#prison routine

It’s all just business. I’ve watched it. Whenever there are a few empty beds around here, you wait. You'll see a bunch of guys getting violated. They got to keep the place full. They get paid by the convict. You watch it. They fill the place up by bringing guys back in, then they go to legislature and get more money to build anew prison.

Though the prisoners’ view of how the system works is somewhat distorted, it is based in reality. Prison systems are big businesses, and many groups, such as guards’ unions, architects, construction companies, prison hardware manufacturers, and prison professionals, have an economic interest in expanding prison populations. Prisoners understand this and have developed a profoundly cynical view of the operation, which they see as corrupt and unjustly exploitative and oppressive.

There are some profit-making practices in the prison operation that directly affect prisoners and are seen as particularly corrupt and exploitative of them and their families. The most blatant of these is the telephone policy. In California prisons, pay telephones are located in all housing units and are readily available to prisoners. Prisoners may only make collect calls from these phones, which are installed and maintained by a private company, which charges an extra fee of $7 per call. This fee is paid by the person (usually a family member) receiving the call. This fee is split by the private company and the CDC. The CDC’s share goes into the state’s general fund. In the year 2000, California earned $36 million from this source. Prisoners feel that this is gross exploitation of them, their friends, and their families, who are usually poorer people and less able to pay this fee. Several prisoners told me that they believe that the CDC unscrupulously delays their mail to encourage phone use. At present, a letter may take as long 21 days to be delivered to a prisoner. Moreover, prisoners must pay an added 10 percent fee for every item they purchase through the canteen or any other source. This fee goes into the Inmate Welfare Fund along with any other money prisoners possess. This fund totaled $10.1 million in 1998, at which time some California prisoners sued the state to receive the interest from this money. The state informed the courts that the money held in the Inmate Welfare Fund had not been deposited in interest-earning accounts. Litigation continues on this issue, and prisoners in other states have filed similar suits. Regardless of the outcome of these cases, California prisoners feel the state has cheated them or has earned money on their money. As California prisoners’ attorney Herman Franck views it, the state is stealing from the prisoners, and though each convict is losing only a few dollars, when you consider the vast number of prisoners, “150,000 small thefts becomes one big, fat theft.”? In addition to aggravating prisoners’ sense of injustice, these practices corrode the administrators’ claims of moral superiority and reduce prisoners’ sense of moral inferiority and responsibility."

Charles Paul Renouard, illustrations and lithographic prints for F. W. Robinson’s article “Convict Life at Wormwood Scrubs.” 1889.

From top to bottom: “Warder Examining the Cell Before Convict Is Locked Up for the Night”. Source.

“A Labour of Love - Well-Behaved Convict Who Keeps the Handcuffs Bright.” Source.

“A convict at work in his cell - he pauses in his task as he hears the sounds of the outer world.” Source.

The occasion is the ordinary routine prison interview of newly received prisoners.

"After standing in a short queue for an hour or so I was ordered into the office; arrived there, I was immediately commanded by the chief officer to stand at attention and give my full name. Failing to address the Governor as 'Sir,' I was sternly reminded of my error."

It is probable that conscientious objectors take a less tolerant view of this sort of ritual than most people; but even the most soldierly of us would advocate the occasional introduction of courtesy and kindliness between officer and man. But a prison governor is the immediate instrument of the nation's will to obedience, which Standing Orders assume is best expressed in the curt stutter of the barrack square.

Almost inevitably, therefore, the ranks of the prison governors are recruited from the higher ranks of the army. To have held the King's Commission would appear to be the only operative qualification for appointment to such a post from outside the prison service. Retired military and naval officers account for rather more than half the present appointments; the rest, for the most part, are promoted from lower ranks in the service."

