The New York Herald Newspaper, May 19, 1875, Page 3

~ BLACKWELL'S ISLAND A Herald Reporter Sent Up for Thirty Days. Practical Experience of the Life of “Small Offenders.” — SORROWFUL PICTURES. DE ees Lively Scenes at the Tombs and in the Black Maria. Humanity Degraded and Civ- | ilization Outraged. | CITIZEN VERSUS PRISONER. Brutality of Keepers and Abuse of Inmates. The Reporter as a Groom of the Stables. CUDGEL RULE. Horrible Sanitary Arrangements and Cb- setnity in the Cells, —e Now for Reforms and Changes by the Charity Commissioners. “You are committed to the Workhouse fcr thirty days.’” Tne above judgment was passed with laconic | brevity on about as rough and unkempt looking | an individual as can well be conceived, even at | the prisoners’ bar of a New York police court. ; Strange to say the candidate jor prison honors dia not whine out any jiteous appeal to the Judge for leniency. He quietly bid the Judge | good morning. and turned away at once to follow | the officer, woose duty it was to condact nim down stulrs to the Jarge cell in which the prison- ers await the coming of the Vehicle Known as the “Biack Maria," which conveys them to the Black- Well’s Island steamboat dock, at the loot of fwenty-sixth street. The scene was laid in the Jeflerson Market Police Court, the magistrate on whe bench was Judge Bixby, and tue com- | mitted prisoner was the writer of this story. Scarcely had the bolt of the door | been shot aiter 1 had entered the eell belore I pe- | gan to reflect on the contrariety of things in gen- eral. Here were come dozen or more men and | lads, who had slipped benind prison bars with a | jacllity which must have been excessively an- | Roylng to them, while I had only succeeded in | , ming them alter consideravle difficulty and | much time spent in making arrangements. Being Aesirons of learning sometaing of the realities of prison l@ on Blackwell's Island I was actually pompelied to take the Hon. Isaac H. Batley, the President of the Board of Commissioners of Char- ities and Correction, aod Jadge Lixby into my | confidence and to secure their co-operation in a Mttle plot by which 1 could enjoy a short tempor- ary seclusion at the country «eat of the denizens ofthe kingaom of vice and crime without posi- tively committing arfy offence. But, thanks to Mr. Bailey, Wao entered more tnan heariliy into | my enverp: jerything went well, andl wasat Jast in the clutches of the saw, “as nice as nine- pence," a¢ the old saying bas it, ON GLANCING AROUND THE CELL Tfouud that, wit the exception of three lad who bad been arrested ior insulting ladies on their tetarn home irom church on ‘be street corner the srevions evening, ail my iellow prisoners were | Wretched at jull length upon the benones, sleeping of the results of thelr last nignt’s debauch. They were ali “urunk and disorderiies,” ag the court oMficers term such cases, One and another would occasionally ror up when the 4oorkeeper called | Dis Bame at the request of an alert individual who seems to carn a living by carrying messages for prisoners to their friends, and, I fancy, in cases where his discretion tells nim that he may do so ‘with safety, advancing smal! sums of money, at a high rare of interest, to prisoners to enable them to make up their foes and thus escape going up on the Isiand. I suppose such barpies are useful in their way. During the hour or two we were awaiting our despatcn to the Isiand two of | the boys and one or two of the men were released, | totheir infinite joy and to the envy of all the | others. They ali faithfully promised to go im- | ‘Mediately and see thia person and that person on | behal! of those they Icft behind. Whether or not they Kept their words | am unable to say, for the arrival of the Biack Maria stopped all such efforts to avoid incarceration. By the way, THE BLACK MARTA is @ pure blonde in color, being painted @ cream shade, 1tis a sort of sheet iron box on wheels, and, I should judge, is aboat eight feet long and four ieet wide. Into this box we were all crowded—nine men and ioar Wwomen—and away ‘We Went rattiing and jolting over the stoues, as I thought, on oar way to tne steamboat dock. I Was wrong. On the door veing opened for as to get out I found, to my profound | gatonishment, that we were in tne in- ner courtyard of the Tombs, We were— the male prisoners—immediateiy burried into | & cell with.ut @ stice of anything in it, and were shortly afterward reinforced, a German col- | lego proiessor of languages being among tne new atrivals, In a neighboring cell a hall-sobered fe- male was giving vent to her grief over ber misior- | ‘Une and mosuing and grosning in a heartrend- ing jasnion, | recalie: old Dr. Watts’ line:— Hark! from the fone a dolofai sound, | This same unortunate lady aiterward occupied a | Seat on my lap doriug the) urney trom the Tombs | to Twenty-sixtn street, and it wasas mucn as I | Gould do to prevent her assuaging ber griet by | parting her arm aronod my neck ana kissiog me. | Belore leaving the Tomps each prisoner nad to | step up to the clerk’s desk and state bis name, age, birtho ace, occupation, Whether married or | single, bow many children living, how jong in this | country, where he landed, &c. To ellof these in- quiries [ made repiles at variance With the trutn, and 1 think ali those not known to tne police aid | much the same. Where, then, is the value | of such a record’? On our second trip the Biack .cria we had fliteea inside p: all toidesieven “ladies” and four “geutiemen,” | How on earth they managed to cram us ali ini don’t know. We were literally packed like sar- dines, and when we reached our destination there Was great diMeuity in getting ont the frst one, I i BOt SOON forget that ride, The horrible mix- ture of Odors arising from the foui stomachs of my teliow travellers wus fearial, accompanied, as it Was, by that of the proiuse perspiration reeking from every pore of their fevered ekins. ‘ihe at- | foon «became intolorable—almoat asphySiatiog; and I veritanly vciieve that bad bur journey lasted ten minates longer I must have tainted. Adid