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Convict Conditions
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH, 1898. [AT FREMANTLE GAOL.] Present: DR. ADAM JAMESON, Chairman. Mr. E. W. Mayhew, Mr. M. L. Moss, Mr. H. Stirling, Dr. Lotz, and the Secratary. Mr. Robert Charles Wood, a warder, examined. 364. MEDICAL.—There is no medical examination of prisoners on their admission to the gaol. Prisoners are informed that they must report any contagious or infectious disease from which they may be suffering. On admission, the prisoners are required to strip and take a bath. I think I could tell if a man was diseased. I do not, of course, make a medical examination; in fact I do not know the difference between gonorrhoea and syphilis. 365. VENEREAL PATIENTS.—These are bathed in a separate place from the clean prisoners. There are no special bathing arrangement for prisoners suffering from syphilis. Fifteen towels are kept for the use of the unclean patient. Each one uses his own towel and rinses it out afterwards in hot water. No disinfectants are used. The towels are not marked with any distinguishing number. They might be used for different diseased prisoners in the following week. 366. THE DOCTOR.—No prisoner sees the doctor unless he specially sends for medical advice. A prisoner might go through the whole of his sentence without seeing the doctor. [The commission proceeded to inspect the bathing arrangements in the refractory yard. Attention was called to the case of a man awaiting trial for some days before the magistrate, and the opinion was expressed that this necessity would not arise if the Superintendent had power to punish for trivial offences.] No. 10362, examined. 367. AGE.—58. 368. PERSONAL.—I have been in this goal, off and on, now for about 33 years. My present sentence is for stealing money from a till. I am going out to-day on ticket-of-leave. 369. DISCHARGE.—I am leaving penniless, but expect to get work as a baker. As a ticket-of-leave man, I can get three days' rations to take with me, if I care to do so. 370. DIET.—I know something about the food, for I have generally been in the kitchen as the baker, and have baked 33 Christmas dinners here. At the latter part of last year and the early part of this the flour supplied was yellowish in colour, rather musty, and the quality generally poor. I complained to Mr. Munro, the officer in charge of the kitchen, but he said he could not help it. Occasionally the quality improved and then it would be bad again. It came from Faddy & Knight, the contractors. I spoke to the contractors' men about it somewhere about the beginning of the year. The man bringing in the potatoes used to bring a quarter of a pound or perhaps half a pound of tobacco for the men in the kitchen. The only motive that I could see in giving the tobacco was to induce the men to pass bad potatoes. It did not affect me, because, being in the kitchen, I could get as many good potatoes as I liked. The potatoes undoubtedly were very bad some months ago. For some time seven or eight bags of positively rotten potatoes remained here which the contractor would not take away. As to the meat, it is very skinny for the most part, and the rest bone. I have not seen a hindquarter of beef in the gaol for the last fifteen years. The man Dawes, now looking after the kitchen, is a great agitator about the meat; so he gets no tobacco. I have seen a whole sheep brought into the gaol which only weighed 24lbs. Dawes is always complaining about the meat. No one in the cookhouse makes more complaints than he does . Some times Mr. Munro, the warder, goes away and fetches Mr. Webster to look at it. No. 2148, examined. 371. PRISONERS SUFFERING FROM VENEREAL DISEASE.—The towels used by venereal prisoners are marked R.C. (refractory cells), but not otherwise distinguished. I am myself suffering from venereal disease. I have been two months in the prison, and had the complaint five weeks before I came here. I am nearly cured now. I have been well treated by Dr. Hope. Sufficient precautions are not taken to prevent the contamination of other prisoners by syphilitic subjects. When working in the quarry we all drink out of the same water vessels. 372. I would suggests that men suffering from venereal or syphilitic disease should not shave with the other men, or better still, should not shave at all. No. 2225, examined. 373. OFFENCE AND SENTENCES.—Robbery with violence; two years. 374. DARK CELLS.—In no civilised country does a sentence of three days' bread and water carry with it "dark cells", but here it does. The effect of the dark cell on me is simply maddening. It affects my sight, and is making me blind. I have already lost the sight of one eye altogether. The blankets in the dark cells are old, thin, and for the most part very dirty. 375. VISITING JUSTICES.—The magistrates only come here to punish, not to inquire if prisoners have any complaints to make. 376. WARDERS—ILLTREATMENT OF PRISONERS.—I have seen Warder Pond severely illtreat a Chinaman, named Hi Chung I think. Pond said the Chinaman was mad. For speaking about this Warder Pond said he would make it warm for me, and he did. I soon got into trouble through Pond, and had to wait two and a-half days in the refractory cells for the magistrate, who gave me two days. Mr. Fairbairn asked the Superintendent what my character was. Mr. George said " None too good." The effect of the dark cells on my eyesight was very bad. The doctor ordered me to be treated with phosphorus. There was no investigation, so far as I know, into the case of Chinaman who was illtreated. 377. THE DOCTOR.—Dr. Hope is a very kind sort of man, but he does not assert his authority, and allows the Superintendent and the warders to override his orders. He seems to have no will of his own. As a professional man and a gentleman, it seems to me he ought not to allow his subordinates to dictate to him, but he does. The Superintendent seems to have the doctor quiet under his control, and can do what he likes with him. I do not know what the reason of this influence is. I have had one of my toes amputated in the gaol. An excellent job was made of it, but that was done by Dr.White. I am put on to a hard work. I am not fit for it, but I struggle along as well as I can, so as to avoid getting into trouble. I suffer from varicose veins very badly. I would like the medical men on the Commission to examine my leg. [The Commission examined witness' leg. It was a bad case of varicose veins.] 378. WARDER HODGES.—I have no personal dislike to Warder Hodges, but I complain that he goes about the streets pointing out men who have been in gaol to the police. That is unfair. He did it in my case once, and I spoke to him about it. 379. CONDEMNED CLOTHING.—Condemned clothes are supposed to be sold. If this is done, I would like know who gets the money. The prisoners do not. 380. TREATMENT IN HOSPITAL.—The temperature of patients is taken by a prisoner who records what temperature he pleases. If he does not like the man, he simply reports "normal", and the patient has to go out to work. 381. DISCHARGE OF PRISONERS.—The magistrates take a delight in keeping prisoners in a few hours more than they are sentenced for. If a man came in on St. Patrick's Day for a year,he would go out on St.Patrick's Day next year. You cannot have two St. Patrick's Days in one year. 382. ALLEGED CASE OF MALINGERING.—There was a man called McCaul who died. During his illness the doctor said he did not know what was the matter with him, and thought he was malingering. I really thought McCaul was a fraud; he used to twist his body about and complain so much, but he insisted upon seeing another doctor besides Dr. Hope, and he reported that it was a case of enlargement of the heart, of which, soon afterwards, McCaul died. The death was not reported to Dr. Hope, who first heard of it when he came to the prison. I do not know what sort of inquest, if any, was held, but I believe there was some kind of inquiry. 383. WARDER McCLUSKEY.—This warder has complained that I charged him with having been a loafer in Melbourne, who, on one occasion, when I met him before he came to this colony, robbed me of a bundle which I had asked him to take care of. The matter came before Mr. Faribairn, but I declined to defend myself except before a higher Court. 384. WARDER ANGEL.—When two foolish boys escaped, pursued by four armed and two unarmed warders, Angel called to the boys to put up their hands, and when they did so he fired at them. Ten shots were fired altogether at the boys; it was altogether unnecessary. One of the warders named Jameson offered to take the boys single-handed and unarmed, but they would not let him. 385. PETITION.—I sent in a petition two months ago, but have had no reply yet. (The Commission adjourned.)
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