The Seattle Star Newspaper, September 13, 1919, Page 12

PAGE _ WHOLESALE PRICES DOWN; RETAIL PRICES UP TRUTH ABOUT WELLS! r¢ ’ From Page One * chained to the tary dark cel! door of his ce rs of the day “T ms prisoners and a other men who et h m Self above the law of prison Vv be p ed unti jhe Obeys the rules. Otherwise there would be anarchy In ¢ prison and every other : g Doctor’s Statement 1 Now for the statement of the doctor ; “Wells as lu tand it believes that po al prisone should be given erent treatment fro’ , the other He believes t! should isave trusty or clerical jobs. | ie “J am on friendly terms with We and he has talked frankly with me, | t! I see his viewpoint, as well as I do that of the warden. ' “So far as the work at the camp is concerned it is no work. The men are than he can do » had no sug work, ot would speak of hard work as woodsmen not driven; no man is compel! without in) jury. to q esith tion from Wells that he was wu that it was too hard for him. Wells in Good Health amount of » to do this “TJ have secured figures on the wood cut, and the hours put in by the wood crew. The figures show that the men have been cutting about half a cord a day and that they worked six “Sess a day, six days in the week They have half holidays on Friday and Saturday, no work Sunday. “Wells was in good physic: now, after his three irae of « “The warden is strict, but he each shape cipline. is fair; he insists on obedi- ence but he gives every prisoner a square deal under the rules. i : gh “Most of the trouble comes from the mental attitude of Political prisoners, who fee ve committed no crime t less they will heave a sigh of relief prisoners are sent away; nobody here is enjoying the situa tion or doing this for amusement. I believe the warden feels that he is taking the only course that he could, Preserve discipline in the prison.” The abet from the can. the prison books and state-| Ments showed that the statements of the warden and the doctor, as to the hours worked and the wood cut, were true. Next the correspondent visited Wells. Wells’ Statement and who feel ther get the be of it. Everybody Wells is hinatd from tives weeks’ confinement in Se dark cell; apparently he is not ill; he is not weak nor ‘ fous and he made no complaint of suffering physically “When I came here I felt that I had done nothing deserv- ‘ing punishment, and my mental attitude was doubtless an- istic,” said Wells. “I worked for two months getting wood out of the slash-| ing camp, and understood that we were rushed there so we| could finish in time for the slashing to be burned before | ; wet weather came on. “I did not expect that the work would continue to be so| hard. But when we finished there and moved to the el ‘ camp the work was harder than ever. “Every night I would come in so tired that I could hardly | | sleep. The food was bad; pancakes or mush for breakfast, | two things that I do not like. And a man cannot work in the woods on that sort of food. “Then I did not like the guard we had to work for, and I *" also felt that political prisoners should not be chosen to do the hardest work of the prison. “I did not know whether the warden would see me or not; you saw how he was—brusque, stern—but I wrote him a\ - Mote saying I wanted to see him about change of work. I waited four days and had no reply, so I decided I could be) Ro worse off, no matter what they did to me, and I refused to work. “You will see from the prison rules what they are allowed to do; they gave me all they had. “For two weeks I was chained to my cell door for eight hours every day. “I had nothing but a slice of bread and water three times a day. “T have been in this dark cell for more than three weeks. “1 will do any work in the prison except in the wood camp | / —that I refuse to do. | “My understanding when I came here was that the] men on the outside jobs were given an easy time of it, only}. worked four hours a day or so, work hard. “Until yesterday there was nothing in that dark cell, but yesterday the doctor gave me a stool; before that I had to sit or lie on the hard floor. | “I waited four days for the warden to see me after 1 wrote that first note, and then I wrote and told him that I Tefused