not recover irom tue nausea in- Maced by it until I had been tor some time ia the esh air Of Blackwoil's Isiand. Tuat ride in the Black 410119 gave me some conception of the nor: | Fors o. the Hold Oo! 4 sluver vu! han @ century ago 4 Was rather sarpriand to see so may more Woehen thas Mea lo the party; but then, as the | Waioal Frenchman romarkedtas Les sonnen, | | island, | deiormea = little | sank within me a8 my eyes fell | @ebanen the blood NEW coves coms, Ete comme les pommes de terre; ga 8¢ trouve partout. ‘THe “LADIES” OF OUR PARTY were all, apparently, of that stripe ao aptly de- scribed by Dryden ta the line, ‘Tnen hasten to be drunk—the business of the day. ‘There was & general comprrison of notes as to their respective sentences when they were up on the Island jast, woat Judge committed them and other interesting topics of a kindred charac- ter, ‘‘hough the men were all as silent and grave asan undertaker at a funeral the women, wita tre exception of the fair occupant of my lap, laughed, coattered and suug all the way, the | srossest inderency and profanity towing from their lips without restraint, At the steampout dock we were put into @ sort of jockup, which was already occupiea by some ten or a dozen prisoners, including two soldiers from Governor's What studies for the brush of am artist many of them presented! A true lover of his profession would ve been in his glory, and would huve remarked—as did ine Irish medical lecturer on enteritis during the great cholera season to his audience “Forvunately there is no lack of subjects for Hiustration.” There was our college professor, in glossy black frockcoat and trousers, biack silk Walstcoat and chimney-pot hat, sitting side by side by & bundle of tatters and wretehedness who was busily occupied in searching out and destroy- | ing tne vermin which infested nim; an operation greatly factlitated by his “looped aud windowed raggedness.” A dissipated looking young clerk was joking over his fate with a canailer and a sta- bieman, while I, tne disguised traud, hobnubbed With the two soldiers. ‘Iwo of the worst-visaged men I ever saw sat apart and corsed their Juck and the Judge who had committed tuem. They were companions in crime evidently, or, as Byron puts ir, in “Don Jaan,” “arcades ambo—1d est, biackgaards borb.’’ The face of each of them tully came up to the mart of Addison’s epigram on & regue, Which conclades wito the following com- prehensive summing a; With all these tokens of a knave complete, ‘Should’st thou be honest thou’rt a devilish cheat. Inever saw’ two men with thief sv plainly written in every lineament. A’ young English sailor, Who ought to have sailed in one of the Liverpool steamers the previous Saturday, de- clared that one of them had robbed him of some small change even in the sacred precincts of tho ‘Tombs. | pitiedtmissailor, He wasafin » ung young fellow, had a frank face and winnt. tds dress and made the best he could of his poss. a, Allhe knew about bimself’ was the fact that he woke up on Saturday morning in the station house. He had no recollection of being taken there, and seemed to tancy he had been dragged, as he assured me he was not given to getting drank. where magisterial leniency wonld have aone no harm, As it is he will, he says, un doubtecly lose his ship; and yet when the boat at last arrivea, and we were marched on board, the sailor was the only cheerful one of the party. We were not allowed to remain oa deck during the passage to the Island, but were all imprisoned in tae f-recastie and made secure by the padiock- ing Oo! a heavy trou grating, which was shutdown overtne hatchway. A few minutes later cur numbers were reinforced by the arrival of another batch of prisoners, and as soon as the grating Was once more sécured the boat leit the deck. On ‘reaching the landing place of the Isiand we were calied up from below, placed in double tlle, the soldiers leading the way, aod marched off imme- diately to prison. voce, to amember of the HERALD staff, who was waiting to see it all had gone well, “Come over again to-morrow morning,” and then, alud, “Don’t know nothing aodat the boat going back, ain’s mach acquainted here, sir,” veiore we started. Two minutes afterward we stood INSIDE THR PRISON WALLS. We were first of all conducted Into a side office, where our names, &c., were callea over. 1 was asked tre same questions waich had been put to me ut the Tomos by a cock-esed, dwarf, who leermgy re- marked that I was a fige-looking man, and complimented me on the apparent muscular felt uke strangling the Uctle monster. Iminaries benz Over We were marched into a large cell on tue first tier, alreaay half fui of prisoners, the accession of our party raising the number in the cell to jorty-three. It was an awfo) crowd; a chewing, smoking, spit- ting, noisy, cursing, restless crowd, just such an assembiage as may be seen in the waiting room of @ railroad aepot on a cold spring morning Waiting | lor the permission to enter the cars of the special troim which iy to convey them to the ground of a forthcoming bloody encounter in the prize ring. Every one was asking every one tue length of the term of is sentence, Who bad sentenced him and how it all happened. Strange to say, ail seemed to be buoyed up more or leas wirh the nope of be- ing discharged belore their time wasup. They were Of Many nationalities dud ali ages. The Teuton and the Celt, toe Christian and the Jew, the lad of fifteen and the old man of seventy, were all huddled together in tnis noisy, disgusting congre- | gation o1 degraded hamanity. DOXNING THR UNIFORM. Alter bail an hour's delay we were ali callea out and marohed to the Superintendent's office for a sort of aiternoon parade and inspection, and tuen a baton of us, including myself, were ordered of to what turned out to ne the prison dressing room and barber's sbop. Here Lencoantered the fret of the really serious unpleasautness of my novel situation. We were taken in charge by an officer and two prisoners, who act as his aides, It is strange, bat only too trae, that prisoners when | “drest ‘2 @ little brief authority’ are always harsh to their fsilow prisoucra, Toe two men in question were certainly no exception to tne rule. One was a fat, greasy fellow, with a load voice langh, and evidently enjoyed the work be had in band; the other was more lightly built. origut looking end active, bus with a decidediy jailpird air apout Bim generally. Burke, the tat one, | rubbed his hands gleefuily, and said:—“Now, then, all of you jamp ont of your clothes, and put om these mice clean ones.” My heart on the prison uniform, for more reasons than one. I know that all prisoners were not compelled to change their clothes, and I particularly objected to parting with mine. I therefore appealed to the otticer ina very hoarse tone of voice, told him that I had @ severe cold, was suffering from Bright’s disease and other complaints, and that if I caught fresh cold it would probabiy be the last oi me. He replied curtiy and coldly taat I must put on the prison Guiform, and that without delay. ‘When my suit was sanded to me | remonstrated in earnest, for] wae now really alarmed, only comprised a pair of trousers, a common biue and white sifiped shirt and a round jacket like a achoolvoy’s jacket. Neither undershirt, drawers | nor Vest Was provided, nor Were tnose who pad such articles of apparel allowed to retain them, no matter how ciean they might nave bee Surely this is Wrong. After a drunken is 80 feverish that the System almost invites @ cold, and yet pris- oners a turned out to face tai Waich is most Serviceadle in enabling them to rm sist the ill effects Of so suddeo a change. | tue winter. Inthe Penitentiary those prisonors who have underclocning are atlowed to weur it, and, surely, a privilege Which is grantedto a tmier should not be denied t) @ man Wao has had “che Misfortune’ ft) get drunk, The Peniten- tary priwoners, 100, have heavy cunts tor cold weather; the Workhouse pr oners have nothing bat their jackets, All my remonstrauees, however, Were uoavating. Mir. Barke ri ‘Kked that prigoners could not be ehoosers, toat be oimseif bad to wear the same Cluthiag, and, Aually. reqdes:ed me to get out of my clotaes, ‘sad 100k suurp aount it’ There ‘Was no hope fort, nd I slowly began to disrode, A giesm ot light came, The trousers foro: to me Would not and could oot de made to m: Mr. Barke said (ney had oO More jarge sized paiva to give o@t, and, very Ungraciously, said he @Bpposed d use Wear my owo, 1 had sem on in @ Momect, Bas DI Lelio Bidews' Jian YORK HERAL Jt seems to me that his was a case | 1 just had time to say, sotto | 1 found it | brought ‘rom the warm city and are | ond :requently cutting | | winds of Blackwell's Island aiter they have been deprived of just tha: portion of their clothing } w | prisoners tous deprivea of the heaviest flannel | | underclotciug, which they had oeen wearing ail | baw tiv | oelp aomites the horses os thet cows tat to D called him—made for mesavagely, and demanded, with an oath, to kuow why I oad put on my own trousers again. I explained. ‘See here, now,” he rejoined, “you've got to come out o’ them pants, even if you have to go about without any.” tossing a pair of trousers to Burke, told nim to “ge’ him into ’em, somehow or other,” As I stood | up the waistband would not meet by two inche: | But the genius of Mr. Barko was equal to the oc- casion, He is evidently @ student of Charlies Dickens, and bas read Sam ‘Weller’s story of how the boy at last ropbed the old gentleman with the big corporation of nis gold watch, the said old gentleman being in the huolt of amusing himself by standing and looking into picture shops, &ec., and aliowing the street thieves to tug away at his watch guard, knowing that bis waistband was 100 lightio aliow of the watcl: being drawn out. after one or two fatile efforts to make the waist- band of my prison trousers meet, Mr, Burke drew back, and, exclaiming, “I'll teach you to swell your belly out ilke that,” struck me @ biow with his fist in the diaphragm. | The effect was immediate and magical. When | recovered from the momentary shock I found, to my surprise, that the top button was fastened and that Mr. Burke's nimble fingers were quickly running down the others, I ex- plaimed to him that the trousers were so tight that I felt as though 1 were In a stralt-wals! coat, He gave a sort of hyena grin as he rephed, “Never mind, they'll be a damnea sight too big for you inside of a week.’ Mr. Burke's sagacity w: not at fault, The trousers stretched and I shrank, and beore I finally discarded those trousera they were really too large for me, But, then, I lost ex- actly six pounds in weight during my few days’ Voluntary incarceration—that 1s, according to the: | scales of the St. Nicboius Hotel. Fully arrayed in the prison uniform I waited anxiously to see what they would do with me clothes, Fortunately, thongn | not worth five cents, 1 knew they were clean, as | their impoverished appearance Was not the resalt ol wear.’ Still it was possible that Mr. Burke might not give them a chaace, but send them oif t) the “vermin house” wita the clotning of the dirty prisoners, He pronounced them clean, | however, and tney were tied 10 @ bundle and | > carried up stairs. Ov, Mr. Burke! On, Mr. James | MeDonouga! could you have only known that I) had atea dollar mill sewed in each leg of those trousers, how happy you would have teen! Can | you be surprised, then, at my anxiety to Keep them out ofyour clutches? But circumstances spared you the temptation. You did not dream of the | answer for. change in my right sock, three simgie dollar bills ‘in my left sock, and some single | bills aud small change rolled in the | folds of my faded old neckbandkerchief. Do you not think, gentlemen, that, had you been | { aware of these matters, you woud have seen that | [had aprivate dressiag room, with no eyes to watchgou while engaged In dressing me? I think that 1 shonld never have bad two such wiiling va‘ets, Only two men of the party interested me— the sailor of whom I bave already spoken, and an elderly man, who seemed terribly downcast at finding bimseifin prison, The latter bewailed his fate, and spoke of himself with a mixture of bitter- ness and pity. It was evident that he had seen betterdays. Indeed, be toid me a3 much; but said that after the death of his wife, two years ago, he had uafortunately songnt com ort for nis sorrows in the cup, is business nad shpped away from him, his friends had deserted him, and hia present position was the climax of bis troables, ‘The tears came into his eyes as he spoke of his Dappler days, and his grief for bis degradation | seemed to be deep and sincere, An, Dante! now | true are your words:— Nessun maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria. NOTHING WITHOUT LABOR. 