LIFE CHEAP In ALCATRAZ

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 60, 12 March 1938, Page 8 (Supplement)

LIFE CHEAP In ALCATRAZ

This is the last of a series of three amazingly candid revelations of life in the Devil's Isle of the United States, Alcatraz Island, converted frora an Army disciplinary barracks in 1934 to the home of the country's worst criminals. The author, the first non-military prisoner in Alcatraz, broke parole at another penitentiary and has now been released on completion of his term.

THE second strike at Alcatraz broke out on September 20. Unlike the strike after the death of Jack Allen in January, 1936, this one was planned ahead and had quite an organisation behind; it. Twenty-one of the "toughest" j men in the prison, men who I knew they could "take it," stayed; in their cells and refused to go to work. | Ihe first strike liad been broken by I (lie iikM coming out one at a time in j hopes of winning favour. The guards tried to influence each tnnn individtiaiiv > to desert his fellows. This so-called "rat psychology" did not work during the second disturbance. The men "staved put." despite warnings that their good ' time of ten days a month would be taken from them and threats of long stays in the isolation cells. The chief demand of the strikers was ' to have the same treatment accorded to j inmates of other Federal penitentiaries. Ihe majority of the strikers were j "lifers." They were in an impregnable I fortress, and all they asked was some! amelioration of their conditions. Thev knew that privileges granted in any penal institution were first won through \ iolcnee. 1 hey refused to come out of t heii cells in hopes of getting some con- i cession to relieve the deadly monotony. There was no "hollering" as in the previous strike. They tried onlv to shame the rest of the inmates into joining with ' them, and during meal times' they would j

keep clapping In order to persuade the ' others to s'.pport them. Finallv 140 men were on strike, all confined in'tlie, isolation block. ' The most dramatic moment in the : September strike was the "siuiririn«i \arden Johnston, which occurred <>11 the -ourth day. On this occasion the warden was standing as usual in the mess hall during lunch hour. It is his custom to stand in the centre of the hall and watch the men as thev file out. Half of them had filed out when i -V*' Phillips, doing life for bank robbery, stepped out of line and struck Johnston a vicious blow on the back of tiie head with his list. The warden was knocked down, and while he Lav on the floor Phillips kicked him three or four times in the face, knocking him miconscious. Guard J. F. Rowan hit Phillips with his fist*, knocking him <lown. Soon guards appeared from all over the room with blackjacks in their hands. "Whitt-v" was struck at least six times over the head and draped away unconscious. Meanwhile the tower guard on the catwalk outside tlie dining n>oiu had realised something was wrong inside tidiness hall. He pushed his gun through the windows between the bars, breaking the ghiss. This diverted the inmates" attention from the attack made bv Phillips, and gave the guards an oppor- i tunity to drag the warden awav and take his assailant to the hospital. I he day lieutenant immediatelv placed himself in front of the giin. holding in. ' In- hand shouting "Hold it! If tliev start ■ BTiythinsr. let em have it." Then the men "led out without any further mishap. I lie majority of the inmates were not ' in favour of "\\ hiteyV cowardly attack mi the warden, as it changed the com- ' plcxion of tiie demonstration from a strike to a riot. "Whitey" had his skuj] i /lacked, and will be in permanent i-o] ;I - ; ion for many years to come. Phillins i iioped that a nniiiber of the „ien would'

8y... Robert B. Moxon

le shot or <ra = sf-(], ])r ; n2 an iiive-ii-ation «.f pn-"!i coalition*. ~ }j A was ,i"t actually :n league w-i:h the strikers but "went berserk" o n his own. The only other \io]c !; -e lh „ ]2 - day strike oceurr.-d The swond when fixe guards. who were tran-ferrin~ 1 some of the strikers t-. the i-ohrion •cells, were "slugged." At. assorted collection of bumps and bruises was suffered by all participants. | lly this time the wide countrv knew ; of the disturbance, for the men" would nil "holler" as The ferries went bv out- ] side, and it did not take the newspaper j men lons to find out there was trouble | on ihe island. I The strike was finally broken bv & 1 threat from that all those j who did not return to work within & | certain time would automatically los® , all their 'good time.' 'J he men felt I they had accomplished their purpose of drawing attention to conditions in the ■ prison, so the whole disturbance ended. Ihe original 21 ringleaders, however, are now confined in a dungeon 40 feet I below the main cell block floor. The chief demand of the men is for conditions similar to those at McXeil Island. Leavenworth, and other Federal j prisons. 1 ],e vast majority do not con- , sider themselves in the -public enemr" j f "ka~s at all and re-cut the diserimina- : tion. j At other penitentiaries the inmates j have to newspapers, radio and I canteen. They may receive visits, maT have access to the" Courts and receive pay for their labour. 1 hev alwavs have hope of returning to societv. but at Alcatraz this hope is extinguished. I In none of the other institutions ar« the inmates under such mental strain. Xowhere else is such a strict military discipline enforced, nor methods of walk, . dre>> and talk c o regulated. The greatest j hardship is the constant, nagging by

guards to break the men's spirits, and the realisation that comes to many that this is tTi«» "last round-up." and" they | will be there the rc-t of their lives. -After more than three years in Aleatra 7.. initialing with some of the most dangerous criminals in the Fnited States, I have <-oino to the conclusion that practically all these men are products of the countj gaols. As boys or young men they were sent to county or provincial gaols tor more or less trivial offences. Immediately, they came into the worst criminal and degenerate atmosphere, they mingl. .1 wj;h hardened and foul olil criminals who systematicallv jnit iated them into the secrets of the criminal profession. itliin a few days after entering the county prisons. th( , rri , oncrß learn how to "beat - ' their cases. They get a lirst-liaud insight into the workf'r,minal rackets, and they learn who are the -fence," an< ] who are the * too k e<l law vii - -. -A judge often wishes to h P lenient "it,. \ oi;„g fh-,t offenders and gives them sentences oi six months or a vear in the co„nty gaol, telling then, he is dointhen a i-'ivoi.r by keeping them out of the penitentiary. l;, n } lc a ,. nia]lv ocl.-vering them, into a school for crime. -At the penitentiaries the w,.rk hard, ate closely sup cn.se, 1. and have little time to d.scu-s C.„intv gaols, how e:-. ar.- extremely ] a \. and dtirin-v-.c f„-t 'f'Vi' ,M ' r . v tri.-k and turn oi t lie criminal game. 1 1-,-m my 1 *'i' '"'ige ~f criminal lite 1 "'--I --.•••- n v , :,j. v ! ''"111. t V J.: i 5..,- ,e; - I ~e ai.d segregate : ir .i , " : ,.i . ; your crime ).;!1 u i,,. ( ... ( - t 1 llimii:at e t] n i,u.,. v. f,i young ;; and there will 1,,. , , ' V-m-i :ti, n as \I- i- - , , , (V.A.N.A.) "