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Reports On Jails Visited and Inspected in Bengal, Behar and Arracan
Reports On Jails Visited and Inspected in Bengal, Behar and Arracan
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REPORTS
A
ON JAILS
VISITED AN DIN S P E C T E D
BY
FRED. J. MOUAT,
Inspector of |ails, JTofotr 1Qtobiutt.
CALCUTTA:
F. CAREER Y, MILITARY ORPHAN TRESS,
18 56.
1
\
PREFACE.
F. J. MOUAT,
Inspector of Jails, L. P,
\
J
'X
A L I P O R E.
I visited and inspected the Alipore Jail, on the 9th November, 1855,
accompanied by the Superintendent.
2. The excellent arrangements
of this well-conducted
General arrange6
ments.
Institution, left me little to remark.
3. The original construction of the Jail seems to me to be radicallydefective, inasmuch as, although it secures the safe cusConstruction.
^j ^ separation 0f the different gangs of prisoners,
it does not admit of immediate general supervision of all its parts, a point
deemed of essential importance in all English, French, and American
prisons, built of late years.
4. The cleanliness of the Prison, in all its parts,
Cleanliness.
,
". .
, , , . .
leaves nothing to be desired.
5. The solitary cells, recently built, appear to be almost too small,
New Solitary Cells. and I should
, . , fear their proving
r,
f unhealthy
.
_,to prisoners
8.
While I was examining the books in the office, the sepoys were noisy
and disorderly, and I was obliged to send for the Havildar of the guard
tc keep them quiet.
The buildings were clean and in good condition, with the exception of
one of the cookrooms, in which a quantity of clay was
piled up for mending and making chulahs, and a cor
ner of the female ward, in which there appeared to be more dirt and
dirty clothes, than were desirable.
The Hospital is an excellent one, were it not so entirely isolated from
the jail, as it is.
The wards were very clean, and there was no perceptible bad smell in
them, or in the privies ; yet when much crowded in the hot weather and
rains, I think that roof ventilation, upon Mr. Loch's simple and inexpen
sive plan, would be desirable.
The plan of privies, with pontifex tubes, appears to answer well, and
the air in their vicinity to be perfectly free from taint and impurity. I
cannot help thinking, however, that the saturation of the soil with foecal
matters, so immediately in contact with the building, will, in the long run,
prove injurious, unless the noxious gases disengaged from it are absorbed
and decomposed by charcoal, and the wells are dug of sufficient depth to
ensure a perpetual supply of water to dilute and disentegrate the effete
matters collected in them.
Moreover, unless some such precautions be taken, the wells and tanks
into which these cesspools must drain by percolation, will, in time, be
come tainted, and if the water be used for drinking and cooking, affect
the health of the sick in hospital.
The percentage of sick in hospital is small as compared with other Jail
Hospitals which I have recently visited ; and many of
the cases vv ere not of a very serious nature.
1 find in almost all Jail Hospitals, that I have visited, a considerable
proportion of Chronic Rheumatisms and Neuralgic affections, which
ought, in my belief, to be treated as out-patients. They are easily feigned,
and when they are so slight as not to exhibit any obvious pathological
indications of their presence, such labor as will cause free action of the
skin, will be rather beneficial than otherwise.
One old life prisoner, named Sheik Meerash, aged 69, whose sight is
imperfect, and who complains of burning in the hands, is evidently
suffering, from little more than the natural decay incidental to his age,
and would be better in Jail than in Hospital, if some light work be found
suitable to his increasing infirmities.
v (
It would be well, I think, if all Jails could be weeded from the aged,
blind, and paralytic.
They are an expensive incumbrance, incapable of committing fresh
crimes, or of teaching others to become criminal, and every object that
can be secured by their incarceration, has been accomplished.
The mercy extended to such criminals could not operate injuriously
upon the classes who people the Jails ; and in the way of example, would
probably operate in the beneficial direction ; for I can imagine no more
melancholy sight than that of an old man, cut off for years from all
sympathy with his kith and kin, re-appearing, a spectacle of misery and
suffering, merely to end his days among them.
The Hospital records required by the regulations are well and care
fully kept, but in my
they
Becords.
" opinion,
;
J are not sufficiently
J
complete to be ot any but the most moderate statis
tical value. As I am making notes upon this subject in all Jajls, as well
as Dispensaries, I refrain from further remark at present.
There is here, as elsewhere, no real check upon the expenditure of
medicines.
The Instruments were in good order.
The sick complained much of the insu fficient quan
tity of food allowed to them, and a - few of them
objected to its quality.
The rice which I saw was, however, excellent.
I should be glad to be favored with the detailed dietary of the
prisoners in hospital, to enable me to judge if their complaints are well
founded.
A few days since, I visited the Jail itself, to see the food in its cooked
state, prior to being issued to the prisoners. It was
all clean, fresh, and wholesome, and those prisoners
to whom I spoke, declared it to be sufficient in quantity.
The Hoodie's store was also in a creditable state. Asa general rule,
I hold it to be objectionable to have any trafficking within the walls of a
Jail, yet there are circumstances connected with some of the prisoners
at Alipore, which would probably render it inexpedient to change the
existing system, until all those, to whom a special exemption from the
messing rules has been granted, have passed away.
The Sonthal Prisoners appeared healthy and very tractable. I approve
much of the excellent arrangements made in regard
Sonthal Prisoners.
to the nature of work on which they are employed,
and the manner in which they haye been dieted, so as not to make them
oC"
too suddenly feel the extreme change in then- habits and food, to which
imprisonment has subjected them.
The Armenian, Aratoon, is in better health than
Christian Prisoners.
when 1 last saw him, and I was glad to see him
employed.
Another Christian prisoner asked me tp find him some occupation, that
would enable him to earn an honest livelihood, when he leaves the Jail.
His request is, I think, deserving of attention ; I beg to recommend
it to the favorable consideration of the Magistrate.
I requested Mr. Floyd, with the sanction of the Magistrate, to send
Request for jail di- me a note o^ tne exact dietary of the Jail, and I
etaryshall feel much obliged by this being done as soon
as possible, as I require it to refer to.
HOOGHLYI visited this Jail on the 13th November 1855, in the morning,
accompanied, by the Civil Surgeon, and Mr. W. Lane, C. S., attached to
the N. W. Provinces. Mr. Dobson, the Jailor, was in attendance.
2. The Magistrate was occupied in the Cutcherry, and unable to be
present at the time. I again visited the Jail, accompanied by him, in the
evening.
3. The new wards, now building, appear to be excellent, and to be
sufficiently high to secure complete ventilation. They
Construction.
.
, , ,
, , ,
...
...
,
should be completed as rapidly as possible, as they are
not only urgently required, but, from the bricks, mortar and rubbish lying
about, keep the enclosure in an untidy, disorderly state.
4. In a plan of changes recommended by my predecessor, I find that
labour yards divided by palisades upon the Allipore pattern, are attached
to each of the wards,that the long range of cook-sheds running between
the hospital wall and the ward to the north-west, are to be removed and
placed in the south-east angle, and palisades are to be placed in various
positions.
5. The Officiating Magistrate suggests, as an improvement, in his
Magistrate's letter No. 504, dated 11 th September 1855, a different
amended proposal.
arrangement of the yards, so as to secure a better sepa
ration and classification of the prisoners, with, at the same time, a consi
derable saving in the extent of palisading required. He also recommends
that the cook-sheds, instead of being aggregated' together in a distant cor
ner, should be placed in the labour yards themselves, and be five in num
ber, including one specially for the Dacoity Commissioner's yard, to be
placed in the angle of a portion of the Hospital compound now occupied
by out-door privies. The reasons stated for this recommendation are,
that the efficiency of Jail discipline will be increased by giving, " to each
class and division of prisoners, their separate cook-sheds, and permitting
them to eat their food on the spot where it is cooked and dished, as has
been the custom hitherto." Mr. Cockerell believes that Mr. Loch's pro
posal will cause ill-feeling and discontent, and loss of time and labour in
carrying the separate dishes of food from the cook-sheds to the distant
work-yards.
6. I concur in the advisability and propriety of the changes suggested
\>y Mr. Cockerell, and, as they involve no additional expense beyond that
already sanctioned, shall address the Executive Officer to have them car
ried into effect without delay. The cook-sheds in the labour yards should
be separated from the labour sheds by a light railing, as I think it would
be objectionable for the prisoners to have access to them, at any other
than meal times.
