, a description
of which will be given later on. It is the opinion of the author that
something should be done to remedy this. The young men from seventeen
to twenty, together with the old men from fifty to sixty, and those
suffering from diseases, are often required to dig as much coal as
middle-aged and able-bodied men. I have seen old men marching to their
cells after a hard day's work scarcely able to walk, and many times have
I laid in the mines along with these young boys who would spend hours
crying like whipped children for fear they would be unable to get
out their regular task of coal, and would therefore have to spend the
Sabbath in the dungeon, suffering unspeakable anguish.

Because of the dangers to which the inmate is exposed; because of the
debasing influences by which lie is surrounded, it is wrong, it is
WICKED to work our criminals in such a place as those mines of the
Kansas penitentiary.

CHAPTER IV. THE PUNISHMENTS OF THE PRISON

The discipline of this institution is of the very highest character,
and is unequaled in any similar institution of the United States. The
officers are very watchful and strict. The inmates who work on the
surface are not permitted to converse with each other only within the
hearing of an officer, and then only with regard to matters that pertain
to work. The convict attends to his duties, observing the strictest
silence. When visitors pass about the prison the inmate is not permitted
to lift up his head to gaze at them. Not even is he permitted to take
a drink of water or to leave his place of work for anything without the
permission of the officer in charge. As soon as a criminal enters the
prison and is clothed in stripes, a copy of the rules and regulations
is placed in his hands for perusal. If he cannot read, an officer reads
them to him. On the first day of his admission the prisoner receives
certain tickets, which are permits for privileges granted to him. One
of these tickets allows him to have tobacco if he used the same before
coming to the penitentiary; one allows him to receive visits from his
friends; another to write a letter, monthly, to his relatives; and still
another gives him the privilege to draw a book from the library, weekly.
These privileges are highly appreciated by the prisoners. For the first
offense in violation of any of the rules and regulations the refractory
prisoner is deprived of his ticket; and in extreme cases these tickets
have