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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1907)
D TITE (yMATTA SUNT) AY BEE: TTAB&I 17. 1007. 4 K 4 - n LIFE IN DUBLIN'S PRISON Bmrj ElcliU Within thTcwera Walls of Grim Kotinyov, tASY TO GET IN, HARD TO ET OUT How Prisoner Are Oaarded, Fed and Worked Method of Treatment of lamitfi of Yarlona Grades. - I was In Dvblln and wanted to have a look through MountJoy, the largest convict prison In Ireland, and to which all Irish convicts are now aent. Visitors are very seldom allowed Into this penitentiary, arid especially newspaper writers, who at the time of which I write were holding a con vention in the Irish, capital. For this rea son I found It very difficult to get a peep Into the big penal establishment which belongs to hla majesty, the king. When a man Is In Jail he may get out In two waya. He may leave with permission, or he may break loose without permission. Getting into durance vile la a different matter. There la the common method of being put In. Moat people object to that. To break Into a penitentiary Is a very un common thing In these days, yet such a cane occurred near Chicago lately. A .man had been sentenced to Imprisonment, but bis lawyers succeeded agalnBt his will In having the sentence appealed. In the dark hours of night their client stole up to the Jail and made a determined effort to break Into the prison for the purpose of begin ning hla sentence. The prison officials throw him out, which was alao rather uncommon treatment for a lawbreaker to receive at a JalL If the man from Chicago had attempted to break Into MountJoy, Dublin, ho would hare found it Just as difficult, probably, as to break out of If he once got In. From an exterior view I came to the- conclusion that this big Irish prison waa constructed to keep all Intruders out, and others, onco In, safe In. A prison In Ireland is a olaoo of forbidding mystery to everybody but the unfortunate Inmates who must reside there. Furthermore, all Irish prisons have k sort of patriotic history attached to them. Great Irishmen have honored their walls In the past for love of their native land. In thia resDact the Institution of which I write has had no small share. Through the Influence of a former lord mayor of Dublin I at last obtained a per mit from the chairman of the Irish Prison board to visit the prison. But not without a tremendous lot of red tape, cross-quos- tlonlng and official wirepulling. A long, white, official envelope waa placed In my hand, addressed to "The Governor of His Ms.iatv'a Prison. MountJoy. Dublin." It was a mysterious looking document, and for all I knew, might have been an order to have mo hanged, drawn and quartered as soon as I presented myself Inside the gates. A Grim Looking Pile. Mountloy prison Is situated In the very oonter of the beautiful capital of Ireland From an exterior viewpoint, It presents anvthln but a Joyful picture. It seemed very large and grim looking aa I stood out aide and surveyed the buildings of dark atone, surrounded by high walls and tow- era standing out ohlll, cold and forbidding. Overlooking the walls that made such a '"great divide" between the world 1 out aide and the aad world within, one caught a film pee of several rows of small, barred windows,, whose dark, thick glass shut out not only the bright sun.ight, but also the noise and turmoil of the busy world with oat and all that It held dearest and best lb. life liberty. Standing at the gate, X pulled at tho big hell, which re-echoed la those halls of misery aa If It were re-echoing In the a-rlm shade of hadee. , The ; huge gates with A rattling of keys and chains, and I entered. A warder took my name and address and my order of ad mission to the governor. In the' meantime, I was caked to be seated in a small room, which I soon discovered was the guard room. It was nothing more than a bare cell, with bare walls, an open fireplace and a large armchair with covered tops and aides. In which the guard sat through the long hsurs of the night While watting there I had time for reflection and ob servation. Everything about me seemed quiet and cold. A funeral alienee prevailed about my surroundings. I felt as If I hud left the wentleth century outside and taken my first step backward on the "road to yesterday." Onoe again the big bell would ring out, the keys rattle, the heavy gates roll back to admit some Individual with royal es cort, who was coming to stay as the guest of his majesty, the king. I was kept a long time waiting in the reception cell. A whisper was given me that the' Jail au thorities were not prepared for my coming and were putting thing In good