SIX HOURS IN A DARK CELL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 10, 12 January 1878, Page 4

SIX HOURS IN A DARK CELL.

"The Vagabond" who has delighted so many-l'readers ,;,with r his account of life in Melbourne io lis various phase&ttecentlyr, determined 'to spaud six hours in the; ; dark ; cell in which refractory prisoners -were occasionally ConfiQad.^in?. diheißri'sbans gaol. He thus recounts his experiences in the Australasian :~* S

I whs noVufervoos; bull felt that my highly excitable" brain' might' Head ru« into-tpbaiitasiea.,. I ; was going, to do what Mr Eden, the Oxford, scholar, a man of trained mind and body, who was .supported by prayer and " unseeD lights." and— ,f .unßeen- hands " found almost, too much for -his reason to stand; Thus fiction ; 'bufl,', bad Vp'. idea it was very near the~-factV I daresay the •warders were rather astonished when I descended the twelve steps leading into the i'suukeri 'building- containing fche two punishment ceils. Both of these wer^ entireljr empty, stive boards on stretcher6,;which.;atnifjht the prisouers lie 00. I was J not, however, >>liowed. this iv luigence; and the bell having beesi pointe : out to me, and a can ol w : «tgr placed on tbecfl^or,: the duor. wu3 shut, a>rd I found myself in lor " fix hours' soli tarrj^h^a daik ; cellj 9 t fiy -stt, «n'r'f 10ft high, wiih inausive stone walls «nd '. cemented floor— veutilaied at the top certainly, but still very close and stifling on this the honest day of the" present season. „ . Only 9ft' by sft : ! There appeared to me a thousand miles of dajknese around. me« ot-. was it v solid substance ? Involuntarily I placed out ray hands as if to save my face, aud walked slowly and' hesitatingly the length ot uiy cell.. Only 9ft certainly, and yet they seemed miles. Ia that darKnes9, which : cou}d.; be f almost, felt, there was -a sense of chaos, of void, of infinity. I- walked back to. the -corner opposite the door, and taking, off my coat and collar sat down on the. floor.. The stones were cold 'and rather damp. I began to feei a sense of oppression oo tbe eyeballs which laßted^ for a time. Then I began to count, but' that is a foolish game at which I alwaya. get confused, Then I ! set to work : and composed two plays, ! tbree novels, and four new series of j The Vagabond Papers. My brain got rather tired and stupefied. Then I thought it must be three o'clock. Now I transgressing . the rules to.. the extent that I had ; my. watch and some matches with me, but I took these thai I might mark the effect of time. I now struck one. ' I had "only been, in three quarters of an hour. This was discouraging. a I will not strike another; match," I said, v but come whaVwijl, what may, will do. this thing properly, and; endure like a criminal." ThenJa great '■ and nameless horror came overme. There in front of me, in' the million miles of daikness, there was. a dreadful something. But an effort of the; wiU dispelled it. Then fancy evolved two figures. One gay and sprightly, and beautiful as Grecian god.dess, . . "I am Fiction," she said. The other calm, sedate grand, powerful like an image in ruins in /fhe Bard vI am Fact," she said. I laughed and clasped her to my arms. "Co.ne, lef me reason," said I. Perhaps no man ever, had ..such a of easily distinguishing himself as was now presented., to me. Here I wns, investigating a vexed problem. No one, could deny .that I passed these hours in the, cell. I mij>bt write what I liked— -pije a Pjelion on Ossa of fiction; pbiianthropisis and social reformers would be on roy side, popular feeling would be aroused, and I should be renowned as a martyrl, And I could truthfully have done this. I believe I could have called up images df horror equalling . those involved by Mr < barles Reacje., _ ; I could have peopled that vast blackness before me with creatures of my imagination — fearlul as tbose of Edgar A. Poe. I could have workei myself' into on ecstasy of nervous delirium. Hell should not bo mor« horrible tban this dungeon as I could make it. I thought of thia and laughed —at how.JL was about to disappoint those frielbds'Who are perpetually stylingme 1 a sens-itioaai writer. In these lines fancy is put on one side, and there is nothing but real stem fact. "What woulda prisoner do first ?" I thought. Walk about; sit down,, and then Wby, then investigate every corner, and see it he could find soraethioi; to ainu->e himself. So on bauds aud knees, greatly to the detriment of ray garments I crawled around tte cell. Home duel, a very minute pebble, this is all I found till I r suddenly touched something cold.

