newspaper reporters. He did
all in his power and felt satisfied that
would pull through the coming day when
he babe me good night or rather morning at
the hour named
L tried after returning to the cell to catch
A few hours sleep as l knew the prison bell
rang at $50 a. M, but l could not close an
eyelid Staring blankly at the arched cell
overhead and laid out full length on the
pallet I longed for the rising hour aud relief
from my own thoughts which we're momeu-
tarily becoming more confused and dis
connected not, however, through drowsi-
ness or inclination to sleep, but from the
mental strain which had now reached the
breaking point and was overcoming that
terrible will power my enemies SO often
referred to during the trial Nature refused
longer TO sustain me and was bound TO vim.
dicatc itself in the usual way where its
rules or mandates are violated. Neverthe-
less when the bell rang ! aroused myself
TO standing posture and awaited the unlock
ing Of the cell door determined to 60 on
until ! actually fell insensible Falling iu
by companies, each prisoner carrying his
cell bucket with his disengaged hand the
other doing its usual service of resting on
the shoulder of the man in front of him, we
marched out the wide doorway and de-
bouchcd on the campus or prison ward
q
the receptacle where the buckets were
empticd aud from there TO the bathhouse
where we washed our faces and hands We
then filed into the large diniugloom and
were served with single slice of bread and
a cup of coffee, minus sugar and milk, and
So utterly unlike anything In the line
of coffee 1 had ever tasted that single
swallow came near finishing the business
for me- Arising from the table at the tap
of the bell we marched to our different
shops and commenced the days labor at
exactly o O'Clock a. m.
Thus ON a single slice of bread aud half a
pint Of "auid, called coffee. molders. iron
workers, rake makers. and others working
on the hardest contracts were made 20 labor
until the noon hour Six hours on stretch
with only a slice of bread IN ones stomach
molding etc, may be a sure method 10
break down the strongest physique but it is
certainly poor way 90 reform the criminal
And 20 add TO- lhis blind and iuhumau treat.
ment the state boo It's dense stupiditvdi did all
this for the benefit of the contractors of
prison labor many of whom was ON terms
of intimacy with and noted their ever in.
creasiug wealth created not only out of the
sweat and toll of these unfortunate yvretches
but ont of their very lives For hundreds
fell by the waysidc broken down iu health
and either died iu the prison hospital or
cr3wlcd outside the gates mere wrecks of
their former selves, TO die at home 10 thev
had any OF 100 some charity hospital or
poor house ii trieudIcss and homeless.
had written iu nay paper some scathing
articles ON this system aud the contractors
had not forgotten the fact Now I was 10
personally experience the full horrors of the.
murderous toll eyacled by the state for the
benefit of the call0used and soulIess con.
tractors and the system which had So uB-
lualhedly condemned
Reaching the shop 90 which was ASSIGNED
began the labors of the day and for some
time mechanically went through fbe
motions which had been taught me the pre-
yious afternoon. The guard who had been
watching me inteutly suddenly left his stand
and walked towards me- When ne started
Lhcre was perhaps thirty feet between us
and iu the interval of time 1t took him to
walk that distance I distinctly saw his
figure multiply until not less than a dozen
duplicates of him addressed me and held
out their arms like the tentaclcs ofa devil
fish. I felt myself seized and eudeavored
to writhe out of the grasp 90 which ] was
held. and then blessed oblivion overlook
me. AZ last my nag was struck, as fell uu.
conscious in the arm, of the guard ard the
negro, whom De had called 60 his assistance.
When consciousness returned was
lying in a cot in the hospital and au at
tendaut under the instructions of Dr. Ward
was fauningan chahng my face and chest.
! almost instantly realized that the threat.
encd collapse had come and ! remember
dreamly speculating as TO ITS probable ia.
ialily and the consequent disappointment
of my enemies at the short duration of the
tortures they had designed. Ia a short
while was collected enough mentally to