The Chicago Eagle - Saturday, July 6, 1895
This report was originally published in English. Machine translations may be available in other languages.
PENTONVILLE PRISON.
Where Oscar Wilde Is Confined - Ser-
vice and Punishment of Convicts.
The most famous English prison, from the fact that it has sheltered more than the usual number of famous crooks within its walls, is Pentonville prison, or, as it is better known, the "Model" prison of all England. Within it is now confined Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright and felon, and it is now, for that reason alone, a curiosity in the criminal world.
The most famous prison, from the fact that it has sheltered more than the usual number of famous crooks within its walls, is Pentonville Prison, or, as it is better known, the "Model" prison of all England. Within it is now confined Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright, and felon, and it is now, for that reason alone, a curiosity in the criminal world. It is, further, a fair example of the average English prison.
Of all the prisons, the most famous from the fact that it has sheltered more than the usual number of famous crooks within its walls, is Pentonville Prison, or, as it is better known, the "Model" prison of all England. Within it is now confined Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright and felon, and it is now, for that reason alone, a curiosity in the criminal world. It is, further, a fair sample of the average English prison.
Of all these prisons, the most famous from the fact that it has sheltered more than the usual number of famous crooks within its walls, is Pentonville Prison, or, as it is better known, the "Model" prison of all England. Within it is now confined Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright and felon, and it is now, for that reason alone, a curiosity in the criminal world. It is, further, a fair sample of the average English prison.
Of all these prisons the most famous, from the fact that it has sheltered more than the usual number of famous crooks within its walls, is Pentonville Prison, or, as it is better known, the "Model" prison of all England. Within it is now confined Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright, and felon, and it is now, for that reason alone, a curiosity in the criminal world. It is, further, a fair example of the average English prison.
In the prison there are four stages of services. In the first-class the prisoner has to perform first-class hard labor for a certain number of hours in each day. That means he has to work in the treadmill or upon what is known as the "cranks." The treadmill, or treadwheel, is not a particularly useful machine. The prisoners call service upon it "treading the wind," and that is about what it is, for it seems to serve no useful purpose, except to keep prisoners employed when there isn't anything else for them to do. The mill is connected with a fan, which is so arranged as to give enough resistance to the mill to make the words "hard labor" mean what they say. The prisoner ascends something like 7,200 feet, or 2,400 yards, for a day's labor. Crank labor consists of making 10,000 revolutions of a crank. The dial plate registers the number of revolutions made. A convict at ordinary rate of speed makes 1,200 revolutions of the crank an hour, so to turn 10,000 of them means about eight hours and twenty minutes labor.
Punishments in Pentonville prison have been made into five classes. Then comes the transfer from the highest to the lowest class of servitude. Next comes fasting and a bread and water diet, and the next stage is confinement in a cell of correction. Lastly is ranked bodily chastisement, but this is limited to eighteen lashes to prisoners under 18 years of age and thirty-six lashes to older men. The most salutary form of punishment is in the docking of rations. A prisoner will give in quicker when placed on a starvation diet than for any other cause.