shape bo fore my auguat person came along. To the authorities of MountJoy I might have been some secret government Inspector prying around under the guise of a tourist looking for trouble. At last the great man himself, the governor, came. He waa a small, unassuming little man, whom It was hard to believe was the man In charge of 700 men and women convicts. Prtaoa Arra naeroeata. As we entered the prison proper we were followed by the head warden as a guard of honor, and who, by the way, unlocked every door we came to, and relocked it after we bad passed through. To be brief. MountJoy la divided Into two principal de partmentsthe cells and the workshops. The dally life of a prisoner Is spent with the exception of a short time for exercise, either In the workshop or in his cell. The Interior of the prison Is well lighted, and what surprised me, more cheerful than I expected. Indeed the Interior was In striking contrast to the exterior. Like all penitentiaries the cells are arranged Into long corridors or wings. The cells of the long-time men are somewhat better than those for short term residents. Each cell contained the usual plank bed, mattreBS. warm woolen blankets, table, chair, book rsgk, and utensils for food. In American prisons the prisoners are fed In one large obtnmon dining room. In MountJoy each Inmate eats his food in the seclusion of his own apartment. The food Is brought up to the different corridors on an elevator, (even Irish prisons have elevators, not to mention the hotels) and then aerved to each convict. Outride the cell doors, hangs a small card bearing the prisoners name 4 and number, the date of his arrival, and 7 tha date when he leaves He may have a month to serve, or ten years, but what, ever the time the date of release Is marked. Borne cards have no date for freedom marked upon them; they were life prison, ert. i Save for the barred windows and darkened glasa the cells cf the prisoners were warm, comfortable, and clean. For sne they were probably cleaner and bet ter quarters than they could ever have In the tenement house of Dublin, or the workhouses of the Irish towns. Trie Oil of Doom.' Fasstng to the end of a long corridor of cells the governor brought me Into on cell that differed from all the other cells, In that U had three very dark windows and three plain prison bed. It was the con demned cell, where those awaiting sen tence of death are confined, truaxded right and day by two warders. Prom this cell tha condemned man bad to walk the whole Iftugth at long onidor to th execution chamber, put now the condemned cell Is within a few fret of the fatal drop. Out side this cell, a nnrrnw d tor wns opened from tho corridor, and I entered a small room, with a vaulted celling, and a long beam running the entire lencth of the room. There was no furniture In the room, and no coloring save the doors, which were black. This was the execution room. In the center of the floor was a lona- white chalk line. It wns the dividing line be tween time and eternity, for the man who Stands with pointed toi-s touching Its white outline, before the floor beneath him drops, and he crashes to his death. When I pased Into the exercise, yard I Saw many groups of coni:ts, pnd among thrm famous criminals and murderers who were to stay there for the rest of their hRturnl lives. It may be here explained that long-term and life convicts are better trented and have more privileges than men In for short terms. There is a sort of a social In rider In MountJoy. The life pris oner won't notice or even associate with tha Individual who Is the king's guest for the short period of a year or two! In the woman's exercise yards we were forced to beat a hasty retreat, owing to the choice Inngnaign of the Inmates. This is the only department of MountJoy that the rule of silence cannot be enforced. Penal servitude and all the hardshlpa of prison discipline have no effect whatever on the tongues of the women who must leslde there. Among these prisoners were three women murderesses whose sentences had Just been commuted from death to life Imprisonment. One of them was mak ing soup in the kitchen when the governor drew my attention to her and told me of the crime she had committed" th murder of her husband, in which she wa assisted by her mother, who was also in the same prison with her. The Yeamtner Ryes. Put, after all, these unfortunate men and women, no matter what their crimes may have hern, are to be pitied. They ere forever shut out from sunshine, friends and IUerty. There was not a face In that prison of the many that I saw that did not have a yearning look in the eyes. Perhars It wns the sight of a face