The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-10-24
is AN INFERNO.
HORRORS OF THE LEADING
PRISON IN MEXICO.

can Neither cit, Stand OF lie
Down-After Brief Confne-
ment There men Cam
not Live.
!, Mexico City, Oct. 1o.-Ameri
\ cans unfortunate enough to have
], been incarcerated in Belen1 prison
D describe that institution as an in
Iferno.
I It can be stated unquestioaably
tthat75 per cent, of those confined
| in B-lem for more than a year dc
not live for six months after. their
| release. When Americans who
have been imprisoned for more
than a month are eet free they al
most invariably becoms inmates OF
the American Hospital for weeks.
i Their dreadful experience haveing
hr ken them down.
| Women are huddled in the j lii
with men Starvation enfeebles the
Epr;soners, their indescribable sur
rom lings breed fevers, especially
Typhoid.
Indescrieable as it may seem
"torture cells such. as disgraced
the Middle Ages exist in Brlem.
| Yet this huge prison, constructed
by President Diaz, has been desert
bed as the finest 10 the world.
The truth about B lem has never
been told before.s The authorities
have carefully and vigorously hid
den the facts from the public, es-
pecially from Americans in this
country. Only one ewspapsr, the
NJ onitor. small daily, bitterly an
ltagonistic to the Government, has
ventured to describe the horrors of
the prison.
Those who enter tbs prison with
out money run the gantlet ofdeath
by starvation, fever and exposure
Prisoners are required to supply
their own bedding, and they are
lsupppssd to buy their food. althou-f
gh the authorities are instructed to
feed them. At bsst the rations con-
sisted of bread and water in the
morning.. for dinner caldo soup,
which Americans. however vora
cious, can not eat because of its
abominable taste, and bread and
water in the evening. If prisoner
manages to smuggle money into
the prison he cay buy enough fyod
to sustain life, but usually he is
stripped of his money. The legal
trials of imprisonment the Amer
cans aredeIayed in the hope of se-
curing bail money, which fall to
| the authorities should the accused
disappear after their liberation on
bail.
Necessarily, Americans suffer
| more than Mexicans in Bs]em be-
cause less accustomed to the priva-
Etions they must endure. More
than 80 per cent of the Eower laeses
of the city of Mexico have never
slept in bed, $50 most Mexican
lpri-oners can rest almost comforta-
bly, on the cold stone floors of
Belem. AS many Mexicans live
loa corn and beans exclusively,
Mexican pris oners sustain Life, on
Ipri,,n rations. Uncleanly the Mex
leans can endure the vermin, al.
though often Mexicans who have
been in prison for long terms have
been killed by this horrible. evil.
ICompelled to sleep on damp foors,.
IAmericans contract Rheumatism in
fits most acute forms. Eyes to read
Iof their suffering would be abhor-
Trent.
/ It will be hard to convince people
lin the United States that the lea
lding prison Of Mexico exists sys-
Item OF tortares TO compel testimon
land to punish selected prisoners.
This system is based on the pripci-
Iples of Inquisition of Spain. Amer
Iicaps who have read the highly
descriptive articles declaring BeIem
Ito be the most modern Institution
aof lis kind on the continent will
lbe incredulous when told there are
lceils in 9Belem built after the same
lthose III Italy for prisoners sentenced
| to terms of "a year and day =
The ''octagonal cells of Belem are
j five feet high, three feet long and
1.-TWO feet wide. The wretch con-
Ihned in one of them cannot stand
1sit or lie without suffering. Pris
Ioners are locked in these cham be- r.
lof torture for periods of twenty-tour
ihours 10 two months.
a An American who was sentenced
/ to twenty years imprisonment fol
Ithek ling Of Mexican twelve years
4 ago has been in an octagonal cell
1.-THE past six months. During this