Terre Haute Weekly Gazette, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 7 July 1887 — Page 9

BELGIUM'S NEW PRISON.

HOW THE CONVICTS OF THAf LAND ARE TREATED.

They Are All Subjected to Solitary Confinement of the Most Rigorous Sort Even When They Are Being Preached

To—Prisons in General.

Belgium has carried the system of solitary confinement to its farthest possible limits. Her scientists and administrators have apparently studied long on plans to preserve a prisoner in health and sanity, yet completely Isolated from his fellow beings, and the result Is seen in the cellular prisons, of which Belgium now has thirty. In those the figure of speech, "a living tomb," has become an awfu reality, and the civilized world will watch the experiment with great interest, for the question of associated as against solitary confinement is one on which the humanitarians and the practical administrators of the world are radically at issue. In the last two centuries the prisons of Christendom have been so far improved that we shudder when we read of the crnelties of former days, yet a very large and respectable minority of thinkers maintain that all which tends to make prison life agreeable is a mistake, and that the horrors of prison ljfe have their justification in the deterrent effect on possible criminals. To this the humanitarians have two answers: one that innocent men are sometimes imprisoned the other that cruelty, no matter in what form, hardens the criminal. The 'result of these contending sentiments is seen in the strangely contradictory policy adopted in the United States. In one state the criminal is so tenderly dealt with that tramps commit Minor offenses in order to take a recupera-

EXTEBIOR OF THE PRISON.

tlve rest in jail, while in another the horrors of prison life are such as to make the popular ear burn when they are told. In England all the authorities are now agreed that solitary confinement tends to insanity so that form of punishment is now limited there to a few days in each year. In tbe United States the power to confine criminals in that way is very strictly guarded, and but few states permit it for any long time. In Michigan the law consigns murderers to solitary cells,so solitary that the visitor who walks in the outer corridor feels a chill when he realizes that men like himself are hopelessly immured behind those thick walls and iron doors. The result, as shown by the prison statistics, is that the condemned murderer rarely lives ten years. A sentence in Michigan is only better than the death penalty in that it gives longer time for reflection and repentance, and far worse in that it is really a sentence to death, with the added horrors of slow torture.

In Belgium, after long trial and consideration of both methods, they have decided in favor of solitary confinement for prisoners of all terms up to ten years. In 1869 M. Berden, chief of prisons, began the work of remodeling all the penitentiaries (as Americans call them), and now there are thirty such in tbe little kingdom. We give a representation of the last one constructed, that of St. Gilles, at Brussels, which "accommodates" (what a word! the report uses it) 600 prisoners. In these prisons every other consideration is subordinate to that of keeping the prisoner solitary. Even in the chapel where he attends on tbe offices of religion, the prisoner sees no one but the minister. His "pew" is a cell, and from it he can only look straight forward to the pulpit. From the chapel, or from his work or daily promenade in the prison yard, he goes ^to a cell where he f|is as completely isolated as if buried but his cell is comfortable as

PRISONER IN WORKING far as physical DRBS8. comforts go. It is spacious, light and airy he has a neat iron bedstead, a table, a comfortable chair, a carpet and gas light at night The ventilation secures liim pure air, and his food is scientifically adjusted to insure health and strength. Thus does the government do its fairest to insure him length of life, if life it may be called, with leisure for reflection and repentance. The prisoner has all the toilet necessary for cleanliness and all the accessories to a religious life. He, or she, is in fact a monk, or nun, with abundant time to mortify the flesh, and more than enough inducements to look for happiness only beyond the grave. Jmd if his sentence be for a short term he still has ever}* inducement to reflect and repent, and his condition should certainly convince him that "the way of the transgressor is hard." But whether this system produces a larger percentage of reformations than the

PRISON CHAPEL

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Tpywjg

other, or whether insanity increases under it, we are not yet informed we await the report of results. The prisoners do some work, but it is all subordinate to the idea of reformation. In the first place, all who have no regular occupation (and it is a noteworthy fact that few criminals have ever learned a trade) are at once taught a trade and the prison authorities promise that they will make a man an apt shoemaker in a year, a fair tailor in six months, or a weaver in three. Of

course

all the work of the prison is

done by convicts, and so economically are the prisons managed that the cost to government averages but $80 per year for each convict. The mere fact that it costs something, however, shows that the prisons are run for other objects than saving money. The Belgian system naturally attiacts much attention, and the results will be of much value to Americana

GIFT TO STRATFORD-ON-AVON.