from tho outside world that brought the yearn ing Into tho eyi of theso Imprisoned creatures. Thero is no escape from an Irish prison savo through help from the official on the Inside. It wns by means of such aid that the famous I.ynchehaun made his remarkable escape from prison In Ireland a few years ago and reached this country. The prltlsh government made a determined and costly effort be fore tho United States courts to have the fugitive returned, but failed. The Uvea of men and women confined In a pentlentlhry may bo made a little easier and robbed somewhat of severity If the man who has charge of them be humane and thoughtful. The governor of MountJoy seemed to mo to be a kind man, He Is much Interested In everything that tends to the reformation and uplifting of a' prisoner from crime und vice. There Is a school under his own personal super vision, and nlso a library, ' where the con victs may obtain even the latest novels. But very few prisoners take the oppor tUnlty of trying to better their lives, even If that betterment takes place In so un favorable a place as a prison. When my visit was over It waa with a pense of relief that I raw the great gate roll back, and I stood outside once more with God's sunshine about mo and the memory of the lives I had Jut left behind. The huge gates slammed, there was the click of a steel lock, and I walked away. While ;a. .thousand longing eyes, full of yearning, seemed to peer at me from the walls and windows of MountJoy convict prison. j VICOR T. NOONAN. COCCCCCOCCOCO 0OC83S CSSOG00 o o o o o () o o o o o C) o o BUILDING, FOR TREMBLERS Untos Ileajra How House Mar Be Dalit to Withstand Karth . qnakea. . LONDON, March 18. (Special. "Every one will agivo that earthquakes cannot be prevented," said Prof. John Milne, the eminent seismologist,' In an interview here the other day. "But there are many who know tliat a great deal can bo done to mitigate their effects. This has been par ticularly well illustrated by the work which haa been carried out during the last twon.ty flve years In Japan. In England there are 80,000 little earthquakes per year. In Japan they get 1.30 earthquakes per year and feel eighty of them. "In likiO the Juponese government formed a selBmological BocUty. Whenever a big earthquake occurs In India, the Philippines or as lately as In Ban Francisco we find on tho sceno the Japanese engineer, arcld' tect and seismologist. Their objects Is to mako notes of that which fell and that which stood and why it fell or stood." From thowo notes and with the aid of aelsmological instruments which measure the earthquakes and thus reveal which are the safest sites Prof. Milne stated that builders are now putting up structures all over Japan capable of withstanding the strongest shocks. "In Great Britain," continued the pro fessor, "there is a building which, at least so far as lightness of construction Is con cerned, may be considered earthquake proof.- I refer to tho building erected a Osborne for our naval cadets. "If wo had an earthquake In London and tho suddenness of the backwards and forwards movement was only one foot per second the probability is that thero would be 6.0M.OOO chimney pots In the streets. Put at Kingston tha rate at which the motion commerced and ended would prob ably loosen about ten times this quantity Having given the suddenness of move ments the builder can put up structures to withstand the same, and these structures are totally different to those we find in Europe. He makes his designs and then testa models of tho same on a shaking table, the movements of which reproduced those which can be expected at the time of severe earthquakes. From these ex perlments he determines the extent to which his calculations have ben correct. He dews, in fact, that which ki done at a dock yard. "The upchot of the whole thing Is that after twenty-five years of experiments w find that the new structure stand, wherea those of the old types hav been shattered.' MATIN TRIES. CLEVER RUSE To Prevent Trial Out of Tarts It Call Court O fllcers aa Wit- O O o o Q O O Q O O O C) O O o C) o o o o o o o o o o o C) o o o o o o o Rooms Furnished Complete For 50 71 at the Peoples Store i .