GAOL LETTERS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1561, 3 October 1912, Page 6

GAOL LETTERS.

THE TERRACE AND MOUNT COOR. PRISONERS' TASTES, HOW OUTSIDERS MELT THEM. lßy Quiz.] It has been said by a famous maker of light opera that a policeman's life is not ji happy one. It has often been wonelered what is the lot of Hip man the policeman and his astute confrere, the detective apprehended. Seemingly, the lot qf tho prisoner who iillfc in a littln limo at (ho Wellington Gaol lms prospects of being pknsaiitcr than tho lot at Gilbert's "Uokrt." "They Get Practically All They Want." A well-known Wellington police officer who is lessaadeptt t in coniposius; uenis of oratory than in driving homo the truth in plain phrase Enid tho other day; "Take it from me, these fellows up on The Terrace are on a pretty good wicket. They don't have a hard time, and they get practically everything they want." ■ This member of the force then elaborated his viow of the life of Wellington's prisoners. He did not blame them, he said, for getting all they could, but he added that tho public had a very poor "idea of the daily life of sojourners on The Terrace. His picture dibagreed with tho terrible, but great, portrait which Oscar Wilde painted when ho wrote "The Ballad of Heading Gaol," and it is no relation whatever to tho productions of Charles Dickens, Comforts Passod In at the Brickworks, Connected with The Terras© Gaol is the Mount Cook brickworks. • It is hero that much, of the doings referred to go ou.. Ihe writer has not been over the place, but he has been told that it is a rather good place in which to carry on smug. , Kling, and smuggling undoubtedly goes on to a considerable extent. The prisoner is a cla6S of person who, like most of his brethren at liberty, has friends, and there is a class of person who' becomes a very devoted friend of the prisoner. Before the prisoner leaves flie brickworks of nn evening he may deposit in a place previously agreed'upon a message for his friend who is at liberty. The system under which the prisoner suffers his confinement is such that the friend at liberty almost invariably gets that message. In the language of the gaol, the message is a "stilt." The mes-s-age tells the free man what the prisuoer wants and how it can be got to him.

The-"Stiff" and How it Works,, The brickworks have great possibilities—for the incarcerated Two men, . John and James, have been in prison together for some weeks. They have got to know one another. They have both beou. in tha brickworks gang. To-day is tho last day they shall toil together, for to-morroiv James shall bo free. John knows this, and he tells James- tho nd<lress of a friend of his in the city. James agrees to see this friend on. John's behalf. John produces tho pencil which has lwen left for him about the brickworks, and on the first available piece of paper he writes his friend a letter. This missive—this "stiff"—James undertakes to deliver, and he carries out his undertaking. Tho stiff contains an. order for whatever dainties John fancies, and these luxuries are in due course partaken of by John at the brickworks. The etiff runs thus: "Dear "Tho Bloke that I am going to give this to is allright. Go along to So- ■ nnd-Sos and get him to make up a parcel of — (here follows a list of eatables and smokes)-Tand tell him that this chap will call for it- and that my missus will pay for it. Writer's ■ Initials. Surprising as,.it, mayhem, this system, , works' almost porlectly, aiid Hie 'prisoners' get almost whatever they desire. The convict who acts the part of James knows •a safe place to go to for his purchases, and he has previously arranged with John, where these things are to be left for John. John waits his chance to raid the larder, and Micro seems to be little doubt that ho waxes fat upon it, notwithstanding the proximity , oi the warders. Sometimes ii stiff is intercepted by the gaol officers. Convicts leaving the establishment are not always careful enough about the outward mail they curry. Not very long ago a "stiff," addressed to a City tobacconist, was discovered on the way out. "It is now close upon ten weeks ■' , since I received any stun" from you. Tlio last chap that fetched my stuff s was that, Wle fellow, and he is going to fetch this,stuff up for me, and I intend to get enough to. do me for some'time while I have the chance." Cigarette Material, Marmalade, Envelopes, Stamps, Hair Restorer, Etc, Tho remainder of the letter consisted of a list of tho articles required. The order comprised 15 packets of cigarettes,' !IO books of cigarette papers, and a quantity of matches j honey, loaf-sugar, and marmalade; envelopes, stamps, and nn. ink pencil. The strangest tilling of all' was that tho order also included a request for a hair prescription, the iiißi'eJients of which were named. The police- officer who has been previously referred to in this article says that prisoners have admitted to him that tliev can get almost anything they \v.ant while they are working at the brickworks. Whatever views peoplo inny have on other i aspects of the matter, they will probably agree with, the officer that tho daily . round at tho Terrace prison is not quite as hum-drum and abstemious as they formerly thought it to be.