Dreaded Alcatraz it’s now a mecca for tourists

Press, 14 March 1980, Page 17

Dreaded Alcatraz it’s now a mecca for tourists

From J

JOHN HUTCHISON,

in San Francisco

One day in the 19405, when it was. the. world’s best-known prison, the island of,Alcatraz, which was' operated almost like an independent duchy, repulsed a landing attempt by the United States, Ma-,., lines. ■. < . It. was a .comic , paragraph in a serious chapter, when y rioting ? 4 : prisoners seized a section ;of the notorious jail. Word . of. the '.‘.break.” on. Alcatraz 'shot through the’hews services — . the Alcatraz -.where . America's most dangerous, most incorrigible murderers . and gangsters, were •locked up, in ~- ah institution more famous than the ..Bastille,. Devil’s . Island, or; grim sWormwood;Scrubs. < Although only a kilo-’ metre or rso off San -Fr'ancisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz was inaccessible . to the press.’ The phone service was limited; the only, other communication was; the prison’s own boat service, denied to all. but prison staff and families. Tiie'press 'frustration was c i i . Then.'; th'e;Manne Corps

military assistance. One marine had been dis-, patched with a rifle- and a crate of rifle grenades. He would attempt, with this • h i g h-trajectory weapon, to drop his explosives on the roof of the . barricaded cell block, to blow holes ■ in the structure. Marine headquarters invited the. press to observe the ■ ■ We were a motley crew of cameramen, reporters, , and broadcasters aboard a naval landing craft commanded, in a manner of speaking, by a marine lieutenant. We cast off for Alcatraz arid in a few; minutes were approaching • the Ctiny,, dock . of that ’ . bleak ; and stony stronghold. . About 100;. metres from the pier our impec-' cably dressed,. proper .lieu- ... tenant, picked up a mega-. / phone and hailed a prison guard, the only human being visible on the island. -. “We care coming’ ashore,’’bellbwed'ourTieu-i tenant,-;',‘under the; author-.-' | ity'of the commandant-of. , Nival Dis- , he

way to r Hawaii' and be-, yond.. The guard was unimpressed. He Shouted back: “Don’t bring that boat any closer.” Our marine could hardly believe he had rightly heard a civilian policeman defy his admiral. He repeated his message. The guard restated his response with vigour, - arid then, as our boat drifted

toward him, he drew a large pistol. .'“Lieutenant," he said, - very convincingly, “if- you don’t shove off/ I’ll -shoot.; you.”.'. AThe red-faced lieutenant nodded to his coxswain ahd we pulled away. The Duchy.,, of 'Alcatraz had defeated'the United: States Marines- ' c -,t ' The/rlotf.'a violent one, \yas : squelched eral days, with the “aid of the' sergeant who fired the grenades into ‘the S’fc'”/®. ,’>'L

R,ock.” First named by the Spaniards who discovered ‘it, -for 'the “alcatraces”,. (pelicans) which were oc-cupying-it in; 1769, Alcatraz became an American military prison in 1859. It was made a civilian prison in 1934. .'Tn 1963, having become an anachronism in modern penology and a prohibitively expensive institution to maintain, it

was.abandoned. In 1972, it became • a part of- the national park system and now, to the puzzlement of many. established San Franciscans, it is a major tourist attraction. Nearly 2,4 million have visited the nine-ha. island, to climb its stfeep road, tramp through the crumbling buildings, and listen, open-mouthed, to guides 'identifying such points .of once inhabited by Al (Scarface). Capone and George

-.escaped. .Twenty-six were -recaptured on the island, seven- were shot and killed. Three are known to have drowned in ; the cold and treacherous waters, .200 feet deep, which separate Alcatraz from the mainland. Of the other five, none is known to have reached shore and the presumption is that no escaper from the Rock ever set foot in freedom. ' ' ’' , '■ ‘ Alcatraz is sb popular ■ with ■ tourists .today,, that ' queues T sometimes ; form- < at 8 - a.m. for.. • the • $2 tickets . for the boat's that run . from ' Pier 43. They' run every 45 minutes -between 9 a.m". ' arid 3 p.m. (5.15 p.m. in - summer.) The trip and the tour of the island .take about two hours. ; On a bright day, the excursion affords a view of San Francisco and. the . Golden Gate Bridge which for some sightseers is at; least as. rewarding, as the -'cold, windy tramp through the derelict ■ buildings < wnere the tounst can enjoy — if that is the 'wprd for.it —> being lock- „ KhK£s2<KiK tbe