A 8hake*pet» «an Drinking Fountain Erected by George W. Childs. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, has had a beautiful drinking fountain with clock tower built at Stratford-on-Avon, in England, in Rother market The citizens' of the birthplace of Shakespeare feel this is a munificent gift— one long needed in that quiet village.

The base and troughs of the monument are of Peterhead granite, the balance a variety of fine, delicate stone, gray in color, brought from Bolton wood, in Yorkshire. The base, is square, with projecting buttresses, which have gablets bearing the American eagle, stars and stripes, a lion and the arms of Great Britain. On the uorth is a granite BHAKESPEAREAN DRINKbasin finely pol-

ING

FOUNTAIN.

ished, into which a stream of water flows from a bronze spout On tbe east and west sides are troughs for animals, and on the south a door affording admission to the interior. The inscriptions are cut iuto the stone us follows:

The gift of an American citizen, George W. iCliilde, of Philadelphia, to the town of Shakespeare, in the jubilee yeai of Queen n_Victoria. In her days every man shall eat in safety Under his own vine, what he plaatn and sinjp The merry songs of peace to all his neighbors. God shall be truly known: and those about her From her sball read the perfect ways of honor, And by those claim their greatness, not by blooc^

Henry VIII, Act V, Scene 4. m.

Honest water, which ne'er left man i' the mire. Timon of Athens, Act I, Scene 2. IV.

Ten thousand honors and blessings on the bard vho has gilded the dull realities of life with innocent illusions.—Washington Irving's "Strat-ford-on-Avon."

The height of this monument to the vane is fifty-five feet The four dials of the clock are under crocketed gables, with fiuials representing "Puck," "Mustard Seed," "Pear Blossom" and "Cobweb." The clock is illuminated at night. The arches are glazed and light the chamber in which the clock is placed.

At the corners are cylindrical turrets, terminating in conical spirelets in two stages, the surfaces of the cones enriched with scale like ornament. The clock faces project slightly from a cylindrical tower flanked by four other smaller three-quarter attached turrets of the same plan from the main central cylinder springs a spire of slightly concave outline, and the four turrets have similar but much smaller spirelets, all five springing from the same level, and all terminating in lofty gilded vanes. Immediately below the line of springing is a band of paneling formed of narrow trefoiled arches. The central spire has on four opposite sides gabled spire lights, and, at about one-third of its height, a continuous band of narrow lights to spread the sound of the clock bells.

Mr. Childs presented this fountain as a token of the amicable relations between the United States and Great Britain in the jubilee of Victoria's reign.

A Kelio of the Confederacy. On the grounds of the United States Naval academy at Annapolis, a superannuated Confederate torpedo boat is an object of much interest to visitors, for, although it will stand no comparison with modern boats of the kind, it was during the rebellion one of the most formidable craft of its type. It will be remembered that more than a score of northern

OLD CONFEDERATE TORPEDO BOAT, vessels were destroyed by the southern torpedo service. The methods of the Confederate government were thorough in securing information for use in this service, and through the torpedo bureau at Richmond, Europe was scoured for material and ideas.

An Unfortunate Misunderstanding. "My dear," said a gentleman to his wife, "where did all those books on astronomy on the library table come from? They are not oura." "A pleasant little surprise for you," responded the lady. "You know, you said this morning that we ought to study astronomy, and so I went to a book store and bought everything I could find ou the subject"

It was some minutes before he spoke. "My dear," he then said slowly, his voice husky with emotion, "I never said we must study astronomy. I said that we must study economy."—New York Sua.

Ai :rj

uAiiJJi Ul? LAW

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, THURSDAY, JULY 7,1887.—TWO PARTS —PART SECOND.

