CHAPTER IV. PRISON LIFE. High walls and huge the body may confine, And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways; In dealing with criminal classes legislation concerns itself almost entirely with penalties and punishments. "Thou shalt not" is the beginning, and the Penitentiary is the ending of its consideration and action. What may be the analogy between crime and disease, so far as relates to general cause and effect in the moral and physical constitution, is not intended here to be the subject of discussion. The causes of crime as certainly exist as causes of disease, for both are but effects in themselves. Some crimes are committed from an imperfection in the moral organization, while others are the result of sudden and exciting moral affections. The former will continue to be repeated as long as the cause remains, and the latter may never occur again, because the excitement may never reappear. The effect of punishment in these two cases would be different; hence, a primary object of punishment should be to_correct the cause of the moral disturbance which has produced the effect. The law consigns the convict to restraint of his personal liberty in a prison for a violation or infraction of its decrees, and in the prison he is to be subjected to treatment which is in unison with the object for which he was sentenced. The judgment of conviction is but a forfeiture of certain natural rights as a recompense to society for his inability to regard and obey those regulations which have been established for the protection of the rights of individuals which constitute such community. At this point the power of the law ceases over the convict, for it has exhausted its power in the accomplishment of the end. By the enlightened policy of the present administration, the convict thus situated, while undergoing punishment, is sought to be improved, benefitted and reformed. In this, society should have a deep interest, for if the convict at expiration of his term of imprisonment is improved in his moral characterencouraged to refrain from the commission of offenses against the law-reformed in his habits, and taught those religious and moral lessons of utility which will avail him on his again commingling with society, the community has gained twofold by such imprisonment. While the end and aim of imprisonment for crime is punishment, the obligations of humanity, which are founded on the precepts and examples of the author of Chiristianity, are not cancelled by the follies or crimes of our fellow creatures; and in considering the subject of prison discipline, care has been taken not to lose sight of these humane obligations. A prisoner's life in the Penitentiary is, to a great extent, what he makes it; by good conduct he can rise from the second grade to the first, or he can degrade himself by violation of the rules, down to the third grade, and thereby not only forfeit the respect of the officers, but his hopes of pardon or parole -besides losing a certain number of days that would have been deducted from his term for meritorious conduct. It is to the credit of the prisoners, however, that there is better deportment among them collectively than there is among the same number of men enjoying their freedom outside the walls. If a hundred prisoners, taken indiscriminately, were to narrate their life experience in confinement, few narratives Iwould be found to coincide. It is as natural for the chronic malcontent and the morbid "kicker" to belch forth their splenetic sentiments as it is for a wolf to howl. They would be dissatisfied in Paradise, and turn the sweet milk of concord into hell." The cheerful, happy-go-lucky, philosophic prisoner bends willingly, or at least implicitly, to the inevitable, and, with strict regard for prison rules, experiences a compar atively happy existence entre murus. The rebellious and refractory lead hard lives indeed, for they experience all the wretchedness that the iron solitude of a prison can suggest. This class are, however, in the minority and are invariably of a low order of intelligence, being commonly designated as "cranks." "One reels to this, another to that wall; 'Tis the same error that deludes them all." The other class of prisoners-the intelligent, law-abiding convicts-experience quite a different life from the former and enjoy all the privileges merited for good conduct. The popular conception that a convict drags out an unvaried, monotonous existence is as erroneous as it is popular, for not a day passes but some event or incident beyond or within the walls is read of in the newspapers, or passed from mouth to mouth as mysteriously as the hand that wrote upon the wall. Prisoners arrive and depart daily, and the number confined is seldom the same two days in succession. Sheriffs arrive nearly every month, bringing recruits for the Penitentiary guards to teach that the way of the transgressor is hard." Handcuffed, and often shackled, they enter the Guard-room and yield to the decrees of an outraged law. The Guardroom is a good place to study homo-animal nature. Here the student will see the dime novel reading emulator of Jesse James, blanch and wilt with the hoar frost of adversity's dark night; the hero of a hundred burglaries, perhaps, becomes as suppliant as a Pharisee before Pilate. The prison contains a larger number