JAIL JABBER.

NZ Truth, Issue 101, 25 May 1907, Page 6

JAIL JABBER.

A PEEP INTO HOST CLEARY'S INFERNO.

Some Sidelights on the Lyttelton Hell Hole.

A Warder's Bounce— Braddle the Beauty— Dr. Newell— ls he worth his Screw?— The Case of Consumptives— Left to Die m Their Cells— Lionel Terry—Writing a Book— Some Favored prisonersGentleman Jim— The "Lifers"— .'■■"■•■. Where Do the Razors Come From ?

It is . pretty \g-enerally. recognised ..that the modern gaol should be run .on humanitarian principles,, and not on the lines followed away back m what may be termed the "'dark asjes when superstition was and no torture was .too iibad for those who were so unfortunate *iia "so edrijo .' rtrithi-n the Pale Of •-.- .tttß_. i law, silly, arid nonsensical >s the -blastj-ferous law might be. Civilisation has improved our gaol system "inatierially, and it is now conceded '•that, prisoners must be treated humanely if they : are to be reformed-; But our houses of detention; m .TVTaorilaiid are far from perfect ; indeed they aie so imperfect that they ."caliSTfor a sonorous blast of condemnation. Prisoners needn't be unnecessarily pampered; of course ; they can't ■ expect fo have drawing-room entertainments during thte week ; jvhen a' man is sent to gaol it is jts punishment, but such punishment Shouldn't .be. that of the inferno. A treat deal of the efficiency established m. the running of a "jug" is tiue to the . tact and diplomacy of the officers m charge. If they. ' are:.{brutes they only brutalise the men, '. making them callous, cross-grained, .aad sore-hearted. Snapping and snarling at those under their charge 'all., day- isn't what they are paid "If or., nor ttoes it improve those at ".whom the vituperation is directed. ♦Some warders are too prone to be* officious, and not only that they faivor some convicts at itha expense; . of others. There is one blue-coated, Brass-!bu#toned josser at Lyttelton ,B'aol about whom this paper proposes to make a few remarks, and m do--ing so will direct attention to some , abuses which exist there, and citing V cases of a most scandalous charact-J-er which will .move the pitying hu- ] mane reader to wonder how the devtf Jtbe institution is managed at all. '.Warder . Braddle is a dark-featured -.'young man who wears -no collar ;-\vith his uniform ; hs. is saturnine, ■and has never been seen to smile. !He went to. the Boer shambles witlr „the Ternth Contingent nicjsic party, ►iwbiob glanced jat the horizon, and uthen returned to oapture billets. iWhile most of the contiaaerefeeTs got Snto gaol for ■ committing offences against law, order, a n d decency, ' ©raddle ■.•niawawd. to set a billet lookine; after his ex-comrasdes, and her now carries a gun, a '.-menacing „roioe, ' JA. Tshbf|i time back a'Olir&churoh-' lah' isras unfortunate enougM .to posess insufficient cash to pay an. \ amount owing, and he was commitod ito chokey on a magisterial war,rant. On the morning following his [« arrival at this dreary, dismal den \ol thieves and other derelicts' he ?,was sent out witn a ; gaaig which, was supervised by this fellow Braddle. i^he work m operation was the con/.struction oi a wall for the Lyttoli.ton Borough Council, and there was isome excavating worlc being' done fhard , by. The new prisoner, who fliad never done any manual labor m j I his Mfc, had to wade m with a ! • lon EC-handled shovel, filling theca;rt. ■ iThis is hard work, even to the lab/orer who is«'us€d to it, and natur-> ,ally his hands blistered and became hvery painful mno time, line stuff rin the cart was tipped a lew chains j away, and while that was being I d^ne the shovel men rested for a ■ couple of minutes.' The new chum rprisoner though was ordered "by Brad•.dle to do some pick work m Jihe interval. He protested that he was .physically unfit for the work he -was put to, and that he wanted a brief .respite like the rest. "Whale you are iiere you will have to do as I tell •'• you," yelped bouncing Bra-cjdle vehemently. "But I can't do it,'" was the reply. . "You will have to -do it, and if you give, me any of your insolence I will report you." "I tell you -I'm physically unfit for this cla£s cf lalior ; look at nrj' hands, 4oo." "If that is so you will ,have ;to stop 'm your' cell all day." Just than Gaoler "Barney" Cleary* happened ,to le going up the hill, .and ■tie "recalcitrant" prisoner thireatenEd' to interview him, and bumntious Braddle bridled u[) saying, "fDon't you dare to do any such thins; without my permission.".- The prisoner then started to work higher up It nan the warder, and when the latter saw deary returning J?e ran past all' the prisoners, to : greet greyto eaftd, afnd pfit his first- spoke m. Tlie person affected merely went on • with his toil. Next morning at unlock time this chap Braddle went along to the new prisoner's door, opened it, and when he ?aw who it was he slammed the door in,' the wisoner-s face. That's one oi lvis little ways. Later on the doctor came. His name is Newell, and lit is alleged that he is looked upon with contempt by the -nen, and that .he is the laughing stock of the priison: He is supposed to pay an of- ; iicial visit three times ,i week, and to roll along whenever he is specially requisitioned. For this ho gels , a "whole two quid a week, and it !§b problematical wbetliel? lie earns «yen THAT MEASLY SUM. Newell had a chat with Chief Warder Nicholson for some minutes, and .thf-n started to examine the prisoner, who had taken o5 his cap. Sawbo«es glanced at jhis head, and remarked-, that .it appeared to him that prisoner's hair was t o o long. What the devil had this to do with Newell, who was only supposed to examine the man to sse that he was physically fit or otherwise, is not apparent. However, Chief Warder Nicholson', who, like all other gaol coves, loves to see men disfigured 'by closely-cropped hea/d---pieces, asked how long the chap had ito serve, and on being toW jhat