SOMETHING ABOUT "THE NOBLEST OF OUTDOOR GAMES."

Its Strong and Weak Points—It* Popularity—Everybody Can Flay It—Court# and ltacqnets—Tennis Gowns, Hats and

Shoes—Its Facilities for Flirtation. Lawn tennis is an offshoot of the game of tennis, the most famous and difficult of games of ball. It is an adaptation to suit outdoor courts, which are marked out on turf or on smooth ground. It is said to have been invented long ago but within recent years it has been popularised. It is a game either for two, three or four players. For single banded games the court is twenty-seven feet wide and seventy-eight feet long. The net, which divides it across tbe middle, is three feet and a half high at the posts which brace it up and' three feet at the center. The double court, for three or four handed games, is thirty-six feet wide.

Tennis clubs among persons of leisure exist all over the country. Their members, though by no means all expert players, Unite in pronouncing lawn tennis the "grandest and noblest of outdoor games." Why? Because it arouses in the players a lively interest, and is a game at which "everybody can play." Ladies? "Oh, bless you, yes. Some ladies are number one play era but very few, though. But then few ladies are experts in any game. The trouble is they rarely buckle right down to playing a game for all it is worth. They do not educate the eye to be quick. They don't think rapidly, and their muscular movements are not so quick and agile as men's—all for lack of practice, too. And they are less patient in games than men, though in tbe hard lines of real life their patience ranks first"

KST

STARTING LATE.

"But is it not a game that requires considerable outlay of physical strength?" "Yes, of course," said the young man who is authority on tennis. "It takes strength as wejl as some skill to play tennis, and ladies can injure themselves if they don't exercise some judgment but they can do the same in dancing, rowing, walking, riding—any form of recreation. Pour games a day are all the strongest young lady ought to play, and all the sensible one wil^play." "If judgment is used is lawn tennis a beneficial game physically!" "None better. It exercises all the muscles." "How about the right arm is it not unduly developed, and isn't there such a thing: as a tennis elbow?" "To be sure. The right arm gets more than its share of development but so it does straight along through life. And as for the lawn tennis elbow, I will admit it but ic is not unavoidable. Judgment, judgment, judgment, and you will avoid it" "Flirtation?" "Where is the game that affords it not? But lawn tennis absorbs your mind too much to admit of sentimental shines while it is going on. Cupid takes aback seat and calmly awaits a more propitious season. Display of athletic grace and ability goes away ahead of the tender passion in tennis." "Are good players born or made?" "Born, I think. Certain mental and physical qualities are necessary to good players. There is much in practice, but more in nature. We all kuow persons who could not be taught to sing in a thousand years." "Dress?" "Well, for ladies, something short in the skirt, and not heavy. The rule is, 'a long dress will spoil your play, and the play will spoil your long dress.' Low cut shoes with soles of India rubber, and a small bat are necessary. No bracelets, bangles, or things that get in the way are allowable. Soft felt hats in white, red and blue, in sailor shape, and also high crowns with rolling brims, are much in vogue. Even finger rings are discarded. They raise blisters by contact with the bat." "Do professionals take up lawn tennis?" "No that is probably why it retains its popularity so long. It is eminently a gentlemen's game. Professionals have not degraded it.'

"l-' ir

OVERHAND SERVICE.

"What is the essential point in learning to play a good game?" -'Learnimr to tell where the ball will eo. It

is an instinct that comes of good judgment, quick observation and practice." "What is a woman's weakest point in playing?" "Volleying, of course." "What is the most important thing to dof "Never give up. Next is, keep your temper. Patience and determination will often win a game when the skill is on the other Bide. Last year 450 lawn tennis clubs obtained courts in Prospect park, Brooklyn. This gives dn idea of its popularity, since every club which obtains a court there must have a regular organization, with officer*, and twelve members." "What are the specialties of lawn tennis?' "Guard and attack, as in most games." "What is understood by the term 'servicer" "The way you "bat the ball. There are three kinds of service, with variations: Overhand service, underhand service, and plain. Tb* everhand is considered the best."