of convicts during the months of summer, after the spring term of court in the various counties, than at any other time during the year. Last year (1890) the average daily population was 1,599; the num ber to August 1st, 1891, has varied from 1,551 to 1,652. Upon the arrival of a prisoner at the Penitentiary, he is handed over to the Warden with a commitment, certified by the court at which the criminal was convicted, specifying the length of time he shall be imprisoned. This document is the authority upon which the Warden holds him, or her, as the case may be, as a prisoner. The sheriff receives all costs from the State and the convict is left to reimburse the State by hard labor a “fresh fish" who has nibbled too long at the bait. His nerve is paralyzed and his spirits are at their lowest ebb. The prisoner often happens to be a mere youth of tender years, and stern officials, long used to "scenes of sadness" in the Guard-room, find themselves moved by feelings of compassion as they hear the sobs and see the tears fall from eyes, perhaps, unused to flow. From the Guard-room the prisoner is escorted to the Deputy Warden's office, situated in the front, right hand side of the Chapel. Here his description is taken; name, age, place of birth, family connection, height, color of hair, eyes, and every distinguishing peculiarity of form and feature, down to an ink mark, are registered in a book kept for this especial purpose. This is done in order that the convict may be identified should he die while here, and to aid in his recapture should he ever escape, for in less than twenty-four hours his description would be in the hands of every police officer in the State. But the Bertillion metric method for the identification of criminals is not recorded by Deputy Porter, as he believes, with many scientists, that the method is not reliable. This descriptive notation concluded, he is conducted to the photograph gallery, where an expert prisoner-operator takes a front and profile view of the novice; these photographs, with the negatives, are preserved for future reference in the Deputy Warden's office. It is a singular fact that when the most obstinate of prisoners reach the Penitentiary they take this fearful ordeal with comparative composure. Each man fully realizes that this is making a record that will follow him through life in the way of identification and it is one that cannot be materially changed. The Penitentiary picture gallery begins with John Cordner, the Fairfield county prisoner, who served over a quarter of a century, and Billy Carrol, the Brown county man, who served nearly twenty-three years, each for murder. The latter served nearly ten years of this in solitary confinement, and for years the guards feared to open his cell door. Both of these men have been pardoned out and, so far as the records show, have not since violated any of the laws. Carrol is travelling over the country selling his patents, which were taken out during the time he was in prison, and is reported as doing well, both financially and morally. The entire collection will number several thousand. From here he goes to the new hall, where he is turned over to a tonsorial artist, who give his hair the regulation cut, and trims his mustache (if he possesses such a facial adornment) down level with the skin of his upper lip. Convicts often protest against this required mutilation of their physiognomies, but the barber, himself a convict, is deaf to all protestations and demonstrations of the new convict's individuality, and off comes the mustache and beard. From the new hall the prisoner is taken to the State shop, where he is furnished with a suit of regulation stripes, but the striped clothing is not given to the convict to humiliate him, but for the purpose of contrasting him, in appearance, with citizen's, should he attempt to escape through one of the gates, or by scaling the walls. While it is true that any sensitive man will recoil at the sight of the old regulation stripes of some years ago, convicts soon overcome their aversion to those worn in the prison at the present time. But, to return to the embarrassed debutant taking his cue and making up for his role behind the scenes. Before donning his new clothing, the prisoner goes to the Bath House, and from which, he emerges in a few minutes, cleansed and clothed in the dress of a full-fledged convict. He is then conducted to the Hospital, where the prison physician makes an examination of his physical condition. If found to be consumptive, or suffering with any of the numerous chronic diseases or disabilites that unfit men for work, he receives treatment and good care until he is cured, or able to do light work. From the Hospital he is taken to the Chaplain's office, and here his name, age, occupation, and religious faith-if he has any-is recorded. The Chaplain informs him that he can attend Sunday School and prayer meeting if he desires, by having a ticket to that effect placed upon his cell door. He is also given a number by which he will be known till the day of his release. This number began with the first prisoner received at the Penitentiary, and has increased from 1 up to 22,475, the highest serial number up to date. The prisoner is now taken back to the Deputy Warden's office, and is assigned for duty, or sent to the Idle House to |