7. The Magistrate can apply to the Superintendent of Alipore for
plans and estimates of the work-sheds recently built there. They should
be made, as they have been in the 24-Pergunnahs, by convict labour
and, as a general rule, I prefer all works, executed in the Jail, being done
by the prisoners themselves, both on the ground of discipline and economy.
8. The new cook-sheds and palisades must be constructed in strict
accordance with the plans drawn up by Mr. Loch, and which are about
to be cireulated.
9. The old wards are certainly too low, and are badly ventilated.
They were
oppressive
even
at .the time of my
visit,
Old Wards.
.
.
.
J
when there were few prisoners in them. The white
washing" of these wards has not been neatly executed : the beams are, in
many places, marked by unsightly patches of white, which does not im
prove their appearance. This should be rectified. I quite concur with
the remarks of my predecessor upon the moral, as well as physical, ad
vantages of all works requiring to be done, being executed with as much
neatness as it is susceptible of, without an undue employment of the time
of the prisoners and the attention of the Jailor.
s
forrpvs-rf
-4
10.
. .
,
,,
. ,
, . .
..
or opinion that all articles or clothing not actually
required by the prisoners, should be taken away from them. I shall feel
obliged by the Magistrate's seeing that this is done immediately. Any
extra clothes that may be found must be disposed of, in accordance with
the orders already issued on the subject.
14. In some of the wards paper was drying, and in one of them wool
Drying Paper in was Demg cleaned. The former caused large patches of
the Wards.
damp on the floor where the prisoners sleep, the latter is
not a suitable operation to be carried on in such a place. If any means
can be found of their being carried on in work-sheds, it should imme
diately be adopted.
15. I cannot concur in the eulogy of my predecessor upon the excel
lence of the drains in the Jail. The levels cannot be
correct, and those near the ward privies exhaled a suffi
ciently unpleasant ammoniacal odour. Now that the reservoir has been
filled up, they are flushed with water brought from the river in earthen
vessels, but the result apparently is not satisfactory. It strikes me that
456
Males. Females.
In-door Labor,
"
119
Out-door Labor,
127
Jail Servants,
..
37
Non-laboring,
18
Hajut,
17
Deputy Commissioner's Prisoners,... 39
In Hospital,
'.
52
Civil Prisoners,
30
11
0
2
1
1 .
0
2
0
439
There were sleeping in Ward No. 1,
Ditto,No.2
!>
3,
? 4,
i.
i) 5,
>
o,
Deputy Commissioner's Ward,
In Hospital,
Female Wards,
Civil Prisoners
17
48 men.
54
57
55
,,
49
55
39
52
17
30
456
(
21.
t
aat)
3 S
&oC3 oa1)
OO
a
40
19
0
0
0
54
14
3
130
306
150
Total in Jail,
456
I
fear
that
the
employment
of
the
prisoners
in
out-door
labour,
22.
in addition to being destructive of all discipline, and
Out-door labor.
involving greater expense in the custody of the pri
soners, is also questionable in an economical point of view.
23. As there is much weeding to be done in the Jail by convict labour
and as many of the new looms are unoccupied, whereas they might be
profitably worked at once, I think it would be better to remand all the
prisoners "to the Jail, and to employ free labour in the construction of the
Roads, &c.
24. I shall feel obliged therefore, by this being clone without delay,
or, in the event of the Officiating Magistrate seeing any objection to it,
n
io )
by his stating his reasons for believing that such -a course is inexpedient
or unadvisable.
25. There is no need, in my belief, to wait for the construction of
the new working-sheds, to effect the very desirable object of dispensing
with all out-door labour.
26. The guard struck me as particularly inefficient looking. They
were armed with unweildy lattees, which not only would
Guard.
.
.
,
be of very little use in the event of any disturbance,
but would certainly become weapons of offence in the hands of resolute
ruffians among the prisoners, of whom there appeared to be no lack, if
there be any truth in physiognomy.
27. A very objectionable practice in regard to the guard is the free
dom with which they mix with the prisoners, and the access which they
have to them at night.
28. Sentry boxes should, I think, be built out-side, as at Alipore, at
a sufficient height to enable the sentinel to overlook several wards and
labour yards at once. The sentries should be armed with percussion
muskets, or probably light carbines, and furnished at least with blank
cartridges so as to be able to give immediate notice of any riot, or attempt
at escape. They ought, of course, to be regularly instructed in the use
of fire-arms. Half the present number would then be sufficient for the
safe custody of the prisoners.
29. I shall feel obliged by the Officiating Magistrate submitting to
me at his early convenience, plans and estimates of raised external sentry
boxes, and also by his favoring me with his views regarding the advisa
bility of arming the Burkundazes differently. I am convinced that the
existing arrangement respecting the guard, is productive of many irre
gularities, subversive of the strict discipline that should exist in a prison.
The Magistrate and Jailor were of the same opinion.
30. The Hospital is an excellent building, and was in good order.
The Dispensary was extremely dirty and untidy, and the
Hospital.
.
i . i
i
.
i
box in winch the instruments are kept, in a disgraceful
state. I shall feel obliged by the Officiating Magistrate's requesting the
Civil Assistant Surgeon to communicate to the Native Doctors, my
extreme displeasure at- the state in which I found their Dispensary.
Should I ever again see it in such a neglected condition, it will be my
unpleasant duty to recommend the dismissal of the Native Doctors.
31. One of the Native Doctors was absent or invisible. Dr. Baillie
mentioned that lie was worn out and inefficient.
11
32. As there is too much sickness in the Jail to permit the retention
of any inefficient member of the hospital establishment, I shall be glad to
be favoured with a special report upon the individual referred to.
33. The Hospital day privies are too far removed ; so much so,
that both the Officiating Magistrate and Civil Surgeon mentioned, that
prisoners were in the habit of defecating on the edges of the drain lead
ing to them.
34. I shall feel obliged by the Officiating Magistrate, in consultation
with the Civil Assistant Surgeon, constructing a new Hospital privy in
the most suitable corner of the Hospital compound, upon the Alipore
plan, before building the proposed wall to enclose the existing privies,
within a portion of the enclosure in which they are placed. An estimate
drawn up in the usual manner will be sanctioned at once. The work is
to be executed by convict labour.
35. Dr. Baillie, in answer to my inquiry on the subject, mentioned
his having authorized a certain allowance of opium to
Opium.
i'i-i.
t
be issued to twelve prisoners, and the Jailor stated, that
he had detected some of them selling it to other prisoners. Any prisoner
so offending, should be punished immediately, in addition to the stoppage
of his opium. If it can be done with safety, the issue of opium should
be stopped as speedily as possible, by diminishing the amount given
every day.
36. The hut outside the Hospital wall, assigned to the reception of
leper and Small- lepers and cases of small-pox, is most unsuitable for its
pox hut.
purpose. Lepers are unfit subjects to be placed among
prisoners generally. It would be desirable for the Officiating Magistrate
to call upon Dr. Baillie, to report in what manner he thinks the present
defect can be remedied, with least expense and most efficiency.
37.
12
SERAMPORE.
I visited this Jail on Wednesday, the 14th November 1855. It is an
old Danish structure, and quite unsuited for its purpose.
2. The Deputy Magistrate was out on circuit. I was received and
conducted round the place by the Jemadar, who was in charge of it.
3. I first went into the Hospital, in which the sick men were supposed
to be. The place was damp and very dirty, the bedding
of the sick men was filthy, and I was not surprized at
finding them basking in the sun, in preference to remaining in such a den.
The Native Doctor was absent. There were no tickets over the beds of
the sick. Near the door of the Hospital was an unremoved vessel of
filth.
13
4.
Deputy
41
In Hospital of Hajut,
Ditto of Convicts,
1
2
3
-.
14
Sick,
20
2
Hajut Prisoners,
22
19
41
11.
3
1 Native Doctor,
15
Ticca Peons are employed to guard pri
soners at work, at 1 Peon to 5 Prisoners,
average monthly cost,
25
12. The average monthly cost of the Jail is said to be about Rs. 175,'
and the nominal value of the labour of the prisoners to be Rs. 75.
13. I strongly disapprove of the out-door employment of the prison
ers, and the entertainment of the ticca peons.
