THE DUNEDIN GAOL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 150, 9 May 1862, Page 4

THE DUNEDIN GAOL.

So much has been, said,of late concerning the Dunedin tlaol —its hick of sufficient ajcominorl:ition,ils 'insecurity, and its unhenlthincss, — that we h: ye thought it advisable to lny before our rcadurs a' detailed description of it, with an .account of. its .present state; and so to assist them .in. forming a proper opinion as to the necessity-that-exists for the erection of a new building, bLtter adapted in every respect to the present requirements of the Province. The Gaol- is, in external appearance, a compact looking building, built of hard-bluest one,and apparently of great strength. Tt consists of a square central tower, from which four oblong wings are built out, and the entire block is made up to a square externally by the enclosure of the corners thus formed, into courts or yards, bounded by a fourteen-foot wall.

On ringing at the entrance gate and obtaining admission, the visitor finds himself in a. small court, from which doors open into different parts of the building. Opening into this yard is the kitchen, which appears very low and small, but is clean and well kept; and the' lavatory where arc two baths and a supply of water for washing purposes also opens into'this yard. Passing from this yard, the visitor is first conducted to the " solitary cells," six in number; three on the ground floor, and three above. These cells are very inconveniently constructed; the doors are made to open inwards, so that a refractory prisoner might oppose his door being opened; the approach to them is also had, the stair being'so placed as to be ill the way of the lower entrances and to afford' a very Insecure approach to the upper cells. Three of these cells, the lower ones, one used for lunatics. One of these men, the one in the middle cell, was very noisy when our reporter visited the gaol, but the other two were quite quiet. One of them was in bed,_ and seemed almost, if not quite, sane, but very weak. It was pitiable to think that a man who, to all appearance required nothing so much as quiet, should be shut up in the next coll to a roaring, raving madman. We understand that since our reporter visited the prison on "Wednesday, the weakly lunatic has found rest in the grave. Passing into the body of the prison, and through an iron gate, we come to a scries of sets of cells, which open off'short passages, and all of which are at present occupied. It would be needless for us to give a detailed description of these cells, as what applies to one set applies with almost equal force to all. .We may say of them then, in general terms, that thej- are badly ventilated, or not ventilated at all; that they are too small for the number of prisoners placed in each ; that those on the ground floor are clamp and unwholesome ; but that all are as clean as ■whitewash can make them, and that every pains seems to be taken, by the prison authorities to counteract the evil effects of the want of ventilation, by opening windows and permitting free" currents'of air through the building, hi some of the cells, we should mention, there are ventilation holes at ,the top, but in most of them there is no provision of the kind. We will now briefly notice the different sets of cells, wards, and yards, in the order in which we inspected them. Set,of three culls on ground floor, damp and ■ close; in the first, two convicted prisoners and two lunatics, in the other two, four hard labor men each. The men sleep on bunks, as in a ship's cabin, lilxercise yard, about 40 feet by 3G feet, enclosed by buildings on three sides, and a wall 14 feet high on the fourth; no drainage to this yard—very miserable in wet weather. Two cells, one appropriated to Gar-' rctt, and the other for four hard labor men; no ventilation. Poiir cells—no ventilation —. four men in each. . Penal yard (so called) 40 feet by 18. feet, no drainage. This yard is used for the exercise of the men awaiting trial, and when we visited the gaol was the only exercise yard for thirty-one prisoners.. Turnkey's room 9 feet by 12 feet, the only room for nine turnkeys to get their meals in. It is a low apartment with a brick floor, and furnished with a deal table and an American stove. We may add that the turnkeys are by the present arrangements, little better off than prisoners, for they are locked in at night. On proceeding upstairs we come first to the chief Warder's room, the'only room" which is not.shut in by an iron gate. To make up for this privilege, however, the Warder has to submit to the annoyance of prisoners passing through to wards beyond, which have no other communication with the stairs. The firstof these wards, about 18 feet by 18 feet, was originally intended as a sick-room for female prisoners. It was now however used as a dormitory for fourteen men. Beyond is a passage with two cells, three beds in each. In this passage a shoemaker was .it work when we visited the gaol, the only man we saw-at work at any trade about the place..

We next visited the debtor's portion of the prison. Here are two sleeping apartments and a sitting or day room, one of the sleeping rooms being occupied by three turnkeys, who are locked in with the prisoners. Below is the debtors' yard, about 18 feet by 18 feet. This yard is the only place the debtors have for exercise, and it is too small and too damp for any of, the sports or exercises with .which they might otherwise while away the tedium of their incarceration. The game of fives or racquet even- is denied them, for the external wall is too low to serve for playing against. The women's department corresponds to the debtors', and consists of a day room and three cells. Here nine women and children are- confined1 At the top of the central tower is the chapel, a plain apartment i nearly thirty feet square. The radical fault in thf construction of the gaol is, as it appears 1 to us, the lack of arrangement for supervision. The building is all nooks and corners, and requires for its management and the safe custody of the prisoners, a far larger staff of turnkeys' than would be needed with a better arranged building. The only way that anything like security is attained is by placing iron gates .at, all the passages, and, within,' these prisoners .: and turnkeys alike are locked up at night. The want of ventilation we have already alluded to. as also to the dampness and lack of drainage ; and to these faults must be added • that of positive insecurity.