"ONLY A BEGINNING MADE." The Globe (Toronto). January 17, 1934. Page 4. ---- After a visit to Kingston Penitentiary conducted under favorable circumstances Rev. Dr. Peter Bryce has ten recommendations for Improvements in objective and administration, their scope going back to the inequalities in sentences imposed by Magistrates. Dr. Bryce states that every necessary facility was placed at his disposal by Warden Megloughlin during his tour of the institution, and he does not hesitate to give credit to the Warden for "a new atmosphere" introduced by his policies and personality. For this the interested public has reason to be gratified.

But, notwithstanding these changes, it is to be observed that Dr. Bryce's recommendations cover in large part the complaints which started the agitation for a more humane penitentiary system. "Cells beneath the ground floor for confinement of unruly prisoners," he told the Belleville Rotary Club, gave an impression of human beings being housed like beasts; a musty, smelly place, and to me rather terrible." These cells constitute the "hole" of which so much has been said. Since the complaints began, some relief has been given by removal of a door, thus permitting a modicum of sunlight to enter at certain times of the day. Yet this place of "solitary confinement" still gives an impression of beastlike housing.

The first recommendation is that the staff should be appointed on the merit basis, and mot by political patronage, a point which holds good particularly under the legislation secured by the present Minister of Justice. It is a matter of record that many members of the staff which had been there for years were dismissed summarily, and that this brought vigorous protest from General Ross, M.P., on the floor of the House of Commons. Dr. Bryce is equally clear that guards should know their job. He believes they should go through a course of training. It is plain Their duties call for qualifications of a special order, if they are not to be carried out perfunctorily in accordance with rigid rules which take no cognizance of human temperaments and weaknesses.

Perhaps one of his most valuable suggestions is that each prison should have an Advisory Committee representing the public with regard to administration, a committee privileged to make recommendations to the Parole Board. It is manifest that if some body of men and women, holding no brief for officials or prisoners, serving with an open mind from the broad point of view of public welfare, were privileged to maintain contact with the convicts, as well as the guards and chaplains, abuses would be reduced to a minimum. A public understanding, reached by this means, would provide continuous assurance for the people, at the same time ensuring a safety-valve reducing the danger of conflict between guards and prisoners.

Among other recommendations, the need of increased educational and recreational facilities is emphasized. It is urged that productive labor be provided, with remuneration fer the. support of dependents. The persistent demand for segregation of youthful and first offenders is reiterated, together with the obvious need of treating mental cases as such. Dr. Bryce also finds that hospital cases should be in a dormitory, and that the dungeon should be abolished.

These recommendations are in accordance with the national demand for a public, open and non-partisan investigation of the entire question of administration, and show that what has been accomplished in the way of reform falls far short of requirements.

"DAUGHTERS' PORTRAITS HANG IN CELL OF WOMAN SERVING LIFE SENTENCE," Toronto Star. November 10, 1933. Page 1 & 3. --- Pathetic Attempts to Create a Home-Like Atmosphere Seen in Female Prison ---- BABY BORN THERE ---- Reforms, Including Review of Many Magistrates' Sentences, Are Urged ---- By REV. PETER BRYCE, D.D. ==== I had occasion to be in Kingston for special church services, and sought and obtained permission to visit Kingston penitentiary. I was received with courtesy by the warden, Lieut.-Col. W. B. Megloughlin, M.C. He has been in office for about one year. Every facility for observation and inquiry was placed at my disposal.

The warden offered to send an officer with me, and to arrange that everything I wished to see would be opened up for inspection. I asked, however, that he accompany me, if convenient, to which he readily consented. I desired to sense the attitude of the warden to the men, and their attitude to him, and I wished to gain, through the afternoon with him, some conception of his own spirit and policy. New prison regulations are important, but their value can only be fully realized if the warden is humane in spirit and wise in judgment.