1 had been warned by Mr. Bailey that the prison authorities would put me to work, and thatit would | be necessary to bethink me of some occupation | suitaple to my powers, Thereiore, when | had been | askea in wnat way I had been in the habit of earn- ing living, [had replied toatl wasa@ carriage driver. This enabled the comparative whiteness and softness of my hands to p: muster. | leaving the dressing room, then, 1, 10 company | with ove other prisoner, was marched of to the | etaoles, whicnare located about hal! a mile away | from the prison. On my way | had my first insight into the brutalities of prison Life, Some distance to toe right of us were gangs of men working in the Melds. One of the prisoners ‘was apparently loaflog over his work, aod | @ Keeper, or boss, swong # cadgel aloft and brought it down with such force on tue poor ie!- low’s sboulder that I thougne the blow must nave broken his collar bone. The man had no chance of dodging the cudgel, for he bad his back varned | to the keeper at the moment he was struck. Now, ‘we all know that the class of men who are sent ap | to the Isiand can be aad undoabtedly ure very ugly in their temper at times, but there are pun- ishment ruies in vooue, and I think it should have | been tue daty of the keeper to report the man if , bis offences demanded it, not to strike him in the | savage fashion he did. [know irom personal ac- quaintance that there are no two kinder hearted men inthe world than Mr. Isaac BH. Batley and Mr, Thomas Brennan; no two men more desirous of conscientiously managing the vast interests | Committed to their charge, and 1 feel con- vinced that sach comduct on the part of the ke a would not be tolerated fur one moment. Unfortunately, tnese things are never done when they are uround; tney are, therefore, in ignorance of their ever belng done, and if @ prisoner were to mate 4 complaint the keepers would ali stand by one another and swear | that he was lyi The second day | was in the prison a Penitentiary man came down to the stables ior some drinking water for his gang. He — had been strock on the head by bis keeper the aay before a blow so ere that it is a wonder that his skull Was not fractar: A large space on the | side of the poor fellow’s head was shaven and | pinstered up, He jared me that ne had com- Taitted @ most trivial fault. Such treatment will Change the most docile into the most refractory Priebner io @ very short time, and is doubtless sometimes the cause of the marderous attacks on keepers of which we read from time totime. The | Commissioners ought to, aud doubtless will, enact some very stringent regulations against striking prisoners, now that the matrer has been brougnt | } to their gotice. | A MEMBER OF THE STABLE GANG. I was duly installed as one of the “stable gang,’’ | and far from relished the general demeanor or | tone of volce of our ‘boss’ before I had been | naif an hour onder his orders, He appears to be jamiliariy addressed as ‘Joe by bis brotner Keepers, snd to rejoice in the surname of Cum mings. Well, I have no hesitation fa saying that Mr. Cummings is about the surilest, sulkiest spect- men of humanity with wOom it bas ever fallen to | | my lot to be asaocluted. Every prisoner in the | gang warnea me that he was an “ugly cusi 1 can testify taat ldid not hear him ever any of us otherwise than it we had been so many vicious mules the whole time [was in his charge. | Me. Cummings has evidently adopted Aaron Aili's very much Mistaken theory as to tue treatment of thoae over whom circamstances empower him to excercise petty tyranny :— | Tis the same with common natures Cre tem kindy, they reb But bo rough as Dutmeg grat And tue rogues obey you Well. I was prepare’ to offer Mr. Cummings some sort of respectial salutation, bus ail cuance of my Going so was killed by bys muttering surlily be tween bis teetd, the Very moment We reached the stable ‘door, “Now, you big fellow, go and help them meno mix that cut ” T Went toroagh | tue souli protess, witndrew inside my shell of re- serve aud obeyed his instructions, carrylog tne feed when mixed, and distrioucing it in the man- gers. H: watched me with a crael look in hiseye, Qs thougzu Waiting tae slightest Opportunity to havi me over the con's, 1 took pleasure in aotic- | ing that Dis disappotatment at m, nut doing any: | thing Wrong made him puff very vigorously at the | Girty clay pive he hao in Bis mouth ond so ex. hott his tobaceo prematurely; at the same time 1 made @ meatal protograph of my frie Tried avotind the feed, f was onde He rummaged among the clothing, aud, | | in the eastern wall. small mine of wealth contained in that shabby | old garment, and you have one sin the less to | Thad, moreover, two dollars in small | va | . WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. | sweep up the yard and do other things. Pimaiiy, At Six o'vlock, the boss dismissed us with a sulky | motion of the head, and we all started for the | prison. SUPPER. On reaching the hail we were marshalled into | the prison dining room, where all the other pris: oners were already seated at supper. I was by | this time furiously nanary, having eaten notuing | since my early breakfast betore going to the policed court; the law, in whose power I was, hav- | ing furnished me no tood and preventing me from | obtaining anyon my own account. Our supper consisted solely of alarge tin disu of corn