THE LYTTELTON INFERNO.

NZ Truth, Issue 120, 5 October 1907, Page 6

THE LYTTELTON INFERNO.

THE DOMICILE OF THE DOOMED AND DAMNED.

The Slow, Cruel Torture of a Consumptive.

More Sidelights on Our Wretched Prisons System*

/(By " Ex-Prisoner,")

Ceffc to '"Truth," as it always is, to throw the light of day on all that is dark, and all that is miserable and wretched, it was only to be expected that if any exposure was to be made of the cruel, cold and callous inhum- | anity existing m New Zealand prisons, that that exposure would be made m these columns. Of recent months much has been said m this paper concerning the manner m which the Lyttelton Prison is conducted. Sufficienthas been said, more can be proved out of the mouths of ex-prisoners and others who know, concerning this inferno, eminently warranting a Commission of Inquiry into the conduct of this gaol. Certainly, the exposures made have been productive of good, yet the fact remains that there is need for further reform, and, m advocating further reforms, "Truth" proposes to publish by instalments a very lengthy letter written by an ex-inmate of that gaol. This prisoner, while undergoing a term of imprisonment, contracted consumption. His story is a sad, sordid, and shocking one. It is a story of base and gross inhumanity that one would hardly credit, even m a gaol. Anyhow, the letter will speak for itself :—- --THE LYTTELTON INFERNO. I wish, through the columns of your valuable paper, to give still further facts concerning the Lyttelton" Inferno, so termed m your paper several times. I, too, have had my share of the brutal treatment of both Dr. Newell and the hang-dog and sulky warders. It was m June, 190G, that I first entered the prison, on remand for eight days. During that time I caught a .slight cold. I went to the Christchurch Magistrate's Court and received a sentence of six months' imprisonment. The day I entered the gaol was a bitterly cqld one, but that made no difference to Warder Braddie, who ordered me to have a bath of ice cold water. I refused to go m to the bath, but brutal Braddle said if I did not have a bath and give less cheek, he would have me thrown m. I wanted to see the doctor first ; but no ! Braddle was boss, therefor© I had to have a swim. The effect of it was that I got a severe cold, and on going to Dr. Newell a fortnight later, I asked him to allow me to wear braces and told him that I had a bad cold. His answer was very pleasing. "How long have you been m?" he asked. I said "just about a week." "A week," said he, "you can't have braces, and the cold will wear off ; you're not acclimatized." Now, Warder Blatchford was present when the above took place. I didn't go near Newell for about six or eight weeks after that, and Warder Blatchford was again present on that occasion. The cold that the Dr.; said would wear off had

GONE INTO DRY PLEURISY, : and when I went to see the Dr. a month subsequently, he asked me [ what was the matter. I told him and Ihe sounded me a bit, and then turned round and ordered me cough mixture three times a day for one week. I j said to the Dr. at the time, "Dr., I could you not let me have some Cod Liver Oil or Emulsion to' fatten my lungs a bit ?" The doctor's reply was, "Oh, we can't feed you, it's too expensive." I had to go on m agony and take his cough mixture, which another bright specimen of humanity —called —has got the making of. It was lovely stuff !. Well, time went on, and I FINALLY DROPPED INTO CON- ; SUMPTION, and a nice time I had of it, too, at the hands of the doctor. He allowed me three eggs a day and three pints of milk, a little corn flour, and kept me m bed seven weeks for a j start. The next performance was to shift me to Nurse Maude's consumptive camp at New Brighton. I was there for five weeks. Next I was committed for trial and got an addition to my sentence of six. months. In fact I had another four years to start with. I was then taken back to the gaol to commence my new lot and once more to undergo the torture that Dr. Newell seemingly likes to deal out to me and other unfortu- | nates. The officers hated the sight of me. Why ? Because I used to see j too marry filthy practices going on, I and did not forget to let them know j all about it. One warder, Pat Mur- .! ray, has got about Gin. of spare skin under his chin, and is always amusing himself pulling at it when he has no one to bark at ; but if he has some poor unfortunate prisoner to let fly at, that big Irish tongue is ever wagging, and whoever the prisoner may be, he is generally pretty lucky if he escapes from going under the stairs. This Murray told me one morning to get off the landing and walk the ring after just coming out of bed. I had been m bed for 25 days j at the time, and I told Murray that j I would do no such thing, whereupon he reported me to Chief Warder Nicholson and said that I told him (Murray) that I could walk where I liked. I asked Murray to repeat the exact words I had used, and if he could not do that he should not tell a lie. Warder Murray came a second time, and told mc not to be talking to any of the other prisoners. I asked him what he meant and whether he was taking upon himself to inflict punishment! He said no, and that I was not to give him any check. I turned round and told him straight that if he would be good enough to leave me alone and go and catch a couple of notorious gaol-birds COMMITTING UNNATURAL OFFENCES on the Burnham boys he would be ! doing some good. Murray denied that j there was any such crime committed jin gaol, hut I told him that it was goiU'A on m front of. his very eyes, and

