Evening star., 1932-10-21
PRISON ROUNDS Up
BES|EGED RIOTERS
200 Mutineers Yell Curses
as Guards Start to Move
Them to Cells.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
KINGSTON, Ontario. October 2I.-
More than 200 mutinous prisoners, be-
5ieged in two corridors Of the Ports
mouth Penitentiary, yelled curses at the
guards today as good conduct inmates
were marched from cell tiers in the
main building to the new womens peni-
tentiary, not far Off and inside the
prison walls.
The mutineers threw the prison into
turmoil last night when they broke
from the dormitories where they were
confined and liberated other prisoners
from two cell blocks. This afternoon
the prison officials moved the good-con-
duct men and prepared to round up the
rioters and place them in the vacated
cells.
1t was understood the officials blamed
overcroWding Tor the trouble.
Gilbert Smith, acting warden of the
prison, said quiet was restored early
this morning after the disturb
ances which turned the penitentiary
into a bedlam for nearly IL hours dur
ing the afternoon and evening and
caused the authorities to call in troops
with machine guns to assist the guards.
Denies Guards Are Held.
The warden denied reports that 40
prison guards were being held by the
prisoners as hostages. The report, pub
lished by the Toronto Mail and Empire,
said the prisoners threatened to take
tho 1Vpc nf
pressive measures" were used against
them.
The Mail and Empire said that the
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, $50
strong, was modified within the prison
gates, but the troops were not taken
within the walls of the penitentiary
building because the prisoners threat
ened to kill the captive guards if the
soldiers were brought in to put the riot
down.
Minister Feared BIoodshed.
1t also quoted Hugh Guthrie, minister
Of justice, as saying he would be hap
PLY surprised" if bloodshed did not oc-
cur before the uprising was quelled.
There was considerable shooting dur
ing the afternoon and evening yester-
day. 1t appeared to be into the air
ANA IA4C LlCSl part. llOWeNeE. dlLnOugn
one inmate was wounded in the shoul-
der by bullet.
The gunfire ceased after 9 pm, and
with it the prisoners ended the bowling
and yelling which they had kept up
and which townspeople. gathered in
huge crowds along the lines established
by the troops, said sounded like "a foot
ball game"
The disorder began when a group Of
110 convicts housed in an overflow
oormitory unequipped with cells began
an attempt to hberate about 100 other
prisoners from two of the cell blocks.
During the height of the riot they
succeeded
The soldiers were called in and, to-
gether with the guards, fought it out
with the rioters in a drizzling rain
lashed by high wind off Lake Ontario,
the shore of which runs along one side
Of the buildings.
Throughout the night, the steel
helmeted soldiers paced back and forth
on the walls. The prison guard was
doubled. Floodlights and a powerful
searchlight were used to spot any move
ment which might be made by the
prisoners to charge the walls and gain
the outside
Rifle Fire Follows Blast.
The first intimation of the trouble. so
far as outsiders knew, was a muffied
explosion late yesterday afternoon, fol-
lowed by sharp burst of rifle fire.
The Artillery troops in Kingston were
rushed to the penitentiary Immediately
In full field equipment. A short time
after they arrived there was a brief
period of intense gunfire. When this
ceased, occasional shots still could be
heard above the din of the prisoners
yelling.
The convictS showed restlessness
after the Monday riots. Reports of
rebellious incidents seeped out of the
prison, but on each occasion the au-
thorities said they had the situation
well in hand.
The riots this week have conceded
with the one-hundredth anniversary of
the old gray prison, Whfch was built in
1882 to accommodate 700 prisoners 1t
is understood 906 are now housed there.
Many of the overflow" men have been
sleeping on beds in the corridors of
the cell blocks and yesterdays riots
were begun by these men.
There is women'S prison inside tie
walls
The prison occupies 25 acres of land
and is entirely surrounded by stone
wall 80 feet high. The institution itself
consists of two, three and four story cell
blocks, several work buildings, and
spacious yards. The west side and
south end almost butt up against Lake
Ontario and access to the prison is
only from the other two sides.
Control of all penitentiaries in
Canada is vested in the federal govern
ment and administered through the
Department of Justice. Hugh Guthrie.
minister of justice, is head of the de-
partment, but actual direction of prison
affairs is carried on by Brig. Gen. D.
M. Ormond, director of penitentiarieS.