- ' -r - ; ijauaini norvi. : i rrrrrrj.i -sw t-:ix. jn'i ,,, ii. r t ft j -l vi ii iit,n7'! : null r of r vt',ivt .n. i I'll' n i i:n i. . .a i -r . ..ii' aaT i . , - : i j i m j ..a- j i ii w Mai- r i ij 'i i mm i , --- ia. - t t t is n -a .aar a T f 1 H . - v - I. isw -waa. Kif 'aw i ' -"I I BMB,BIBtakBiaB I !;. ' J- t - -i j .i j j j j .JL jlj mmfwm 0) Rooms Furnished Complete For 50 F 74 lilt MM OUTFIT OFFER AT at the Peoples Store S74.50 T THAT W EQUAL OF AHY OUTFIT SOLD BY ANY OTHER CONCERN IN OMAHA AT $1 THE TERMS OF PAYMENT ON OUR $74.50 OUTFITS ARE $7.50 CASH AND $5.00 PER MONTH HE 00 This Is vital and Interesting to wage earner and they should take such) facts Into careful consideration when they are ready to outfit a home or add to th one they have. Special attention Is directed to our remark ably low terms of payment, which really make home outfitting a pleasure rather than a burden and an Irritation. Sideboards jm a ""fk The Peoples Store Special Ver nis Martin Iron Beds (Exactly like cut bed only.) These Jieds are large and msaslv and are made of extra heavy tubing, and have large ornamental chills. Finished in the latest and popular Vrnis Mar tin finish, auaranteed not to turn eoi The head end is 60 Inches hlch. An exceptional bar Kain for the price of fered special price The Peoples Store Special Kit chen Cabinet Has two large bins for flour and other meals, two good sized drawers, a bread board and meat board, occupies ih space of a kitchen table and has the room of a cupboard Special Fale price-only g75 TIRMII (3 CASS 2 MOHTHIiY (Exactly like cut.) Made in the genuine ouarter-sawod oak effect. heavy ornamental carvings the baes aru large and contain two small drawers for sil verware, etc., one large linen drawer and a large lower com partment. L4irge bevel plate French mirror and top aide shelves. Our special sale price Oak Dressers (Exactly like cut.) Made of solid oak, highly polished, roomy drawers, frencn Deveiea mirror of oblong shape, trim mings are solid brass, guar anteed workmanship. March sale price , Tens tl Casb and 9a Monthly, large, .50 Wwr"sW'jyaaaaaaaaajMMaaaM,a,., j 1 1 II Jt,f tt, i .llaaasa a, y r Tarmsi tl Cash S3 Monthly 990 We sell goods out of town on very Ea.sy Terms. Write for Particulars . Our Special Steel Ranges Made of cold rolld steel, asbestos lined, a very high quality, duplex gram, nickel trimmed. We offer this ti-hole splendid steel range, In cluding high warming closet, with larse 14 lnch oven special salo price Cn'Wiros'$a!6o'6asiC'ia Monthly. It pays to trade at the Peoples Store. Low Prices. Easy Terms. Generous Treatment This Handsome 53-Piece Dinner Set FREE . With a. S1C0 Purchase Each Piece With Your Initial in Gold A Fifty-Three Piece Gold TP O TP TTT Coin Initial Dinner Sot iC ii ELf ELf Every piece in the 53-plece Dinner Set has yonr initial in gold. A set goes free with every purchase of 9100.00 or over, or we will sell you the set outright for $6.75 and credit you the amount later on when your purchaHes aggregate SI 00.00. The dinner set is guaranteed by the makers and is a copy in design from a famous French set which sold for $4100.00. It cannot be duplicated in style or qnality for less than $12.00 or $15.00 In any store in Omaha, and will last for years. This is the most generous offer ever given to the people of Omaha. Dinner set on exhibition in our 10th street south window. WE TRUST THE PEOPLE This Handsome 53-Piece Dinner Set Sold Regularly for TERMS: 1.00 Cash S1.00 Monthly Each Piece With Your Initial in Gold This Offer is Divided In Three Separate ' Propositions as Follsws: Proposition Wo. 1 The dinner set will be given to you rUB with every pur chase of 1100 worth of furniture or house hold goods, and the goods may be pur chased on our well known and Uboral open account, credit plan. Proposition Vo, 8 We will aell you the dinner set outright for $6.75, and permit you to pay the $6.76 on terms of $1 cueh and $1 monthly. Proposition Ho. S If you buy the din ner set outright now on the terms men tioned, and should you at any time dur ing 1907 buy a bill of household goods or furniture aggregating $100, the $6.7S will be credited to you on tha $UK pur chase. & FARNAM STREETS' OMAHA. TITK TEOPLE'S FURNITURE AND CARPET CO., ESTABLISHED 1887. Remember These Points The Initial letter of your name will appear in gold on each and every one of the 63 pieces. We do not require you to pay cash for the $100 worth of merchandise. Simply open an account and buy the goods on our matchless and liberal system of monthly credit. The set la delivered with the goods you buy. We do not require you to pay cash for the dinner set if purchased outrlpht. You merely pay $1.00 cash and $1.00 monthly, which gives you six months to pay $6.73. You do not Imvo to buy $100 worth at One time to get the dinner set, but if you buy $100 worth during the entire year of 11)07 the set, with your Initial in gold on each piece, will be delivered to you free. o o o o o o 0 o o o o o o o () o o a o o o o o o o o o o C) o o o () o o o o o o o O: o ) O O o o o o o o o o o o o o coooccccoccoocccooococcooccoocococcocccopooooo