A GREAT AMERICAN PRISON

Evening Star, Issue 20486, 17 May 1930, Page 19

A GREAT AMERICAN PRISON

THE OHIO PENITENTIARY SOME LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS [Written by Warwick, for the ‘ Evening Star.’] During the last fortnight tho Ohio Penitentiary in the United States has come into world-wide prominence by reason of the terrible tragedy which has occurred there. As the result of a great fire, which destroyed a large portion of the living quarters of the convicts, no fewer than 323 prisoners lost their lives through being burnt or suffocated, while many more are likely to succumb. It must have been a night of horror The quick spread of the flames, the confusion which prevailed preventing the fire-fighting apparatus from being properly utilised, and the fear of the guards to throw open the doors of the cells lest the convicts might endeavour to escape, are held to he responsible for the extent of the tragedy. Dickens in ‘ Barnaby Rudge ’ has described a great prison fire, the occasion being the burning down of Newgate Gaol during the Gordon riots. It helps us to visualise in some measure the fire in the Ohio Penitentiary, which, however, has been infinitely more terrible than the one which Dickens describes. Since the fire the convicts who ©scaped death have been in a state of mutiny against tho administration of the penitentiary, and tho National Guard has been called in to help quell disturbances. From the hints given in the cables and from the past history of the prison, it seems more than likely that there is considerable . ground . for the unrest. The Ohio Penitentiary is one of the big prisons of the United States. Its name may not be so familiar as that of. Sing Sing, but, in addition to the dreadful fire which has just occurred, several things in connection with it have helped to make it known outside the confines of Ohio State. For instance,. it once obtained some reputation for itself as a gaol where different industries were carried otr. Then there was the association with it of “ 0. Henry,” the noted short-story writer. It was while ho was an inmate of this penitentiary that “ 0. Henry ” commenced to write stories and to send them out for publication.. This fact became known later on, and what was written on this matter gave the institution plenty of publicity. The great fire t which has just occurred has, of course, focussed further attention upon the Ohio Penitentiary. Of late years it has become fashionable for persons in all wa’ks of life to write their reminiscences. Thus it

is that Eddie Guerin, a notorious “ crook,” has been impelled to write his autobiography. Guerin, who ; at one time or another, occupied prisons in America, France, and England, as well as serving a term ,on French Guiana, spent two years in the Ohio Penitentiary. Tho references in his book give us some idea of how the prison was conducted during his confinement there. Guerin writes; “There was no monkey business about life in the Ohio ‘ Pen ’. We were not allowed to talk, and there was no exercise worth speaking of. All the prisoners had to march lock-step from tho colls to the dining room, and from the dining room to the workshops and factories. When marching in lock-step the prisoners fell into a long wriggling queue, with hands on each other’s shoulders, doing a sort of elephantine dance. It may be amusing when seen on tho films, but certainly no joke when done in the penitentiary. Punishments in those days often took the form ,of electric shocks, the prisoner being placed in a bath, so that the strength of the current would be intensified. “In this way,” continues Guerin, “the organisation of tho Ohio ‘Pen.’ was marvellous. Apparently the State authorities tried to make it self-sup-porting. There were cigar factories, iron roller mills, tin shops, boot factories, blacksmiths’ shops, all inside the prison walls. They were run by contractors, to whom tho State hired the convicts at a wage of 50 cents (or 2s a, day). These contractors were all sweaters, their • idea being to get all they could out of the men, and the warders stood in. In one way and another’ life inside the gaol was as had as it pould be. ; In one industry in particular the men were no better thati slaves, and sometimes the convicts deliberately indicted severe injuries upon themselves so that they might be sent to the prison hospital. The prison discipline was terrific. I have never seen anything like it, and f, never want to 1 ive another dose. Life in tho Ohio ‘Pen.’ could do nothing but send me still farther headlong to ruin. Old-timers of the worst possible type were put into my cell, and they took a savage delight in teaching me all they, knew.” , Strong as is the criticism of the Ohio Penitentiary made by Guerin, it, is mildly written when compared, with that penned by Al Jennings in his widely-read hook ‘ Through the Shadows With’ 0. Henry.’ Jennings served a term of imprisonment in the penitentiary towards the close of the nineteenth century, and though twenty odd years had elapsed since the, time, of Guerin’s incarceration, conditions seem •to have grown worse rather than to have improved. The state of things was appalling, and one can hardly imagine that it existed just a generation ago. The food was horribly bad, and the cells, because of the lack of ventilation, were foul smelling in the extreme. The week-end, instead of being tho best part of the week, was the worst. The prisoners were locked up from Saturday till Monday, two men to a cell which measured 4ft by Sft. “ Sundays passed in this fashion,” says Jennings, “left me weak, stifled, murderous. The life was brutalising to the mind, and injurious to the body. I have seen men come in husky giants and go out wasted wrecks.” There were a few cases, however, of convicts actually thriving in tho Ohio Penitentiary. These fortunate individuals were the occupants of a block of cells known as “The Bankers Row,” and reserved for a privileged class. This privileged class included financiers, speculators, and big business men, who had been guilty of robbing the public in a manner deemed more respectable. Their cells were furnished with mirrors and carpets, and in short were neat parlours compared with the ordinary convict’s quarters. ’ The system of hiring th© labour of tho prisoners to contractors, still persisted, and Al Jennings draws a more distressing picture of. what took place than Guerin. According to Jennings these contractors paid only, 3D cents a day for a prisoner’s sservices, yet if a given task was not finished on time, the convict was sent to, the “hole” for punishment. , Details of these punishments are given, but ,need not be repeated- here. Suffice it to say that the offenders were .beaten and tortured. Cases of attempted suicide were of almost nightly occurrence, and occasionally someone would succumb to bis injuries. The Ohio “ Pen ” and Van Dieman’s Land in the bad old days seem to have much in common. It is common knowledge that the writer known to the, world as “ O Henry ” was confined in the Ohio penitentiary for a term. Tn Al Jennings’s book, ‘ Through the Shadows with . * O Henry,’ ’ we get-some first-hand information as to this part of the writer’s life, for Jennings (who bad previously been friendly with O. Henry), was a fellow-prisoner in the “ Pen,” and as will ,bo seen later, saw the famous writer frequently. , “0. Henry ” (whose real, name was Porter) bad bad somo experience as a pharmacist, and because of this was appointed a dispenser in tho hospital. Not only had he to sen-e out drugs to convicts in hospital, or behind barred doors, but he was forced to accompany the prison doctor and aid him to restore-the convicts after punishment. The position was considered an easy one, but Jennings says “ no toil could have corroded more into the heart of a man of Porter’s temperament" than did, this unabated contact with human misery.

