CONVICT AS VENTRILOQUIST.

NZ Truth, Issue 144, 21 March 1908, Page 7

CONVICT AS VENTRILOQUIST.

/i PETERHEAD PRISONERS FATTENED ON PORRIDGE.

♦ ■ '-r—' '■ ■ AMUSING SCENE IN PRISON CHAPEL.

The Warder and the Gat.

There is nothing m nature which startles men more than sounds which cannot be accounted for. In a prison, where nerves are assumed to he more strongly strung than elsewhere, where men become part of a system, automata of a machine, preternatural noises produce a chilling, effect. Such grounds, until they are explained upon rational grounds; are regarded as supernatural m their origin ; something, too, always • foreboding evil o! some kind. Occasional things have happened m the convict prison of Peterhead, says a Scottish exchange, which baffled the officials to explain— odd tricks to which ,the 'cute, gifted prisoner had recourse to break THE TERRIBLE MONOTONY OF HIS LIFE. lOne of the most mysterious happen* ings' m the history of the prison was peculiar sounds heard at night, and even m the broad glare of day. 'The origin of these remained a mysfe*fy~~l6r ""a" considerable time, and were ultimately put upon a natural basis by the \priest who ministers every Sunday to the, convicts of the Catholic persuasion^; The' prison authorities have made provision for the spiritual welfare of three classes of religionists— Presbyterian, Catho- ])'*. and Episcopalian— and at different hours each Sunday three clerical (rontlemen, representing those three almsc-s of ecclcsiasticalism. deliver suitable homilies to their respective Congregations: The governor and the chief warder and other officials have places sot apart for Hiemselves. anfl close watch is kept upon the worshipnrr.s. The rule of silr-nce is enforced here as elsewhere with severe punishments : the worshipper who \< caught m the act of speech with his neighbor being, permitted to eninv the full benefits of ;, the. sermon, but a.t the close is duly punished. 'The Catholic priest has always a most attentive audience, and he has Xhe reputation of giving a much more ju-actical address 1 than | any of his elnrical brethren. . r >On Sundae he was delivering Ms discourse, intersnprsing "if with biographic incidents from his own career, when a curious thing happened. "Why," continued the priest, "you are as well off as I was for many years. And knowledge that' I possess was also' acquired m a cell— IN THE CELL OF A' rr' MONASTERY. There you had silence as rigidly enforced as it is within these walls. Why, the Trappist monks are prohibited at this hour from speaking, and only permitted to indulge m the privilege of exchanging speech with their fellows on Christmas Day." At, this stage, .of., the priest's discourse a heavy bass voice from" the body of

the "kirk" broke the silence witK the interruption, "Bosh !"— a common enough interruption/ at meetings of freemen, but without parallel m the history of the slaves at Peterhead Prison. Something like con- | sterhation was caused. .' The priest looked m the direction whence the sound came. The chief warder , aiid his subordinates also cast their eyes m. the same direction, but neither priest not official could, looate "the convict who had the daring to call out the term of disapprobation which I have given. But the incident was doubly emphasised by , a derisive lauffh from the ' same quarter— "Ha ! ha ! ha ! " This latter interruption i was regarded .as more heinous than the first, and some of/ the officers left their posts to investigate more closely, if possible, the faces of the convicts m the quarter from which THE-'-'HA ! HA !'? LAUGHTER issued. The services were brought to a close m the usual way without further interruption, but the sounds were not forgotten, 'and the priest set himself about to explain the mystery. This private inquiry by his reverence, disclosed a- number of things, and he speedily discovered among the officials that the sounds heard at the service were _.by no means uncommon for a couple of years at the prison. Among the first things which my warder made to the prdsoD showed me was the large hall, which m reality is the prison proper' of Peterhead. It is located m s the centre of the' great yard which encloses the buildings; • and rises to a considerable height. In this hall there is a cellular accom--modation for between 350 and .400 convicts.* The .place is arranged m flats, and the cells rise tier upon' tier above each other. I remember observing on the floor of the large hall three huge stoves. These are used m winter for heating up this part of the prison, and the hiffht patrol stoke them at intervals throughout their watch. As can be understood, the men who stoke /the 1 stoves make a good deal of noise m shovelling the coal. The door .of each cell has about a quarter of an inch of space underneath it. and while the watrol is engaged at the stoves convicts, speak to each other from underneath the open spaces of their doors. One of the 'patrol, men was alarmed one night by hearing ( THE MEWING OF A CAT. Neither cat nor dog is permitted within the .prison grounds, and the squealing of a feline specimen, wandering aimlessly, about the cells, fairly took the patrol's breath away. He began a fruitless search -for the cat, and although m his "sneaks" or feather slippers, he was able to move about m a noiseless way, he made