There is a total penitentiary population of about 4,000 in Canada. The penitentiaries are: Dorchester, N.B.; St Vincent de Paul, Que.; Kingston, Ont.; Stoney Mountain, Man.; Prince Albert, Sask., and Westminster, В.С. Two others of a newer type have recently been built, one at Collins Bay and the other near St. Vincent de Paul. In 1920 there were 1,800 persons in our penitentiaries, thus the population has more than doubled in the 12 years. In 1920 the net cost was approximately $1,000,000, now it is more than $3,000,000. The lowest sentence is two years; the average is six years.

Practically Century Old Kingston penitentiary has been in existence since 1834. It is one of the largest of the penitentiaries. There is accommodation for 700, but there are 900 inmates. It is built of stone, surrounded by a high wall, flanked by towers which are manned by armed guards. Its whole atmosphere is forbidding. A central dome rises high above the mass of masonry. Long narrow wings run out from the hub of the dome like spokes of a great wheel.

Those spokes contain the cells, packed together like the cells in a honeycomb. The cells are generally five feet by eight feet and ten feet in height. In each cell there is a bed, folded against the wall in the daytime. There is a chair, a small table, a corner wash basin, and a seatless toilet bowl. On a shelf there is a Bible and a library catalogue. Pasted on a board is a copy of the penitentiary regulations. In loops on another board are fastened a fork, a spoon, and a bifurcated sort of spoon. A non-metallic comb is allowed.

I visited the workshops-carpenter, tailor, blacksmith, paint, printing, shoe and mail bag. In the carpenter shop the men were at work making tables, benches, chairs, etc., for the new women's prison. In the tailor shop all uniforms for the staff and prisoners are made. The shoe shop provides the shoes for the staff and the prisoners. Mail bags are made and repaired for the Dominion government. In the various shops work is done for governmental institutions, such as Indian schools. In all these shops the men are usefully employed. In some instances we found the men smoking and chatting. Two rest and smoke periods are arranged for each day.

"Hole" a Malodorous Spot In the library a group of men were busily occupied, some repairing books and others cataloguing, etc. The books and magazines in the library number thousands. Each prisoner may take out a book of fiction for each day, and two non-fiction each week. Some of the best magazines in circulation are available. The librarian is a qualified ex- teacher. He prepared for entrance examinations. a year ago, I understand, from 20 to 30 candidates, and all passed.

The change room and laundry were visited. Here the men come in batches for shower-baths, change of underclothing, hair-cut and shave. A complete set of clean underclothing is provided each week. The wooden slats upon which the men stand at the shower-baths are sterilized frequently, the warden informed me. There are no cases of "athlete's foot," at the penitentiary. The doctor joined us in our visitation of the hospital. I saw the operating room, the clinic, the cots, and the patients. I had visulalized beds laid out as in a public ward in our city hospitals. In Kingston the patients lie on cots in cells, similar to ordinary prison cells. The prison medical staff is augmented by members of the medical department of Queen's university.

I saw the cells beneath the ground level and the men confined there. It is a musty, smelly place, and to me, rather terrible. I had an impression of human beings being housed like beasts. It is a place of punishment, I was told, for serious offences. One man there, lashed by ungovernable temper, had broken the jaw of a fellow prisoner. Another was there because of an unspeakable offence. Three men were there b cause of leadership in an attempt to organize a riot. The period of incarceration may be 10 or 20 days.

Baseball as Recreation In the courtyard men were shouting and laughing as they played baseball. Some were playing horseshoes, and other games were in pro-ress. In periods of 30 to 45 minutes, groups of men have their recreation and physical exercise. Hospital patients were walking together in the sunshine, chatting with one another. Out-of-door work was going on in the gardens, and in the 600 acres of land attached to the penitentiary.

I saw the old and new "paddle" and the "lash." The paddle is not wooden, as I had supposed. It is a long piece of leather attached to a stout wooden handle. There are little holes in the leather. The lash is made up of six or seven strips of rope-like material, attached to a wooden handle. Judges and magistrates sentence men to receive so many lashes, or so many strokes of the paddle. The warden may order the paddle or the lash. This is only done, the present warden told me, in extreme cases, and where any other method of punishment. would fail. He does not know of a case where a man was afterwards "covered with blood," or unable to walk to his cell.

