Part 52 (1/2)
The unexpected relief strengthens the hope of liberty Local methods are of no avail, but now my opportunities for escape are es have taken place during my solitary, and the first necessity is to orient myself Some of my confidants have been released; others were transferred during the investigation period to the South Wing, to disrupt my connections New men are about the cell-house and I es A and K is now exclusively occupied by the insane, their nuie has disappeared Grown violently insane, he was repeatedly lodged in the dungeon, and finally sent to an asylum There my unfortunate friend had died after two ood-natured boy, turned i: ”baah, baah, see the goat I'oat, baah, baah” I shudder at the fate I have escaped, as I look at the faence and youth, now staring at me from the ”crank roild-eyed and corpse-like, their minds shattered, their bodies wasted to a shadow My heart bleeds as I realize that Sid and Nick fail to recognize h bootblack, stands at the door, lassy, lips frozen in an inane sraveyard of the living dead, the silence broken only by inter of Mike The whole day these men are locked in, deprived of exercise and recreation, their rations reduced because of ”delinquency” New ”bughouse cases” are continually added from the ranks of the prisoners forced to reht of the terrible rief over Johnny Davis My young friend had grown ill in the foul basket He begged to be taken to the hospital; but his condition did not warrant it, the physician said Moreover, he was ”in punishment” Poor boy, how he must have suffered! They found him dead on the floor of his cell
My body renews its strength with the exercise and greater liberty of the range The subtle hope of the Warden to corrupt e I smile with scorn at his miserable estimate of human nature, deter is the shallowness of popular opinion! Warden Wright is hailed as a progressive y, who has introduced modern methods in the treatment of prisoners As an expression of respect and appreciation, the National Prison association has selected Captain Wright as its delegate to the International Congress at Brussels, which is to take place in 1900 And all the ti the pleadings of the idlehis utmost efforts to increase sickness and insanity, in the attempt to force the repeal of the ”convict labor” law
The puerility of his judgard to convict competition with outside labor has swept the State; the efforts of the Warden, disastrous though they be to the inmates, are doomed to failure No less fatuous is the conceit of his boasted experience of thirty years The so confidently uttered suspicion of Ed Sloane in regard to the counterfeiting charge, has proved mere lip-wisdo in the Warden's special graces His intie of Torrane, has confided to ht” He even exhibited to inal molds, cast in the trusty's cell
And poor Sloane, still under surveillance, is slowly dying of neglect, the doctor charging hi soap to produce symptoms of illness
III
The year passes in a variety of interests The Girl and several neon correspondents hold the thread of outside life The Twin has gradually withdrawn from our New York circles, and is now entirely obscured on my horizon But the Girl is staunch and devoted, and I keenly anticipate her regular mail She keeps me informed of events in the international laborin the daily press We discuss the revolutionary expressions of the times, and I learn more about Pallas and Luccheni, whose acts of the previous winter had thrown Europe into a ferainst the tortures in Montjuich, the revival of the Inquisition rousing in me the spirit of retribution and deep compassion for my persecuted comrades in the Spanish bastille Beneath the suppressed tone of her letters, I read the Girl's suffering and pain, and feel the heart pangs of her unuttered personal sorrows
Presently I am apprised that so to secure Carnegie's signature for a renewed application to the Board of Pardons The Girl conveys the inforuardedly; the absence of couish of soul the step has caused her What terrible despair had given birth to the suggestion, I wonder If the project of the underground escape had been put in operation, we should not have had to suffer such hunored the detailed plan I had subh Carl? I am confident of its feasibility and success, if we can muster the necessary skill and outlay The anial release The underground route, very difficult and expensive though it be, is the sole hope It must be realized My _sub rosa_ co the tehts in official ie idea