meal mush, with a spoonfa! of molasses dGaobed In the | middle. {[ am not partial to muash—at is by no means an epicurean (ish—but | snould prenounce | the mush in question very fair in quality. ‘The | molasses was nasty, having @ streng flavor of | paregoric, As soon as we had finisbed our aupper | we were marched off to the ceils, and a few minutes later the bolts were shot and we were all locked in Jor the might, Yor the moment it was quite a relief to me to be qui- etly sitting on one of the hammocks after the exsitements and novel situations of the dav; but Isoon became restless, and at once busted mysell in becoming better acquainted with my fellow prisoners and 1p an inspection of my quarters. So faras I could judge by pacing the cellit was abous 2% feet by 16, wita three strongly barred windows facing tne west andagrated iron door ‘The cell contained twelve hammocks, that is, apiece of canvas laced with cord on toatight iron framework. There were six upper and six lower hammocks, like the berths inasnip, 1 was provided with a straw pillow without a case and two army blankets, and Iam bound to say that I could not complain | of them; neither did 1 experience any practical evidence of the presence of bedbags or Other ver+ min so long as | remained in the prison. BUT THE SANITARY ARRANGEMENTS are barbarous in taelr primitiveness and dis- | graceful to any prison in these days of boasted civilization, The ovly provision for the twelve | prisoners in my celi consisted of taree common | house pails with some lime tn them. The con- sequence Was that by nine o'clock in the evening | We bad three miniature open cesspools to poison | the atmosphere of the cell. My companions | tormed a motley group, and I sat for some time on | the bammock studying the most gotewortny of | them. They one and all removed their boots and socks (when they had the latter), Some even took off their trousers, I was thunderstrack, With one exception their teet were coated with greasy black dirt, and, in many ca-e3, their legs were grimy to aaegree, even above the knees, I am j surprised that the keepers do not make prisoners | | take a batn when they are broughtin. The Com- missioners have a regulation that every pri-oner shall take’a bata on his arrival, but the lazy keep- | ers disregard it. The frat I took note of was a little, half-witced, | feariuily dirty specimen of humanity, with a de- formed ioot and ankle, which gave 4 crab-iike movement to his locomotion, Ho bad managed to get hold ofone of the prison loaves of brea, and spent the first half of the nigot in slowly Munecning it away. We was the butt forall the | slangy Wit of the party, and had been satirically | nicknamed ‘Pocahoatas.”” | Another was a very dwardsh individual, with a | homped back, Who rejoiced in the sovriqaet of | “gnorty.”? He was very lively, fond of singing | sentimental songs, and seemed to be afavorite. | ‘A third was an Irishman, who had arrived in | company with myself; a tall, powerfully ours, joliy, good-oumored and good-natured fellow of about filty-five years of age, and with an immense shock head of silver gray hair, As he assumed lo | Know something of the ways of the place was | emboldened to ask him if he had ever | stayed in that hotel beore. He laughed heartily and replied, “we dad! an’ its only | last Wednesday as I went out.” He told me that he had left tne prison Wih ninety cents in bis poe! had eniered @ liquor saicon on Twenty- gixth street on leaving the Island ateamboat, and | had there and then got drank on his ninety cents. | The folowing day (Thursday) he had earned a \d@lar by hanling coal in the same neizhbornood; | bad got drank on that dollar on Friday; had been | arrested in the eventing, and committed for ten days on Saturday morniog. They callea him ‘Haver- straw,” from tue fact of his sometimes working im the brick ; aras oi that village, Then there wasa young English Jew, who was | always addressed as “Sheeny.” He had a fair paritoue voice, and regarded himself asa second | Graziani, Perhaps the most eatertaining of the number wasa@regular New York boy, about ninc- | tecn or twenty years of age, very great at preak- | downs and mimicry, fall of stories and adven- | tures, and apparently Knowing as muen of wild | life as most men of thirty; and, perhaps, I | may characterize myself as one of the note- | worthy ones, althoagh no one, of course, had tho slightest suspicion of my identity. 1 was ovliged to fabricate a history of myself to satisfy | the y ing curiosity of my companions. I told | them that Ihad beea drinking hard all the win- ter; that 1 had asked my folks to have me home, | but that they bad refused to do so till I got | | straightened upa bit; that feeling sacn a de- | voutly to be wishea consummation was hopeless | of accomplishment if I rematnedin New York (| | pad asked Judge Bixby to let me come up on the Island for ® Week, and toat that stern dispenser of justice bad rathlessly committed me for a | | month, to my infinite disgust. This last announce- | ment procurea me the gonerai sympatny, and | bronght down loud and deep curses on “that brate, Bixoy.’? I beg here to offer my humbie apology to the Judge for thus taking his name in | vain; bat I think he will be the first to admit tnat Leould hardly he)p myself, | Weil,’ said one, “I guess iv’ll be & warnin’ to you to give upraum. I never mean to touch drop again aiter I get out this time.’” 1 Was surprised to hoar expressions of a deter. | | mination to reform on all sides, { fear that in most of the cases the good resolutions are likely to vanish in the atmospnere of New York. Rave- | Jails said traly when he wrote:— | “Tho devil was sick, the devil ' rhe dev was well, the devira mouk washes’ * | The first eveuing passed away quietly amid a | giowing sunset. The new prisoners were not very | cheerful, and had the remains of their morning’s | headache to keep them quiet; the old ones were Anxious to learn the stories of the now comers, | ask What was going on im the city, and inquire aiter possiole mutaal acquaintances. Beiore | | | vbe