Prisoners -- Biography; Prisoners' writings, English; Prisons -- Great Britain
These were the principal orders issued, and attempted to be carried
out. I say attempted, for some of them were regularly evaded or broken
by the prisoners, and winked at by the officers. These were the orders
that were expected to be instrumental in converting thieves into honest
men! Whatever opinion might be formed of their probable efficacy out of
doors, or of the sanity of the man who sat in his office and scrawled
them out, the thieves themselves mocked and ridiculed them, and called
the small-minded military man set over them a "Barmey"[20] humbug. "What
does it matter," they would say to each other, "how we walk? What does
it matter whether our neck-ties be once or twice round? Why don't they
teach us to get an honest living and show us a good example? What good
will all this humbugging do us? We don't want to come into such places
if they will only let us live when we are out. Why don't they find us
work and try to keep us out of prison?" "Ah! that would spoil their own
trade," someone would reply. Such criticisms passed between the
prisoners on these new orders, with an accompaniment of oaths which I
cannot repeat.
[20] Insane.
The punishment for prison offences now became more severe under the new
governor, and the following may be taken as fair examples of the manner
in which this class of offenders were dealt with. A convict just about
due for his liberation had half-an-inch of tobacco given him by another
prisoner. The officer happened to notice the gift, went to the
prisoner, found the contraband article upon him, and took him before
the governor. That gentleman sentenced him to ten days in the
refractory cells, and recommended him to the prison director for the
loss of his gratuity and three months' remission. The unfortunate
prisoner was by-and-bye called up and informed that in addition to the
governor's sentence he was condemned to lose all his gratuity money,
which amounted to about 3_l._, and three months of his remission.
Two sentences for one offence were getting very common, but this
prisoner happened to be one of those who cared very little about
liberty, and received the information very coolly. As soon as he was
out of the cells he had his "snout" again as usual, but he was
"chaffed" a good deal by his "pals" for neglecting to swallow the quid
when he saw the officer coming to him. One of the hospital nurses (a
convict) got punished, though not quite so severely, for appropriating
to his own use a mutton chop that he was ordered to carry to the pigs.
At that time the authorities kept swine, who got all the food the
patients could not eat, but now it is sold. The prisoner thought, I
presume, that the chop would do a hungry man more good than it would an
over-fed pig. Another prisoner was sentenced twice for having an onion
on his person. One of his fellow-prisoners who was working among these
luxuries gave him one, and as the officer in charge had a grudge
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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