no progress whatever. The meow ! meow ! continued, and at last he gave un the chase m disgust, and, it might be added, with some fear. He, policeman like, entered the incident m his note-book, and on the following day narrated his adventure to the chief warder, who began to doubt whether the officer was m a proper mental state to attend to his duties.. It has to be recorded that nobody among the officials' believed the story of the night patrol, and that nothing more was heard about the prison cat- Another day. a party of some twenty convicts were engaged m the Admiralty yard. ' They were working close to the sea, and the monotony of the work m which they were engaged was suddenly broken m upon by the quack ! quack!of a duck. ' Officers . and convicts looked m vain for the bird, and at last they seemed to hear it leap from the embankment into the water. Nothing, however, was said by any person^ but the incident was commented upon later m the evening. ■An officer by enforcing the regulation m the matter oi speech can make himself very disagreeable to the convicts. Round the huge concrete tablets there is moire opportunity of surrepitious talk than elsewhere. One day an officeff of this description, who had earned for himself a reputation for needless interference, shouted, "Number 55, stop that speaking." The convict thus addressed denied the charge made apjainst him. ami someone just apparently quite close to to him aggravated the denial by declaring, m a muffled voice, "You're a I——, Mc- , Grabble ; . , I'm not soeakine-. " This, roused the officer to a tremendous pitch. He was STAGGERED AT THE IMPUDENCE. of a convict who would dare to address him by a nickname which he knew to be familiar amongst the prisoners. "McCrabbie'! made a stout endeavor to localise the voice, but was baffled. From another table another voice shouted "Go for him," and after some further inter-, lections of an aspersive nature on the officer were indulged iv the incident, which naturally caused much delight " among the convicts, closed. 'The priest, succeeded m Solving the mystery of these unusual sounds, and the coiwict ventriloquist confessed at" last that he was the author of them. It is to. be regretted that for this apparently innocent amusement he was punished. These details were furnished to me by an ex-warder, and my recollection is that the convict was a Glasgow man. This pe^ culiar gift, if it had been possessed by a prisoner who was viciously disposed, might have been, used . to- a dangerous extent m the prison. But so far as I could learn m this instance, it was never put into practice, beyond the cases I have sr>ivcn. to cause any breach of discipline, or bring ■-. « ANY OFFICER INTO TROUBLE. Most of the warders, employed m the prison are recruited from the agricultural classes, and I have no hesitation m making the statement that they are much better off here than on the farm. He makes application for the post m the usual way to the governor, and an interview follows. If physically fit and aMb to pass an ordinary examination m the three R's, he is put upon probation tox three months. When this time hns expired tee is examined by a doctor. Them Major Dodds reports him to the Commissioners, and the appointment is' usually ratified. During the probationary three months he works alongside a warder, and acts entirely under* his instructions. fie accompanies him along with Iris party wherever it may be. There is a first-class officer on duiy all night. When four o'clock comes round the night patrol proceeds to the .cells oi two prisoners. He calls them out' and they proceed to the cookhouse, where a fire is kept throughout the night, with a large boiler suspended ovfcr it. The v two convicts turn up and immediately take the measurement of the water' m the boiler to make certain that they have the cuwantity requisite lor so large a breakfast party. For this purpose they have a wooden -... stick with a brass scale attached to it. The** dip it into the boiler, and when the measurement it correct they pour m the oatmeal. Major Dodds and ln*3 taff place great store upon THE SUSTAINING PROPERTIES OF OATMEAL, and to dietetic specialists it may be of interest to note that herring comes next to the "halesome oorridge." The very best oatmeal that can be procured is used, and there can 'he no doubt whatever that t!he splendid physical condition m which the Major's army is always kept is. largely traceable to the healthy food that is supplied. When the meal is put into the boiler it is allowed to boil for a full half-hour. Then it is ladled out into a large tub. From there it is measured out m. scale ladles into a large tub- From there it is measured out m scale ladles into two dishes set upon wooden trays. Twenty-eight of these dishes are, placed on each tray, and each lot is marked for its own landing- . Tlie first two prisoners alluded to a-bovq remain m the cook-house. Then four prisoners from each landing are taken out of their cells m charge of a warder. They descend the stairs, standing m a line outside the hall door, and then the officer m charge gives the order to march iv the. cook-house. Each prisoner knows the tray he" has to lift, and carries it into the hall. Then the order is given to serve out, and the convicts, followed by a warder; go round each landing. I had an; opportunity of seeing for myself the Peterhead warder both at work and off duty- His post is a much more desirable one than that of a policeman either m Glasgow or Edinburgh. Major Dodds, ' as I have already pointed out, js a strict disciplinarian—as stricti with the warder as he is with the convicts. The laws which regulate tlie prison must be obeyed. But ■ obedience carries with it, with warder or prisoner, the usual reward. There is a large/read-ing-room, a carefully-selected library, with every means of recreation at tho disposal of the warders. He has nothing to complain of, his life m some respects is an ideal one, and the dangers which occasionally seem to threaten him are more imaginary than real. If the warder, is. himself of a kindly disposition, he has no need to fear sudden attacks from rebellious convicts-