FORTUNE FROM LUCKY IDEAS Trivial Incidents Fioe a Etimnlaat for IcTeotire Skill INVENTIONS HIT UPON ACCIDENTALLY A Ilea Discovered Ilaw to Hake Sagar White aad Dog Gave Cs tae Art f Dyelag Pateat Office Peculiarities. PARIS, March 1. (Sperhtl. V-On several occasions the Matin accused M. Chaumlo, formerly minister of fine arts, of arbitrarily appointing his relatives and friends to ministerial and civil service pouts and creating enftly but unnecessary missions In the colonics for others and of hushing up a Judicial scandal by promoting a nomi nee to the ministry. Chaumie commenced proceedings against the newspaper for libel and the summons" were Issutd from M. Chauinle's parlia mentary constituency and native town. The Mstln, however, preferring mat tne caseJ nhnuld be trlt d In Paris, adopted the clever If audacious move of eerylng subpoenas upon all the magistrates composing the Ogt-n court as well aa upon tha Jurymen serving In the court. As neither magis trates nor Jury could act In a case other than as w Um-ss.-s the court decided that R was Incompetent lo try It. The validity of the tubpucnAs will, however, txi con tested ' Whenever a new patent comes out, especially some little thing that anybody might have made, you will always hear the remark: "Why couldn't I have thought of thatT" Fortunes are made from even the niost lvlal contrivances. A man walked from Philadelphia to Washington to patent the gimlet pointed screw, and the simple Idea eventually earned him more than a million dollars. The rubber tip on the end of lead pencils made Its Inventor rich. The metal point on the end of your shoestring earned a fortune for the woman who thought of It, and the copper cap that so long adorned the toes of children's shoes earned $;.'XX,0(0 for the lucky person who patented It. Many valuable Inventions were hit upon in a most accidental way. Tha art of nuk ing sugar white waa discovered by a harm less old speckled hen. This feathered matron one day went for a walk through a field of clay and later without taking tha precaution to wipe her feet walked through a sugar mill on the same plantation, scat tering clay over tha loose mounds cf augr as she passed. Afterwards It waa discov ered that wherever her tracks had fallen on the molat sugar tha clay had whitened It. Scientists took up the matter and from thia incident introduced the method of bleaching sugar by the clay process. A dog gave up the art of dyeing cloth. One afternoon su many years ago, that the date Is of small consequence, a noted mai and his sweetheart whin for a walk along the sanda of the seashore In a far off coun try. A little dog trailed along at their heels and becoming weary of much love making finally ran ahead and went fishing among the rocks. One particular shell fish which he captured and devoured exuded a fluid which dyed the hair about hla mouth a pretty purple. Investigation of this Inci dent founded the science of dyeing cloth. Origin of the Featherbone. A man from Michigan was told by tha doctors to take his wife south for her health, lie purchased a big wagon and team for tho trip, and thought to make sume profit by carrying a stock of feather dusters to sell along the way. One day he went to a factory where hla dusters were being made and while standing In the yard talking to one of tho employes picked up from the ground one of the "strutters" or tall feathers from a turkey the refuse from the duster factory. He began Idly twisting a thread back and forth through its broken edges, and tha idea of the feather-bone came to him. The feather bone la the successor of whalebone, and Is Indispensable to the attire of ths modern woman. He patented the Idea and received so much money from it that he will never have t triivel overland In a wagon again unless he wanta to. A man standing In front of the postofflcs lr Washington bent a err Ul piece of tin in his Angers until It took the shape, of a T. "This would muk a good paper fast ener," he remarked to the man with whom he waa talking, and ha straightway had the Idea patented. Another man mad money from tha device ef aa Imbedded string In the end of an envelope to cut the paper as It Is drawn out. Still another man added to this Idea by tying a knot In the end of the string to keep It from being drawn through. It Is Interesting to note how man haa borrowed ma,ny of his Ideas from the ani mal world. Waspa made paper from wood long before man did. The folding aclssors and folding pocket compass are only copies of the folding lower Jaw of ths dragon fly. Ths flying aquld, a apeoles of cuttlefish, haa a way of projecting Itself as high as twelve feet above tha surface of tha water