I was not in the chapel. Religious services are conducted by a Roman Catholic chaplain for those of that faith. A new Protestant chaplain begins his duties this week, the Rev. W. E. Kidd of Ancaster, a Church of England clergyman. He is a brother of the Hon. Thos. A. Kidd, Speaker of the Ontario legislature. I did not learn what provision is made for those of non-Christian faiths. I understand there are about 75 Jews at Kingston, and no doubt adequate arrangements are made for them in the program of religious services. The warden told me the Protestant services would be of a character to interest and help the men, and that every facility would be provided whereby the chaplains would have access to the men.

Women's Prison Different The women's prison is at present within the grounds of the penitentiary. It is a small building, and quite different in its equipment and atmosphere from that of the men. It has a home-like feeling, if that term may be applied to a place of detention. There are 39 women in the prison. They come from all parts of Canada. With a few exceptions, each woman has a little room of her own.

Whereas the cells of the men are stark in their entire absence of any- thing of a refining nature, the omen's rooms have an appearance almost of daintiness. The beds have white coverings. Pictures are on the walls. Photographs are on the table, surrounded by a little knick-knacks. Small rugs, prison-made, are on the floors. The women are engaged in the kitchen, in house-work, in the sewing room, and in other useful employment. They may have books and magazines, as in the case of the men.

During my visit a baby had been brought in on a visit to her mother. The baby was born, I understand, in the prison, and now she is in the care of the Children's Aid Society at Kingston. Every woman was eager to handle the, little child. One girl there with a life sentence, stands out tragically in my mind. In neatness of dress, in manner and in general appearance she will compare favorably with the girls in our offices and in our stores.

In one room, surrounded by little evidence of a love for pretty things, there are two photographs of young girls. The mother of the girls, who occupies the room, is sentenced to life imprisonment.

"Kindly, Considerate" In his conversation with me throughout the afternoon, the warden evidenced a kindly and considerate attitude toward the men. He has quite clearly been studying the problems relating to his task. He is laying out for himself a course of study which will enable him to understand more fully that part of his office which relates to the reformation of the prisoner. His responsibility to the prisoners is twofold, he informed me. First, to keep them confined to the prison, and second, to take such measures in their treatment as will lead to their reformation His first duty is comparatively easy. He is determined to do everything possible to bring about the second.

As we walked through the workshops, and in the hospital, the war- den lingered to speak to certain men; others addressed him. He arranged for interviews with several men. One handed him a letter in which thanks were expressed for a concert given a few nights before. In the underground cells two men asked for interviews, and were given an appointment for the next forenoon. I believe the attitude of the men to the present warden is one of confidence. He is approachable. Interviews are granted. He gives them a "square deal."

There is a new atmosphere in the prisons, I was informed by one who should know, brought about by some new regulations, but in large measure through the personality and policy of the new warden. His task has been a very difficult one because of conditions he inherited. Moreover, from five to 15 men enter the penitentiary every week, and they bring news of the public controversy regarding conditions in Kingston. The impression has been created by some of the newcomers that the public is demanding a demonstration from the prisoners to emphasize the need for reform.

Many Reforms Needed Reform in prison administration must come from without as well as from within. In this regard we have a few sins of our own to acknowledge. Let us now confess them on the house-tops.

1. Society has made comparatively little progress in its effort to reclaim the criminal and prevent a repetition of the crime….

2. Crime has been regarded as an Individual offence, when it is really a social disease, requiring expert diagnosis and treatment. We have not supplied the expert, nor have we applied the remedy. We have fitted the penalty to the crime. We have said men will find thereby that crime is a poor investment, and others will be deterred from following their example. This, we might as well concede, is to attribute to the inmates of our penitentiaries a capacity for logic, logic, a st a strength of will and a power of imagination, which few of them possess. We have thought of punishment in terms of retribution, when we should have thought of it as a means of social and moral rehabilitation.