14. I shall be glad to receive an explanation of the nature of the
work done at the so-called Government House, and for whom it is done,
and shall feel obliged by its being furnished as early as possible.
15. The five prisoners employed on the road can be of no earthly use
there, and should be at once remanded to the Jail, where their services
may be profitably exercised, in cleaning and putting it into as wholesome
and habitable a state as the place admits of.
16. In walking from the railway station to Serampore, I fell in with
this gang of prisoners and their chuprassee. The latter had no badge of
15
office, was armed with a stick, and was hail-fellow well-met with his
charge. Jail discipline and punishment from imprisonment there can be
none in such a case.
17. The store-room, in which fetters, blankets, and similar matters
were kept, was in a worse state than any other departStore Room.
, .
,.,
T ..
ment. A mass ot papers, looking like Jail accounts,
was lying, nearly destroyed by white ants, in a'basket.
18. As this Jail is under the orders of the Magistrate of Hooghly, I
shall feel obliged by his furnishing a copy of this memorandum to the
Deputy Magistrate of Serampore, and calling upon him to offer suclyexplanation as he may wish to furnish upon the statements contained in it.
19. If there be no objection to the measure, it would be better, I
think, for only such a number of convicts as are absolutely required for
the purpose of the Jail within its walls, to be retained at Serampore.
The rest should be transferred to Hooghly, and the establishment now
entertained reduced in proportion.
20. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's favouring me, at his early
convenience, with his views upon this proposal.
21. I also am desirous of being furnished with the contract prices of
all articles issued at Serampore, and to know with whom the contract has
been made.
22. I am unwilling to suggest any alterations in the present buildings,
as I do not consider them worth any expenditure. The convicts might
be made to open two circular holes in the wall of each ward, to allow of
some circulation of air. They should be so pierced as to admit of the
free egress of air, without allowing the rain to beat in.
effect
16
Ricketts. The ward is large, clean, and airy, but from the impossibility,
in the case of female prisoners, of making openings in the walls looking
upon the portions of the Jail, additional means of carrying away effete
air and effluvia through the roof are necessary.
It will bear four more of Mr. Loch's ventilators, which the Magistrate
is accordingly authorized to construct.
Hospital for Fe* ^he new Hospital for females is at present much
male^
exposed to the direct rays of the sun. It is also imper
fectly ventilated. Two circular openings in the walls, about a foot in
diameter, and so pierced as not to allow the rain to beat in, would be
an improvement.
5., A well is absolutely
Well for above.
J necessary
J . in the hospital
r
enclosure.
6. The enclosure itself requires to be smoothed, and a drain to be
Drainage of the constructed at the end of the slope, to carry off the
samewaters in the rains. A shallow surface drain near the
wall will be sufficient. It should carry off the water to the general
drain of the Jail in that direction.
7. Jhamps for the exposed verandah, to keep out the sun, are abso
lutely necessary.
8. The same provisions are required for the adjoining yard, and the
four newly-constructed solitary cells for insane prisoners.
The cells are very small, and not otherwise well adapted for their
purpose.
9. In the compound of the male hospital is an empty place, formed
" from the old solitary cells. This properly fitted up,
Old Solitary Cells.
n
..
L ,
.,
,
would serve well as a receptacle tor moribund cases,
severe dysenteries, and such other examples of disease as are better sepa
rated from the general patients. This can easily be done at a very small
cost, upon the plans agreed upon .by the Magistrate and myself.
10. I shall feel obliged by being favoured with estimates as early as
convenient, of all the additions above suggested for sanction. In the
meantime, as they are all works of necessity; they may be proceeded
with at once.
1 1 . The Hospital was clean and orderly, and the dis
pensary department in a creditable state.
12. Some of the cases were trifling abrasions from irons, which were
not sufficiently severe to detain the patients from light work. I fear that
17
18
19
kept.
31.
POOREE.
I visited this Jail, accompanied by Mr. Annand on the 25th Novem
ber 1855.
2. The additions and changes recommended by Messrs. Loch and
Ricketts have been carried into effect so recently, and
General State.
, . .
the Jail generally is in so clean and creditable a state, as
to leave little room for remark, except on some minor points.
(
3.
20
21
examine into the state of the drains, privies, cook-sheds, and wards,
recording in the visiting book minutes which should be made known to .
the Magistrate.
15. The only manufacture attempted
in the Jail is
Manufacture,
L
that of paper, and the result is very creditable, especially
to the instructors sent from Cuttack.
16. It would improve the colour of the paper, as well as its quality,
if it were arsenicated with white (Sunkhya) instead of yellow arsenic
(Hurtal.) The latter is almost entirely insoluble in water, and is only
mechanically suspended in the pulp from which the paper is made.
The former is only sparingly soluble, but may be rendered much more
so by the addition of a little potash. Less than half the quantity of
yellow arsenic now used, would be sufficient if the white arsenic were
substituted for it.
17. There is no attempt at classification of prisoners in the general
Classification of ^au Wards, except in locking them up at night, when
Prisoners.
a partial separation is effected.
18. There was only one salt prisoner in the Hajut, and there were
none in the Civil Jail.
1 9. The whole number of prisoners is too small to admit of any
systematic classification. They only amounted to one hundred, of whom
two are women.
20. The two women have nothing to do : some light occupation, such
as spinning thread, might be found for them.
21. A glance at their privy showed that they were in the habit of
urinating on the floor. This should be prohibited and punished.
22. The Jail guard seems to me to be unnecessarily strong for the
number of prisoners. Three or four of them are old
Jail Guard.
.
men, who would certainly be of no use in the event of
any outbreak among the prisoners. Any vacancies that occur among
them, should be filled up by men physically fit for the duties of the
office.
23. The Darogah and Jail Guards all complained of the inadequacy
of their pay. I informed them that any representation they had to make
on the subject, should be addressed to the Magistrate, who would make
it known to me, if he deemed it necessary so to do.
24. There was no complaint of the quantity and quality of the food,
and the prisoners appeared generally to be contented and
in good case. It is, however, still supplied by the Jail,
22
BHUDDRUCK.
I visited the building intended for a Hajut at this station, on the 28th
of November, accompanied by Mr. Browa, the Deputy Magistrate of the
Sub-Division.
2. The building is placed near the high road, on the borders of a fine
mangoe grove, beyond the ordinary reach of inundation
and at a sufficient distance from the station.
3. It is a mud enclosure, 91 feet in length and 64 in breadth, with
walls 10 feet in height and 2 in breadth. The main building is divided
into two unequal portions, the one 34 x 14 feet for male prisoners, the
other 12 x 14 feet for female prisoners. They are not otherwise sepa
rated, and have a verandah 14 feet in width on two sides. There are
two open cook-sheds in the corners, 28 x 8 and 11x7 feet respectively,
To the left of the entrance is a Sentry-room 10 feet square, leading to a
Guard-room 20 x 10 feet. To the right is a Dispensary 10 feet square,
adjoining a Hospital 16 x 10 feet. The passage between these rooms is 2
feet wide, and there is a puckah well in the enclosure.
4. The whole of the buildings are thatched, with clay floors, and are
utterly destitute of any means of ventilation, light and air being admit
23
ted, when the door is closed, by a small window in each. The place is
occupied as a Post office, no prisoners having ever been placed in it.
5. It is so manifestly unsuited for a Lock-up, or prison of any kind,
that its deviation from its original purposes is not to be regretted.
6. It cost 150 Rupees. The objections to it are its utter insecurity;
want of ventilation ; the chance of its taking fire, and roasting such of its
inmates as may have escaped suffocation ; and the non-separation of
male and female prisoners. The prisoners are now secured in the Thannah. The cause of this seems rather to have been the absence of a
guard, than the inappropriateness of the buildings.
Eeoommendation.
7. To construct a proper Hajut, requires
1st. A boundary wall of brick, at least 12 feet in height, without any
coping, 2 feet in thickness, and armed with broken glass, or some similar
prevention of escape at the top.
2nd. The buildings for male and female prisoners should be in sepa
rate enclosures, divided by a wall 10 feet in height, and constructed as
mentioned above.