For a moment I did i'eil nervous. Was it a snake ? I had withdrawn my hand quickly but otherwise di:) not stu. An old. nigger who. . taught nse woodcraft eaid. " Nobber you git back, massa, whateber you may como on, ir it's a bar, or a deer, or a rattler, or v skunk. You' keep quite etill always, and yon won't' skeer tho oritiur, aui ii won't fckeer you." This was ver) good auviee which I always remembr-.i fcio, quietly on my hauls ami kuees i maiuuined for a faw mum tes ><■ stum ut masterly inactivity. I bed matches iv my coat, in the corner, certaiuly, but i was'ut going to " git back." I libteutM •—no souud. His enakeship asleej/, perhaps. But could it be t» stmku ? It was a cold, euoo'h, ouinp bo ty I tia touched. Tbis wus interesting — if noi poisonous, a euake would bo tjuud company, .1 don't koow what impelled u_v, but suddenly 1 darted out my baud again aadc'aught the thing. Theu 1 bad a hearty laugh, It was; the oan of water, Wbiob Icbad. forgotten all a >out. I-di-i not have a driuk, us ! wished io make •^hings as roUjgh as possible ior

myself.. I crawled back to my. corner, which seemed like a home now;; Then I investigated the walls, feeling everyi hjng cautiously and carefully. Something ran over mjrhands, biitrl was not toj be skeered again.; It musFhave been a ppider, though where he gofcflies from inj this dungeon I; don't know^ The-i striooth cemented surface ofthe walls • arid floor presented no object of interest. If; I had an old nail now 1- might do a"" little business a la "the Prisoner oi-, Oisora."- Then I sat down in the corner ~ again and began to sing. X yelled 'out > every rebel song: l » kn'ew ;frbifi "pOh^" Berry Blue Flag 0 to "j Ther Shin yanv Yi)gbt." This was rather- jolly. £~ prisoner in the, "dark cell can kick!: u[i as much row as- hef,, likes 4:"---•N o one can hear him. . j ; After a time I got tired of hearings my own voice echoing back to me -frona every corner of the cell. Then' I thought again. I don't believe 'in" "unseen lights, " or " unseen hands/ but oijt of one's own brain you can coin mucb. I thought of the murderers and villains who had occupied this cell. Crime seemed to taint the very atmosphere. Perhaps ih tins yery spot where I lay the coward niurderer may havej reposed.. There seemed a smell of liloocl -'■ the. air. Horrible, suggestions and s possibilities.came into my mind. Again r % jconquered this, although I had a dull - heavy pain in my head, and for a time I placed 'my hands over my eyes to keep out the darkness. .

