"WHITE MICE CARRIED CONVICT'S MESSAGES," Daily British Whig (Kingston, Ontario). October 21, 1920. Page 2. --- Penitentiary Inmates Have a Complete System of Telegraphy. ---- In view of the combined efforts of the convicts at the penitentiary to create a disturbance by yelling and hooting in the cells, citizens have been wondering how they carried out a system to bring it all about.
It is claimed that the convicts in the "pen" have a complete system of tapping or telegraphy, by which they communicate with each other, and it is carried on with great success, in spite of the efforts of the prison authorities to put a stop to it. Sometimes the tapping is carried out on the walls, or their tin drinking cups, but it is known for a fact that convicts have communicated with each other in this way, and that many a scheme has been carried out as a result.
It is stated that some few years ago, several of the convicts had white mice as their pets and that the mice were used to carry messages to and fro among the convicts. This may appear as a fairy story, but it is vouched for, by people in a position to know. Needless to say there are no white mice in the penitentiary to-day.