3rd. The ward for male prisoners should be about 40 feet by 16, and
14 feet in height, with a pent tile roof. In addition to roof ventilation it
should, in this space, have at least six properly secured windows besides
the door. The floor should be puckah as well as the walls. The cookshed, and a well for the male prisoners, should be in the same enclosure
with a day privy on the Alipore plan, and portable pans for the night on
the principle adopted in the same jail. The whole area to be laid with
khoa and properly drained.
4th. The ward for female prisoners may be half the dimensions of
the above, with all other conveniences in the same proportion.
5 th. The Hospital and Dispensary should be in a separate enclosure
with a well and cook-shed. A building 30 feet by 16, with a partition 10
feet in breadth, constructed on the same principle as the Jail ward, would
probably be ample.
6th. The Guard-house should be at, the entrance to the Jail, opening
into it, and capable of accommodating a Duffadar and eight men, from
whom a guard might be furnished for the local Treasury. The question
of the guard is, I believe, at the present moment before the Government,
and has been delayed in consequence of the consideration of the proposal
to enlarge the Paik Corps.
:,**
8. I have ascertained from Mr. Brown, the Deputy Magistrate at
Bhuddruck, that bricks and tiles can be burnt at the station, and he will
24
BALASORE.
I VISITED the Balasore Jail accompanied by the Magistrate and Civil
Surgeon, on Friday the 30th November 1855.
1. The general state of the Jail was clean and
General state,
, ,
orderly.
2. The lower range of wards is tolerably well suited for the prison
ers, and for the numbers at present confined in them is
sufficiently ventilated.
3. The cook-sheds in the yard attached to No. 8 the Magistrate pro
poses to remove, to secure uniformity and cleanliness. They are at pre
sent used for Mahomedan prisoners.
4. I concur in the views of the Magistrate regarding them, and the
advisability also of removing the cooking-sheds of the Dewanny prison
ers from their present very unsuitable position, in open arches under the
external stair leading to their ward.
5. The most economical plan of constructing new cook-rooms for both,
would be to build an additional room to the north-east
Cook-sheds.
. .
of the existing cook-sheds for labouring prisoners, sepa
rating the two by a wall carried up to the roof transversely, and dividing
the new shed in a similar manner longitudinally, as shown in the ac
companying rough sketch.
6. There would be no communication between them, and I can
imagine no prejudice of caste that ought to be offended in the proposed
arrangement. The Darogah seemed to be of opinion that it would be
objected to ; so I dare say would any arrangement proposed, if every
unreasonable prejudice were attended to.
7. I shall feel obliged, however, by the Magistrate's preparing a
double estimate, the one for a new cook-sbed upon the plan suggested
above, the other for a separate shed in the immediate vicinity of that
now existing.
8. I should entertain a better opinion of the Darogah if he were not
quite so ready to suggest objections to the prisoners. The Native Doctor,
when appealed to, at once replied that there could be no objection of
caste to the cook-rooms separated as proposed.
25
9. The wooden frame-work of the large well requires repair, and a wheel should, I think, be used to
draw up the water.
10. As this water is used for cooking and drinking, I shall feel oblig
ed by the Civil Surgeon making a rough quantitative examination of it
at the season when it contains least water, and reporting the result to me
through the Magistrate.
11. The Hospital is badly placed, and should be removed, as recom
mended by Mr. Ricketts. At present it seems to be ex
ceedingly difficult to prevent matters escaping from the
bathing-room, which pollutes the air in the vicinity of the wards imme
diately beneath. Either a new Hospital should be constructed in a sepa
rate yard, or some of the present buildings devoted to that purpose, as I
shall mention hereafter.
12. The Compounding Shop is well kept, and the
Dispensary.
.
instruments were in good order.
13. There seemed to be a number of bottles of medicines that are
never used, and never likely to be administered. I am afraid that
there is a considerable waste ot the public funds in the .destruction
of drugs that are seldom or never employed. As the Native Doctor
attached to the jail has been many years in his present office, I shall
feel obliged by the Civil Surgeon, with the assistance of his Subordinate,
favouring me with a list of the drugs in store that have never been
used.
14. No one capable of attending to the wants of the sick, remains in
the Hospital at night. The Native Doctor has at present no assistance of
any kind, so that, in the event of anything being required at night, he
must be summoned from his house without the walls. Every one acquaint
ed with the habitual disregard of life and suffering exhibited by natives of
India in general, knows that no attention would be paid to any requisition
for attendance and care from a sick man, which rendered it necessary
to leave the Jail to procure such assistance. Severe cases of tropical dis
ease require as much watching, and as regular administration of reme
dies at night, as between sun-rise and sun-set. Cholera generally attacks
an hour or two before day-break, and most endemic fevers are aggravat
ed at that time,the period of lowest electrical tension and temperature
in the twenty-four hours. It is most necessary, therefore, that some per
son competent to attend to the sick should remain in the ante-room of the
hospital at night.
Well.
26
6
8
50
8
2
6
2
8
2
2
8
7
10
Total,
119
(
20.
1
1
11
1
27
4
Total, Rupees,
83
Temporary.
1 Duffadar,
17 Extra Burkundauzes, at Rs. 4 each,
Rs. 6
68
Total, Rupees,
74
21. I find that Mr. Ricketts in his special visitation report, recom
mended as a measure of economy and expendiency that all prisoners for
lengthened periods should be transferred to the Jail at Cuttack.
22. If there be nothing in their respective sentences to prevent such
a measure, I concur in that suggestion, particularly as regards the
female prisoners. Six of these are life prisoners, and two are in for
fourteen (14) years each, of which 11 are unexpired.
23. * The yard occupied by them might then be made over for the
hospital, by which a saving of between 2 and 3,000 Rs. would be effected.
24. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's being so good as to favor *
me with his views upon this subject, with an account of the amount of
saving that would be effected by the general removal advised by Mr.
Ricketts.
25. The greatest objection to the measure would probably be in
regard to the repair of the station roads, in which convict labour is now
employed.
26. Such employment of prisoners is, however, so destructive of all
discipline, and so opposed to the real objects of imprisonment, that I am
most anxious to reduce it within the narrowest limits, and, if possible, to
procure its entire cessation.
27. I shall be glad to be favored with any suggestions that Mr. Schalch
may wish to offer on the subject.
28. No manufactures are at present carried on. I shall feel obliged
by Mr. Schalch's reporting when he will be able to set
Manufactures.
"
. ,
,
.
.
.
to work, how he proposes to employ his prisoners in ma
nufacture, and what general regulations he considers it advisable to intro^
.
28
...
'
M. S. C. M. S. C. m. s. a
1 8 0 0 30 0- 1 1 0
0 16 0 0 16 0 0 16 0
0 16 0 0 16 0 0 16 0
0 16 0 0 16 0 0 17 8
0 10 8 0 10 8 0 11 0
0 26 0 0 26 0 0 27 0
0 4 8 0 3 8 0 3 12
0 4 0 0 4 0 0 4 4
0 17 0 0 17 0 0 17 0
0 18 0 0 12 0 0 12 8
7 0 0 7 0 0 7 20 0
6 Pie.
1 Anna.
9 Pie.
M.S. C.
1 5 0
0 12 0
0 12 0
0 17 0
0 41 0
0 27 0
0 3 8
0 3 8
0 17 0
0 12 0
8 0 0
6 Pie.
M I D N A P 0 R E.
I visited this Jail accompanied by Mr. Bright the Magistrate, on
Monday, the 3rd of December 1855.
I visited the hospital portion of it with Dr. Bogle on Tuesday, the 4th
of December.
2. The general state of the Jail is clean and creditable, the prisoners
appear healthy and comfortable, and most of the changes
General state.
, , ,,
_
.
suggested by Messrs. Loch and Kicketts, have been sorecently carried into effect, as to leave little room for remark.
The means of classifying prisoners are now tolerably complete, and if
29
they could all be retained within the walls, more stringent discipline
could, with facility, be introduced and enforced.
3. The new ward for female prisoners will, I believe, require roof
ventilation, and I shall be happy to sanction it, if the
experience of the next hot and rainy seasons shows it to
be necessary.
A supplementary estimate may be submitted at once for the iron
gratings omitted in the former estimate.
The privies in the wards are all badly constructed, and would, in
sickly seasons, prove detrimental to the health of the prisoners.
The night pans on the Alipore plan, should be introduced, and I shall
be happy to sanction two for each ward. They can be procured at the,
Iron Yard in Calcutta.