to work in the wood crew, and that he could start in with his brutali I was not very diplomatic I guess. “If my card gives onl 1ing and woodsman as my oc- and did not pretend to| ar cupation, it is not fair, for I told them that for 1 ears I had been doing inside work, and that though I had recently been in the shipyards i as a light job. They only got] that farming and woodsman data when they pried into ancient history, years back. Warden Whole Thing “The deputy warden is a decent enough fellow and kind hearted, but the deputy in this prison is nobody, the warden is the whole thing and the warden, as anybody can see who sizes him up, believes in the old brutal system of breaking | men.” There’s the Tl a story as told by those involved. larkable thing that struck the correspond- that in no essential particular did the state-| of the warden differ from that of Wells. The only difference was regarding the data on Wells’ card which was wh: at, according to the war-| den, determined his being chosen for the wood camp. } Wells asserts that he g various occupations aside from farming and woodscraft. | The warden, asked about this says: “I didn't make out} the card; the clerk takes that with the! rest of the prisoner’s| data and I have nothing to do with it. It evidently was| given as written on the card. I believe Mrs. Wells, how- ever, said that he gave his occupation that way because he wanted to work outside and was afraid of inside confine- ment.” That statement, coupled with Wells’ statement that he understood the wood camp work was for four hours a and was not onerous, probably explains the made up as it appears. card, being Gloomy, Not Black Now, as to the solitary dark cell. It is neither solitary nor dark, as old-time prison cells were. It is in a cell house, along with scores of other cells: | the door is of heavy iron screen that doubtless, on a rainy| day, shuts out most of the light; the correspondent was con- and do|T and is in good health), when these!,, | Is improves some men to get | was ek ALP i he THE SEATTLE STAR—SATURDAY, SEPT. 13, 1919. $0 SHOWS FEDERAL JOHNSON GETS He’s a Man of the Sea, Is Admiral GAS SHORTAGE HOT IN ST. LOUIS “We'd Go to Blazes for That Bird, ”’ Declare U. s N. Sailors NOT OVERCOME Great Demonstration for the Restaurants Depend on Coal Rodinan Loves Gols and His Dog Fighting California Senator and Wood Ranges RY FRED 8. PP SON Hurried installation of coal United Press vondent t . and wood stoves in many Seat sr. Loul 1 i fleet ' t t Hiram 1 ul e Aine : ~ geotler Ue restaurants and the purchase tha mk " ; Ceres iad by housewives of handreds of 1 P h eye 5 tinge ne | mel 4 ‘ small electric plates and ranges ' t re . ' have solved, temporarily, t nY RALPH F. CovcH ° ur a the/t shortage caused by the strike of (United Press Staff Correspondent) nl , f the}; a a | pag: Wovllaba'w Sfkaae Kis! aad as WASHINGTON, Sept. 13—Re ‘ tho: tia tail food prices went up during And tr hin 1 Aucust, and are still 1 be ports F me ' tf till de the government cam- it a, thin Rodiar t dox og ee a a paign to reduce the cost of Ily- a ‘ 1 beamed the dence districts Sat ae See eee ee eattle - i ae partments covering nearly every a suey that regu we ri : section of the country . I 1 gobs would bece r ; A t me t the whale t uniastic wh ; . , . {a to Stern wd rm r wr high é » his dog and gobs Ho Hates Ceremony petty that the’ bnited apposed As much he Mikes dogs and gobs Loves His Dog t t \ I aid STRIKERS MEET "'emty,s,Room. | BOSTON POLICE <= TO LOSE JOBS Building Trades Call Special y : Session e COMMitiee de oe Take Them Back we n 1 cent per pound. tt BOSTON, Mann Altho : yn of averages com- » " mam are listed at the . fi - put ed by the labor department foe? tn the Labor Temple annex ai City bank & voted cides on the Pacific coast, shows” 5 these increases for H ust 410 cents; chops, 4 cents, ces, 8-10 cents, Los Angeles »e RHODES SCHOLAR ¢ was EXAMS PLANNED Arrangements have be post r Pye , cents; butter, - eet ‘ coum. | mains b ans of a high-powered | 3.1 © conta; pots b etitive ¢ blower that a poor gas mixed |» tonte : a . with air is being furnished inter . r r 1 Cor ittent? ners Oxford Two men and n- | mittently / ‘ pe bine © ingly opposed to 2 Cpe | "i er y ow y of the police CHAPLAIN OF IDAHO IS REAL WAR HERO Chaplain W. A. McGuire, U is one of the he of the ground that in leaving thetr ELAN FUNERAL SUNDAY al service Iva May traint Midas wife of Dr. Ch s C. Mann, ave. W be held at|itles would grant concessions. nday, at 1 p. m.