The old Gaol is a wooden building of no pretensions to solidity or security, and it is now exclusively used for short-sentence men, who are employed in wood-cutting and other work about the yard. It is hardly necessary to say anything of this building, but we may mention that in the one particular of ventilation, it appears to be decidedly superior to its more pretentious neighbor. We cannot clone this ■ notice of the Gaol without expressing a hope that the construction of a suitable and properly arranged building in a proper situation will be proceeded with without delay.

In tlfc debate the evening before last, Jfr. Reynolds let fall a remark which, besides being- illconsidered, was of a most cruel and libellous nature. "No ' respectable females," ho said, " would leave their native country to. come out here 'unprotected." Now, considering that a very large number of unprotected females have come out 'to the province, and that many thousands of the same have gone to Australia, - a remark of the kind reflects in the 'most disparaging manner-upon a very large class-of persons ,whosei weakness, if nothing else, should be their defence against un-

'merited reproach. No doubt amongst tlic unprotected females that have come out, ninny objectionable characters wt-'re to be foiind, but v,e arc gliid to think thnt these did not form the majority, niiy, not. even a large minority. But to ray that not one of .the number was respectable was something • more than cruel,—indeed, ive hesitate, to use a sufficiently . st'ong word for it. Alnuyof those young jiirls ■ braved the voyage and <lnrcrt all the difiicultics, fancied and real, that lay before tliciu, in a new and to them .unknown land: buoyed up by native strength of character, aided probably in most cases 'by family reasons. A large number of them are married to respectable colonists, and the slander will carry its malignant sting into the littppy cottage of many an exemplary wife and mother, who for the first, aud Jet us hope for the last time, will find her character ■ unjustly assailed. Wo trust Mr. Reynolds having probably dropped the remark in the heat of dp* bate, -without meaning what he said, will think fit to withdraw it.

We have purposely avoided notieeing the Duncdin (Town Board) Amendment Ordinance as the fact was patent that it was intended to rush it through the . council. This "was undoubtedly done last night, the whole of the 61 clauses Averc read and assented to, and two other important ordinances, the Harbor Trust Leasing, and the Muuicipal Loan Ordinances vel ceived ■ equally hurried treatment. Considering the important nature v.of these measures, such ■, hasty legislation speaks for itself. There can bo ' no excuse after such a short session for a "•slaughter of the innocents," after this fashion. It is almost certain that the Town Board Amend- '■ merit Ordinance.will be refused the assent of the General Government. When the Grand Jury were challenged, yesterday morning-, at the opening of the Criminal Court, before his Honor, Mr. Justice Grcsson, th» undermentioned gentlemen did not respond on their names being called ; Messrs, James Jone3, William Hunter Reynolds, Charles Flack, Robert Campbell, aud William Sha'nd. It is expected that the Supreme Court will be one month in session ; and as the private room accessible for the daily sittings of the Resident Magistrate's Court is inconveniently small, his Worship has determined upon hiring a suitable building for the transaction of Police business, until that of the Court above, shall have terminated; The nevr prisoners' dock in the Court House is of most faulty contraction. The witnesses are not in full view of the prisoners, and not only are the general body of spectators entirely prevented from seeing the prisoner,, but the jury are scarcely in a better position in this respect. We understand that the contract (to which we referred the other day) for. the erection of the electric telegraph to Port Chalmers will expire on the lGth of the next month, and that in' the event of its non-completion by the present contractors,withiii that time, the work will be proceeded with by a company, some time since formed for the • purpose, and, if necessary, - continued to the Heads, as originally designed by the Government As this contract was advertised so far back as

December last, it is to be hoped that the. promised means of communication, will be provide! without any unnecessary delay.

The Provincial Council held their sitting yesterday evening, in the office room of the Town Board, Princes-street, the Court House being oc-" cupied by the Criminal Sessions. In two hours' time hon. members had run through the sixtyone clauses of the Dunedin Improvement Ordinance, 18G2, and the twelve clauses with schedule appended'of the Dunedin Municipal Loan Ordinance, 18G2,. after which, being thoroughly exhausted by such rapid legislation, the House took info its head to retire for five and twenty minutes for refreshments. Re-invigorated by their repast, hon. members then disposed of the Scab Prevention Bill, which was read a, third time and passed. The Otago Harbour. Trust Leasing Ordinance passed the second reading-, and the Public Loan (buildings) Bill passed into law.

The promoters of the establishment of a Benevolent asylum are progressing satisfactorily, in, their labors.- The subscription-list already numbers a great many subscribers, and ie is proposed to call a meeting of these at an early date, to elect a permanent committee of management, The late performance of the Garrick Chib has left a result of nearly £70 iv favor of the asylum, a check for which the interim committee received from the treasurer. The Council has passed £1000 in aid of the'building, and £250 in aid of the maintenance of the asylum. As soon as the permanent committee is elected the building will be at once proceeded with.