NEW PLYMOUTH GAOL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 13 June 1907, Page 3

NEW PLYMOUTH GAOL

AN UP-TO-DATE PRISON

The average individual avoids a ,ei».i as he would avoid a plague. Toe to go there, be think!, when I is compulsory, and in his inwvauiai som be determines that thai day will nevei w»»?"v e "» ,si,ol,:my i ,n,nn * oi '<- ,J " re l ,o, ' ter meandered along to His Majesty' s prison at New Ilymouth on Tuesday afternoon, in search of "impressions." The first ii ipression of the place is perhaps not as cheerless as might be expected, \v\-il-! trimmed hedges and walks, a conunodi-, ous dwelling-house for the gaoler tn one side of the road, and the chief warder's cottage on the other, and a uauticil looking flagstaff in front of the gaoler's house, take off the bareness of the stone walls and massive doors of the prison itself. ■ The bell-pull was followed by the opening of a slide in the door, anil someone on the inside peered through the grating. The door swung back en its hinges, and the pressman crossed I u. threshold of the place where wrongdoers go—when they're found oat. Chief Warder Hawkins undertook the duties of cicerone, in the absence of ,ne gaoler, Mr S. MiUington. The lirst few minutes were spent in the prison office, on the l.'ft of the passage. This might well be called tl.e chief warder's room. It was originally part of the chapel, and later became ?'i\ officers' room. It its enlarged, form it is now the prison office, and on the shelves lie new outnts for prisoncs. whilst the odor arising from the new' boots, physic, and clothing put one forcibly in mind of a country general sto"c. On the other side of the' passage is the gaoler's room, a roomy apartment, not over-furnished, but neat and sufficient in all respects. Next door is the "reception room," for lawyers conferring with clients, or ministers of religion with any they may desire to see. This room also serves as a passage leading to the female and "separate'' wings, 'ju'i of this more anon.

% this time the inner door li.id been reached. Formerly this was the on y door between the main entrance anil the prison interior, and it hid a!w,i.

to be kept closed. This meant a poor supply of fresh air into the bnildins. t-'n just beyond it Mr Milling!on has lMd erected an open barred gale, which inow always kept locked, thus enabling the outer doors to be thrown open for ventilating purposes. In the wooden door a grating of brass has been placed, and only through this opening are -he prisoners allowed to see their Friends 0,. the appointed days. Prior to this altes ation the interviews look place in „ room, but Ibis system was open to on-' jection as affording opportunity f„r Hi,, passing of articles from the visitor t„ the prisoner, or vice versi. Op-niii? from the passage, between the main door and the gate, are the guard room on one side and the officers' quarters or, the other. The guard-room is not a cheery apartment, for on the walls .ire handcuffs, leg-irons, and other compulsory detainers, besides rides and ainnu nition. This room also serves for <,,. warder on duty at night, and in a handy; position are the ab.'nn and tclepimn-1. The quarters are for tile sin-!,, men un the stall', who are given a bedroom vi:l a diningrooui, both comfortable :ij>art-' ments.

Thia completed the inspection of wll.it might be termed the. ante-rooms of h,.' prison proper. A turn of the key, anil we passed through the barred "a'e which slammed behind us. We we:Vnow under the dome, in a buy,, octagonal space, like a great assembly room. Footsteps ring on the concret■• lloor, alio resound and echo from the walls of stone. There is a suspicion of "bcl.-w decks" in the air, and everything is "ship-shape," not a spot of dirt "anywhere. Making inspection from left 'to right, we find tin; door to tile exorcise yard for men on remand, then the reading desk for church services, the opening of the corridor in the east wing, ,f:„ c entrance to the yard where the workshops are situated; then, opposite the main entrance, the south wing: to the exercise yard; f'.ie kitchen, IPe library, and another door leading to the -ollieers' bathroom and lavatories.