GERMANY'S CROWN PRINCE.

Sketch of the Man Who Will Inherit Kaiser William's Throne. Dire rumors have reached this country in regard to the cancerous growth in the throat of Frederick William, crown prince of the German empire and of Prussia. These rumors have been so conflicting in statement that it is hard to get at the truth. The doctors differ also. but Professor Virchow, of Berlin, and Dr. Morell Mackenzie, of London, did not hesitats to state that the royal #22? 'V patient is suffering from a malignant cancer, in which case he is doomed.

After an operation had been performed the physicians concluded the swelling was simply a warty growth and health may come again. If it be cancerous, either the removal of the larynx and consequent loss of

CROWN PRINCE FREDER- voice to the paICK WILLIAM. tient, or 'thyrotomy will be necessary. No patient has survived tbe latter operation thus far in medical practice.

The great importance of Frederick William's illness is shown by the fact that bis aged father cannot long be expected to survive. Prince William, eldest son of our subject and his natural successor, holds the confidence of the German people in a remarkable degree. He is a favorite pupil of Moltke, and favorably disposed to the Bismarcks. As an officer has been a hard worker, and is held in great esteem by the army. Should be by the death of his father succeed the venerable emperor, the peaceful policy of the aged monarch and his son, the crown prince, will no doubt be forsaken. War with France would be almost sure to follow.

The earnest character and eminent talents of Frederick William were developed under excellent masters, among others Ernest Curtins, who accompanied him to the University of Bonn, where the prince was matriculated in the law faculty. After the completion of his education the prince visited several foreign countries, among others England, where he married the princess royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, on Jan. 25, 1858, with the royal approbation of both nations. By this union are two sons and four daughters.

Since bis father ascended the throne the crown prince has taken part in the most im portant affairs of state. He served in the Danish campaign in a subordinate capacity, but with such ability that the king intrusted him to an important task in the war with Austria in 1866, viz., the command of the left Prussian wing, operating in and from Silesia.

In the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71, the crown prince acted a very conspicuous part as commander of the troops of Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Baden. He was present at Sedan, August, 1870, and was made field marshal two months after by his father. During the emperor's illness caused by an assassin's shot in 1878 his public functions were ably performed by the crown prince.

Quite American, Ton Know. The drivers of the Fifth avenue stages haze discarded their winter uniforms—long, closely buttoned coats trimmed with red, and black pot hats—and have assumed their summer garb. The transmogrification is complete. Whereas in their clumsy winter garb they were out and out English "coachees," delightful to the eye of the Anglomaniac, in their light, easy summer sack suits of blue flannel, with gilt buttons and broad white straw hats, they are comfortable, every day American stage drivers. The lower terminus of the line at present is ou tbe northeast corner of Fifth avenue and Ninth street, under a patriarchal tree shading the gloomy old fashioned front of a Knickerbocker mansion. The starter sits under the tree and keeps a tally of the coaches in a free and easy American style that is refreshing.—New York Sun.

The Largest Gun in the World. The largest gun iu tUe world has just been set up at Woolwich arsenal, constructed at the Elswick works. The total length of the gun is 43 feet 8 inches length of bore, 30 calibers. The chamber has a diameter of 21.125 inches length, 83.4 inches. Its capacity is 2d,000 cubic inches. The projectile will weigh 1,800 pounds, and the charge 960 pounds of slow burning prismatic brown powder. The energy of the charge will be

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN TON GUN. equivalent to 50,924 tons weight aud the shot will penetrate wrought iron plate to the depth of over 30 inches at a distance of 1,000 yards. It is expected the gun will be effective at range of eight miles.

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THE DAGliJiK OF COltTEZ.

AN INTERESTING RELIC THAT IS NOW IN ENGLAND.