it was ab*ut seven weeks he said he couldn't put the barber on the job as the regulations provide that a man /who has less than' eight weeks to do shall not be cropped. The doctor then what all the fuss was about, and placed Mm agairist a wall. Producing an instru- .. ment .and opening the man's shirt he placed " it "■' oil JUi^- h->^y v/ij/h such great pressure tffiTt^He'H'ietim 1 -ftaspi! Ed and was afraid his ribs would be stove m, so he said. The chap said he bad never done manual labor, and that the blasted warder was deliberately persecuting him. When Newell had made his examination he said, "You are big enough, strong enough, sound enough to ,do the hardest manual labor to be done m the. gaol." He further said he would have to do it, or else do "solitary" m his cell- Then he wanted to know which course he intended chosing. The reply waa that he would' go out again m the morning, and have another try, and if he couldn't cet alongi he would stay m his cell. Well, Braddle continued his persecution, and some of th-3 old timers gave the hew chum a word, of advice. "Don't take a damned bit of notice of what the balmy bleater says' to you," they counselled, "and •then he will soon get sick of talking, to you." This adivice was followed, andvßraddle soon knocked off ' chi'vyying Mm. T o talk back, is a serious offence, and the ex-Cohon- = tingenter would have been delighted to have an opportaißiity. to report the contumacious prisoner. But Braddle fell^ri'ght m one day. He stop- • ped one of the corporation carts, and sent it for some 18=inch stones for which the prisoners engaged qn the wall were .waiting. He had no ' rigfet to do such a thing, Russell, the Council's foreman of works, being boss. "What right have you got to stop my carts m the street and ' send them messages?" he demand, ed of Braddle. The reply was that THE MEN WERE IDLE, and were waiting for the stones. "It : makes ; ' no difference to you," said Russell, "all you have to do is to sit Ton- your posteria all day long, and see. that the prisoners don't run away ; I'm responsible to the Council for this work." After that little tiff Russell refused to have Braddle m charge of any gang on the works, so his nibs. was shifted- ■ "'-fire-re' arc a couple of very b;id cases^--of~ coixsuniirt'i.rn -an- the gaol,. but the sufferers are treated m . the most callous and inhuman manner i imaginable. Nothin-9; couki be worse; even mongrel' do^s are better cared for. It may be remembered that a man named Sandy Hamilton was suffering so badly from consumption a while back that he was sent 'to .-Nurse -Maud's camp. He wa" then doing a sentence. There t: wr.s a second ca.'je against him later on, tiie charge • beins; forgery, 'and his total Sentence; amounted to four years. The Lman is not m h-ospitai, but m bis j [ordinary cell. He iis dying. The I i mol is no place for men m the sad ! nihys-rcal coiMHit-i'on tha:t he is. On J •fine days -he rise-is from his miser- ! •able bed, and walks slowly outside i ' to get the i/'Tsefit of the sunshine. \ A prisoner 'daily Irings his meals j -to him. The appearance 'Hamilton | j presents would /feofttn the hardest j I heart. Why " should he be a!- i lowed to slowly die there? Has | he no friends ? Do the visiting ' Justices ever see him ? Why hasn't Clears made some representation to the Justice Department m regard to tha. xt-iTOrtunate fellow ? We ' draw the Department's attention to the case anyway. Dees the law persist mi n d^ma-ndi'itg its pound oi flesh from a weary sorrowful' sinner, who can j scarcely walk, and who should be m a consumptive home amid bright surroundiMs, .comforts, nnd proper medical attention. He doesn't get this m «;aol. There is another prisoner named Alexander, who is dying, from • consumption and asthma. He is doing i six months over a maintenance case, and can't do any sort of work. This man is located i M the North Wingin No. 4, oniv of the worst cells m the gaol. It is a bottom cell. There are rells above and all" round it, and. it is' dnrk^nd damp. This is indeed a nice place to put a man m m his condition of health. Hospital should* claim him as its own pverv time, but the reason why be isn't there, and why Hamilton i^n/t there will be explained, a few sentences 'ower doAvn- The unfortunate Alexander is troubled with A TERRIBLE HACKING COUGH, and he barks pretty nearly all night, keeping the prisoners awake, or waking them up. And they curse him volubly, using the most awful language, that it is possible to conceive. No f!oubt it is very annoying, but ths poor devil can't help it. He is m enough pain as it is without feeing abused m such tolrrid tones by those m his immediate vicinity. The only extra nourishment that this prisoner gets now is a half-pint of soup m the mornin'<. When a man's so ■deadly ill he should receive every attention possible, whether he's a gaol bird or not, but the notion at Lyttelton is, "Oh, he's only a damned prisoner '; so / long as he doesn't die on. our hands it doesn't matter." This is perfectly tirue. And now a few words about that gaol hospital. It is Jocated on a rise, and at one time when men were as^ ill as the pair mentioned . they were taken there and tended. ! But the curious capers of Chowcurser ' Lionel Terry put a stop to the business. After Terry's second j escare from the Sunnyside madhouse it was deemed wise to shift him t« Lyttelton eaol, but as be ,was classed as a criminal lunatic he

