The Twin Hells | Page 6

This is
surrounded by a stone wall some fifteen feet high, and six feet thick at

the base. It is not more than four feet at the top. At each of the four
corners may be found a tower rising some ten feet above the wall. A
guard is on duty in each of these towers during the day. He carries a
double-barreled shotgun loaded with buckshot. In case a prisoner tries
to escape he is liable to get a dose of lead, provided the officer on duty
is a good marksman. The western wall is almost entirely made of a
large stone building with its two long wings. The main building is four
stories. The wings stretching to the north and south, each two hundred
and fifty feet, contain the cells. On the first floor of the main building
are the offices of the warden, clerk, deputy warden and turnkey. The
upper rooms are used by the warden's family.
I was first conducted into the clerk's office and introduced to Mr. Jones,
the clerk. He is a very pleasant gentleman, and spoke kindly to me,
which I can assure all was very acceptable, for just about that time I
was feeling very badly. His remark was: "I am very glad to meet you,
Mr. Reynolds, but sorry to meet you under these sad circumstances."
On his invitation I took a chair and sat down to await the next part of
the progamme. As I sat there and thought of the kind words spoken to
me by the clerk, I quickly reached the conclusion that if all the officers
of that institution were as kind as Mr. Jones, it would not be as bad a
place as I had anticipated. I had no experience then that would justify
any other conclusion. Soon a side door of the office opened and in
came the deputy warden, Mr. John Higgins. Mr. H. is the sourest
appearing man I ever met in my life. At least, it seemed so to me on
that day. He can get more vinegar on the outside of his face than any
other person in the State of Kansas. He did not wait to be introduced to
me. He never craves an introduction to a criminal. As soon as he came
into the room he got a pole with which to measure me. Then, looking at
me, in a harsh, gruff voice he called out: "Stand up here." At first I did
not arise. At the second invitation, however, I stood up and was
measured. My description was taken by the clerk. In this office there is
to be found a description of all the criminals that ever entered the
Kansas penitentiary. I was asked if I was a married man, how many
children I had, and how much property I possessed. These questions
were easily answered. After the deputy warden had discharged his duty
he retired. I soon discovered that it was according to the rules of the

prison for the officers to talk in a harsh and abrupt manner to the
prisoners. This accounted for the way in which I was greeted by the
deputy warden, who is the disciplinarian of the prison. I may say, in
passing, that all the harsh manners of Mr. Higgins are simply borrowed
for the occasion. Away from the presence of prisoners, over whom he
is to exert his influence, there is not to be found a more pleasant and
agreeable gentleman. In came a second official, and, in the same gruff
manner, said to me, "Come along." I followed him out to the
wash-house, where I took a bath. A prisoner took my measure for a suit
of clothes. After he had passed the tape-line around me several times,
he informed the officer that I was the same size of John Robinson, who
had been released from the penitentiary the day before. "Shall I give
him John Robinson's clothes?" asked the convict. In the same gruff
manner the officer said, "Yes, bring on Robinson's old clothes." So I
was furnished with a second-hand suit! The shoes were second-hand. I
am positive about this last statement, judging by the aroma. After I had
been in the penitentiary some four months, I learned that John
Robinson, whose clothes I had secured, was a colored man. Being
arrayed in this suit of stripes I was certainly "a thing of beauty." The
coat was a short blouse and striped; the stripes, white and black,
alternated with each other, and passed around the body in a horizontal
way. The pantaloons were striped; the shirt was striped; the cap was
striped. In fine, it seemed that everything about that penitentiary was
striped--even to the cats! Being dressed, I was next handed an article
that proved, on examination,