color had taded out of the western | sky I wee the omiy one not in his | hammock and the only one not) asieep, with the exception of “Pocahontas,” | woo lay silently munching bis loaf of oread, I | stood gazing out of the window into that busy world whicn I had volantarily abandoned, and for the life of me I cowa not help seeling nalf-sad- | dened, 1 thought of my home and its comiorts compared thom with my preséat surround | ings, and felt A feeling of sadness and longing, ante is not akin to pain, ‘ahaa resem! sorrow oniv ‘As the mist resembles tae rain. ] Im such @ frame of mind I mounted on to my | hammock, the upper one, and, lying down, threw a blanket over myseif, not with the idea of sleep- ing, but simply beeause 1 was tired of pacing up | and down the cell. 1 had, indeed, very little hope of sleep that night; and asl glanced aroond at my sleeping fellow prisoners I could tray say, | with Louis Onze— miserable! an doux sommeiti l'attend. £m0i ——— SANITARY HORRORS, By this time the atmosphere of tne cell began to m@ considerable discomfort. in the first | place there Were the three smati open cespools in the ceil, the foul stench from wuich invreasea every Moment; then there was the exbalation from the bodies of eleven excessively dity men, ana asleep, too, With these ovors was mixed up the staie lunes OF ali toe filthily bad piug tonacco | Woich bad been smoked during the evening; and | the oeaviuess of the atmosphere was still iurther | imrensified by the ne ry bt eam pipes. AD Open window Was oat of the | QUestiod, OM ACCOM O: the position of the grated | erridor Of tue prison, Thore sleeping by the Window could not or would | Rot stand the drauguc, In time, | began to duze Ming ail tae While, Hess of one thing, | Ylog strain on them, care? Well, yes, be dia care a good deal, | Joyed the signt, for he bad evidently taken @ dis- | he to me at frst sight. I thank him for the com- | Pelling to the eye. | the rea buul’s ' all glad to obey him because he was kind to them. | the deficiency good. Prison. Then came & fearful nightmare that some one was trying to murder me by strangulation. Tawoke with a yell and was unable, at first, to de- termine where 1 was, But the mquiy, “What's | the matter, old man ?” from the occupant of the hammock below, quickiy recalled me to the alities Of the situation. “Tam neariy suffocating,” I replied; “this hor- | rible atmosphere 1s poisoning me.” The mun gave along sigh and said, “I've had | two months ofit. It’s the pais, Only fancy what it woula be to any one coming tn onto! the fresh air. It'd really knock ‘em down.” But this jearful atmosphere pot only poisoned | my lungs but my stomach. [became so nauseated that I feared I should soon be seriously ill, and, weary and tired as I was, I left my hammock and lade my way to the door. For the best part of three hours, I judge, { remained with my face pressed against the grating of the door, s0 as to inbale the comparatively pure atmosphere of the corridor, and I only then returned to my hammock because 1 was worn out. FRESH AIR AND PRESH WATER. Gradually the day crept in upon us, far too slowly for my impatience; but at last, about five ovclock, the cei] door was opened and we were at liberty to go to the washing room. une nalf of the taps in the washing room will not run at all and nearly all the others only send forth a trickle of water. Tpls, without soap, is not conducive to the sort of “rinse” Sam Weller was wont to revel in; and the jack towels which oo duty all round are soon wetted and very dirty. The prison reguls- \lons order all prisoners to go to the wasaroom. Many do not go, and the lazy keepe:s do nov trouble themselves to compel them todoso, Io sach condition was 1 left by my nightin the cell that 1 was unable to attack the hancn of bread provided | tor my breaksasr. I tasted the coffee. There was plenty of it, but it was very Weak, aud served Without milk. Now caf’ now is very nice after dinner, especially with a gloria init; but at five | o'clock in the morning, and witvout tne gloria, it 18 @ decided failure, I took the precaution, how- ever, of secreting half my bread under my jacket, knowing I should get hangry aiter having been in the iresh air awhile. The remainder I turned | over to the greedy maw ot *Pocehontas.” We went direct irom tie breakfast hall to the stables, On our getting outside tue ouwilding one of the prisoners called my attention to nis lip, whicn Was bieeding from “a smack ju the mouth,” as he termed it, given him by one of the keepers whose toe he had accidentally trodden upon in passing | out of the door, in a few moments the iresh air began to revive It was as lovely a spring morning as I can call to remembrance, and beiore we reached the stables “my lungs began (o crow like chanticleer,” | as the melancholy Jacques has ir. Our boss was not on hand, but oar prisoner-foreman quickly set us all to work. I had three iorses to groom, their beds to rake out and their stalls to sweep. | Lhad also to help harness and hitch up teams and | then to aweep the stable yard, By the time I bad fluished these jobs the boss putin bis appearance, with his invariable dirty clay pipe in his moath. He looked even more surly than on the prov.ous day, and, as luck would have it, he caught me doing nothing. He gave me @ Wicked look. *Can’t you find something to do?” he inquired, sarcastically; and then he quickly addead, “Come along wih ime, ri ax you, damn you.” Mr Caommings set me to work wheeling fine mould ior bis small dower patch and then some heavy turf sods to make a new verze round it, He would not allow me to carry a fair and moderate load, but seized | the shovel and piled tse wheelbarrow, waich was @ large ove, tll it would hold no more, say- | ing, with @ malicious sneer as he did so, ‘We'll | sweat some 0’ that rom out of you beiore we're | through.” Strong man as I am I almost stag- gered under the heavy Joads be made we wheel, and my elbows and wrista trembled with the jar- Any one who kuows any- thing of gardening Knows that flne black mould is very heavy wheellug, But what