Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-01-29

a grave danger OF the oeetllla his sssfE
such eells-.besoming imnairea phy-si-
cally"
The prison officials admit thds truth
of Dr. McColloms assertion, Bespite
the fact that the cid bastle at
| Charlestown has the reputation Of be
| ing the best conducted in the United
! States, and that the -prest mt state Of
| sffairs is in no way due to the Of
dcials. The latter do not hesitate to
| declare that the doubling up OF pris-
| oners is unwise.
This doubling u6 of prisoners" "
| said one OF the prison officials, lis un
wise from el cry point of view. There
| Has not been any trouble from this
source vet. but we always realize
there is a possibility.
Put it is not our fault. We arr
overerowded and we must do The
est we can when they come faster
than we can find room. AS long as
the courts continue to send men here
faster than others leave we will have
to take recourse to the present meth
cd Of doubling alp unless the present
prison is enlarged or another prison
Is built"
It is in the cherry Hill section Of
the prison that two prisoners occupy
one cell.
Entirely within the prison inclos-
ure, the cherry Hin building is best
known 70 tha outside world as the
habitation Of Jesse Pomeroy. Massa
chasetts' N ost famous prisoner. Built
primarily as q place fer ineorrigibles.
the cells have two doors. One is Of
bars. tie other of solid steel The
after being outside, the fermer when
closed cuts She inmate off from the
rest Eof the corridor entirely.
The only natural light that enters
the cell is through two apertures in
the ceiling. each by 36 inches. At
night there is an electric light burn
irg until bedtime Each of the cells
is eight feet wide and IS feet long
In such IA cell does Jesse Pomeroy
dwell alone. his doors being closed
when there is visitor in the corridor.
'~he solid steel door on the cells occu-
oied ty two prisoners is not closed
when they are in. thus allowing the
guard II inspect the cell without mott
tying the occupants OF his intention.
Each of the cells, in addition to t@o
cots. has running water. the latter
being installed when il Was planned
to use them for the incorrigibles. This
section % the prison is now considered
the most desirable. and only the bet
ter class of prisoners are given a
chance to double up.
No discrimination is shown in Sc
leeting the paired prisoners for Cherry
Hill 1t happens that a "iifera and
an inmate doing 10 years for forgery
will occupy the same cell. There are
four siifers' among those paired off
Only men supposedly compatible, and
who will obey all the rules. are al
lowed to double up. Whenever pos
sible. two men of the same nationality
eccup. the same cell.
And it is in the Cherry Hill sec
ton thai the Chinese, Marry Charles
and Joe Guey. serving life sentences
for participation in the Boston Tons
war are passing their remaining days
and nights.
The two Cinnamon We're sentenced
originally to the electric chair. Later
they were reprieved and committed T.
eharlestown for life. Charles works
in the box factory, while GueY finds
employment in the laundry. The for
,ner once a month. has visitors. but
Gney. it seems. has been forgotten b.
his one time friends, for none call IN
him.
But the Chinese in the lonely little
cell find much to help them pass their
long, lonely hours. And. in the G1.n=
tonese dialeet. they often discuss .ae
experiences Of the yesteryears.