couldn't be placed with the prisoners, jzo the gaol Hospital was the only spot m which he could, be located. And that hospital was duly gazetted as an hospital for criminal •lunatics under the Act. So the sick cases m the gaol have now to foe treated m their own pestilential cells, and) don't receive any of the attention they would receive m an hospital, and they get far worse instead of better, so this big hospital is now occupied by only three persons—Lionel Terry and Wo attendants from the Sunnyside. Asylum. It will interest '- 'Truth" readers to taow that the colony pays two men to look after one. There is a ,daj r warder, and a night warder. Of course, Lionel Terry isn't mad at aIL except, perhaps, on one subject, the pig-taMed. yellow yahberer, tut he doesn't say muoh about bis' bete ,noir (these days. He does a good deal of walking about when he feels like working off some of his superfluous energy, but he doesn't like to he tossed albout like a darned kid. He gets on splendidly with one of the attendants ' who stalks up. and down with him; laughing and, joking, b,ut he has a slight apathy . to the other josser, who isn't 'so senial by? any means. T-he other day this. s^bfficial said to Terry m a peremptory way: "Come and do ,ypu^j, ; walifins:' exercise.-" But the ■stalwart aiiti-Chowdte - wasn't m a' mood\ for stretching himself that day. and said so m a tone .of- voice, that meant every word. The warder, however, grew persistent, whereupon the big chap picked him up and "• < ' DUMPED HIM OUTSIDE. . TII3 officah immediately blow, his whistle for assistance from the p.ru-1 warders down belc r. Chief Warder Nicholson and anofoier warder sallied up, the last-named wielding his batcn, and seeminp-: prepared for any . desperate emergency. They ; were wet by the smiling Terry, '. wi>o appeared to be vastly amused, and who ' held up his hand, saying "I don't want any violence, gentlemen." Neither did they, and the Johnnie who /w&,uttd Terry to wear his boots o.u\i walkin t looked rather crestfallen and siliy. Terry is such a su-avs, jrentelmanly chap that those ' who have to look after him, being accustomed, to dealing with quite a different" class of i>eople, are at a loss sometimes what to make of him. Just at present this man who has made himself so notorious by kilMhs; a ■ Chinlvie to draw public attention lp the Yellow Peril, is writing 'a book, but the subject matter of [z is not. to be made 'public' at Jr&sif.t-. He paints a good deal, and fills m tlie rest of his tinie rea-'inifr. He ;s supplied with an abundance of literature, and is treated like a prince, receiving the best of attention,. -snd delicacies, like jams, cake, tobacco, and what not. But lorry s gr O '.v- , ing grey these times ■; enforced confinement is palling -on him. and lvis robust constitution 'resents 'sowluoinji. So while he is revc-llino; m .the p3.od things of life men are dying for the want -of them m the gaol cells below. I And some mention X must be made of the cases of people who «?t m a very shaky condition through, drink, and who are remanded from. Cbristclvurch to 'Lytteltpn ; by tlvs Magistrates "for medical treatment." It J is ji^nularly sup-posed that fcbess i