did Mr. Cummings He en- pliment. Cutting Nay for, feed, antiiching teams, . &c., carried me on til dinner time—twelve | o'clock. | THE DINNER. For dinner we bad atin dish of very thin bus | not otherwise bad soup, a naach of bread, rather sour, and some lumps of meat, the sight of which was quite enouga for me, Wi'n regard to the bread, this was toe only occasion while I was in | the prison on which 1 cvald complain of it, It varied a little from meal to meal; but, generally speaking, it was very fair bread and was well — baked. The meat may have been fresh and ten- | der, but it was shamefully cooked and cut and re- On leaving the diniag ball found many of the prisoners luunging outerde the building and carrying on a warfare of slang and ribalary with some of the jemale prisoners who | were banging out clothes to ary. There was no doudle entendre. The indecency . was as plain and as outspoken can be conceived, and was thoroughly garnished with proiaoity. To my surprise and disgust some | keepers stood listening and laugbing ana made no attempt to putastop to so disgracetai a scene, which must have lasted eight or ten minutes. We had a good loa! all round at the stables that alter- CUMMINGS AND HIS PETS, Mr. Cummings was absent from his post till about three o'clock, aad when he and bis airty clay pipe did appear it was evident that be was in one of bis soixiest tempers. Where he had been or Woat be had been duing 1 canoot say; bat he was very hot and flushed and his nose shove like @ Of @Faliruad signal man’s lamp. Miad, wo Were all loafing together; but Mr. Cum- mings pounced atonce upon me, “Say, dida’t I | set you cutting hay?” he demanded in his suriiest | tone. “No,” L replied, “1 didn’t, eh?’ Re rejoined, as his eyes gleamed | wickedly at me. [explained to bim that he covla not have dove so, a3 I Dad not seen him since din- | ner. This thrust Was more than he could stand, He yelied ont, “Go and cut bay, God damn you) nd sprang towards me, Butiwas too sharp ior him, the stairway into the hay loft was at my elvow, acd lleit Mr. Cammings tu mutter himself out by bimself, Had he oniy koown that i bad been away from th bis absence, and bad had a quiet chat with the gentieman from the HERALD, Who had come over to see how I was getting on, bis wrath against me would have known no bounds. The following day he set me to work “fixing up’ the roadway in front of hia cottage. In strange contrast with this man’s benavior to the prisoners was that of a keeper of a gang of penitentiary men Who wore oreaking stones mear the stables, When he spoke to his prisoners it was in @ kindly and encouraging and any one Could see that he was @ favorite with them. In fact, those wno camé to the stabies for drinking Water toid we that they were | ¥o much for tue advantage of leading by a silken cord rather than driving with a knotted scourge. ‘OH, YOU'VE SKINNED 17."’ On one occasion, @t dinner, on sitting down at our table at the iurther end of the room, there were three dishes of meat wantiog. One of the prisoners called out to the aistributer to notify him of this iact and to request that ould make “Ob, you've skinned ir,’ was the surly and only reply—meaning that they | bad conceared it for the purpose of obtaining a second ration, Two poor fellows had, couse- | quently, to go without their meat; she third had mine, I oace or twice saw a keeper, the only oue | Who appeared to ms to be guo.l-narured, give oat Qn @xtra ration, but it was quile exseptional, Those of the stable gang, who drove tne teams aroond to the Charity Mospitai, Lufatic Asylum, alinshonaes, &¢., Would often gi loaf of vread, @ nice bit of cold mntton, s plug of tobacco or other little laxartes. The old men at the alms. hoase, too, are oiten willing to of robacco at less thin ite market valae, several times asked by them if | Wanted any smor- tng or chewing tobacco, when passing to and irom my Work, But 01 Whiskey { absolutely saw or heard nothing ail tne time | was in the Workhouse, LT tried oli 4 could to ony some, just to see it it was powsivie, 1% seemed impossivie, aud the two | tan OF another, Dat Sever Goes of being ine | OF Hired Gld Driscuers Whom 1 eunenived on De | Ont would that boat nev: | thelr Allowance | iwas | that it was, as far as they knew, Matter told m hopeless. + ENTERTAINMENTS A LA MODE. The night vefore! leit the prison we had quite s little entertaimment in our cell. Our mimic gavé some excellent representations of Dutch and Irist ebaracter, @ man named “Jim” danced a capita! breakdown; ‘“Sheeny,” “Shorty” and I contrib uted the vocal part, and ‘Pocabontas,” ‘Haver straw’ and the others were the enthusiastic au dience. “Shorty” sang ‘Goodby, Sweethearr, Goodby” and “Snades of Evening Close Not Over Us: “Sneeny” sang one sentimental and twe comic songs, the burden of which I cannot reeai, and I jayored the company with the loilowlug original composition, which came in very appro priately, under the clreamstanses:— H ADOW the pain so wy When dloodshot eves shall Ware the flask, At such an wil see Thyt one pu «is ail you'll ask When you rewember me. When jim-jams or the gout shall blight That beauty now you prize And make it a degraaed sight A beain in pious eyes, There may, perhaps, ‘maid tev’cish dreams, Some recollection Of drinks chav flow from purer streams, ‘And you'll remember me. This parody on Mr. Balfe’s well known song ta ihe “Bohemian Girl? brought down the honse, ‘The next Instant the stentorian voice of the night watchman was heard, demanding to know wmat was the meaning of all that noise in $2—the not. ber of our cell, it was alter eight o’elock, ac which hour all talking 1s supposed to cease. We Were a3 quiet as mice ina moment, and crept quickly under our blangets. Ina quarter of am hour all were sound asleep, and @ concert of gvother and more discordant character waa s0oa in full blast. Bot Icould not sleep. Tne attnos. phere was rapidly becoming very foul agaiu, altnough not qaite so bad as usual, as the steam had been turned of. About nine o'clock I was aroused by a shout outside the building, followed by more shouting. I sprang from my hammock, and saw men running up and down tne river bank, under the prison windows, with a lantern, “THERE IS AN ESCAPE,” lcried. Ina moment all were crowded at the open windows, and a terrible scene was enacted, not before our eyes, for the moon was mot yet ap and we con!d see nothing, but, what was equally horribie, nm our hearing, A poor fellow, under sentence for one sear, had managed to get locked out of the prison, and was at the moment battling for his life against the stream In the nnddle of the river, He had evidently a irtend waiting for bim at the foot of the rocks on the other side, for » voice could be contimually heard shouting:— “Keep uy, old man; for God's sake keep your head op, and don’t let any water get in you mouth. Here's a boat acoming.”