When I removed them I had a strange- optical, delusion. Far away over. me in the. deep darkness — thousands and thousands of miles it r seemed 1 —there was a beautiful luminous ball of a pale yellow colour. It seemed to slowly .descend. It appeared tor.take hours in coming downj and reminded me of the angels in Gustave Dore's picture, which are- hovering over the bodies of the Christian martyrs in the Coliseum. This light was very beautiful, but, strange. ;to : say, did not get larger, although at ' last it seemed' close to me. Now, religious or superstitiouspeople might say this was an angel or devil, the spiritualist that it was a manifestation, but I, with ordinary scientific knowledge, knew that it 'was' a mere delusion. " When I close my eyes again it/will go," I saidi I did so, and it-was gone. I examined the circurnstauces. Say my name was Tom Robinson. I had been " cheeky" to the governor; and had " 24 hours' solitary." Spme time had. gone already. A.t 6 o'clock I should have my bread and water, and the board would be brought for me to sleep on. I' think I could sleep 12 hours. Then I should . have an hour's exercise, and after finishing my time I should be sent to, my. own cell once more. Tom Robinson, this is rough on.! you; but not so degrading as being thrashed.. My man, if you have auy good in you, you can meditate now on your future, and make up your mind to mend. Tbis is bard punisbmeoV'no doubt, but it will teach you seuße^ and that there is no use in kicking agaiost the pricks. Then I sang two or three mors sonps, and paced . the cell a. hundred times. I became in time quite used to it. My pulae was steadier, I recovered 'my nerve, and my only sensation was tbat it was beastly uncomfortable to sit on a cold floor, with possibilities: of rheumatism in the future. Afterwards I began lo get hungry, ' then sleepy.. V I knew that night was approaching through hearing the merry bum of a mosquito thirstiog for my blood. My senses- became acute, and I could juat detect the distaut rumbling of the 'trains/ and; occasionally a faint noise in the prison yard overhead. But during the last hour of my confinement, I say truthfully that my feelings were merely those of ordinary discomfort.. I believe I could have stood 18 more hours with far greater ease than th- first five.

At last the key rattled in tbe lock above, then steps descended, and my cell door was unbarred. The light oniy dzzled my eyes for one moment. Theu I walked out, and said to Mr Bernard, '« Feel my pulse." "Pretty fair," hesaid. "How dol look?" lasked. "You area little pale." Hb«v did I feel ? Simply hungry ! Yes, after six hours in thia dungeon, which according to humanitarians aud : novel writers should tend to produce tmdneas, I only felt ac if I wanted ray dinner. Now, as before pointed out, one man's sensations can never be n tru- criterion of another's. It may he ri<*lit that this experiment of mine was no fair trial of the extent of. the punishment to a criminal. It may be s>id that the uueducated ignorant dullard will.auffer a thousand limes more thau a mao of lnleligence. It may. be so. I. know that solitude tends to insanity, and that tho records of lunacy show tbat itinoiance produces more madmen then mental activity. Yet the man of excituble brain, of powerful imagination, will, I inagine, under many conditions, sulfur na much as the fool. The leaders of The Vagabond Papers wil! not imagine thit 1 am wanting in nerve, hut lately I have not been in my old form, aud certainly I do not coneider I waa as fitted to do the dark owll as Mr Eden, the chaplain of fiction, But being through it, I unhesittningly declare that what has been written on this Bubject ia mostly aheer nonsense. The punishment, although severe, ua it 13 meant to be, is not calculated to produce madness, and asa punishlatnnent it is far batter aod more efficacious than flogging. With the due precautions of a daily exercise and examination by a sugeon, there is little fear of. a man's body or mind giving way. 1 ahould have little com? punction iv sentencing an offending prisoner to three days in the dark cell,

bemg pretty gore, „after the first six-, houj-B, bis hardesbtime would hava passed. lam henceforth an advocate, of f punishment by- solitary confinement in a dark cell, as well as of;the>separate and silent system:.; of prison discipline. : I have tried both apd know what it is.. The only mag; ™**a: . has voluntarily undergone rsucb^ experiences, I eive^my views -^s ,being worth something, ieyan althoughionly lembbdy the ideas of-joae individWr f But I cjertanily ebjoyedj the .glass of beer which Mr Bernard hospitably, gave me,' the : taste of ja cigW was Elysium, and as r"my cab >drove me to a dinaerj the nky.appsared 'brighter, the ate purer; £he : : grass greener, and the children •ib the streets more^beautifal than-ever before. All Nature and Humanity [seemed smiling and' happy. It was; "iraco'vered Li ber tyf* which thus made everything couleur de tose after si* hours spent in a disrk J cell.