Other matters of interest I learn froh The frequent letters of Carl, still reminiscent of his sojourn at Riverside, thrill with the joy of active propaganda and of his success as public speaker Voltairine de Cleyre and Sarah Patton lend color to reat charht Often I pause to wonder at thethe censorial eyes But the Chaplain is a busy reat a demand upon his tihbor Pasquale, a young Italian serving sixteen years, who has developed a violent passion for the pretty face on the photograph The roguish eyes and sweet lips exert but a passing i friend in the convict grave Deep snow is on the ground; it , pressing heavily upon the lone boy, like the suffocating night of the basket cell But in the spring little blades of green will sprout, and perhaps a rosebud will timidly burst and flower, all white, and perfurave of Johnny
CHAPTER xxxII
THE DEVIOUSNESS OF REFORM LAW APPLIED
February 14, 1899
DEAR CAROLUS:
The Greeks thought the Gods spiteful creatures When things begin to look brighter for row envious You'll be surprised,--Mr Schraube has turned into an ene of it It will explain to you the failure of the former _sub rosa_ route The present one is safe, but very temporary
It happened last fall Froe of the ”crank row,” on Range A A new order curtailed the rations of the insane,--no cornbread, cheese, or hash; only bread and coffee As rangeenerally have ”extras” left on the wagon,--so food, etc I used to distribute the extras, ”on the q
t,” a the men deprived of them One day, just before Christ a piece of cheese The poor fellow is quite an iave him Well, you are aware that ”Cornbread Toe to the Warden, and tried to tell hi that the insane should not ”overload” their stoain, but iine my surprise when Schraube refused even to talk to me At first I could not fatho ten days' pay for ”allowing”about it, of course, but he was at the tie of ”crank row” The Schraube has been telling ot hirievance with much bitterness; he apparently hates me noith the hatred we often feel toward those who know our secrets But he realizes he has nothing to fear froes have taken place since you left You would hardly recognize the block if you returned (better stay out, though)
No h the waste pipes; the new privies have standing water Electricity is gradually taking the place of candles The garish light is al me blind, and the innovation has created a new probleiven the sae supposed to contain 30, but usually have 27; and last month I received only 25 I made a kick, but it was in vain The worst of it is, fully a third of the ht
While we used candles wea few matches occasionally from non-smokers But now that candles are abolished, the difficulty is very serious I split eachsix There is a ht cuts out of a match; all serviceable, too Even at that, there is a fae: with flint and tinder I draw the fire of Proht of a thousand men, bent over their food in co each table, is by nothe Spanish war, the place resembled the cell-house on New Year's eve The patriotic Warden daily read to the diners the latest news, and such cheering and wild yelling you have never heard Especially did the Hobson exploit fire the spirit of jingoism But the enthusias precious ry when the bell terminated the meal Souards detected them, and after that the Warden's war reports were acco
Another innovation is exercise Your intervieith the reporters, and those of other released prisoners, have at last forced the Warden to allow the idle men an hour's recreation In inclement weather, they walk in the cell-house; on fine days, in the yard The reform was instituted last autumn, and the improvement in health is remarkable The doctor is enthusiastically in favor of the privilege; the sick-line has been so considerably reduced that he esti at two hours daily Some of the boys tellThe shop employees envy the ”idlers” now; many have purposely precipitated trouble in order to be put in solitary, and thus enjoy an hour in the open But Sandy ”got next,” and now those locked up ”for cause” are excluded from exercise
Here are some data for our book The population at the end of last year was 956--the lowest point in over a decade The Warden admits that the war has decreased crime; the Inspectors' report refers to the improved economic conditions, as co years in the 90's But the authorities do not appear very happy over the reduction in the Riverside population You understand the reason: the smaller the total, the less men may be exploited in the industries I am not prepared to say whether there is collusion between the judges and the adnificant that the class of offenders forly sentenced to the penitentiary, and an unusual nuton and the Reforanza The old-ti to the Cries howshop
The unionsthe convict labor law In every shop twice as al” are carried on the books ason ”State account”; that is, as cleaners and clerks, not as producers Thus it happens that in the mat shop, for instance, more men are booked as clerks and sweepers than are employed on the looms! In the broom shop there are 30 supposed clerks and 15 cleaners, to a total of 53 producers legally perislation works on which the labor bodies have expended such tre Bros, with their own foreh for to-day When I hear of the safe arrival of this letter, I s to discuss