The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-03-08
a t THE time of Elizabeth Fry's

n t THE time of Elizabeth Fry's
| ~ first visit to Newgate the wom-
ans division consisted of two
wards and two cells embracing SUI
| perficial area of about one hundred
and ninety yards. Into these spaces
were crammed three hundred women.
the guilty and the innocent, the tried
and the untried, the minor offenders
and those convicted who were soon to
die upon the gallows. Of these last
| there must have been goodly num-
| Der since in Great Britain at the be-
ginning of the last century there were
| three hundred separate crimes punish
| able with Notwithstanding petty
| theft. Indeed. man or woman might
be hanged for robbing hen-roosts,
| writing threatening letters, or pilfer
ing property from the person of an
other to the value of five shillings.
One old man and his son were the
wardens and caretakers for the
abominably squalid hole into which
these three hundred poor creatures
were crammed OF that initial expert
ence others Mrs. Fry wrote:
| They were destitute of sufficient
| clothing. for which there was no pro-
vision; in rags and dirt, without bed
| ding they slept on the floor, the boards
of which were in part raised to sup.
ply sort of pillow. In the same
With the proceeds of their clamorous
| begging when any stranger appeared
among them the prisoners purchased
| liquors from tap in the prison. Spir-
its were openly drunk and the ear
was assailed by the most terrible
| language Although military
sentinels were posted on the leads of
the prison, such was the lawlessness
prevailing that Mr.. Newman, the gov
ernor, entered this portion of it with
| reluctance"
Ministering to Doomed Woman.
There was yet another distressing
| feature-the everlasting clanking of
letters upon the limbs of many of
these poor wretches. Manacles were
| In general use for the restraint of
prisoners. Nearly all men prisoners in
those days wore constantly upon their
ankles heavy chains, and on occasion
| wrist-irons as well-nOt the light, al
most decorative handouts of modern
| times. but heavy bracelets connected
| by huge links or by solid iron bars.
Nor were women spared these igno-
| mines. In many prisons through
out the kingdom practically no pro-
vision was made for the feeding of
| the inmates, so that to overcrowding.
disease, filth, obscenity and vice were
added the horrors of starvation.
Even so, there had been during
Mrs. Fry's girlhood some reform in
| penal conditions-thanks to the eff
forts of an older philanthrOpist than
| she,s by name John Howard. who
| finally died of oyereXertiOn. martyr
| to his work In behalf of oppressed
humanity. Mrs. Fry was sensible
| soul. First she enlisted the members
of her own household and her friends
| in the task of providing garments TO
| cover the nakedness of the wretched
creatures in Newgate. She began
| making regular visits there: later she
| extended her ministratiOns TO lOath-
| some jaiIs, lunatic asylums and So
called hospitals throughout England
and Scotland so that when she put
her plea before the government she
was well fortified with first-hand evil
| dence.
Her Journal which she kept from
day to day. provides heart-moying
pictures of degradation and misery.
For instance she wrote:
81 have just returned from mel
ancholy visit to Newgate where l
| have been at the request of Elizabeth
Fricker, previous TO her execution to-
morrow at eight O'Clock. found her
much hurried. distressed and tor
mented in mind. Her hands were
cold and covered with something like
the perspiration which precetles death.
| and In an universal tremer. The
women who were with her said she
had been so outrageous before our go
ing that they thought man must be
| sent for to manage her. However.
after serious time with her. her
| troubled soul became Gained"
| A Plea Before the House of ommons.
Another entry casts a light upon
the interior conditions of Newgate:
Besides this poor young woman there
| are also six men TO he hanged, one of
| whom has wife near her confine.
ment. also condemned. and seven