New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-03-11

Major Csrifiths is Englishnlan VINO Is Ue-
servedly regarded as a practical authority On
prison management, and who has in his own
country some reputation also as novelist
The literary ability which has often sought ex-
,,ress,on in fiction is used in this volume or
Variable "reminiscences with excellent effect; its
chapters are alive with human interest with
strange or moving incidents all'set forth terseiy
and with vigor. More than half the work is
devoted TO his experiences as prison governor
and government inspector, but not less enter
tanning is the earlier portion. in which he de-
scrbes his adventures and observations as
young soldier Of the Queen
A Young soldier indeed-he was only sixteen
when the Crimean War broke out, and he was
gazetted as full-hedged commissioned officer
TO regiment which had suffered severely al
Inkerman. He was so much bashful boy that
the venerable regimental agent in Lonoon
laughed aloud at the little officer and called out
10 his head clerk: Alfred! Sebastopol VIII soon
fall Come and look at the last reinforcement.
The days that followed / the camp before
SebastopoI were calculated 10 bring lines OF
worry to the most boyish face No regiment III
the Crimea had borne a more terrible STRAIN
than his in that winter of "a 1t was a thou-
sand strong in the previous September-it Num-
bered only thirty souls when in early January II
was sent down TO Balaclava to recuperale II
had not only melted before the enemy hre-lt
had suffered grievOusly from the extraordinary
folly Of its colonel who had carried out plan
Of his own for pitching the tents at the bottom
of deep pits dug for the purpose and providing
no drainage. The consequences of the heavy
rains and the fact that the men were not al
lowed change Of clothing until they had com
pleted the pits may be imagined. The young
subaltern. who was called the Light Company
baby" found plenty of exciting adventure in the
trenches where he and his brother youngsters
thought 1t great fun TO attract the enemys fire
10 give orders and to be obeyed, mot without
condescension, by war-worn veterans" He saw
the attack on the Redan and its failure under
the command of Sir James Simpson; and long
afterward he heard from Sir William Eyre an
enlightenng account of the Council of War
which all the divisional generals attended before
the attack
II was essentially a debating society; every one
spoke and stuck 10 his own views, accepting no
guidance from. and indeed ignoring, the authority
broke up with few parting words from the help
/ can tell you nothing more; you must an 90 the
best you can"
Young Griffiths a member of the still IN
explained expedition to Kinburn, and one of his
comrades on board the ship of war was the So
called "GaIlows JONES'" of whom he tells this
story:
Gaows Jones' was appointed to the command
q
Ter t9e NINA ,6 and ione1H VOYAGE Commander
started on SE i0 f sp Company and informed
them that they carried no medical ofhcer. 1 sial
it. but the Admiralty have sent on board a medi;
cine chest. in which there must be something gooq
for every kind Of complaint" Then ne had u
iro,1gb IN and ordered every bottle to be emptied
into s Gnf E Is the I9 and there's bound to
thing in it that will suit your complains Inc only
rnarkahy healthy voyage.
when. peace was declared Griffths embarked
with his regiment for Nova Scotia and drilled
his men under the martinez eye of soldier OF
The old school. Sir Gaspard lie Marchant' son
Of the parent and protector Of Sandhurst Sir
Gaspard was extremely particular about the
bearing of the msn as they marched. and one
day found fault with the young officer superin-
tending the drill. This won't do" said he
that's not the way to walk Mr.. Griflths. You
should see the Spanish women walk. Have you
ever been in Spain? No? Well, the women
don't walk there-they glide. Make your men
glide" In Halifax. afterward at Gibraltar
and Sandhurst Grif1ths knew many military
celebrities of whom he tells good stories. One
of his Sandhurst anecdotes-it has long been
preserved there, and he fears 1t may be
chestnut-concerns Captain F, the we'll
known professor of drawing. 1t was on the
casion he tells US. Of a visit of inspection made
by the Prince Consort that his royal highness
showed much interest in the military plans and
sketches made by the students. How We're
these eXecuted?" he asked; with what instru-
ment, l mean?" With a prismatic highness
your royal compass" answered poor Captain
F, ratified" by the presence of royalty
Among the Gibraltar stories is one of which
the two heroes were Prince Alfred and the
boatswain Of the man o. war which was con-
veying Farragut On a cruise through the Medi-
terranean. This boatswain was accustomed to
boast that on a previous trip the Prince had
invariably treated him in the kindest manner
whenever he came aboard the American ship:
The Prince always shook hands with him. using
nearo perhaIS ia a Yankee sailors than in royal
prince moqth-'Put it right thar" It so hap
pened that history repeated itself and again the
noatswaln was serving upon United States ship
his tii i'm 3i az and SO Vas the Prince by
lying in Gibraltar Bay, and some wag told his
Duke determined t. get laugh out of it, and when
ne was paying visit 10 the American ship he
asked that the boatswan might he sent for Hui
TO- my trlendP he remarked Il am glad TO see
you again Put it right thar" Whereupon the
boatS"slh uIIidIy, but with very gratihed look
on his face shook hands; then, turning the cap
tam whom he suspected of having laid a trap for
him. sald, And yew thought I lyng!
Major Griff1ths was thirtv-one wears old and
on the Staff at Gibraltar when he was sud
denly called upon to take the place Of the pros-
uated Governor Of the convict prison there
Discipline had been relaxed and the position had
more than fits natural difficulties His success
led 10 the change in his career which asso-
ciated him permanently with the management
OF the principal English prisons He found the
system in the great prison az Chatham whittier
he went as deputy governor, entirely different
from that at Gibraltar and he saw much that
needed reform. THE severe discipline even to
one trained TO see it enforced strictly seemed 10
me- he says ito go too far and to verge on