3. Prisons have been governed in large measure by men who are usually political appointees, without experience or social vision. Guards have been poorly paid, and they too are appointed through political in fluence. They are without training. There has been very little attempt at the classification or segregation of prisoners. There has been an at tempt at Intellectual and industrial training, but far from adequate. The men have had little to do of a constructive nature. They have had time to brood through long idle hours and in some instances have gone insane in the dreary and deadening influence of the prison. No remuneration has been paid to prisoners who have been given work, when they have known that their families have had to beg. When prison days are over. many have become unfitted in mind and spirit for work. Others eager and able for work, have found it almost Impossible to get it.

Says Churches Fall 4. The churches have failed to arouse and inform public opinion on this question. To do so has been part of their responsibility in the Christianization of society. The chaplain, the church's particular contribution to the personnel of administration, has been appointed as other officers are chosen, largely because of political influence. They have erected great church edifices in residential areas. They have withdrawn from the areas where many of the inmates of the prisons have come or they have reduced the work there, and made impossible the preventives measures that should have been. carried on, and only can be carried on by the church.

5. Much of the unrest in prison is. due to the conviction of the prisoners that our system of justice is not equitable. It may be hard for us to acknowledge this, for we have prided ourselves that in British justice, there is "one law for both: rich and poor." Have we not before us constantly, however, the spectacle of rival lawyers, instead of co-operating for the purpose of bringing out all the facts and so ensuring justice, engaging in a battle of wits in which one seeks to secure conviction by appeal to passion on prejudice without regard to facts, and the other seeking to secure acquittal by impugning the good faith of witnesses and taking ad vantage of every legal technicality?

The accused person, able to pay for the services of a highly trained and effective lawyer, is much more likely to be acquitted or to receive a lighter sentence, than is the man who cannot employ a lawyer of such standing. The men in our penitentiaries know these facts. There may be in their midst one sentenced to three years for stealing chickens, and another sentenced to two years for stealing many thousands of dollars. Sentences by magistrates often appear to the lay mind to be in equitable.

Suspect Undue Influence 6. There is unrest also because the prisoners believe the parole board is influenced in its decisions. They, think the prisoner who has political or social influence has consideration not granted to those without friends. Are we quite sure that their belief has no foundation in fact?

Nearly all the resolutions passed by various bodies have called for the appointment of a commission to inquire into conditions in Kingston penitentiary. I understand a royal commission reported to the federal government in 1914, on the eve of the great war. Another committee reported in 1920, on the eve of a change in government. Brig. Gen. St. W.Pierre Hughes, superintendent of penitentiaries, in his annual report year after year made recommendations, of which one of the most important called for the segregation of prisoners.

This led to the erection of the prison at Collins Bay, and one near St. Vincent de Paul penitentiary. These prisons were to be used for the younger and more reclaimable prisoners. These valuable reports; with recommendations, must be available and at the disposal of the government. Aroused public opinion calls now for whatever further action should be taken for the reclamation of the prison population of our country, a population which as already stated, has doubled in less than 15 years.

I venture to submit, for the consideration of the public, my own conclusions in the matter:

1. Appointments on the staff of penitentiaries should be by merit not through political patronage.

2. Guards should go through course of training.

3. There should be an advisory committee for each penitentiary represent the public in its administration. Part of the duty of such a committee should be to make recommendations to the parole board.

4. Educational facilities should and recreational to be greatly increased.

5. Productive labor should be provided on a larger scale, and men with dependents should be paid for their labor. I understand organized labor is opposed to such a plan. I do not believe their opposition is well grounded.

Segregate Young Offenders 6. Youthful and first offenders should be segregated from older and more crime-hardened criminals.

