Evening star., 1928-09-23
tv" Is One Hope in Eternal War Menacing Prisons

said: I'm going to see just how much
nerve you have. You say you're going
to kill me. All right. I'm going to
give you the chance. Come over to the
barber shop with me-" When they
arrived Old Calamity climbed into one
of the chairs and, without even look
ing around. said curtly, Shave me-"
The prisoner hesitated. while the
deputy settled back comfortably in his
chair and the other prisoner-barberS
wet their suddenly dry lips and looked
at each other in nervous alarm. But
Old Calamity got his shave without
mishap. while his barber, suddenly
made ridiculous and craven, lost his
leadership among the prisoners. For
there is nothing, outside of a stool
pigeon that the average convict hates
more than "four-husher'
After lunch comes court CALL" when
the prisoners who have been shot" ere
ported are brought before the deputy.
One willl be charged with talking while
at work, another with inSolence to an
| officer, third with striking a guard
another with malingering in order to
avoid work, still another with willfully
destroying property, four or five with
wasting food, six or eight with fighting
and any number with tagging behind
| in line
Every one of these prisoners is inno-
| cent, to hear him tell 1t. Each one
accused of fighting was attending in
dustriously to his work when, without
| the slightest warning, the other man
suddenly attacked him. Those accused
of cursing an officer explain that il
was all a mistake, that the cursing was
done by man back of them, whose
name they do not know. The man
who threw the trick was merely testing
! his strength when the brick suddenly
/ slipped out of his hand and nearly
! struck the officer.
/ Faced with this contradictory evi'
dence, Old Calamity dispenses his
/ frontier Justice. One man gets five
days in the cooler" (the solitary celD
another has his tobacco privilege taker
away, etc.
IN addition to melting out justice tC
the prisoners, on which his repu'
tation as a square shooter" largely
depends. Old Calamity must give thu
I guards the impression that he is back
ing them up, whether he is or not
For that reason he will often give
reprimand to the prisoner in front oI
! the guard. when he knows well enough
| that the fault lies with the guard, anc
not the convict The next time he see:
the prisoner while making his round:
he will stop and chat with him and
without directly saying so, give him tC
understand that he knows the refuge
he gave him was undeserved.
Any one who thinks this is unnecessary
does not know prison guards. They are
as temperamental as opera singers.
rfA yrTkNi II n.
speCtor of prisons for the Federal Gov
eminent, 1 found a guard who had no
made a report against prisoner fol
more than two years. When I ques
toned him he virtuously declared tina
when he made his last report the deput!
warden, instead of putting the man II
the cooler" as he should have done
had let him off with reprimand. Ther
and there the guard made up his mlnC
never to report another prisoner. H;
left the institution that afternoon.
With this kind of temperament II
contend with. Old Calamity's difficultle:
in assigning the guards to work IN ordel
to keep them all satisfied can be easily
imagined. In most institutions tn:
guards rotate" at regular intervals bott
on shifts and on jobs.
| To shift 200 men of all degrees OF in
dividuality and temperament and, keer
| them all feeling that they are getting
square deal, is job which would tax
| the patience of a Job and the wisdom
of a Solomon. But the deputy warden
who isn't able to do it doesn't remain
| AeDuty very long. have seen dozens
of them come and go, watched the
prison slowly become diSorganized, the
prisoners bitter and disgruntled, the
guards angry and discontented-every-
| thing working slowly and surely toward
the inevitable "bust up" of a. bloody
regular intervals.
IF by any chance Old Calamity should
| 4 run out of work durinS the day ne
can begin an investigation OF the mat
ters reported to him in Is or 20 anony-
nous notes during the week:
Depty-One of the men in c dorni-
tory has got gun.
Deputy-Watch McCreery on farm.
He is getting ready for break.
Depity-They is six dicks OF junk IN
taller shop.
Deputy-Guard Morrison Is stealing
steaks and cooking them for his dinner
every night.
There are many others of similar
tenor. Many come from practical jokers
among the prisoners who want to give
the deputy "a run around the block. y
Old Calamity cannot afford to disregard
any of them. The one about the gun in
C dormitory may be practical joke. Or
it may be that one of the prisoners
there has a gun and is awaiting a favor
able opportunity to make break Tor
freedom. Or it may even be that the
prisoner who wrote the note has the
gun and wants to frame an enemy by
"planting" it in the others mattress, the
,,ntn hairnn mrittarn merely To insure a