Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1895 — CANARIES FOR CONVICTS. [ARTICLE]

CANARIES FOR CONVICTS.

Michigan Prisoners Keep Thom for Comfort and Profit. Convicts in the Michigan State prison have many more favors than those of almost ar<y other penitentiary in the United States, and it is the belief of the management of the Institution that for this reason there are fewer outbreaks of lawlessness than are found elsewhere. Among the favors granted to them here is that of keeping and caring for birds. There are fully 600 feathered songsters in Michigan's principal penal institution, all owned and cared for by the convicts, and as soon as daylight approaches on bright mornings their sweet notes are heard in striking

contrast to the natural feelings of their owners. Many of the most hardened criminals, who from their general appearance and history would not be expected. to care for anything of a refining nature, tenderly care for and caress.their little pets. More than three-quarters of the cells in the prison contain one or more canaries, and they are also found in various shops throughout the institution. During the day the cages are hung outside the cells to give the birds light and air, but as soon as the convict returns from work at night the cage is taken inside. This practice has been carried on in the prison for years, and the officials say that instead of any detrimental effect being noticeable the little songsters have proved a benefit, as they not only give the cells a more homelike appearance, but they also wield a decided influence in the way of humanizing the most reckless and hardened criminal. Beside being permitted to keep the birds for the sake of their company and influence, the convicts are also allowed to raise them to sell, and many a dollar is credited to the accounts of the prisoners from this source. Of course the convict handles none of the money realized from the sale of the birds until he is discharged, but it is placed to his credit in th.t prison bank. It is interesting to walk up and down the prison corridors and note the different kinds of canaries in the cages, and more particularly to note the different methods adopted by the convicts in caring for their pets. All styles of cages are co be seen, and while one bird is provided with a veritable palace of a home and all the luxuries known in the bird world, the one in front of the next cell will have simply the plainest wood or wire cage and only the ordinary seed and water holders. This is also true in the shops, and the character of the convict can in almost every instance be safely estimated by the care he gives his feathered friends. Through the day the music of the birds is hardly noticeable, although it can be heard more or less at al most any time, but on a bright morning the songsters are pleasingly noisy. One Of the officials who has been connected with the prison for years says that when he first came to the prison the music of the birds in the morning made him wild, but he has now become so accustomed to it that the place would be terribly silent without it.