by forcibly expelling water from Its body. Man saw this and Invented the skyrocket. Tha rope making machine uaed In tha United States navy yards follows almost the precise lines that a spider does when making his own frail oable. Wouti es Inveators. Women have been prominent In tha field of Invention and there are mora than S.U0 different devices credited to their Ingenuity.. Of the list of things Invented by women about 90 per cent are devoted to tha home, the kitchen and to dress. The first patent given a woman In the nineteenth century was granted to Mary Kler In 1S09 for "straw weaving with silk or thread" the probable forerunner of American matting. One of tha most recent Inventions by woman la a Shoe string that won't come untied. The records of the patent office abow how soma people fcave Invaded the field of Invention with most eccentric Ideas. An Invention railed the "antl-anorlng device" Is something similar to a telephone. No sooner does ths sleeper begin to snora than tha sound is transmitted to bis own ear. causing him to awake at once. Another ambitious inventor haa brought out a ma chine which will automatically tip a man's hat when be paaaea a woman acquaintance on the atreet. X woman is responsible for s patent crimping pin that can he uaed as a paper cutter, a skirt supporter, a paer file, a bonquet holder, a safety pin, a shawl fast ener and book mark. There la a patent churn that rocks the baby's cradle; a pocketbook that combines a pistol, so that when ths highwayman demanda your money or your Ufa you can send him to kingdom oome while In the seeming act of handing him your valuables. Ths story is told of an Iowa man who patented an India rubber sidewalk. After much lobbying with his friends among the town council he was allowed to put down several yards of It as an experiment. As a notsa absorber It proved most effective, and the early demonstrations seemed to bs living down all scepticism In regard to it so rapidly that tha Inventor's fortune was all but made. Then the Inventor made a blunder. To show how solid and strong it was he began Jumping up and down on It with his whole weight. The walk could not forget that It was still rubber, and when the ambitious Inventor planked his heels Into It he was promptly pitched over tho fence Into a brier patch. The .episode proved such a Joke that the budding popularity of the new idea began to wane, and there are mill no rubber sidewalks In Iowa. Aat Adjaatlble Polplt. Another happy Idea ttutt cum to grief was the adjustable pulpit brought out by a Texaa Inventor. An olwervlng member of a certain corgregatlon In the Lone Star stats noticed that soma of tho preachers were tall and some were abort, so he con ceived tha Idea of making an adjustable pulpit which would accommodate Itr.elf to all heights. Tha first preacher to um tha automatlo device waa a short man, and the Inventor wsa on hand and took his ueasura to a nicety. Later when a six foot pastor came on the inventor had tha grip und could not go to church. Tho pulpit was set for his short prede cessor and nobody could do a thing with) It. Tho inventor had Instated Uiat bis device was easy enough to manipulate, but It proved most stubborn and would not submit to a readjustment. The tall man started in with It, and it was so low that In reading his text be had to stoop over almost as much as If his book were placed on a chair. When he began to preach ho was got ting along well enough until ha suddenly stamped his foot to emphaalxa a point. His action released tho spring In tha floor and ths pulpit shot upward until It completely hid the preacher from ths view of hLs hearers. The remainder of his sermon sounded about the samo as If ha had been In a well. Thomas Jefferson may be termed tho "Father of the Patent Offlee," for It wss ho who saw to the passing of the act creating the office and the copyright system. For a number of years he waa one of the com mittee who pusHed on tho merits of all de signs submitted to the office. One Dr. Thornton, a rxther eccentric man, was tha only department clerk tli office had for a long period. In the war of 1S12, when the HiTTlsh soldiers had a cannon trained on the patent olllce to d.-stroy It, the doctor rushed out and placed his tx dy before tho mouth of the cannon, exclaiming that if Ooths and Vandals would destroy a build ing containing inodnls tliat would benefit all the world the ball must first go through, his body. It waa npared, but In 1836 ths office was burned and tho only thing saved was a book cf no particular value. New York Bun. If you have anything to trade advertise It In the For Excluuige Columns of The lu Want Ad pagea.