| - ottidate. Mrs. | REPORTS POWER BILL of beart dis} xs. xtvintiad ved by her hus-| WASHINGTON, § posts they became deserters, it was jered unlikely that the author-| of al by putting| the men ain and Japan. cre 7 Calls It Nonsense. * own words|day night rom the president be seen that the pénes treaty and and son, Charles Mann, jr. lJones, Washingt burating | toe ea FARTHQUAKE EN GERMANY: | sany a man spends half the time panes tent a Saue i heer ve SHAGEN, Sep at tin w, and the ether |* It creates a federal ‘ oe 4 ae ry. ayes vielen Ww me ou Any | commis port | STARTING TODAY 3+. w. CT he greatest racing story tn the world » fined in the cell with the door shut and could distinguish objects, probably he could have read large print. This was in the afternoon, with the sun lighting the corridors, how- ever. But it is not a cell where no ray of light ever enters; it is gloomy, not blac k The “stringing up’ as some vivid-minded writers penalty, he it, none of whom have seen the cell, seen Wells, secured first hand information, consists of handcuf g the prisoner to an iron ring well up on the cell door. The prisoner is not suspended by his thumbs or his wrists; he stands on the floor, but his arms are chained above his he¢ AN INHUM/ PRACTICE. It also is about the penalty the age prison uses on its insubordinate. Prison discipline is prison discipline, the world over. This is not in extenuation, merely explanation; the point is, there is nothing unusual in treatment of Wells at MecNeil’s. He would get the same treatment in any prison managed by a warden who had ashioned notions about discipline In many This, we believe, mildest prisons he would get a lot worse treatment. may be taken as the just gist of the entire Hated Environment 7 Wells went to MeNeil’s hating his new He did not go expecting to make th admits this, that he He felt he had been violated no laws as political prisoners, tors. He wanted outdoor work, believing it to be easy, the data that would give him such work He found the job harder than he expected; he grew de: adly tired of it, rebelled, and suffered what the stubborn pris- oner suffers at MecNeil’s Island Wells feels that he should be feels that the warden has ishment. The warden is environment, » best of it; he expected, would get the worst of it sincere in his convictions, that he had a criminal; that he deserved, with all a better considerat than the malefac- he and gave given been needle. an easier job, and he! ly brutal in his pun- By Henry M+ Blossom + one of the » old-time chaps who believes in z feet ua and he will tolerate no insubordination in the CWA cat ireddl ond dunt wane ant neers ca Thotoughbré >dsv and ‘high h life*inter - cuffed to the door until he gives in The warden feels that he has given Wells and that his refusal to work is a direct blow a basv¢ drama of the’ human emotions: with an even break, at prison dis- mingled \ Filmed cipline, and must be dealt with before it spreads and sets * ‘| the prison to boiling. in Seven oy s No Difference Thrilling fh lite action and And he doesn’t see a bit of difference between Wells and Parts ; any other prisoner of the 250 out there. abounding thrills: There you are; you can make a martyr out of | j ‘ | Wells, if you feel like it, or you can consider the war- . lden mere ly doing his duty as he sees it. _ This we believe is true; Wells has not been chosen ee it at for mistreatment; he brought his infliction upon ,|himself, and he isn’t getting a thing that the next |prisoner who breaks the rule won’t meet up with, | Wells is a martyr to his convictions ; anyone ¢ e acquire the same martyrdom easily if he will tell that 50c Plus War Tax | PRICE re | dour thty warden out there to go to— If anybody asked our opinion we would hold them both wrong; also each is right, and doing exactly | MATINEES—2 and 2:30 P. M. EVENINGS—7 P. M. 8:30 and 10 P. M. what he must do, if you get his View point.