LORD KYLSANT’S TERM.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 298, 16 December 1931, Page 1

LORD KYLSANT’S TERM.

Will Do Ten Hours’ Work a Day. LONDON, November 5. The failure of Lord Kylsant’s appeal against his sentence of twelve months in the second division makes one ask, “What is the second division?” The treatment, diet and labour of second division and third division, or hard labour, prisoners are identical. The only distinction between the two is that second division prisoners do not associate with those in the third division, in which are placed prisoners who are depraved and are usually of criminal habits. The routine includes ten hours of work every day—eight hours outside the cell and two hours in the evening inside. The nature of the work depends on the prisoner’s physical strength and his age. Older prisoners are usually employed in the library, laundry, or in the printers’ shop. On his arrival at Wormwood Scrubs yesterday, Lord Kylsant was taken into the reception room and told to remove money, jewellery, papers and other articles from his pockets. These are entered in a special book and signed for by the prisoner. A suit of prison clothes is then provided. Ordinarily these clothes are taken from the shelves in the storeroom, but owing to Lord Kylsant s great height—he is 6ft 7in tall—a special suit had to be prepared. The prison garb consists of a dark brown suit, a dark blue linen shirt with a polo collar attached, a brown mixture tie, and dark brogue shoes of Army pattern. Before changing the prisoner has to take a bath. He is then given a mug of cocoa and some bread and margarine. This is his tea. When Lord Kylsant passed a night in Wormwood Scrubs in July he was ordered to the hospital, and he will spend the first week of his sentence there on account of his age, 68. The food in the hospital is much better than that provided for prisoners in the cells. If he is then found fit, he will perform such tasks and duties as are given to second class prisoners. His daily routine begins at 6 a.m. when he will have to get up, arrange his bed and scrub out his cell. Just after 7.30 he will be given breakfast in his cell of milkless and sugarless tea, porridge, bread and a small portion of margarine.