After experiencing, the rigours of the ordinary convict’s life. Jennings was given a job in the prison, post office, where he enjoyed comparative freedom. About this time Porter commenced to write and Jennings gives an idea of the extraordinary circumstances ,in which “ 0. Henry ” came into existence. Porter was then on night duty at the hospital dispensary, around which were grouped five wards. When bis services were not in demand “ Bill ” Porter would sit at a desk, and practice writing. Night after night - he did so. in a grizzly atmosphere of prison death, and prison brutality, the quietness of the night being disturbed by the groans of the broken men, the coughs of tho wasted, the gasps of the dying.. Even.in, such surroundings the smile of his genius bubbled up—the smile born cf heartache and humiliation. The first story that Porter sent out was submitted to the, criticism of Jennings, and one Billv Baidler, another prisoner employed in the post office, both of whom were moved to tears as the author read it. One of tho priviliged convicts in the prison was a Frenchman—a banker from New Orleans—and it was arranged that Porter's copy should bo posted by the banker’s sister in the city mentioned. and so bear the New Orleans postmark. To the disappointment of all the story was rejected, but Porter continued to write and write, and success came.

Every life is a drama, and the lives of the convicts must have furnished many striking examples. The convict as ci subject for a story never, however. appealed to Porter, and be made no attempt to ferret out the secrets of men in'tho “ Pen.” One incident in tho life of a certain Dick Price be did nse. making him the original of Jimmy Valentine in the story ‘ A Retrieved Reformation.’

. Porter, after liis release from the penitentiary, took no steps to acquaint the public with the abuses taking (dace in the prison. He purposely refrained from doing so. His experiences in the “ Pen ” bad been such a nightmare, that, rightly or wrongly, he would do

nothing which would recall them. One day, while they were both still in prison. Jennings remarked to Porter that no supposed that he * (Porter), when ho got out, would bring matters before the public. With his gifts he could do wonders in breaking down the system. Porter replied: “I shall do nothing- of the kind. I shall never mention the name of prison. ] shall not speak of crime and punishment, or attempt to bring a remedy for the diseased soul of society. I shall try to forget that I ever breathed behind these walls.” Doubtless something has been accomplished in the way of ameliorating the prison conditions since the time when this conversation took place, but apparently there is still need for radical changes. A cable reporting on the fire stated that the penitentiary is antiquated and quoted the opinion of the National Society for Penal Information to the effect that it “ suffers from a condition of overcrowding, worse ttan that of any other prison.” Let us hope that the terrible fire which nas occurred will do something to bring about that’ reconstruction and reorganisation of the Ohio penitentiary which are so badly needed.