A Weapon Made t«* Contain Deadly Poison—Designed to Be Always Mortal in Its Effect—History of tbe Knife-

Its Peculiarly leadly Characteristic. The interest of historians and antiquarians, as well as of a large body of the public, has recently been aroused in England through the effortR of the British Museum to acquire possession of a most curious and valuable weapon that is identified with some of tbe most stirring scenes which this continent has witnessed, and which was, unfortunately, allowed to leave the United States after being held here for many years. It is the dagger of Cortez, the daring conqueror of Mexico and discoverer of California, who is famous for having landed in a strange land with scarcely 500 followers. Like Caesar, he burnt his ships behind him so that his troops could not return, and must therefore conquer or perish.

The dagger shown in the accompanying illustrations, is in every way worthy of the valiant soldier who bore it,being a fine example of an armorer's workmanship, and showing the devilish ingenuity of the Middle Age Spanish mind. It is made throughout of highly polished steel, and is altogether nearly afoot aud a half in length. The handle is of finely wrought, open filigree work in steel, surmounted by a

S pa is with corresponding ornaments within it The crossbar is of similar beautiful workmanship, with little pendant ornaments and a crown at either end.

Below this is a sort of lock, an oblong structure four inches in length,

CORTEZ'8 DAGGER. containing apiece of mechanism which by a pressure of the thumb opens the blade, like a scissors, when ir enters the wound and releases liquid poison therein contained, somewhat as the machinery of a rattlesnake poisons after cutting.

Tbe blade, properly so called, is eight inches long, with a sharp point and edges, and within it are grooves to contain the poison. This is tbe only known example of the application of this deadly principle to a dagger.

The history of the dagger is such as to place its authenticity beyond doubt It came into the United States through an ancient Mexican family, descending to the late Bishop Porties, of Mobile, who gave it to the celebrated Indian missionary, Father De Smet, S. J., to be deposited by him in the museum of the present University of St. Louis, where it remained for fourteen years. It then came into the possession of the Rev. John Higginbotham, a chaplain in the British army,during whose absence in Bermuda it was held for many years in trust, with a collection of other valuable weapons, by the late John Dower Murphy, Esq., of Waterford, Ireland, with whom tho British museum first opened negotiations for its purchase, offering at one time, it is said, as much as $20,000 for the weapon. Father Higginbotham died in Ireland some time since, and it is now believed that this interesting relic will find a last resting place in the British museum.

THE DAGGER OPEN.

DEATH OF MARK HOPKINS*

Sixty-two Tears of His Active Life iu Williams College. Mark Hopkins, D. D., LL. D., who died at Williamstown, Mass., on the 17th inst., was the oldest man actively engaged in educational works in the country. He was born at Stockbridge, Mass., on the 4th of February, 1802. After preparatory study in the academies of Lenox, Mass., and Clinton, N. Y., he entered the sophomore class at Williams college, and three yeai-s later was graduated with the highest honors of his class. He began the study of medicine at the Pittsfield Medical college, but abandoned it for an appointment to a tutorship at Williams oollege. Two years later he again took up the study of medicine, receiving his degree in 1S29. He at once began the practice of hisj profession in tbe city of New York.

Williams college, with which his name has been so long and closely identified, knowing his great strength of character and unusual capacity for mental activity, offered him the following year the position of professor of rhetoric and moral philosophy. He accepted, and in 1836, when President Griffin retired, Dr. Hopkins, though then only 34 years of age, was chosen to succeed him. For thirty-six years he held the position of president of Williams college. He retired in 1872 at the age of 70, but retained the professorship of moral and intellectual philosophy. •Dr. Hookin$ qpent sixty-two years of his

DR.

ARK HOPKINS.

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nffe*rihr*Y

long lite in W illlulns college as student, tutor, professor and president He wrote many essays, and delivered many lectures outside of the college on moral and philosophical subjects. Among his published works are "Evidences of Christianity,". "Moral Sciences," "The Law of Love and Love as a Law," and an "Outline of the Study of Man." He has. also published a volume of his baccalaureate sermons under the title of "Strength and Beauty," and a volume of lectures delivered at Princeton on the "Scriptural Idea of Man* is now in press and will soon appear.

DR. ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK.