7. Mental cases should be moved from the penitentiary to a hospital.

8. Hospital cases should be in cots in a dormitory, not in cells.

9. The "dungeon" or underground cells should be abolished.

10. Greatly daring, I submit that an examination into our judiciary system should be undertaken. There is a widespread belief that many sentences imposed by magistrates are inequitable. Moreover, I would be glad to see an organization set up for the purpose of providing legal aid in certain circumstances. Many years ago the Scottish poet "Rabbie" Burns wrote:

"Then gently scan yir brither man Still gentler sister woman, Though they may gang a 'kennin wrang Tae step aside is human."

As years pass over us, we condemn less and we pity more. We come to understand better our own shortcomings. We learn too that violence breeds violence, and harsh and cruel measures do not reform. The whole trend of prison administration the world over is toward the reformative and away from the punitive. This, I am certain, is the mind of the people of Canada.

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"In the new warehouse facilities, prisoners are governed by a vast and pervasive set of rules. These rules frustrate and anger prisoners because of the extensive and arbitrary manner in which they are enforced. First, it is difficult to know all the rules, much less comply with them. Beyond that, many of these rules intrude into prisoners’ ordinary practices and significantly interfere with their attempts to carry on their already excessively reduced life routines. These rules are seen as “chickenshit.” Dannie Martin, a prisoner in federal prison at Lompoc during its shift to a new, more regulated regimen, commented on the new rules:

As the saying goes, it’s the little things that make a house a home. To those who face the mind-killing boredom of long prison sentences, small changes take on large significance in this our home away-from-home. … He [a new warden] also managed to curtail most of the small liberties enjoyed by the convict population. Before his arrival, we had been permitted to wear our own clothes. Now we were to wear strictly tucked-in and buttoned-up government issue. And our recreational opportunities and food went from bad to worse. ... No sooner did the warden close the yard than we lost our chairs, and that hurt. For as long as most of us can remember, we've had our own chairs in the TV rooms as well as in our cells. There’s little enough in here for a man to call his own, and over the years these chairs have been modified and customized in an amazing degree—legs bent to suit the occupant, arm rests glued on, pads knitted for comfort. And the final personal touch is always the printing of a name on the back.

A lifer interviewed at Solano revealed his anger at the succession of restrictive rules passed by the administration over the last few years:

I don’t know what it would take to get us to stand up to them. They took away our family visits. They took away our weights. They made us shave our beards and cut our hair. Next they’ll tell us to bend over, so they can fuck us in the ass.

Many, perhaps most, prisoners find it impossible to obey all the new rules, and thus they put themselves in regular jeopardy of receiving “beefs” (disciplinary actions). For example, if prisoners followed the rules governing smoking, they would not be able to smoke for 10 to 12 hours at a stretch.

Many rules also require subjective interpretation. For example, there is a rule prohibiting disrespect toward employees (as well as other prisoners). After the introduction of female guards into the prison, the problem of male prisoners making sexual gestures, comments, and approaches to these guards arose. Some female guards were particularly sensitive to actions they interpret as sexual harassment This led to an infraction the prisoners refer to as “reckless eyeballing,” which is a highly subjective interpretation of disrespect. More important, the rules are enforced with considerable inconsistency and arbitrariness. One of the best examples of this is the appeals procedure, which is elaborately spelled out in six pages of the CDC Operations Manual. The description of the procedure begins as follows:

Any inmate or parolee under the department’s jurisdiction may appeal any departmental decision, action, condition, or policy which they can demonstrate as having an adverse effect upon their welfare.

The regulations go on to describe how appeals are to be submitted, the time limits in which prisoners should submit them and administrators should rule on them, the grounds for rejection or denial of appeals, restrictions and punishments for “abuse” of the appeal procedure, and, most important, “exceptions to the regular appeal process.”