gro-^feeaso;i pei^atjs go inta the gaol hospital, and arc /treated m a I scientific way, but that is . fiction which must be exploded ri-e-hfc llbru. They are dumped into any old cell, the one padded 'cell,' which is given ovei; to 'people suffering from delirium tremens has la tier iv been occupied by tha scoundrel I-IcMr, who had attempted suicide after trying to : MURDER HIS FANCY GIRL. Two other prisoners slept with him m order to see that he. didn't do j himself any furtfcr bodily harm, i "Truth" would li!;e to know how iinuch medicine tliese people get who 'are remanded for eight days? Al- ■ so, who doles it out to, them, if I'any is gi-venat all. When these "rej mauds" are brought up again m the j Christcliurch Police Court they are I charged so much for their keep and j "medical attention," the latter be- ! ing as often as not of ' the. most • | perfunctory character, • and they ■have to part up, ! tooj or else the down to "gaol, and work out the beastly alternative. The charge, under the circumstances, seems like rank imposition, and more will be nrinted on this subject later. It is rather rough on the, prisoners when a general case of D.T's happens a(lon'j-, or when a man develops them while incarcerated. Individuals have been known to squeal like hell early m the morning, waking up about 150 men who are housed m one big wing. Their remarks are -fjiuite unpivbl'ish*Me. The doctoring business is made quite farcical m that gaol by reason of the existence of a "comic relief" bloke named McCombe, who is styled "surgeon." Tliis prime blackguard is doing ten solid years for committing) 'the abominable crime of sodomy ; he* hold's the prisoners* heads while they arc hayi n g their grinders, extracted, and he washes the doctor's tools of trade, and bandages wounds, Vnd> all tlvat sort of- thing. Now, tnis fellow is a navvy, and is about - the worst man m the jug that cowid'be selected for the purpose. He can hold a .man's head all yi^at ; • when he gets his big flippers to work one imagines that- his nut is netween two massive logs of wood. However, the gentleman is sarcastically teimed "Surgeon," and the title will stick to him throuph life. One day a fellow who got three months' hard for something or other arrived at the gaol with a bandaged band. He asked the chief warder if he could see the doctor, who was stanrl'ii* only a few yards away. Newell examined the flipper, and said he was only suffering from «■ ravel -rp-sh. The prisoner said it' was nofcnlng of the sort ; it lvad ' been like that f or weeks, and he had had it attended to m Chris tcburclK What .was c-eally the matter was erysipelas :'.nd proud flesh, the 'back of the hand toeing m a very bad state. "You had better go to the surgeon, and he will dress it for you," said' Dr. Newell. ''Surgeon fix u,p this man's h-and," commanded Chief Warder Nicholson. Two of the worst scoundrels incarcerated, bar the "lifers," have [got the softest Jrillets. One Flaherty potters about Gaoler Cleary's private house, acting as servant. .' This ! villain is putting m fifteen, years for a most atrocious crime perpetrated m the far South. He raped a child with horrible results. Three floggings were tagged on to the sen-