As an author of religions works be is well known. Among his published books are the "Life of Edward Robinson," "Complete Analysis of the Bible" and "Socialism." In connection with Drs. Scbaff jBMd Eddy be published "Hymns and Songs of Praise," and assisted Dr. Francis Brown in translating and editing the "Teaching of Twelve Apostles." He was also editor of religious and theological parts of "Johnson's Cyclopedia and at one time was assistant editor of "The American Theological Review."

Dr. Hitchcock was something of a traveler. He devoted a year to seeing Germany, visited Italy and Greece in 1866, traveled in Egypt and Palestine, and in 1871 was president of the American Palestine Exploring company. His scholarship was profouiid, his theological erudition remarkable, and his interest in all the public affairs of life warm to the last. During the war of the rebellion he displayed a fervent patriotism.

THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAVELER.

Daniel Pratt, of Chelsea, Mass., Lately Deceased. Daniel Pratt was known as "The Great American Traveler," and it is claimed be has been in almost every part of this country in earning the title. There is no doubt he was partially insane,but in a harmless way, and his insanity was not so pronounced but he managed to ex-, ist on charity, though a carpenter by trade and able to work. He believed that at various times he had been elected president of the United States, and had a number of explanations as to how he was deposed or why he resigned. "The Great American Traveler" DANIEL PRATT. visited Washington nineteen or twenty times, and claimed to have traveled nearly 250,000 miles. He died recently. He was born at Chelsea, a suburb of Breton, and, aside from his local reputation, will be remembered by college students everywhere," as he had for years made an annual tonr of all the eastern colleges. He was a habitue of newspaper offices also, and although he made frequent tours in some of these, from cellar to attic, addressing himself in turn to editors, reporters, compositors and pressmen, he was seldom an unwelcome guest He made frequent addresses to gatherings of employee in newspaper offices, and never forgot to wind up every fantastic oration with a collection.

He seemed to be able to live on almost nothing, and was always dressed shabbily. Some aver that his travels were only in imagination, and that periods of absence from tbe streets Boston were really spent in seclusion at Chelsea but as he disappeared for twelve years at one time, there is little room for doubt that his travels among the Indians, in all the states, territories, iu Canada, etc., were really made.

The cut of Pratt is from a photograph by C. F. Conley, of Boston.

Tell the Whole Story.

A religious exchange, in a column of "Anecdotes of Animals," tells of a dog owned by tbe Kingston City street railroad company which recently watched the blacksmith shoe one of tho horses, and then "held up one of his own paws and showed plainly enough that he, too, wanted to be shod." It does seem as if a church paper, above all others, shouldn't be afraid to tell the whole truth, but it appears this one is. After the blacksmith had refused to shoe the dog he sat around the shop till night, chewing plug tobacco, while he found fault with the weather arid complained concerning the poor crops and lied about what an awful fellow he used to be to bind wheat —Dakota Bell. .. ..

The Late President of the Union Th«e logical Seminary in New York. 1 The name of Dr. Roswell Dwight Hitchcock is conspicuous in tbe records of biblical learning and theological discussion in New

York. President ot the Union Theological seminary in New York city, his sudden death at. South Somerset, Mass., will be shock to a wide circle of friends and the religious public. His death was the result of a cold contracted two days before at tbe

DR. R. D. HITCHCOCK. dedication of tbe Durfee high school building, where be delivered an address.

A native of East Machias, Me., Dr. Hitchcock was born Aug. 15,1817, and was graduated at Amherst college in 188ft. He devoted a year to biblical study and teaching, and then studied at the Andover Theological seminary. In 1839 he became a tutor in Amherst college, a position which he held three years, when he returned to his original purpose of entering tbe Congregational ministry. He preached at Waterville, Me., for some time, and then took charge of tbe First Congregational church at Exeter, N. H., until 1852, when he became professor of natural and revealed religion at Bowdoin college. On leaving that institution he received from it the degree of D. D., and in 1873 Amherst college conferred that of LL. D. In 1855 he was invited to the Washburn professorship of church history in the Union Theological seminary, and in 1880 be became the president of that institution.