The appeal process has the appearance of a legitimate, due process system; however, in reality it usually fails to conform to basic standards of due process and renders arbitrary and biased decisions. The main reason for this is that the process remains internal to the institution. If an appeal is denied and the prisoner pursues it, it passes up the through the levels of the prison bureaucracy. First, an appeal must be reviewed informally by the staff involved directly in the issue. If the appeal is not resolved to a prisoner’s satisfaction at this level, it is passed up to an “appeals coordinator.” If resolution is not achieved there, the appeal is passed on to the “institution head or their designee.” Last, it is reviewed by a “designated representative of the director.” There is no eventual appeal to an outside, impartial decision maker, such as an ombudsman, which many organizations, including some prison systems, have employed."

"CONVICTS SO HAPPY! PRISON PRESS AGENT WEARS ROSY SPECS." Toronto Globe. September 7, 1933. Page 1 & 2. ---- Games and Jobs Interrupted While Guard Distributes Tomatoes ---- SIGNIFICANT "HAND-OUT" ---- An interesting-and very significant-hand-out" from the Kingston Penitentiary arrived over the Canadian Press last night. Where the "news" came from is not stated, and The Globe merely prints the despatch as it reached this paper. It may be that publicity and the fear of an open investigation are bringing results already. ---- (Canadian Press Despatch.) Kingston, Sept. 6. - Kingston Penitentiary is busily at work and at play. peacefully and industriously undertaking one of the largest construction projects started for many years in the prison beside Lake Ontario. It was learned today that every convict, except those in hospital, is at work.

Intermittent rumors that dissatisfaction exists among the convict population of Portsmouth were refuted by the knowledge that the entire body of prisoners is at work. It was charged in some quarters that since the riots of last October, and during the recent trials of rioters, the prison has been in a turmoil.

Work has started on an undertaking that will add several acres to the area of the prison yard. The entire east wall of the Institution will be torn down and a new wall erected, to take In a large field beside the prison which for years has been unused.

Storage Building. The new section of ground to be enclosed is being cleared for construction of a building which, it is understood, will be used for storing of mail-bags and other products of the penitentiary workshops. Convicts were actively engaged today in work all along the east side of the prison.

At the water edge, forty prisoners were busy filling in space formerly occupied by waters of Lake Ontario, and which has been added to the long waterfront at the southeast rear of the prison. The breakwater has been completed and the fill is being completed with stones and concrete.

Huge piles of concrete bricks, being made inside the prison for the first time, dot the field that soon will be part of the walled-in prison area. Making of bricks by convict labor is expected to mean a big saving to the Government. The new building will be erected by prisoners, using materials made inside the institution and stone quarried by convicts.

A Canadian Press reporter, watching the activity along the east wall, made ready to run for the nearest telephone when he saw twenty convicts suddenly drop tools and rush to a guard. But no wonder they rushed. The guard held out an armful of ripe tomatoes, a mid-afternoon treat for the boys. The idea was to get the largest and reddest.

Shops Busy. It was learned that every shop in the prison had its full quota of men at work. In the machine shop all the machines were working: the carpenter shop, the tin and paint shop, the change-room, the mail-bag department, the stone shed - all scenes of the October, 1932, riots were at full strength.

Renovation and fireproofing of the building used as a shoe and tailor shop, and from where the convicts are alleged to have rushed during the riots nearly a year ago, is well advanced. About twenty men are engaged putting on a new tin roof.

It was learned softball has become a popular pastime among the convicts. In twenty-minute periods they are turned out in groups on a diamond: Games are played, but practices are more frequent.

Quoits is also popular. Four or five horseshoe-pitching rings were in use today, and as the rings dropped peals of laughter and cheers arose.

