The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1902-07-26
PRISON ElLLED .WtTH*MURDERERs

PRISON EiLlED :wtTHv@mURDERERs
Nearly Half a Hsadred Confined in One
Italian Jail.
The medieval fortress of Volterra
is now formidable. prison-house.
When last visited it there weres. AIS
prisoners within it's walls, all of them
murderers. 1t is an uncanny sensa-
tion to look upon nearly 500 human
beings each one of whom has taken
the life of at least one other. human
being.
One hundred and forty-nine of them.
were condemned for life, and that
meant murder of brutal and cold
blooded descriptions; the remainder
were imprisoned for periods ranging
from fifteen to thirty years, and that
would mean murder with extenuating
c1rcumstances-murder the result OF
Inconsistency in sweetheart, or frailty
in a wife, or faithlessness in a friend.
The confinement is vigorously solitary
and cellular; the exercise courts are
cellular; there are cellular smithies
and cellular workshops; nay, the very
chapel is cellular. Two tiers of cells
run one above the other, and the pris-
oner in each, while unable to see his
fellow convicts, can, through a long.
narrow loophole, see the altar and the
priest who is saying mass.
AS I walked round the ramparts of
the great fortress l could look down
into the rows of high-walled exercise
courts-not more than 10 feet by TO-,
lshould say-in each of which the con-
vict was taking the hour of exercise
which he is allowed daily. Every
prisoner saluted respectfully, and
showed his white teeth in a
pleasant smile, glad at the sight
of any fresh face. Italian pris-
oners are models of good order and
cleanliness, and the cheerfulness and
natural patience of the Italian temper
ament does much to tighten the labor
OF Italian prison officials. The con-
vlcts get two full meals Of beans, len
tlls or paste, cooked in lard, and meat
on Sundays and holidays. Every pris-
oner may spend Is centesimi a day. if
he has it or can earn it; therefore wine
is by no means an unknown luxury in
the prison.
The system of rigorous solitary con-
finement leads to frequent cases of
madness: Indeed, there is often talk
OF the Italian government abolishing
the system on account of the great
expense of maintaining criminal luna
tic asylums.-St. James Gazette.
s4a,,z.s--sA Garden Tor Chlldrsn.s.:s..rs;..5
1t is an exceptional child who would
not value flowers and garden of it's
own, says the Woman's Home Com
panion. Boys and girls alike are de-
lighted with the very idea of possess
ing bit of ground where they can
plant things" and watch them grow.
The workers in city missions know
that even the most unpromisine~ speci-
mems of slum children can be won by
MOWERS; and among children of more
favored classes the moral influence Of
hoWers is force, though it is not
recognized nor extended as it might
be. People living in villages or small
cities usually have some ground
around their home in which they can
set apart place for the children's
garden. The love of Nature
fostered by this garden making will
prove a constant source Of pleasure
through the child's life. The cultiva-
ton of habits OF close observation and
the knowledge of useful and of harm
full plants thus gained is sure to be of
future value. Let the work of plan
ming the children's garden begin With
the early days of spring.