The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-11-28
SANTIAGO.
IN CHIPS CAPITAL--THE MOD
Ell PENITENTIARY,

IN CHIPS CAPITAL--THE MOD
Ell PEHITENTIARK,
where 1Iurdsrsrs May he Buried Alive
-TypioaIiy chilian.
Especial Correspondence of the Journal
and Courier.)
H.. Santiago de Chill, Oct 20, 1908.
One Of the institutions of this far
point with pride is the llodtl penitenti-
airy. 1t is an enormous structure Of red
brick, surrounded by massive wall of
the same, on top of which soldiers are
continually pacing to and fro. Brick,
by the way, is a very rare building ma
terial in these parts, the houses being
universally Of stone or adobe, covered
with grayish plaster. The visitor hard
ly knows whether to be most impressed
by the immensely of the penitentiary,
which is nearly large enough to hold
Santiago's entire population, its scrup-
uious cleanliness, or the dead silence
that prevails, as unbroken as if not a
living creature were within hundred
miles, though at present about two
thousand human beings are inside the
walls. AS our little party filed in be-
tween a double row of glittering bayo-
nets, the great iron gates closed with a
crash of bolts and bars. First we were
conducted into a large, well-furnished
reception room, lined on all sides from
ceiling to floor with thousands of pho
tographs. Every prisoner must have
his picture taken on entering this place,
and again when he leaves; and these
are put in cases on the walls, each la
beled with Its number During his
prison life the convict Is known by that
number only, and never hears his name.
Gazing around this rogues' gallery,
my attention was attracted by two fresh
and handsome young faces, evidently
those of husband and wife, and I asked
the superintendent who they were, II
will soon tell you all about it," he said.
Taking down one of the big books in
which the records are kept, he ran his
finger down the pages till the number
on the photograph was reached. This
case,'' he continued, was a rather in
teresting one. They were newly mar
ried down Valdivia way; couple who
stood high socially, and of whom every
body thought WELL Want of money
was their undofng. For a considerable
amount Of it the husband murdered an
aged relative, and the wife assisted i'm
hiding the corpse. They had funds
enough to fight the law in all the courts,
but after repeated trials he was SEN
fenced to be shot, she to be compelled to
witness her husbands execution, and
then to remain in prison ten years lon
ger" The sentence, so charaeteristical-
ly CHILEAN, was carried into effect, and
the story may be clearly read in the
photographs. Next to this youthful
couple Is picture of the criminal taken
on the day Of his execution, the wild
eyes and haggard face showing that he
realized his doom; and beyond that is
the face Of the widow ten years later, a
prematurely old woman, with the ex-
preston OF one who has nothing to
hope for. -t
Another face was that of an innocent
looking, light-hearted school-boy, appa-
rently not more than seventeen years
old. Certainly this was never a GRIM
inal?" said. "He was one of the
worst ever knew" replied the super
iritendent. "Tn a fit of rage he beat his
fathers brains out, because the old man
refused to let him ride a favorite horse,
and then deliberately murdered his
mother and sister because they knew
np 9e ,;,,,a ,fexl,h
was shot in this prison nine years ago."
Truly, this gruesome art-gallery up
sets ones ideas about the face being an
index of character, eyes the windows of
the soul, and all that sort of thing, for
the most hardened wretches of the lot
wear looks of baby innocence. There
are q great many women in the collec-
ton, and we are told that the so-called
gentler sex Of South America commit a
large proportion Of the murders-jeal-
ousy being the moving cause.
We went to the work shop, through
huge Iron gates with ponderous locks
and bars, each guarded by soldiers with
loaded muskets, into an immense circu-
lar patio, or inner courtyard, surround
ed by massive arches. Each arch,
closed by another iron gate and guard
ed by soldiers, is the entrance to a
smaller yard, in the rear of which is a
shop. Between these minor patios are
high brick walls like those outside, and
on the top of them watchful sentinels
are forever pacing, SO that no man can
stir out of his place in any part of the
grounds without being instantly COW
cred by a gun barrel. There seems to
be no possible chance for escape, and
the superintendent said that during the
twenty years he had been here not
single attempt has been made.
In the shops everybody was working
silently and steadily, his eyes bent upon
his task not a whisper being permitted
or a moments pause of the busy fingers.
But when we entered, at a signal from
the overseer Of each department, every
man rose to his feet, made a military
salute and remained standing until
permission was given to resume work.
Among the hundreds of prisoners one
sees few really bad faces-and most of
those seem to have been made so by
some carelessness of Dame Nature in