Sunday Washington globe., 1902-05-18


Last Yoar--They Break Into Jail There
Easy Going Outport PrisOns-Uniqus
Record OF One MRgistERts.
The criminal statistics OF Newfound
land for 1901 have just been published,
Probably not another community OF
100000 people in the world shows SO
clean a record.
1t is practically a crlmeless country
The calendar shows no murder, man.
slaughter, no forgery, no burglary, no
barretry, no other crime Of n serious
nature. The colonial penitentiary has
had an average of only thirty prisoners
daily for the year. and only six OF
these have had sentences exceeding
half year.
There have been only three murders
in Newfoundland in thirty years. In
each case the offender was hanged One
manslaughter case occurred fifteen
years ago. and the prisoner got life
sentence.
After serving three years he was set
to work one morning outside of the
prison grounds. and the warden went
in to gee his breakfast When he re.
turned the prisoner was gone, and has
never been recaptured.
The Newfoundlanders are curious
compound They have all the Irish
hatred of an infOrmer. and the same
eagerness to thwart the officers of the
law Hence this fleeing criminal was
aided in every way until he was put on
board a fishing vessel bound for Bos'
ton, where he settled down.
The next case Of manslaughter shows
the reverse conditions 1t was that of
the mate of a schooner convicted with
the captain of causing the death of a
sailor by brutality. He was sentenced
60 five years. One day he escaped.
The Newfoundlanders felt that his
punishment was deserved, and while
none would inform on him none would
shelter him. He was hunted down ar
ter week. starving and footsore and
hailed back to his CELL In both these
cases a reward of S4OO was offered for
information leading to the capture of
the fugitive. but nobody sought it. al
though scores. il not hundreds, were In
the secret.
Almost all the prisoners in the peni-
tentiary last year were, as has been
said. convicted of petty offences. The
foreign sailors who visit st. Johns,
and when intoxicated try to take
charge of the place, are responsible for
about one-third of the convictions with
in the city.
One Of the most amusing incidents
in the history of the prison occurred
about five years ago. 1t is not uneom-
mon for people to break out Of jail, but
this case was one of breaking in. A
prisoner, recently released returned
one night in a tipsy mood, broke In
through a window to carry whisky and
tobacco to his old cell mate and robbed
the prison larder to get supper for him
self. A ninety days term was his ul-
innate reward
The island has but one town, St.
Johns; population, 10000. All the
other communities are fishing villages,
some of 5000 people, others Of 500; 9th
ers of but fifty. In the larger Of these
outports are magistrates and jails.
In one outport the jailer was wont
to let his prisoners out daily to till
their gardens or dry their fish, they re
turning at nlghtfall to be locked up.
But one day a scamp betrayed his con
hdence and escaped, and more strin.
gent rule was enforced.
Another odd circumstance in an out.
port Jail was the case Of a man without
family or friends, who, after being in.
prlsoned for two months for deserting
from the fishery, liked his prison quar-
ters so well that when his term ex.
pired he refused to leave, and the po.
lice had to be called to eject him. He
resisted them violently, and was sen
fenced to a further term, at the close
of which he tried the same game But
this time they refused to feed him and
left the cell door open. and when his
hunger compelled him he moved out
and away.
In another of these prisons only last
summer it was a common practice fol
the iailer and prisoner to play cards
together nightly, with others of the
village. These gatherings came to be
the chief social features of the village
life, and the sessions We're frequently
prolonged until midnight, when the
! ialler would intimate that it was time
to close. and he would bow out the
visitors, lock up the prisoner and re
tire to his own quarters to sleep thu
/ sleep of the just.
1t Is a free-and-easy rule which pre-
walls in these prisons. and very rarely
is 1t abused, for smugglers and desert
ers are the worst offenders and thei
sentences are usually very short
The same leniency characterizes tn
OutpOrt magistrates. They resort t.
every alternative save that Of lmprlson
ing.
1t Is the boast Of one man who hel,
the commission Of the peace for thirt!
years that he never inflicted the pun
ishment Of Jail on any man but one
and Chat one was a relation Of his own
Him he jailed for q month for stealini
a pocketboOk from a comrades pocke