that He could no'f Eelp but see it. Anyhow he never went to look. To give an idea of the sort of a man Warder Nicholson is, the following might suffice : I was sent to bed one time by the doctor on account of spitting blood, and during the time I was m bed I got hold of one of your "Truths" about March 3, if I remember aright. In that issue there appeared a nice little letter about the Lyttelton Gaol. Part of the article declared that "Truth" had m its possession a letter written by a prisoner serving a long sentence m the Lyttelton Prison and that the said letter would not be published.

's name was mentioned m that letter and he did not, of course, like it. He went about the gaol-yard pumping prisoners likely to know anything about it. He got very little satisfaction, and he next contrived to get the ears of Warders Murphy and Hatter. Chief Warder Nicholson next seemed to have formed his own conclusions about the letter writer, and the result was that as many restrictions as possible were placed on me. I could do nothing right, and I will give one instance of how contemptible the man could become m his treatment of a prisoner that was laid up m bed most of the time as I was . _ used to attend on me when I was m bed, and on one particular morning he came into my cell to wash up a few dishes, and he asked me if I had seen "Truth." I said, "Yes." He asked me' if I knew who wrote it. I said, "How the hell do I know ? Go and ask some of those Burnham boys that you carry on with, and get out of the cell, and don't

COME NEAR ME AGAIN."' He wanted to know what was wrong with me. I told him if he did not shift quick, he'd go with a pot after him. He went away, and I sent a cleaner mto tell Chief Warder Nicholson that I wanted him. Nicholson came, and I told him that I would thank him very much if he would tell not to come near me, as I did not want .him. Nicholson asked why, and I told him that I did not want men like running round me. "I don't want sodomists hanging round my cell." Well Nicholson turned round and told me I was very ungrateful when a man like was doing all he could for me. I said I was not by any means' ungrateful, but "I ask you kindly to tell

not to come near my cell at all." Nicholson, said he had no other one to attend on me, and that I would have to put up with -— , whereupon I told Nicholson that if

came near my cell after my asking him to take him away I would sling one of the cell utensils at him. Nicholson went away, and shortly came back to me and tolcL me he was going to send me someone else to clean up the cell, and that he (Nicholson) was going to report me for threatening my fellow-prisoner. I told Nicholson that I wished him luck and to fire away. I was m bed at this time on account of throwing up blood. I had been m bed about 8 days when the above took place. Nicholson did not report me as he threatened, but he got even m another way, as he told the doctor all about what happened, and got the doctor to keep me m bed twelve days after the blood was stopped. Dr. Newell's statement when I went to bed again was that I was to stop m bed for 10 days. Hie said it took about ten days to stop after it had stopped bleeding from the lungs. Before this I had been m bed for the same thing, but the doctor always let me up after the blood had stopped. Nicholson got the doctor to keep me m bed twelve days longer than he should have, but you will see that that was my punishment for telling Nicholson that I did notjwant his favorite, —*•——*, running after me.