Charcoal, broken in small pieces, should be placed in shallow pans in
the privies, and the small places for urinating. Two inches in depth will
be sufficient, and if occasionally exposed to the sun, it will recover its
purity and fitness for use. Lime is of no use, and when charcoal is
employed, may be dispensed with.
4. The bedding should, during the dry season, be
opened out and placed in the sun, at least once a week.
It should occasionally be washed, if such means of purification be
possible.
5. The food of the prisoners seem to be good and sufficient, yet the
Civil Surgeon
informed
me that the prisoners
occasionDiet
b
.
r
ally complained of its inadequacy in quantity.
This must result from fraud, either in or after issue, and under a native
Darogah upon a small salary, is not unlikely to occur in both ways.
The rations should occasionally, at uncertain intervals, be re-weighed
in the presence of the Magistrate, his Assistant, or the Civil Surgeon,
after being issued to the cooks.
It would be well that in all instances of complaint, it should be re-ex
amined by the Civil Surgeon, after being cooked and served out to the
prisoners.
This duty, occasionally performed, would not be heavy, and would
prevent fraud, as well as fanciful complaints, on the part of prisoners.
6. The messing of different gangs at present takes place at different
.
hours, and is another of the objectionable results of
Hours of messing.
....
,
'
employing prisoners out or doors.
So long as the health of the men does not suffer, it is not a matter of
'
30
31
32
I shall feel much obliged by the Magistrate's drawing the special atten
tion of the Civil Surgeon to these matters.
11. There is no proper system of recording and registering cases
admitted ; but, as this is the case in all the Jails that I
Rflflorflfl of Cusps
have yet visited, and is probably general throughout
Bengal, I defer any further remark regarding it, until I shall have com
pleted my first tour of visitation.
12. The present Dead House is a most unsuitable building, in addition to being improperly exposed to the public gaze.
The Civil Surgeon may submit to the Magistrate an
estimate for a new one, with an indication of the position in which he
recommends it to be placed.
Employment of
^. Out of 510 prisoners, of whom 25 are nonPrisoners,
labouring, 29 sick, and 14 in Dewanny Jail, only 179
are employed in manufactures.
The large number of 263 are employed in out-door occupation, to the
entire destruction of discipline, and of the essentials of imprisonment.
When the new arrangements for manufactures are in full operation, I
trust that the Magistrate will find full occupation for all his prisoners
within the walls ; aud the profits resulting from their more legitimate em
ployment, will more than indemnify him for the loss of their notoriously
inefficient services on the roads. '
There is not a Civil Officer in the country who is not fully aware of
the irregularities that occur from the out-door employment of prisoners,
and of the inferior nature of the work performed by them.
14. The following is the distribution of those emManufactures,
li.
ployed in manufactures :
Making Cloth,
'.
31
Blankets,
7
Gunny Bags,
27
Paper,
38
Expressing Oil,..
3
Ebony Khulean Nychas,
5
Wooden Handles for Kodalees, Pick Axes, &c.,... 6
Iron Utensils and Instruments,
3
Tattees, Jhamps, &c.,
,
10
Earthen Pots,
4
Chunam,
3
Brick-dust and gathering Lime-stones,
20
33
)
8
14
179
34
20.
BURDWANI visited the Jail at this station, accompanied by the Civil Surgeon,
on Thursday, the 13th of December 1855.
. The Magistrate was absent on circuit.
2. The buildings are in tolerably good repair, and some of the pri
soners were employed in levelling and cleaning the comBmidings.
.
,
pound exterior to the wards.
The yards of some of the wards had a very untidy appearance, from
the large pieces of brick lying about. These should at once be rendered
level and smooth ; and the first shoots of the peepul should be carefully
removed from the walls and all the places in which it is found. It grows
with such rapidity as to be eradicated with difficulty if once allowed to,
take root. Its destructive propensities are familiar to every one.
The drains were, in some places, not quite so clean as they ought to be.
3. In the compound I found an ox, and a small flock of goats grazing.
35
The former belonged to the Jailor, the latter to the Burkundauzes. This
irregularity should not be permitted.
Mr. Loch's propos4- None of tne work-yards recommended by Mr.
ed Work-yard*
Loch} have been begun. I should be glad to know the
reason of this.
The prisoners at present, when out of their wards, are too much at
large, and, if bent on mischief, could easily overpower the guard and
escape.
They might also, if ill-disposed, attack the Magistrate, or any other
persons visiting the Jail.
They followed me about, and mobbed me once or twice, but dispersed
quietly when told to do so, and were not otherwise disorderly.
The discipline that can, in such circumstances, be maintained, must
however necessarily be lax, and unsuited to fulfil one of the most im
portant objects of imprisonment.
5. The solitary cells, six in number, intended to be constructed in
the north-east angle of the compound, are too small,
and in the hot season will cause the suffocation of any
prisoner confined in them.
The sun beats directly upon them, they are not susceptible of com
plete ventilation, and are altogether unsuitable.
In similar cells in the Delhi Jail, which I saw three years ago, Dr.
Paton informed me, that every prisoner had lost his health.
6. It is difficult to imagine any Privies more indes
cribably bad, and calculated to cause disease than those
of this Jail.
This has already been pointed out by Mr. Loch, and should be reme
died without further delay, as the health of the prisoners must suffer
from them.
All the Privies, day and night, cause the filth to drop into drains
whence they are daily swept to three outlets at the western wall of the
compound. Here it accumulates in pools of extreme foetor, until dissi
pated in the surrounding atmosphere.
Whenever a westerly wind bio ws, the Hospital and Jail wards are said
to be unbearable.
I know of nothing more likely to cause Cholera at certain seasons of
the year, than the inhalation of an atmosphere charged with the com
pounds of ammonia, sulphur, and other deleterious substances disengaged
from these filthy receptacles of human ordure.
'
36
The deep drain of the day privies, near the tank of water used for
drinking and cooking, in the south-west angle of the compound, was
polluted by the prisoners to an extent suggestive of great neglect of duty
on the part of the guard stationed near this corner.
For the outlet of the filth generally, one of two plans must forthwith
be adopted.
The best in my opinion would be, to construct a tramway with a small
wooden rail, upon the plan adopted by Mr. Schalch, at Balasore, and in
use, I anj informed, at the Hazareebaugh Penitentiary.
Upon this the filth-carts should be placed, and the whole should be
rolled away a sufficient distance to the westward, and there buried in
trenches dug by the prisoners, and covered over with earth once a day.
If this is impracticable, two large cesspools should be dug, to the
greatest practicable depth, and the filth should be washed into them
through a moveable trap, by means of appropriate drains.
This plan is liable to objections, some of which might, however, be
avoided by making them of adequate size and depth, and covering them
with flat roofs.
Upon these an open iron, or perhaps wicker-work grating, should be
placed, 4 or 5 feet in diameter, and loosely filled with -pieces of charcoal,
a foot in depth.
All foetor would thus be effectively absorbed, the remaining salts would
be dissolved in the rains, and dissipated through the surrounding soil ,
forming new and less noxious compounds, and the cesspools would not
need cleaning for twenty years, or until they are actually filled up.
The charcoal would require to be replaced probably twice a month,
and its purity restored by exposing it to an elevated temperature in an
oven.
For night privies, the Allpore plan should at once be introduced.
The Magistrate can obtain the requisite information regarding this
point, from the Magistrate of the 24-Pergunnahs.
I shall feel much obliged by the Magistrate's kindly directing his most
serious attention to this subject, and calling upon the Executive Officer
to furnish the required plans and estimates, so as, if possible, to have the
work completed before the next hot weather.
Any further information that the Executive Officer may require, I
shall be happy to furnish upon his direct application to me.
I am anxious that something should be done before another outbreak
of Cholera can take place.
37
15
2 Duffadars, at 6 Rupees each,
12
54 Burkundauzes, at 4 Rupees each,... 216
Total, Rupees...
Extra Establishment.
1 Duffadar.
34 Burkundauzes, at 4 Rupees each,...
268
Rs.
6
136
Total, Rupees,...
142
38
5. 111Jy Dacoity
J Prisoners.
eq
6. 49 Non-labouring Prisoners.
7.
2 Sessions Hajut.
8.
