Part 36 (1/2)

CHAPTER XX

A DAY IN THE CELL-HOUSE

I

To K & G

Good news! I was let out of the cell this e went home yesterday, and I was put in his place

It's lucky the old Deputy died--he was determined to keep me in solitary In the absence of the Warden, Benny Greaves, the new Deputy, toldme a job But he has issued strict orders I should not be permitted to step into the yard I'll therefore still be under special surveillance, and I shall not be able to see you But I am in touch with our ”Faithful,” and we can now resuular correspondence

Over a year in solitary It's almost like liberty to be out of the cell!

M

II

My position as coffee-boy affords many opportunities for closer contact with the prisoners I assist the range care of a row of sixty-four cells situated on the ground floor, and lettered K Above it are, successively, I, H, G, and F, located on the yard side of the cell-house On the opposite side, facing the river, the ranges are labelled A, B, C, D, and E The galleries fored at the centre, they peres The ten tiers, with a total of six hundred and forty cells, are contained within the outer stone building, and comprise the North Block of the penitentiary It connects with the South Wing by means of the rotunda

[Illustration: CELL RANGES--SOUTH BLOCK]

The bottoes Here every new arrival is tened to work and transferred to the gallery occupied by his shop-fellows On these ranges are also located thespecial punishes is designated ”bughouse row”

It contains the ”cranks,” aes ofthe hall, dusting the cell doors, and assisting at feeding, enable me to become acquainted and to form friendshi+ps I marvel at the inadequacy of my previous notions of ”the criminal” I resent the presumption of ”science” that pretends to evolve the intricate convolutions of a living huit cut from a dead hand, and labels it ”criminal type” Daily association dispels theintimacy discovers the humanity beneath fibers coarsened by lack of opportunity, and brutalized by misery and fear

There is ”Reddie” Butch, a rosy-cheeked young fellow of twenty-one, as frank-spoken a boy as ever honored a striped suit A jolly cri He was ”just dying to take his girl for a ride,” he relates to me But he couldn't afford it; he earned only seven dollars per week, as butcher's boy He always gave hishioes to work and swipes a rig, and say, Aleck, you ought to see oes 'Put on your glad duds, Kate,' I says, says I, 'I'll give you the drive of your life' And I did; you bet your sweet life, I did, ha, ha, ha!” But when he returned the rig to its owner, Butch was arrested

”'Just a prank, Your Honor,' I says to the Judge And what d' you think, Aleck? Thought I'd die when he said three years I was foolish, of course; but there's no use crying over spilt irl went back on et th' h, you bet, ha, ha, ha!”

And there is Young Rush, the descendant of the celebrated fareat American physician The delicate features, radiant with spirituality, bear a striking reseedy of Byron He is in for murder! He sits at the door, an open book in his hands,--the page isdown his face He sht up the darkened cell, like a gliirl on a Suht opposite here,”--he points to the river,--”near McKees Rocks” He was dragged out, unconscious They told hiirl was dead, and that he was her raph on his table, and bursts into sobs

Daily I sweep the length of the hall, advancing fro for an opportunity to exchange a greeting, with the prisoners My ie How he cheered entler tones I speak to the unfortunates, and encourage the new arrivals, or indulge so of the hallway raises a cloud of dust, and loud coughing follows in e of the old Block Captain's ”cold in the head,” I cautiously hint at the danger of ger in the dust-laden atmosphere ”A little wet sawdust on the floor, Mr Mitchell, and you wouldn't catch colds so often” A capital idea, he thinks, and thereafter I guard the precious supply under the bed in my cell

In little ways I seek to help theJoe,” the rangerossed with his own troubles The poor fellow is serving twenty-five years, and he is head”

Wilson They are constantly de to see the Warden It is reuards seem to stand in fear of them ”Wild Bill” is a self-confessed invert, and there are peculiar ru his intiestion, and a guard sent me to deliver some delicacies to him

”From the Warden's table,” he remarked, with a sly wink And Wilson is jocularly referred to as ”the Deputy,” even by the officers He is still in stripes, but he seems to wield some powerful influence over the new Deputy; he openly defies the rules, upbraids the guards, and issues orders He is the Warden's ”runner,” clad with the authority of his ard Bill and Wilson as stools, and cordially hate them; but none dare offend them Poor Joe is constantly harassed by ”Deputy” Wilson; there see prisoner who prefers the friendshi+p of Joe Worried by the coeman is indifferent to the unfortunates in the cells Butch is devoured by bedbugs, and ”Praying” Andy's mattress is flattened into a pancake The silected: he has not yet recovered from the assault by Johnny Se the range”

Butch's cell, of supplying Andy with a new ns of insanity a the solitaries

III