? Ana ther the man on the bank would shout wildly, | “Come, hurry up that boat’? All this while we could hear the cries oi the man in the water who had either got cramped or frighvened anu was In dire danger of drowning. Scarce a word was spoken in our cell; all held their bated breath, aud [could not he!p muttering a prayer that the poor struggling wretch in the water might suc ceed in reaching the bank and in escaping. The suspense was uorrible. Every moment seemed tc bea minute, and 1% looked as if that boat would never come, and there we stood being the bars po'verless and helpless, worked up to an agony, and most of us trembling with excitemeny Feebler and teebler grew the cries of the drown. jug man. Louder and more frantic grew the | shouts of the man on the bank as he encouraged bim or sought to basten the men in the Dogs come ? THE MAN IS DROWNED, Ye It would, and it did come, and the norrible words grated on my very sou! the mau oo We bank called out to the boatman, “Tuerc’s where he went down—just where you are now.” Witns chilled sensation at my heart | crept back inie bed. Tne others sougut their hammocks ic silence. ‘They were evidently all greatiy shocked. Very little was said, and that in a very supdued tone of voice, as though the body was then lymg | im the celi, 1 cannot learn that any publicity wos given to this poor fellow’s death. Very likely fiends did not know lls whereabouts. Very likely bis name will be inscribed on the long rob of mysterious disappearances. Tne doy efter this lamentable occurrence I was discburged, after naving served but a very amaii portion of the term or which I was committed. 1 was iniormed of this fact at dinner, and told to go nd get mv own clothes, ana then goto sing room. The little old man who handed me my bundle of clothing seemed to be very grieved over my discharge. “You'll be drunk to-night fora certamty,” be said; “you ought to have stayd ten days at least; it would have been much better for you.” I waa delighted on untying my bundie of clothes to find the two ten-dollar bills 1m the legs of my trowser: allsafe, I burried on my own clothes, and soov joined the gentieman from the Hagatp who had brought over the order for my discharge. By the way, Luave spoken of the keepers strike jog tho prisoners. This gentleman was a witnest of an exhibition of brutality of tais kind on thir very occasion, A Germao, on coming from we dining room, was ordered off to do certein work ofa disagreeable nature. He remonstrated; said he was nota convicted but a vagrant prisoner, and said he would do no such work, OF this man wes wrong. But wnat shall we think the conduct of the keepers? Without another word two of them seized the man by the nape of the nece and ran him along in the direction he ought to go, one striking Bim several sovere blowson the back of the head and neck as they did so, and finally Mingimg bim away with an injunction to ge and do what he had been ordered to do. My irtend os astooivhed, jor tais brutal scene was enacted ip the most public part of the prison, just inside the main entrance, aud whem the prisoners were leaving the dining room. But we bastened away. I had seem quite as much as | cared to experience of lire on Biack- weil’s Isiand. I was furnished With @ pass te leave the isiand; bat it was not asked for on going on board the steamboat nor ou lending at Twenty sixth street, Ithink there mast have been some carelessness somewhere about this, On reaching New York I made straight running for a barber's shop, then went Nome. tooka warm bath am‘ dressed myself in civilized fashion, and them Rastened off tothe Tarkish Dashe, Not till] nad been thorougbly rubbed and scrabved and sham: pooed did I feel at ail sale or comfortatie as te possible consequences from naving served @ short time a8 @ prisoner in the Workhouse om Biack- well’s Island, _ THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN PATERSON. ‘The committee appoinied in bebalf of the czed itors of the Grant Locomotive Works in Patersos bave made a report and suggested a basis of set tlement, The liabilities of the concern ate | $861,541 98; the assets, $712,661 88; Mabilities over assets, $198,800 15. The synopsis of tne proposea basis of settlement is that the bondaciders shalt consent tosatisty all mortgages and bonds, leaving the property free of encumbrances; that the more gagees and geveral creditors receive in payment Of ciaima the capital stock ($900,000) pro rata to the amount of ciaims; that the claim: < all Pat anes ve determuned a repo! receiver certificates of stock ve assigned sa surronderet to D. B. Grant Ypon payment of the par value, Without interest; the nee protls of w be divided annuaily stock! Ml oee profits exceed six per cent in tne of ent indeviedness a sx cent dividend Oe mai ould the ua in On 1 Oot Be nmnvens ‘Vo 81X per Cent the deficiency to be tof earnings of the next that wx ceut net proat betore 0K ux cent saat be divraed a Bours ol sve arentoes to Manage the concern, v of whoa pe by os Mr. D, tf Fant tO ve employed as Mm 01 the Works ata Ssaisry Of $10,000 per ana’ 4 peooty ali interest tn patents Grau Locomotive. Worl pe be vinding aaless pI 400 oF ds, Most Oo; Wiom have tte devoutly praying tout tne st Will De aufeed Upon’ a0 teat, Li pay 6 ie sau