"Convict prisons were busy places, with many people moving throughout the facility and its grounds during daylight hours. The visibility of convicts was therefore of considerable importance to prison staff. All convicts wore identifying circular cloth badges (around 3 inches in diameter and sewn to their uniform) that showed the type of sentence they were serving (e.g., PS for penal servitude), their prison register number (e.g. 50844), and the length of their sentence (depicted in numeral form, with the exception of those sentenced to life imprisonment: this was designated by an ‘L’); but such badges were not large enough to be read at a distance.

Therefore, convicts’ uniforms were designed to make it immediately apparent to staff (and indeed to other convicts) what the current status of a prisoner was in terms of both their respective conduct and their present stage. Those inmates in the ‘star class’, for example, had a scarlet star on their cap and the right and left sleeves of their jacket. Prisoners in different stages were kept apart. All convict uniforms were stamped with a large, broad arrow, signifying they (and by extension their wearers) were the property of the government. This mark was intended to shame the wearer and was used on both male and female prison uniforms (it often featured widely in contemporary publicity photographs of suffragettes who had been imprisoned for their cause). The usual male convict prison uniform for inmates in the probation class (i.e., those who were at the start of their confinement or had been demoted as a result of an infringement of the prison rules) consisted of a drab or light-brown two-piece suit of fairly coarse cloth with no other identifying features. Convicts in the third class wore the same basic uniform with black facings; second class had yellow facings and first class had blue facings.

Edward Bannister Callow, who wrote under the pen name ‘one-who-has-endured-it’, describes these facings in more detail: ‘The facings consist of nothing for probation, three inches of black or yellow cloth one inch wide on each side of the neck and across the upper part of the sleeve at the cuff for 3rd and 2nd class, and a blue stripe one inch wide all around the collar and cuffs for 1st class.” Those prisoners designated as ‘special class’ convicts had a different blue uniform. A convict of Dartmoor Prison, where able-bodied convicts carried out their labour on the moors, one-who-has-endured-it explains that ‘every man who was drafted for outdoor work had an extra suit of clothes supplied to him, and a blue and red striped canvas short jacket, reaching just below the hips, and termed a “slop”. This he wore over all, and it was the only protection against either cold or rain, except during the winter months, when every man was supplied with a thick blue Guernsey shirt.’ Again, visibility over long distances on the bleak moors was clearly at the forefront when it came to design and choice of colours. There was some variation in uniform when a convict became a trusted orderly; one-who-has-endured-it vividly describes his new uniform after being granted a position of trust in the prison administration block: ‘Let the reader picture to himself the dress. Grey woollen cap striped with scarlet; drab jacket and vest, with a blue collar, and badge on [the] left arm, and scarlet cuffs; blue breeches to the knee, with blue-grey stockings embellished with three scarlet rings round the legs an inch wide. Add to all this an embellishment of the broad arrow stamped in black all over, and conceive anything more like a macaw if you can.’ Convicts undergoing punishment were required to wear what was known as a particoloured dress. This consisted of a uniform with quarter facings of bright colours, which immediately identified the wearer as a potentially troublesome individual – such uniforms looked like a parody of a Harlequin costume. Those who destroyed their clothing were given an additional punishment of having to wear a tear-proof canvas uniform made from No. 1 Grade Navy Canvas that was ‘not to exceed 12lbs in weight’. There were eight grades of Navy Canvas (used to make sailcloth), and No. 1 Grade was the heaviest, weighing twice as much as the lightest grade. This must have been a considerable inhibitor of movement and – as the material was particularly ungiving – a very uncomfortable experience. Female convicts were provided with serge dresses. In the probation and third classes, these were ordinary brown in colour, although prisoners in the third class also wore a badge that said ‘No. 3’. Those convicts in second class wore a green serge dress and a ‘No. 2’ badge, while those in first class wore a dark blue serge dress and a ‘No. 1’ badge. A special dress was worn in refuge class (while awaiting a space at a refuge), which was later called special class, and then a grey linsey dress. Women were also subjected to canvas dresses – weighted Navy Canvas garments (as described above for male convicts) – if they destroyed their normal prison uniforms.