The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-02-08

poisoning land the condition in which
food often comes to the convicts' table
is practically poisonous).
They know that no such punishment
Is included in the statutes. and they
can only conclude therefore that II
is an arbitrary and illegal piece OF
cruelty or neglect on the part OF
the warden or commissary officer. They
are prone to think that these persons
profit financially by cutting down
their supplies, and that they are
careful to conceal the fact in their re-
ports to the department. or to dis
guise IL as meritorious economy. At
the same time they are conscious that
there is no regular channel through
which they can make their injury
known to the authorities. and that
nothing is more readily denied or more
easily concealed from inspectors than Is
this very abuse.
But the suffering which it occasions
is constant and cumulative. They are
still required to perform their labor
as II in full physical vigor. They are
punished II physical weakness causes
them to fall short in their tasks They
feel their vitality ebbing; they find
themselves ever less able to resist the
nroads of disease: their appeals to the
doctors are often met with sneers and
even animosity. and what marvel
is II that stoicism and patience ut last
give way and they break out in some
wild and savage excess which justifies
the resort by their masters to the
dungeon and thu bullet? But death
may well. seem to the rebels preferable
To the lingering pains of the alternative
fate.
The undernourishment and mall
nourishment Of convicts Is in fact one
Of the worst crimes Of the many which
their despots perpetrate upon them
From any point of view ii is barbarous
and wicked-the crime of Weyler
upon the defenceless Cuban revolution
| lists. which, as much as the destruction
of the Maine, impeled this country
to declare war. Yet, knowing. as we
do. that it is perpetrated upon the
human beings in our prisons. We sit
supine and acquiescent, and thereby
make the crime our own.
Have YOU not Imagination enough to
put yourself for Il moment i'm the pre-
dicament of the prisoner? There you sit
in the narrow gloom of your cell. or you
toll in the sitting confinement of your
work room, and such is not only your
|
will he unchanged. You are isolated
from sight Of and association with every
man ana woman in the world who cares
for YOU or thinks kindly OF you. silence
and rigid obedience are imposed upon
YOU: YOU meet no looks that are not
| harsh and hear no words but sharp
commands or angry menaces.
Your very toll is idle and unpaid. and
! No
credit or hope, except treacherous
promises of n good constantly delayed.
And then picture yourself when. after
| wearisome hours. the whistle blows that
means intermission Of labor and the re-
newal of strength 10y food. Yet that
summons instead OF cheering YOU. does
hut make the burden Of your misery
heavier.
| Sullenly and heavily. in the endless
| line, you tramp into the huge, comfort
less hall. with its hideous tables and
benches, and as you pass up the aisles
you eMnce abhorrently at the dirty
scraps and masses of provender dumped
carelessly out Of noisomr buckets by the
| filthy hands Of the servers upon plates
still rough and foul with the hardened
grease Of foregoing meals. You are
faint for lack Of nourishment, yet the
sight of what is provided and the I'M
clean smell If il nauseates instead OF
| inviting You. Eat you must If you
| would live and have strength to work
yet If you eat you invite sickness and
suffering. and If you could eat all and
assimilate il YOU would still leave the
table hut half fed.
| Every tyro in physiology knows the
effect upon the general organism Of
detection and resentment at meals.
Prisoners more than men in any other
condition need abundance to eat and
good cheer while eating, but the food
| they get and the circumstances in which
| they get II cause them to degenerate
physically. and the body affects the mind.
| Physical disease breeds the disease of
evil thoughts and impulses. Criminals
might lie generated by prison food alone
without taking account Of their previous
records and future prospects.
We Of Atlanta penitentiary used to hear
occasionally Of the bills of fare Of our
repasts in the prison that We're daily
forwarded tn Washington by way of re-
assuring the Department of Justice, and
whom else II might concern. as to the
substance and excellence Of our nourish-
ment. These alimentary documents
might he compared with like lists at
| l)elfnonlCOS ana the waldorf ana the
names Of the viands would he found to
he identical. The inference to the legal
mind, not tn speak Of the Psychological
one. was pain: The convicts at the
penitentiary Jared as sumptuonsly as do
the hanHucters of the Four Hundred
at no cost. moreover, To themselves, not
even walters tips.
For here were rich soups and gravies.
LON hot ,,tf al no. 10,
and chops, the renowned baked beans of
legend comforting hashes pies and pud-
dings, fresh vegetables. including the
| famous sweet potato Of the South in
| its pride, and long draughts Of milk
from the tranquil cows Of the pasture.
| together with tea and coffee from the
| Orient, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper
and vinegar. enough to heguile the most
squeamish appetite, and to top on with
fruits in the n season, led by the incom-
parable Georgia watermelon. ] may
have inadvertently omitted some items
from this toOthsome list, hut 1t IL enough
as II stands to make an epicure's mouth
water. And II any sceptic were still .un-
convinced a photographer would be ad-
mitted with his undeniable camera a
| certain Observation-Disclosures and Fourth