0 Deputy Magistrate's Hajut absent on circuit.
9. 16 Female Prisoners.
10. 10 Lepers.
406
27 In Hospital.
433
I have elsewhere remarked upon the inexpediency of confining such
large numbers in Wards 2 and 5.
This classification only refers to the separation of prisoners for the
night.
During the day, all classes have, very nearly, unrestricted intercourse
with each other.
This is very destructive of proper Jail discipline; but, in the existing
state of the Jail, cannot well be avoided.
10. The manner of their employment is detailed
soners on 13th De- below, from a memorandum furnished by the Jail
cember.1855.
Darogah:_
Jhurjhurry Bridge,
Race Course,
Library,
Cricket Ground,
Kaney Sagur Road,
Bore Haut Road,
Cutting Wood,
10
20
10
10
10
10
5
75
Making Bricks,
Civil Jail,
Paper Making,
Weavers,
Blacksmiths,
,
Koomars,
...........1.....
50
12
35
38
3
2
39
Carpenters,
Dome Khanal,
Spinning Pat,
Making Chul,
Making Soorkee,
Rajmistries,
2
13 .
10
3
15
24
Repairing Roads,
Cleaning
6 Jail,
>
Barbers,
Dhobies,
Cooks,
Harees,
Lepers,*
Writers, Sweepers, &c.,
Convalescents,
>Females,
Hospital,
Non-Labouring
Huzoor ka Hookum,
17
13 30
3
*
12
12
10
7
5
35
16
1
-
Total,...
For Life,
Sudder Meady,
DO
1**
433
1
I4
-.
Dowrah ditto,
Fouzdary ditto,
File Jamin,
From other districts,
Huzoor ka Hookum,
164
94
28
122
1
433
367
32
399
16
Total,...
415
40
Non-labouring,
15
2
17
1
Huzoor ka Hookum,
Total,...
433
41
51,
33
53,
22 I
55,
13
This gives an annual average of a fraction less than 24 prisoners.
The longest period for'which any such prisoners are ever incarcerated,
is said to be six months.
42
43
44
BANCOORAH.
I visited the Bancoorah Jail on Saturday, the 15th of December,
1855. The Magistrate was absent on circuit. The Darogah accompa
nied me.
2. The Jail generally was in an extremely clean and creditable state,
and I have not yet visited any wards so perfectly free
from smell of any kind. The prisoners had not long
left them at the time of my visit, so that had there been any want of
ventilation, it could not have failed to have been perceptible.
45
These wards are all provided with an upper set of square ventilating
windows, reaching to the spring of the arched roof, similar to those which
I caused to be constructed for the same object in the upper wards of the
Medical College Hospital. I do not think, therefore, that gumla ventila
tors are wanted, and as this is also the opinion of all the Civil Officers at
the station, the roofs need not be pierced for the purpose ; the more espe
cially as the former Magistrate believed, that it would be dangerous to
try the experiment.
Drains.
3. The drains were all good and clean.
4. The night privies were perfectly free from smell, yet I am dispos
ed to doubt the prudence at all seasons of the year, of
allowing the ordure of the prisoners to fall into open
drains, and be swept through the prison in the morning. This converts
the whole drainage of the prison, once in every twenty-four hours, into
a cloaca, from which deleterious gases must be disengaged.
In existing circumstances, I am inclined to prefer the Alipore plan of
gumlahs, and removing the filth daily.
The day privy was polluted by the prisoners to an extent that shows
great carelessness on the part of the guards. Both guards and prisoners
should be punished, if the practice be persevered in.
5. The food of the prisoners is good in quality, and
all concurred in representing it to be ample in quantity.
I examined it in both the raw and cooked condition.
Cook-rooms.
6. The cook-sheds were clean and sweet.
7. With the exception of the blacksmith's shop, all the places in
which manufactures are carried on, were in a credit
able state. In the corners of the smithy were a collec
tion of cobwebs and dirt, which I directed to be removed.
8. The manufactures carried on are too numerous, and I concur
with Mr. Loch in thinking, that such very light work
as making and stringing small wooden beads, should be
resorted to as little as possible, unless it pays well, which I did not ascer
tain to be the case.
The paper manufacture is chiefly carried on in a large mud
enclosure without the Jail, on account of the scarcity of water within.
This is very objectionable, and must certainly be the cause of every
species of irregularity under a native establishment. I have remark
ed, elsewhere, upon the means of obtaining an adequate supply of
water.
46
( 47
within and beneath this, until it inks to the level of the ground, and
the same process should be continued until the whole has attained a suffi
cient depth to secure a permanent supply of water, at least 8 or 10. feet
in deepness, from the springs in the soil.
Adjoining this, and connected with it by a masonry channel, should be
built a pucka bath, 20 feet square, raised slightly above the level of the
ground, with a strong floor of masonry.
The filling of this bath daily by the prisoners, would afford three
hours of severe labour to refractory subjects.
When the prisoners have bathed, the water would be available for
thoroughly flushing all the drains of the Jail and Hospital.
The same well would, in all probability, furnish sufficient water for the
paper manufacture, now carried on without the Jail enclosure.
Mr. Schalch, the able and energetic Magistrate of Balasore, has con
structed such a bath in his jail, and would, I am sure, if applied to, send
a plan and section of it, with a detail of its cost. It was built entirely
by convict labour, under his personal superintendence.
The same officer constructed wheels at Midnapore, for raising water
from a depth. They did not succeed, but a slight modification would, in
my belief, answer well.
I shall feel obliged, therefore, by the Magistrate's consulting Mr.
Schalch and the Executive Officer in this matter, so as to furnish me with
an early report regarding it.
10. The records of the Jail are creditably kept, and were brought
up0 to date. There is here,
however, as in everv
Records.
.
J other
Jail under a native Darogah, an absence of efficient
check upon the purchase of raw materials, their consumption in manu
facture, and the sale and store of the articles made.
As the Magistrate has ample occupation of greater importance, the
most efficient practicable check would probably be for the Assistant to
take the stock of some particular article at uncertain times, and this
would be a fair guage of the general accuracy or otherwise of the Daro
gah. This would occupy little time on each occasion, and would always
keep the Darogah on the alert.
The purchase of raw material requires to be regulated upon some
fixed general principles, and I shall be prepared, when my first tour
of inspection has concluded, to submit proposals on the subject for
the consideration of the different Officers in Bengal in charge of
Jails.
(
11.
48
The Hospital and its Dispensary were clean and creditable, and
the patients evidently well cared for. There were no
cases of serious sickness among them at the time of my
visit.
12.
The Moodie's shop is well placed, and ample for its purpose.
Mr. Loch objected to the issue of the supplies within
the Jail, and suggested the Sudder entrance as a more
eligible arrangement.
The inmates of Indian Jails in general, see far too much of the out
side. Every possible means of confining the prisoners strictly within the
walls should be resorted to. It would, therefore, be better to make a
small opening in the wall of the Moodie's shop bordering the Jail enclo
sure, sufficiently large to hand in all supplies, and carefully closed after
each day's issue, so as to prevent its being used as a means of escape.
The outer door should be carefully barred and locked, and the key
left with the Darogah, so as to enable him to enter the room at all times,
in the event of its ever being tried as a means of escape. This is the
plan adopted at Midnapore, and with success.
13. The Civil Jail was clean and healthy, and conCivil Jail.
,!/
tamed iew prisoners.
The gate was left wide open, and I found the sepoys of the detach
ment at Bancoorah, resorting freely to the well within the walls, for water
to drink and cook with.
This is an irregularity, and should not be permitted, particularly as
there is a tank close by, from which, I was informed, good and whole
some water is procurable.
14. The changes suggested by Mr. Loch in the female prison, have
been carried into effect, and with advantage. The
quantity of thread spun by them seemed to be less than
the average of free labour in the bazar. This can easily be ascertained
by the Magistrate, and if it should prove to be so, the amount of task
work exacted should be increased in a corresponding proportion, so as to
raise it to at least the average out-door standard.
Suitable means of punishing refractory females seem to be much want
ed in all Jails. They would be found, I believe, in some harder labour,
such as grinding corn, &c.
15. A few prisoners begged to be allowed to submit a petition, and I
Complaints.
49
, ,
MUNGLEPORE.
I visited this Hajut at daybreak on Monday, the 17th of December,
1855.
