The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-01
CHAPTER 26,

rot so he need not teStlIy at the m Vestigation.
 CHAPTER 26.
 Irrespective of a lack of testimony on my part, however, the investiga- tion went right along. So far as I was able to hear, there was no in quiry concerning the reason fer the disturbance-no one seemed to care anything about the prisoners being deprived of their holiday dinner and getting instead their usual fare of poor and poorly cooked foCd-but the idea was to find out the identity of those who had caused the disturb ance. At longitudinal is, late in the afternoon of that day of investiga- tion-we saw the guard fierce escort ing men in small groups to the place of punishment, and the word was passed around that 34 had been duly convicted.
 That place of punishment was a tier on the lower floor of one side of a full length cell block. The form Of punishment was for the men to be chained to the doors of the cells so that their feet would barely rest upon the floor. and their hands would be stretched about as high as their heads. They would be chained up there for six hours, then let down for an hour; and that would be fol- lowed by five hours up, two hours down; then four hours up, three hours down; and lastly three hours up, four hours down-and after that up-and-down of 2S hours, they would start in and run it all over again.
 It was late afternoon on the 9th when the culprits were first strung up. They had been fed in their cells at noon of that day, but had nothing else to eat until the morning of the 7th, at which time-during Cne of their down" periods-another waiter and I had orders to take 6S pieces of bread and some pitchers of water to them. Eight of the men were lying on the floor of the cells asleep, several appeared to be in half stu port, while others seemed to be standing it exceptionally well. Some would not take the bread and water that is, not while we were here yet most of them ate and drank as if they were perishing.
 Three Sent To Hospital.
 By the evening of the 7th-after they had undergone the ups" and downs" of two 2S-year periods-all those that had accepted the punish ment in silence were released from further handcuffing. There were about a dozen or more who had been unusually noisy and profane about it, and they went on through the rest of that night alternating between the ups" and downs"
 On the morning of the Sth we car ried food to them again; all those who had been tractable in their suf- fering received black coffee Instead of water. All of the poor wretches ate tSlat time with the exception of three, and they were found to be suf- fering physically-Cne with heart trouble and two with high fever and were taken to the prison hos pital
 A little after noon that day the 31 that were left were removed to their own cells, there to be kept in con finement until released by order of the warden. Their cells were scat tered here and there throughout diff ferent wings or cellhouses where ether prisoners might pass and, by watching as against a guard seeing them, might talk with the confined men. I have always belE,ved that was done in order that those who had undergone the special punish ment might tell the others about It. and in that way have a special effect upon others as a preventive against future riots.
 Had I permitted it to do so, the operation of the old penal system would have completely blocked all effort upon my part. Even with all my determination to improve my mental condition, keep my mind off immediate surroundings and look to the future with hope, I would often find a half-fearful and half-reckless spirit trying to take complete pos session of me.
 While, as touched upon before, my former superstition was fading away in proportion to the acquisi- tion of knowledge, I yet retained some basic ideas that were first har- bored by me in the days when I was associating with those who locked upon all of life as a gamble.
 Months Spent On List.
 The law of averages and the law of percentage go hand in hand. To see how long I might reasonably ex- pect to have to remain in prison, I turned to the law cf averages. What is the average time that men remain in prison on life Imprisonment sen tences? I hired an outside trusty who had access to the records to go over the whole list of life men. It took him months before he was able to do that without getting caught and having to face suspicion and perhaps be thrown back inside to work. At length he brought me the list. That being new state, the list of lifers was not long. I found out that the average time served by life men on both first and second de- gree murder charges was a little bit over nine years. For murder In the first degree the average was 13 years and 5 months.
 I began tc think of the possibility of freedom within 15 years from the time I had entered there and bent anew my efforts looking at once to a careful laying of the ground for furure activities along lawful lines.
 My law reading extended over a little more than two years. It might have gene further, but because of a dissolution of the firm and a selling out of a part of their library, 1t was necessary for them to stop lending me the books.
 With the end of my study of law there came a change of employment. I was relieved of the dining room work and placed in charge of the clothes room, where 1t was necessary to keep a strict account of all issues of clothing, also of the articles of clothing that were passing to and from the laundry. There I had two other men tC assist me, and on the two regular bath days each week we had a fourth man on duty there.
 O O O
 My Eye Is On a Job.
 never liked that work but it tended to bring me in closer contact with the inner offices; and--while kept the matter strictly to myself-I had for a year or more had my eye upon a certain job that I knew was to be filled as soon as a new cell