Year: 1879

often happens that the man has been ab-
sent only few months, and that whereas
his name was Jacob Schneider when he
went away, it is Patrick Houlihan when
he returns, and Houlihan Is not more un-
like Schneider than Schneider is unlike
the name under which he was sent up q
few years previously. But he remains
Houlihsn until his sentence or he expires,
and he is so we'll known to the prison
officers and 30 minutely described in
their books that the name is wholly imma.
tcrial. He never tries to. deceive the Of
hcers a. to his identity; his object is &C.
complished if he has deceived the Judge
and passed for new offender instead of an
old one. He docs not always succeed in
doing that. Among the. questions asked
him when he is booked al the prison Of
fee is whether he desires to mention the
name Of some relative or friend to whom
word may be sent In the event of his death
while in prison. A large percentage of the
prisoners decline to give any name, saying
that they do not care to have any of their
friends know what has become IF them if
they die before getting out. 1t is pro-
bable that that these have gone by as
sumed names during the criminal ca
rcer that brought them to. the prison,
that their kindred are ignorant Of their
whereabouts, and that the prisoners
hope to spare their parents or
their relatives the pain of ever knowing
that they have committed state prison
offence. In cases where name with an
address is given in response to the usual
inquiry, the name is seldom that of the
prisoner. and the address is not often the
prisoners address. For instance man
who is sentenced under the name of Hen
ry Wilson Ito take name that appears
to be q favorite one with criminals Ill
search of a new designatien), and who
claims to come from Troy, will request
that word he sent to John Brown of No.
street, New York, declining to say
whether the person named Is relative OF
his. The prison authorities naturally in
fer that the prisoners name is Brown,
and that the person named is his father,
brother or some near relative-that is.
when they think It worth their while to
make an Inference.


There are now IN Sing Sing prison be-
tween 1000 and 1900 prisoners. Less
than twenty Of them are living in cots in
the prison hospital-one to a hundred,
say. Last year seven convicts died. The
youngest was 10 years old, the oldest was
43. The average age Of the prisoners
last year was between 20 and 25 years.
The death rate was less than one-naif OF
one per cent. Nearly all the deaths oc-
cur from the same cause-a disease which
is called consumption, for short. The
prisoner has lived life of excesses; often
he has contracted blood disease that has
passed into third stage, and is under
mining his constitution. He takes cold
easily, and the cold in his system pro-
duces waste that his impaired vitality
cannot endure. He goes into the hospi-
tai and dies when the leaves come out,
or fingers till the leaves tall. So
said Warden Davis the other day while
he and the writer we're climbing the
ridge to the east of the prison, where the
dead convicts are buried. ''These were
harvested last spring." he said pointing
to row Of five or six graves over which
the turf has not grown. I'VE shall not
be likely to lose any more-by natural
death-till the leaves fall; but. unless
there is some casualty, and some man
is shot in desperate attempt to escape,
there will be no more than one new
grave before the leaves fall" Since War
den Davis took chargelof the PRISON, nearly
two years ago, there has been but ono
death from an acute disease. The man
caught Geld, his lungs assumed the con-
fNf fhfsh -,
was dead within few hours


All Of the sick convicts lie in the same
room in tho hospital large hall
with cots for perhaps sixty men.
The floor ia kept clean, the walls
white, the roam lighted with oil
lamps. Occasionally, when convict
is sick with disease that makes him Of
fensive to the others, he is removed to a
small room kept for the purpose elsewhere.
The sick are attended chiefly by convicts,
most of whom. detailed for that purpose,
are themselves on the sick list They SIT
by the side of the sick, attend to their
wants, give them medicine according to
the doctor instructions, and call the doc.
tor when it seems to be necessary. The
sick generally appear to be patient, and
they arc we'll taken care of. Sometimes
in the night nervous, slecpiess patient,
weary OF the scene around him, and per
haps thinking Of the tender care he
had received from his mother or u SIS.
ter at home, will draw a deep sigh and
gasp. sob, this Is horrible place to be
sick in!" But they all have good atten.
tion, aud even the most nervous canno,
say that the condition of the sick there is
any more horrible than 1t is made by the
necessities of their situation. There is nc
officer Of the prison that does not tiptoe
through the room when he goes among
the sick, lest he should give them pain
The duties of the prison physician are
strangely different from those of the physi.
cians outside. He mutt see that he is no,
imposed upon by men who want to shirk
work, or to be transferred to work of a
different nature. They feign sickness and
he must determine whether they are real.
" i'll. The prisoners feign sickness more
frequently in the hope of being transferred
tot different line of work than 10 escape


work Nearly all of them prefer to work,
and nearly all Of them would like to be
frequently changed from one kind OF
work to something else. Frequently the
physician finds it necessary to take the


prisoners at their word and apply rene
dies that are painful, but not injurious.
Not long ago prisoner was transferred
to an easy job in consequence of an all
ment common to those who lift heavy
packages. In three days the disease be-.
came epidemic among the convicts. One
OF the first to complain was subjected to
heroic treatment, and the next day there
was not case of that ailment In the
prison: The physician usually has but
little difficulty in distinguishing between
those who are really ill and those wnese
sickness Is feigned.


The prisoners die on the cots where
they are sick, in the main room Of the
hospital, surrounded by their sick tellew
prisoners. Death-bed scenes there are
not very different from those elsewhere.
MY experience has been," said Mr..
Madden, ''that all persons when they