Waterbury Democrat., 1902-06-05
STATE PRISON NIGHT SCHOOL
Successful Term Closed at Wethers-
 field.

The night school at the Connecticut state prison has just finished it's work for the current year. The school opened Sept 30 and was held three nights a week, under the general su- perintendency of Chaplain Latham. Before the school. was dismissed Warden Garvin made brief address, expressing his appreciation of the work done, the progress made and the order maintained. He alluded to the excellent and earnest work which had been done by tue teachers and urged the convicts, for their own good. to continue their studies in their cells during the summer.
 The school opened in September with an attendance of S5. The highest attendance at any time was 10G and the average attendance was 96. The school is designed to teach the ele- mentary branches to convicts who are illiterate or who, though perhaps familiar with their own language, are illiterate so far as English is con cerned Reading, spelling, writing and arithmetic are taught.
 In it's way the school is one of the most interesting educational institu-
 
 pupils ranging from IT years to near ly 60. The sentences which the con- yict scholars are serving are in some cases as short as a year and in others as long as life. Not less than dozen of the students are life convicts. The pupils represent the flags of many na- tions. Among the scholars who were present at the last session were Amer jeans, Italians, Armenians, Slavs. Po- Islanders, Lithuanians, East Indians, Greeks, Arabians, Chinese and ne- grOes.
 In the school there were II classes, which were roughly graded in accord ance with the proficiency and capac- ity of the scholars. Educated con yicts were the teachers and some of them showed q high degree of efficien- cy. Two or three of them are law yers. Three of the teachers are col lege graduates and another one spent two years at q university. One of them was banker before he became a convict. Another was an officer in a large Connecticut town, and he is now paying the hard penalty for the embezzlement of public funds. Near ly every one of them has an interest ing history.
 Some of the pupils are dull and find in difficult to master their lessons but others are exceedingly bright. As q whole they are greatly interested in their work and. are ambitious to learn. AS a rule the Italians, who are largely represented in the school, are very faithful pupils and work hard to make progress in their studies. The eager ness to learn which is exhibited by some of the convicts is notable. Many of the pupils are quick to catch on and are apt at expression. For instance, in one class French Can- adian who is serving a life sentence and who is learning to read. came across the word dreaming" and when the teacher asked what dream was, he immediately supplied this defini- tion: Its what you see when you're asleep"
 Some of the convicts who were en- tirely innocent of any acquaintance with the written or printed pages on their commitment to prison are now able to write their own letters. Prac- tically the illiterates are required to attend the night school but nearly all of them are glad of the opportunity. Only the rudimentary branches are taught. Many of the convicts who have been attending the school will re- tain their textbooks during the sum- mer and will pursue their studies in their cells.
 Warden Garvin is greatly pleased with the school. He regards it as helpful and valuable adjunct to the prison. an intellectual stimulus to the conyicts and to some extent a reform ative.agency.