The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-26
PRISON LIFE IN RUTHLAND IS A. THING OF BLISS Escaped Convict From Peniten- tiary Longs For the En-
 circling Walls. FINEST FISHING YOU
 EVER SAW IS ON TAP Inmates Don't Even Have to Dry Themselves After Talk
 ing Shower Bath.

High Life In Jail' would be the proper title to story given in cell room at police headquarters by Fred Vita1e, aged 26, escaped convict from the penitentiary at Concord Junction, just before he left this morning with an official of the prison on his return to the Massa chusetts prison.
 Vitale is the convict who gave him. self up here Wednesday morning He now says that he would never have surrendered but for the fact that he was intoxicated, He will now serve nine months whereas if he had re- mained he would have been discharged Dec. 1.
 Vitale was sentenced to three years in the penitentiary on a charge of After Iserving two years of his sen tence he was sent to the Trusty Prison camp at Ruthland, Mass. ~4
 The camp is in a remote part of the woods on the bank of a beautiful lake where, according to VitaIe, can be found ttthe finest fishing you ever saw.,' The duty of the prisoners is to cut a clearing in the woods and the work is laid out by a deputy warden of the prison at Concord junction
 The days work is completed about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the
  their evening meal At the camp are 10 portable buildings and one of the buildings is set aside as a gymnasium and in these are 80 shower baths. There are but g trusties now at the camp. Prisoners take a. shower bath twice a week and are not required even to try themselves When pr1s- oner has a demerit mark cha1ked against his name at the end of the week he is assigned to the job of rubber and he has to dry the bath CTS and clean their clothes. TIe prison garb is black gatze suit without stripes.
 After partaking of their evening meal the trusties repair to the large sitting room where they play the graph ophone and listen to "Jojo" while he plays sweet melodies on a flute. s*Jojo'' was at one. time a first class musician but was sentenced to a term of four years on a charge of highway robbery. In this room are banjos, flutes, a. piano and an organ. Here the boys enjoy themselves until the prison bell c1angs at Il o'clock.
 In the morning they arisA at five o'clock and enjoy a swim in the lake that is in the summer time. The menu on Wednesdays and Sundays consist of corned beef and cabbage, hash. and toasted bread. At the end of the week when the merits and demerits are chalked up the man with the best record for the week is given quan- tity of ice cream after his dinner Sun day and he also sits at the deputy warden s table for the ensuing week. Vitale three times was the lucky trusty.
 When asked the name of the leading song hit at the camp, VitaIe replied that it was ''Chinky- -winkey.'' He later corrected the title and called it . the boys ever N~composed a song of their own he 1aughingly replied: 'Vaw, we ain't poets, we're only plain jai1birds''
 In one of the portable buildings is a library containing 10000 volumes In the evening a night school is in ses- sion where shorthand is taught those desiring to learn. On Sundays special speakers from Boston address the group of trusties in an endeavor to make better men of them.
 George Stal1ings, manager. of the Boston Braves, addressed the camp early in September. His theme was
 Baseball and How to Play It." At the camp is a baseball league com posed of the RambIers. Orioles, PiI- grims and Puritans. The RambIers copped the rag and each member was awarded with S1 bill, presented by Stallings. Vitale says he p.ayed short stop on the RambIers and that al though >he- could not field he could hit like sixty.
 Once a week the squad enter prize gun drills under the direction of mil 1tia officers from Boston. Company A won the last drill and their trophy will be Saturdays t'off'' for one year. This means 7 h>dorn\ oe the camp ground for one year on Saturdays.
 ' When asked how he made his escape V1tale said that while the two officers ate their meals, he and a pal of his atced guards. While the officers trusties decided to "e1ope.'' They made their way to Albany, N. r., and tnen parted. The pal is headed for Chicago and VitaIe reached here Sun day night.
 He said that Bridgeport is the finest city he ever hit and that he was only here half hour when he was we'll mellowed and it did not cost a cent. < He is now sorry as he claims only for the fact that he was intoxicated he would not have giT en himself up.
 Vitale was returned to Concord june ton this morning accompanied by Deputy Warden Fred Gale. He will now have to serve about nine months in the pehitentiarv and he will not adorn the camp grounds for another six months.
 Before leaving Vita1a commented upon the condition of the cells he has occupied while in this city. He said they were the most foul smelling he ever entered. He remarked about a story appearing in tho paper of Wed nesday evening concerning dogs, cats and pigs being found in local bakeries 2 nd said that would not be a bad idea if the board of health gave the once over'' to the cells at police head 4uar-