It is necessary, of course, ihat prisoners on remand and awaiting trial should "»t I';' compelled l 0 mix with tile convicled, " ,k ' mi " ,s ' ""■' ''"'• U'»t reason '"'• V lmv '' " * •'«' closure for exercise. 0»e of (|„ Will | s .„ f ~,[„ W!l| . (l «' " ■ •'.'•»'« lu'i.ghtccd. and 1n5,,,,,, (lf „„,,. eight feci any prisoner endeavori,,,, to regain his liberty will mm have lo'Vil,. a sheer twenty-feet w.ill- u „ ~|sr ,-', i. unci, (he wall i s so c0, 1 ,|,,, ( .(..,'a"in give „., foothold. The ,;,.,, .'„.,' "ley are all alike i„ ~,. men's ,l'v i"s in -was inspected closely. Concret,. v','l concrete floor, hammock t-,1,1,. ..„.,' ' few imlispensibles such as Son',' ,|, !! t'u knife and .<,,„„„ (stt ,,., suicide or escape), ~ slate „ few hooks, 1,e5i,,,.. s „,„ « 1 ,. , ( . n1 , 1 ,'„ f * occupants of (he ~.i|. „,,,,, „ , . . ' "p n.,t,n,|. ~:„.,,. ]JI , SO , I<T ' ' Idled to nave „ slate and pencil, and any educational book he „,„,,,,■ -ilhin reason. I.e is also allowed',o "."111 om the pnso,, library. For 11,11"»'1»'S0 electric light bulbs peep through th- ceiling. a marked improve"lent on the old style of lightim, bv gas through a glazed eu,l,rai\„rc j,, th \. wall. Some of the cells are quite ~ IV comparatively speaking, the occupants' making the best of „ bad j,,,, ~„_, '„,.„., inditing (he walls with pictures framed! in colored piper rosdles, lr „,i s o forth 111 ''very door is a peep.|,o|, reminiseem' 01 the days of the Inmiisiiioi,. sinndlancou- raising of n„. I, covering „t Hie aperture and the switching r.r. r , r ",he light enables (he warder on duty („ •-•■•! a -urprise view of (he inferior of 'he cell 51,„i,!,l !„, suspect (lint all is ""I right within. The |i..|iling of ~,,-!, '" ! l i- controlled be .. s-,,.,,-,,!',, „„.,•„.,, and "lights out" i. lb,. !■„!,. ~, ~j,,|] t card ,-, entered up. -howiiig how man,-

eomliiet. and so forlh. The re-nla'tim,-livovide for the daily airine nn,| m!liia. of ill' la-ildinjr. This !-<■)! i- ihe prisoner's home (or the tini- heine. |'. ,- his hedroom. .sitiujr-ruoni. and all other i" us rolled into one.

At (he end Of the e:i.-l wine i- .., |,- ni . rooiu. This was lormorlv used l,v tiie -lair. Inn as there were too mam-' pneouers in ihe eaol for ihe one lialii-rooiu |irovi,led for tliein. and as il was not altoeefher desirable thai the oliieels nm-t trava-.-e t1,,. „!.ole 1.-nyl h of (hteaol liefoiv pcrforinine; their nblulior's, a new lia'hi'oom has lieeu |irovide,l f'r (hem and ihU mi" phu'ed at the disposal of the prisoners. Ivvory man is ,\- I peeled and forced (o take a httfli wii <n J he arrives in 111" »a»l, whether he likes it or not. and (lie regulations provide I for Ihi- fortniirhlly immersion :,a>l

eleatiKin? ihere-ifler. Present and fuluiv occupants of the eells will have this ■■ AvantnEre Over ])l'evious prjsokiol's''-bnl' water is now obtainable from modern

1 gas he .iters, ami enamelled iron bains j will take ilie piaee of th.- ugly concrete j a Hairs wlm-ii !uic done utile f oi . EU long- Tiie eoir.dor opens into a suiai, *aul. Part of this the gaoler ins ueteruimed to use for a hospital, containWS three beds, and separate confinemeat cells will occupy the remainder ol the space. The old workshops are lo be demolished in favor of new buildings Aow in course of erection, provision Lemg made for carpenters, smiths, bodmakers, and mat-makers, itat-tnaking is a new occupations for sojourners in the New Plymouth detention house introduced by the gaoler, j|r Jlillingi,-,,,, who seems quite an expert at the l,ud-n.-ss, having supervised it at the Terrace thiol in Wellington. Some 0 f th., W ork done there under" his supervision wis sent lo the Christcliureh Exhibition ;mk|

attracted a good deal of notice, (hie'ol ihe mats, a lag one in which the Royal Arms have been worked in colors, u u | surrounded by a tasselatcd bonier. -

