Eurasia | Page 6

and no punishment was inflicted for violation of the
prison rules-but bread and water for three days at any one time. If a
prisoner committed sodomy or other infamous crime against nature,
while in custody, he was castrated, and if he still persisted in
committing crimes against nature, he was chloroformed. No trial by
jury was permitted in cases of misdemeanor-but an appeal to the
Governor was allowed by law and a copy of the evidence in the case
was sent to him and he had to decide according to the law and evidence
within thirty days and publish his reasons therefor in the District
Newspaper. By permission of the Minister of Justice I was granted
authority to visit the State Prison, carrying with me a letter instructing

every prison official to assist me and to furnish me all the information
within their power. The prison was located in the center of a Military
Preserve, consisting of ninety-two thousand one hundred and sixty
acres, all in a high state of cultivation. Railways traversed the
reservation, but no trains but military ones were permitted to stop
within its limits.
CHAPTER III.
A VISIT TO A STATE PRISON.
The Minister of Justice placed an automobile at my service, and when I
arrived at the boundary of the reservation, I was stopped by a military
officer. I handed him my letter from the Minister of Justice, and,
glancing over it, he replied, "You are welcome," and, taking a seat by
my side, we drove to the prison grounds, where I was introduced to the
Superintendent, and invited by him to be his guest during my stay. I
found the prisoners garrisoned in company quarters. One hundred and
thirty-five privates, nine corporals, three sergeants and one company
clerk constituted a company, with a captain in command of them
holding the same rank and pay as a captain in the army, and who was
chosen from the non-commissioned officers in the army for
distinguished services. The prisoners were classified in twelve
companies. Four companies formed the first grade, consisting of
Companies A, B, C and D; four companies formed the second grade,
consisting of Companies E, F, G and H, and four companies formed the
third grade, consisting of Companies I , K, L, and M. The first grade
received fifteen cents per day and the third grade five cents per day,
and no pay was forfeited for violation of prison rules and regulations,
but prisoners received no pay during the time they were on bread and
water. Corporals received fifty per cent. more pay than privates, and
sergeants and company clerks one hundred per cent. more. Prisoners
were required to work eight hours each day, Sundays
excepted-commencing at eight a. m., with one hour for dinner, and
ending at five p. m., and to attend night school from six p. m. until
eight p. m. five nights in the week, and once a week musicians and
singers visited the prison and gave entertainments.

The company quarters were only one-story high, but were large and
well ventilated, being eighty feet square with wide verandas and
furnished with steam and hot water pipes for cold weather, and lighted
throughout by incandescent lamps.
The beds were all singly arranged in rows and well furnished with
mattresses, blankets, sheets and pillows, and the room had nine large
wash basins at one end of the room, where all the company could wash
their hands and faces and comb their hair.
The captains were required to sleep in the same rooms with the
prisoners, and to eat with them in the dining-room, and were held
responsible for their care and good conduct. He could sentence them
for misconduct to three days on bread and water, but for serious
offences they were tried by a Court of three Judges, appointed by the
Minister of Justice.
The regimental dining-room where all the companies dined was
divided into three sections, with partitions eight feet high between them,
each section having a door connecting with the kitchen, and the food
furnished of good quality, but differing in degree according to grade.
The hospital was on one side of the square, and was fitted with every
modern appliance and at the distance of half a mile was a pest house, to
which all prisoners suffering from leprosy, cancer, syphilis and other
malignant diseases, were consigned. What most attracted my attention
was the bath house, a one-story building, one hundred feet long,
adjoining the laundry. It had a swimming tank in the middle of it sixty
feet long, forty feet wide and twelve feet deep. At the two ends were
porcelain bathtubs for the old and feeble, with hot and cold water
faucets, and on one side were shower-bath nozzles overhead, with hot
and cold water connections; on