2. The prisoners were all outside in the compound,
Op tig i*iil sts,tc
warming themselves round a small fire of sticks. In a
shed, a few paces removed, were one or two guards occupied in affairs of
their own.
The Jemadar and the remainder of the guard were fast asleep, and -on
turning them out, I found a Sepoy sentenced to three months' labour for
theft, occupying one of their charpoys, and in every way acknowledged
as one of themselves. He was sick, and the cause of his being among
the guard was in consequence of there being no other suitable place in
the Hajut for him.
All this, however, is wrong, and might easily be remedied at little cost.
3. The Hajut is a cutcha building placed within cutcha walls, and
is. little better than an ordinary
Buildings.
J native hut of large
b
dimensions. It has a light thatched roof, composed of
very inflammable material, and were it worth the while of the prisoners
to escape, I believe that a very small amount of battering would rapidly
effect a practicable breach in the walls.
4. Mr. Tayler, the Joint Magistrate, in charge of the Sub-division,
informed me that his Head Quarters were likely to be
Recommendation.
,
,
. .
_
.
romoved, at an early period, nearer to Kaneegunge, the
rapid growth of which, from its railway connexions, will render it here
after a place of some importance, with a turbulent and fluctuating popu
lation.
If this be so, a new Hajut will be required, and as Europeans, as well
as people connected with the railway, and the miners, will most likely
become occasional inmates, it should be a more secure and appropriate
building, than the one now existing at Munglepore.
It should have an external wall of masonry, with separate compart
ments in distinct yards for men, women, a hospital, and quarters for the
guards. In each of these yards should be a cook-shed, a privy, and a
well, with suitable surface drains.
G
50
The inner buildings might be cutcha-pucka, with tiled roofs, but all
boundaries should be of burnt bricks.
The quarters for the guards should be at the entrance, and at a suffi
cient distance from the outer wall should be a palisaded ditch, to prevent
communication with the Hajut, and to aid in its effective drainage. This,
and the intervening ground, should be kept scrupulously free from accu
mulations of dirt and rank vegetation. Upon some such plan as that
above mentioned, a design for a model Hajut might be prepared by the
Executive Engineering department, and if convict labour were employed
in building, burning the bricks, digging the foundations, &c., the cost
ought not to be great.
All prisoners sentenced to more than three months' labour at Munglepore or Raneegunge, should be sent by rail to Burdwan to be incarce
rated there.
So should all women, as with native establishments, I hold it to be
next to impossible to prevent irregularities in regard to them.
BEERBHOOM.
I visited this Jail at day-break on Tuesday the 18th of December
1855, immediately on entering the station.
2. The buildings are in good repair, and the whole
BuildiDgs.
_ .,
.
,
.
,. , ,
Jail was in a clean and creditable state.
It is to be regretted that it was originally made with arched roofs,
without any means of ventilating through the ceilings. I do not con
sider the apertures made for Mr. Loch's gumlah ventilators to be
sufficiently large to carry off the effete air of the wards when crowded ;
and it would probably not be safe to attempt to enlarge them.
In the plan filed in my office, the Jail is noted to have been constructed
in 1819, at a cost of rupees 63,385, to possess 13,401 superficial feet
of accommodation, and to be capable of containing 375 prisoners.
From the peculiar conformation of the wards, and the" difficulty of
improving their ventilation, I am of opinion, that it will never be altogether
safe or prudent to exceed that number in the hot season.
3. The greatest defect of the wards at present is the privy accom
modation, which is extremely bad and defective, and
PrjyiftS
cannot fail to be detrimental to the health of the
inmates.
51
The filth of every ward, and that of the Hospital, when patients
suffer from Diarrhoea and Dysentery, is at present washed right through
the Jail ; and however carefully this is done, it must, and does, contami
nate the air in its immediate vicinity.
The supply of water for flushing these drains is not sufficient to do so
effectually, so long as they serve as cloacae.
The cheapest and most readily applicable remedy will be the intro
duction of the Alipore plan, viz., placing suitable vessels in a corner of
the Ward, and removing the accumulated filth the moment the wards
are opened-in the morning, so that none of it shall, at any time, pollute
the prison drains.
The opening of the drain of the Hospital privy into the Jail, must
be closed as soon as gumlahs to catch the filth, and admit of its being
carried off at once, are procured.
'
The whole accumulation should be removed to a sufficient distance
from the Jail, and buried in a trench to be dug by the prisoners daily.
The present night privies must be closed, and no longer used as such,
as soon as the gumlahs referred to are procured.
To aid in the purification of the air, small pans of charcoal, about a
foot in diameter, and containing an inch and a half in depth of charcoal
should be placed in each corner of every ward.
I shall be happy to sanction the cost of the above arrangements upon
the Magistrate's submitting to me an estimate prepared iu the usual
manner.
If there be any difficulty hi the matter of carting away and burying
the filth at a sufficient distance from the Jail, I shall feel obliged by the
Magistrate, in communication with the Civil Surgeon, selecting a suitable
site, outside the Jail walls, and not in the direction of the prevailing
winds, for sinking a couple of cesspools. They should be dug sufficiently
deep to command a perpetual supply of water, the filth should be
introduced by a valvular trap, shutting spontaneously, and air tight
when closed.
At the top of the cesspool should be placed a frame capable of holding
a large basket of charcoal, at least a foot in depth, and covering an area
nearly equal to that of the cesspool.
By this means all deleterious gases will be absorbed as rapidly as they
are disengaged ; and the occasional heating of the charcoal in an oven
will restore its power of absorption and purification, so that the cesspools
will be no annoyance to the neighbourhood.
52
.
has submittted an excellent and carefully prepared
design, but, as I am unable, while on circuit, to consult the records and
correspondence on the subject, it may remain in abeyance for the present,
especially as the number of Civil prisoners is very small, and rarely
exceeds its present average.
They can be confined in the Criminal Jail, and their present
quarters can then be immediately made useful for a purpose mentioned
hereafter.
5. The Commissariat Stores now lodged in the Criminal Jail should
be removed as soon as the Collector is able to find
Commissariat Stores.
.
suitable accommodation for them elsewhere.
If he wishes for them, he may use the golahs recently erected by order
of Mr. Loch, should the Magistrate entertain no objection to his doing so.
I am not prepared Jo authorize their being employed in the manner
designed by Mr. Loch, until I have carefully gone through the records
on the subject.
6. The Visitor's Book is carefully kept, and shows that the state of
the Jail occupies much of the attention of the Judge,
Visitor's Book.
Magistrate and Civil Surgeon. The latter Officer has
also a special record of the cases in which he recommends the fetters
of the prisoners to be removed. As a general rule it is not expedient
to multiply records unnecessarily, and all such cases, may appropriately
be introduced into the Visiting Book.
The removal of fetters and similar indulgences must be resorted to
with great care and discrimination, and only in cases of absolute and
urgent necessity.
It must always be borne in mind, that a prison is a place of punish
ment, in which its penal character should never be lost sight of.
I have never entered a Jail yet, in which I have not received urgent
appeals for the removal of fetters ; the diminution of labour ; the increase
of food and clothing ; the privilege of receiving the visits of friends and
53 ")
relatives, and similar requests, which show that the prisoners generally
entertain a very erroneous notion of the objects of imprisonment, and
evidently consider themselves the victims of society.
In the ten Jails which I have up to this time been able to visit, and
among the large body of prisoners contained in them, probably exceeding
4,000, 1 have not seen more than four individuals whose appeals were
such as I deemed to be really worthy of serious attention.
*?. The manufactures in the Jail have been almost entirely stopped
by the state of confusion into which it has been thrown
Manufactures.
by the Sonthal insurrection, converting it into a fortress,
a magazine, and a granary.
There are at present no proper means of occupying prisoners within
the walls, and the only manufacture carried on outside is that of paper,
which is very badly done.
8. The great object in the first instance will be to find simple labour,
Plan for labour in pre- wmch with hard work and profit, will need no skill
sent circumstances.
54
may be at once removed to the ward in the Criminal Jail, recently occu
pied as a godown.
In the Civil Jail buildings, and in cheap temporary sheds around
the walls, may be placed as many chuckees as there are prisoners to
work.
The grinding must be done by task-work, and the prisoners marched
into the Civil Jail in squads to work them.
