Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-02-21
DODCES OF OLD JAlLBlRDS.
1nBits

1T Bits
Broadmoor iis considered the
pick OF all penal establishments in this
country, and IL is q common dodge
among OLD stagers committed to any
Of the ordinary prisons 20 essay 60 con-
vince their iailers that they ale insane
and ought to be transferred to that
criminal lunatic asylum.
The most effective way of doing this
10 for a prisoner to make himself so
extremely trobleaome that bis custo-
dians have every reason not merely TO
opine that he is cracked but TO
heartily wish him in Broadmoor or any
where else where they are not, ana the
law abiding world has no conception
Of the trouble a convict can cause the
staff Of q prison where he is lodged
without actually committing breach
of the prison rulesa.
A once succeaaful dodeo Of this kind
lit is rather threndbaIe now-was
to evince q fear of being poisoned, to
refuse all food and drink unless tasted
By a wHrder In the preserce OF the
dodeer. The prisoner would In
vent a plausible story of how his friends
put him away In order TO possess them
selves of his fabulous fortune and had
prison to convey q deadly poison to
his food. lie would tell thus tale
20 every ons who would listen and
doRqedly refuse his food for days to-
eether, often, indeed, until he was rem
dered 30 III as to be sent 10 the in
hrmnry, where he would frAntioally re-
fuse both food and physio unless it
we're poured down his throat or tasted
By the doctor.
Consequently he would become so
lill that the authorities we're predis-
posed TO deem him a fit subject Tor
Broa 1moor, especially, as the con-
tingency OF the prisoner dying OF
starvation aroused those Immediately
responsible for his we'll being to the
fact that there iH no arguing, as the
corpse speaks for itself. " Thus, II a
man happened to have, as 80 many
habitual criminals have, a streak Of
insanity in his brain, IL was not un D..
likely he was transferred to Brad
moor when he was no madder-very
likely much saner-than thousands of
other men who never put their heads
within an asylum at all.
This dodge 10, OF course, capable
of immense variations, and, redressed,
IL 10 still being played in our penal es-
Establishments. Some oonviots, having
Broadmoor in distant views and the
prison infirmAry IN the immediate fore
ground, will suddenly develop passions
for swallowing the most extraordinary
trifies. One man will evince a maniacal
taste for swallowing small stones. a
trisk q certain prisoner carried so
far that when he was operated on he
was found TO contain more than four
pounds Of stones. Another prisoner
will saorifiue his nightly comfort by
gradually eating up his mattress.
Blankets and clothing are also absorbed
Ia she same manner. But such lodges
as these generally miacarry, and
scarcely ever lead to Broadmoor.
The more discreet prisoners prefer to
qualify for the asylum by less heroic
measures.
Klert msniacs In prison arsnot com
mon, but prisoners sentenced for series
Of petty theita will sometimes oontinue
their practice In jail In order to lead
thu authorities TO think they ought
not to be treated like common felons,
bot removed 70 BroadmooT. Norwood
Scrubbs prison was once very much
troubled BY an aggravated case OF the
kind.
The man had pleaded kleptomania
Rt his trial. but all In vain, and five
years was the sentence passed upon
him. He had not been long In Worm
wood Scrubbn when all sorts Of uncon-
sidered tritiea began 10 disappear in the
most mysterious manner. For long
time the identity Of the thief was un-
suspected. But one day prisoner en-
ployed IN the printing room lost a but
ton on his trousers, and the thief, " no
worked in the same department, offered
TO let him have another. But it proved
to be the Identical button that had
been lost, and thereupon the thief fell
under suspicion, which was, of course,
the object OF his noble offer On his
cell being searched most extraordi
nary cels5ution Of articles was found
In his mattress. The list Of items
would fill half a column, but the most
common things we're buttons, nails,
scraps Of SOAP rags and fragments OF
wood. At one fell swoop, indeed,
sVerJ thing that had been missed during
months past was recovered.
The thief, instead OF being sent 10
Broadmoor, was punished, but never
theless he resumed his practice; and he
continued his theits and ssoretinQ
them until he was transferred 70 Port
land IN the usual course, when he sud
denly and completely reformed.
In addition TO broadmOor, and much
more accessible, there is the infirmsfy.
into which experienced prisoners will
contrive to get despite their en- ioyment
Of the most robust health. The dodge
by which they secure this form of hoii.
day, or relief from the ordinary routine
Of prison life, is oslled q fetching
the farm" the "farmn being the
prison name for the infirmary.
Mere sham sioknesses are useless for
this purpose, and a prisoner has to
resort to some more or less heroic meas.
ure TO securS his holiday. One such
dodge is ser up blood poisoning by
scratching the flesh Of an arm or 4 les
with a surreptitiously obtained rusty
nail. A certain prisoner at pentonville
did this - successfully that il became
necessary to have his leg Amputated.
A similar but lees drastic dodge is to
make wound on . limb and keen n
open until 1t becomes 30 bad as Ia
fetch the farm. -
Tight Wad.