| been returned lo him, and now nccup-rs a place in the main enrrodnr. At lie | end of the south corridor is the launlrv. | This, t0,,, is ~ m , w institution, f or formerly the washing was done in ihe open ""' ««d the hot water carri'd Iroin this place iir buckets. The work lias now been much facilitated, and the improvement is evidently appreciated by the laundrymen, two' men who have earned this inside billet | ;v good behaviour. Here, too. are Hie prisoner's clem clothes. Each man his a duplicate "kit," two caps, two shirts, and so on. He must change once a week, end his clean clothes (numbered) are always placed in readiness for liim in his pigeon-hole—attention that is

probably new to many. Returning : o the centre, Mr Hawkins showed us the main exercise yard, a ltrge courtyard. This is to be divided from corner to

corner in order to allow of some classification of the prisoners, the "first timers" being separated from habitues or previously convicted persons. The diagonal well is necessary, instead of converting the yard into two smaller rectangles, for the latter would preclude the officer on guard in the tower from viewing the whole exercise ground. The kitchen is in charge of a professional

cook, and the place would ho a credit to to any first-class hotel. The preparation of the food is as careful as though the people provided for were paying guests. The cook and the clcancr'Tiave. separate cells just at the kitchen door. "How do you manage when there isn't, a cook in the establishment?" asked the reporter.

"Oh, then we make one. A man is put in charge of the kitchen, and he has to do his best. The ordinary daily rations are for each man: lib 12oz bread, 12oz raw meat (about 7oz w'.ien cooked) without bone, lib potatoes, 2oz vegetables, tea, iy 3 0/, sugar, and loz salt- If porridge is supplied, 7oz of meal are allowed in lieu of tea, ami the bread allowance is shortened by 4oz. Any prisoner is entitled, should he complain, to have his rations weighed to test the weight given." "Library" is printed on the door of a large cupboard standing close by. There are several hundreds of miscellaneous volumes. Quite recently the gaoler made a purchase of about eighty books, and valuable contributions to tile gaol literature have been made from time to time by Rev. Osborne, Rev. Cowie and Mr C. Abier. The chief war-

cli'i- remarked that those gifts were lustily appreciated, and further donations would lie equally welcome. Another iloor opens into a small yard. This is also accessible by means of a door recently let into the wall of the reception room. From this yard 'iho female ward and separate (punishment) celU nre reached. Tu the old days the female prisoners had to lie Liken, through the main gaol, an objectionable practice which has now been stopped. Similarly the Separate cells could only he reached through the main yard., and there was danger—very grave danger—of an assault being committed by the prisoners in the exercise yard, whom they knew was being -conducted by a. warder to the punishment cells. That danger has disappeared under the new arrangements. Female prisoners are treated with a little more consideration than the males. Their floors are Of wood, and there are "associate" cells, where three prisoners may be incarcerated together. Such treatment is not possible with the male criminals. Returning to the main building, we pass tiie officers' new liathroom and lavatory, fitted right up-to-date and ready for cnneelion with the borough sewage «ys-

At llio rear of the gaol, towards C;Vrrinprton road. is another innovation for which tlin now gaoler certainly deserves commendation. This is the g i'ol gard 'n, Those who have studied llio fignies will know that the Xew Plymouth gaol dO>s not rank amongst the most cheaply administered institiilions in the colonv. The policy of miking a large garden, with ii couple of Chinese prisoners in charge, should considerably lessen the vegetable bill. The soil is all "made," having been stripped from 1 tarsi and Hill, ami thp Celestials have a good, show of vegetables. Below (he gardens are llr quarries, ami from these the gaoler intends to earn all lie can to set against the expenditure and thus reduce the cost of administration. Willi the inception of the quarries the whole of the exterior works of the institution can fte supervised from the bridge above tile dome.

ISijj gangs of prisoners are now at work in the trenches for the laying of the drains to connect the, gaol vrtffi the borough drainage system' by way ot Brougham street. Quite recently the warders' collages have been much improved and re-painted, and Hie buildings made morn comfortable and convenient. The Public Works Department recently erected a new cottage, modern and complete, for the chief warder.

Altogether the New Plymouth v r\-, oa | is a very busy place just now. Allegations and improvements are cvcry'wlu're in progress, and others are contemplated, from present appearances the ga.il will soon rank among the most complete in (he colony, as it crilainly must be one one of the most oi'derlv and best kept of (he colony's gaols. ' There is cell accommodation for Oil adults: tinwhole of if. however, is not at present utilise,!. The gaoler. Mr .Milling! m. and the stall' ire most enthusiastic and pninslaUing in their work, and the liispec(..r at Ids quarterly visit Ibis week expressed himseif well pleased with the position of affairs.