tence, and never did a man more deserve them. He is as tame as a pet rabbit now- The other ruffian, is a degraded brute named O'Gon-v nell, who fools around the garden at i his own sweet will. He is doing •a long stretch for sodomy. Jimmy G-oodman, lawyer's clerk, of Ohristchurch, who got a couple of years for swindling men who had money to burn, is also m clover. He is happy as assistant clerk, so that he . wont have forgotten to write when the time comes for him to walk out. He does not associate with the other prisoners, if you please— low, vulgar people, guilty o f low common crimes. He goes messages to . the gaoler's houstr which is ' situated . apart from the gaol, and no warder troubles to give him a passing . thought. They don't think Jimmy could run very far even if he coveted! libferty permianently; they trust him out of sight, anyhow. He isn't locked up until eight o'clock, whereas common convicts are obliged to seek their cells at 4.15 p.m. Further, Gentleman Jim is actually allowed a pint of milk a day, and yet the men who are ■dying from consumption don't get a milk diet. Surely this isn't a.s it should te •; what m the name of common humanity has the, gaoler got to say about it ? Goodman seems to be allowed a great deal ol\ latitude ; nobody liesrucl&cs it, but ,'everybody envies him. With the advent of wcaild-<be rnuirderer Kebir to .the gaol last week there are now six hopeless beings working out life • sentences with but a glim hope of discharge away years down the misty future. ' The six are a despondent looking lot, and one wouldn't be surprised to hear of any of 'em going, right off their dot at any time. One or two are not right m. their -napp'er now. Dan Swan is one. He is as mad as a snake, but woirks out m the Rang, and the others don't take much notice of him. Swan was sentenced to death for bashing Ms wife's brains out, hut was reprieved, and is now grafting until HIS OWN FUNERAL DAY .- happens along.. William Knowles is the Salva-rmy coot who shot his wife dead at Palmerston North a while hack. He also had his death sentence commuted. Knowles is a bit ratty a.t times. He told, a leJlow prisoner the other day that prior to committing the murder he used "to feel a pain m the forehead as if a cord was tied very tightly round it. Later on it seemed to snap and he 'became sane again. If that is so a woman's life would have teen saved if it had snapped lefor.3 Le bought a revolver. The saol people are humorous right enough. Knowles having revolveredi his wife they must pick on him to have charge of the powder and fuse. ile charges • the shots , gets a match from the warder, and fires' the show oil. Another one who was ordered to be strung up, but who was afterwards reprieved is a chap rained Wolfe He killed his two children m \Veilinc;ton, and has served about eight years regretting the crime. Wolfe is m the same gang as Swan. Two murderers working m a small sail;:; of ei&fot. The remainiing "lifer' 'is Gu-illor-d, who ravished a fill somewhere m the Wairarapa, where the Maoris were 'bent on lynching him, but. were . thwarted-. T.' ie , a-wful, nameless means Mali \ie"~' adopted ' to effect his purpose led . the judge who tried him , to say that lie was sorry he couldn't sentence him to be hanged. • So much for the "lifers." One cannot help reverting .to the case of Allendale, the notorious burglar and safe smasher, who is „ doing a term of ten years. He is the most lonely prisoner m that gaol. Gaplev Cleary lias -conceived a r> o«t violent .antipathy' to him, and as. keep ins; him m soFitfary confinement. It . must be about twenty-two months now since Allendale was SHOVED INTQ "SOLITARY," which looks something lik.) a colonial record. He is apparently pining away his life without the company of even, a fly, and the seclusion isn't because ol a Magisterial order either. No Magistrate would be so inhuman as to inflict such awful suffering on a human being. The prisoner has 'books to read by day, but, of course, has no light at nifih't. For an hour or so each day he exercises m a space of but a few yawls I ;, he is surrounded by higih walls, and ,can see about ten yards of the blue sky above him. no more. The only person he sees is the warder -\yho brings him Jiis meals. It is now only a question of time and he will become stark raving mad. I ■■ . The reason why such drastic treatment is being meted out to this unlfortunate creature is that he is alleged to be the cause of all the disturbances which are so subversive of discipline m the. gloomy institution. He sets others to join plots of escape, so it is said, and when the last one happened Cleary had him locked up by himself. He isn't even given any work to do io divert ' his thoughts, the nature oi wliich may te surmised. It is stated that the prisoner who "peached" on Mm/ and Fred Dennett on the last occasion got two solid years knocked off his sentence, and he is now at. liberty. Pimps .?et rewarded m gaol. However, -is Allendale has no friends to interfere he is likely to he cased up indefinitely. There is a standing nuzzle m that gaol— it is to the uninitiated at least. The beards of men who have been accustomed to shave soon commence (to snrout, and whiskers come en rapidly m the absence of a razor ; but there are plenty there who always present a clean chin. They have razors which are smuggled m, of course, or are dropped at the spot where they are working. The warders must know of it, of course, for it is impossible for a man doin^ a. long stretch to be always nice and smooth about the face unless he had a razor > secreted somewhere or other. And seeing that they have razors, and that there are sharp carpenters' and .other tods of to n ls I} 7 ing round all over the place— edged eoods that one could injure himself or anyone else with .if he so desired— why on earth is it th-it forks arn't allowed at the table ? All that is allowed is a spcr.n and a tin knife, if you please. It is ridiculous m the extreme, and a fork and a proper knife should be supplied at meal time. What do the imbecile authorities think a man would do.wiih a fork— swallow it, or stick it m his epiglottis, or what ?,