ANOTHER DIRTY POINT Nicholson worked on me, I will relate. Shortly after my return to the gaol I had my cell door left open from 6.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. Now, when Nicholson took a set on

me for summing up , he took upon himself to have my cell door closed at the usual time, 4.30 p.m. This happened 0.11 a Saturday afternoon, and though I had been to see the doctor, never a word did either Nicholson or Newell say about closing my door at the usual time. I did not know that such a dirty trick was going to be done. However, m the evening, at lock-up time, Pat Murray said to me, "Get your tea ." I said, No, that the cook would fetch it when it was ready. Murray said that I would have to get my tea at the same time as the rest. Well, the cook fetched my tea, and Pat Murray banged the door, which was a surprise to me. I yelled out to Murray and asked what the closing of my door meant, and he replied, "See the Chief." I did see the Chief and asked him what was the reason my door was closed. Nicholson's answer was that the doctor thought it was getting too cold for me, and that the doctor had ordered the door to be closed. I turned to the Chief and said that he could go and tell that tale to some chump, but not come telling those tales or playing such tricks with me, aud at the same time I asked the Chief to let me see the doctor, and he replied that I had seen him m the afternoon. "Never mind," said. I, "I want to see him this evening again, or I'll know the reason why." Well, I wait--ed about three-quarters .of an hour, and bang went my cell stool against the door, and "Old Bags" Parker, a big fat warder, came and opened my cell and asked me what I wanted. I told him I wanted to see the doctor right away. "Do you think that wo have nothing else to do but run for dorto-s foe ynn 7" said Porker. I said "V'o'.i'rc paid to look after me, not me to. look after yourself,"-

and all the time that I was talking to Warder Parker, Chief Warder Nicholson and Dr. Newell were standing not six yards from my cell door. I could not see them myself, but I was told so on the Sunday morning by. another prisoner who was m

THE FANCY JOB OF YARDMAN, and happened to be out a little longer than the other prisoners. On Sunday morning, about 11.50 a.m., the doctor came m to see me, and asked me what was the matter. I told him I wanted to know why my cell-door was shut. The doctor turned round and said he the warm weather had passed away, and the cold had set m. I said, "Has it ?" The doctor again said that he did not want me to catch a cold, and to leave the door open would only prevent me from getting better. And yet the same Dr. Newell said to me only a few weeks before that it would not matter if I was sleeping out m the middle of the yard, and woke up m the morning and found three inches of snow on my bedclothes. And yet, on this occasion, m the month of March, it was too cold to have even a cell door open a little longer for a prisoner suffering from consumption. I went to Nicholson on the Monday morning, and asked him for an explanation of his action, and he said that he had more things to think of than one, and that the door of my cell was not meant to be left open always. "But, Mr Nicholson," said I, "do you remember that when the doctor ordered my door to be left open, you yourself laid clown a rule for me to go by, and if I broke it, the door would be closed and not left open at the usual hours." I must explain the rule the Chief Warder laid down. I was not to leave my cell under any pretence after the other cells were closed without the order of a warder. And I can truthfully say that THAT RULE WAS NEVER BROKEN, and yet Nicholson got the door closed because I was seeing a little too much for his and his under-strappers' liking. Warder T. Rafter asked me next morning how I was feeling, and I told him I was none the better of his asking. Tommy said, "How's that, what have I done to you ?" I said, "You'll find out soon enough." "Well," be said, "you brought it on yourself." "Oh, did I?" I replied, "that is something new. I'll see what I've brought, and I'll see what I can fetch on to you. You would like to know what I have got m my block, would you, Mr Rafter ?" "Oh, no, I don't want to know," he replied, Well, things went along splendid for some time. Splendidly m this way, if only to show how a prisoner who was not a bit of a crawler got a merry time.