I am unwilling to fix the amount that should be ground for each task,
as this can be better and more judiciously done by the local authorities.
It should be, at least, as much as the women grind for their six pice,
and may be increased in the discretion of the Magistrate, to such amount
as can be accomplished without injury to the health of the prisoners.
The prisoners should be informed that they will be released from work
each day, the moment the allotted task is done, and not until then.
The Sonthals especially should be put to this work, as their misconduct
has caused its necessity.
The Collector may then, I think, store his grain, either in a portion of
the Civil Jail buildings, or in the golahs constructed by the orders of my
predecessor.
The paper manufactory may, for the present, remain in abeyance, and
if the Magistrate needs any. of the prisoners removed to Burdwan to be
returned, to assist in the preparation of the food of the Sepoys, he had
better apply directly to Government for the necessary sanction, as I shall
be absent in Behar, and unnecessary delay would occur in referring
to me.
The health of the prisoners in the Criminal Jail will be less likely to
suffer from the arrangement above suggested, than if it were carried on
within their own walls.
9. The point of greatest present interest connected with this Jail, is the
disposal of the Sontlial prisoners. The grievous inhuSonthal Prisoners.
.
55
The weekly sanitary reports of the Jail, which the Magistrate kindly
sent for my perusal, show that the Sonthals are no exception to the rule
referred to, and that if they are accumulated in large numbers in Jails, a
very considerable mortality will be the inevitable result, whatever plan
of treating them be adopted.
In their own jungles they are reported to be gross animal feeders, liv
ing even upon the flesh of what most nations regard as vermin They
are scantily clothed, always more or les3 exposed to the vicissitudes of
the seasons, and would seem to indulge largely in potations of ardent
spirits.
Like the Negro race, they do not appear to be much affected by mala
ria, which is not to them a poison of the same character as it is to the
white races, and even to the inhabitants of the plains of Bengal ; hence
they dwell with impunity in jungles, which are as pernicious to the
sepoy and his officers, as the great poison valley of Java would
be.
To these physical circumstances must be added the moral considera
tion which ethnology shows to be common to all inhabitants of hill
countries, viz: the peculiar despondency which overtakes them when
placed in confinement, and causes them to fall rapid victims to all
depressing agencies, the most prolific and intractable sources of
disease.
The same exactly is seen in all wild beasts, and particularly in the
monkey tribes, who rapidly become scrofulous and die, in spite of the
most abundant supply of wholesome food and air, and the most careful
regulation of the temperature of their places of imprisonment.
After the Cole campaign, the prisoners in the Bancoprah Jail, under
the experienced and able management of Dr. Cheek, suffered severely
from hospital gangrene, and the mortality among them was frightful.
Like causes in all circumstances produce like effects, and it would be
wise, if possible, and the state policy which demands the punishment of
rebellion admits of it, so to dispose of the Sonthals as to profit by the
experience of the past, without encouraging other savages to repeat the
same experiment.
In the first place, I think that a small quantity of coarse animal food
daily should be allowed to them.
The propriety of granting them a dram is a graver question, for while
the laws of physiology teach us that it is always dangerous suddenly to
change habits, even which are vices, and in themselves injurious to the
56
57
They said, that in the way of vegetables, they eat chiefly the " kudoo,"
"maun," and "bugra" produce, and d&l of the "komta urhur" and
" burbutee" descriptions.
" They liked the meat of all animals, and mentioned bullock, pig, buf
falo, sheep, goat, fowl, tiger, deer and bear. They would eat the flesh
even if they found the animal dead. They would eat any kind of bird,
and two descriptions of snakes, which they called the Dhewira and Bora."
" They told me, that the usual time of their meals was at noon, and in
the evening ; and about their spirits, though they said they only drink it
once or twice in the month ; I rather think it was as often as their money
would allow them the luxury. The kind they generally consumed was
that made from the Mehwah fruit.
H
58
" I asked them about their mode of dress, &c. they informed me that
the common Sonthals wore merely a waist cloth, which they called ' kuporee,' and sometimes one over the shoulder.
" But the richer Sonthals, and those who were chiefs, wore not only the
'kuporee,' but a 'dhotee' over it, besides the long cloth across the
shoulder and round the body.
" They seldom had extra clothing for the winter ; but during that
season, in the night, they always slept round large fires. I think in this
Jail, they miss their fires more than any thing else. A blanket seems to
them but little compensation for the loss of their comforts."
This accords very much with what I learnt regarding those who had
been employed on the Railroad.
4. Of the hundred prisoners sent down to Alipore, whom I saw yes.terday, one arrived in a sickly state, and is believed to be dying of con
sumption, the rest appeared tolerably healthy. This I attribute very much
to the excellent management of that Institution, and to the very judicious
plan adopted by Mr. Floyd, of not placing them upon full rations, until
they were accustomed to the extreme change in their diet and habits.
They were all employed in making strings to weave into gunny cloth,
and seemed very quiet and tractable.
5. From the above, I am inclined to suggest that these particulars
should be made known to every Magistrate in whose custody Sonthal pri
soners are placed, for their information and guidance ; and that in their
management, the very judicious recommendation of Dr. Cheek should be
adopted.
6. I am still of opinion, that great mortality will occur among them
hereafter, and that it will not be safe or prudent to collect them in large
numbers in any Jail.
HAZAREEBAUGH.
This Jail is about two miles from the Penitentiary, is
placed in a large enclosure surrounded by a mud em
bankment and ditch.
I visited it on Monday the 7th, and Tuesday the 8th of January, 1856,
accompanied by the Civil Sufge'on, the. Magistrate being out in the
district.
x
59
60
61
The hours of feeding the prisoners have not been judiciously selected,
and I entirely disapprove of their cooking and eating their morning meal
directly they get out of bed.
The human stomach is not fitted at that time to assimilate a full
meal, and the interval which it causes between the two meals is too
great.
If there be no local objection, I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's
causing the prisoners' meals to be served out to them at 11a. m. and 5
p. m. in the cold weather, and at 11 A. M. and 6 P. m. at all other
seasons.
The Civil Surgeon is of opinion that some of the sickness is caused by
the withholding of tobacco. I am afraid that I cannot concur in this.
The use of tobacco is a vicious luxury, and its abuse is invariably attend
ed with injurious consequences. It is not necessary for the healthy per
formance of any function in the human economy that I am acquainted
with, and I believe that those who have indulged in it for years, even
from the earliest age, can abandon it with impunity and advantage.
In the course of my professional experience, now of nearly twenty
years, I have, on several occasions, been compelled to prohibit .the conti
nuance of its use by most inveterate smokers, and have never known its
disuse to have been followed by any permanent ill.
In the cases of those prisoners who become scorbutic, a greater variety
of vegetable food is necessary, and will hereafter, I hope, be supplied by
attaching kitchen gardens to jails where this is feasible.
The greatest causes of sickness are, in my belief, the result of over
crowding and of endemic influences, most of which are removable by
careful drainage, ventilation, cleanliness, and judicious employment.
6. Two day and four night sentries, with loaded arms, are furnished
from the detachment of the troops at the station. Their
Guards.
.
.
, ,. .
.
T
...
instructions should be written, as 1 consider it exceed
ingly dangerous and improper that a prisoner should be liable to be shot,
as he is at present, upon the simple verbal requisition of an ignorant burkundauz. The prisoners are evidently in such wholesome terror of load
ed fire-arms, that a resort to extreme measures would not appear to have
been necessary.
By the judicious employment of steady men, properly armed and with
clear instructions, I believe that more than one-half of the present mons
trously overgrown and useless guards might be most beneficially dispens
ed with.
62
7.
HAZAREEBAUGH PENITENTIARY.
I visited this institution on the 7th and 8th of January, 1856, accom
panied by Dr. Kelly, the Civil Surgeon, the Magistrate being absent from
the station on Circuit.
2. The Penitentiary is only a Penitentiary in name. In nature it is
nothing more than an ill-contrived prison of the ordi
nary description, with an European Jailor. The
63
A4
New Work-sheds have been sanctioned, and great care should be taken
that they are properly constructed, with the materials of the old bar
racks, which are falling to pieces.
Before the sheds themselves are commenced, the boundary wall of the
extension of the Jail compound should be raised, and the ditch dug, so
as to prevent the necessity of the employment of any more ticca burkun
dauzes in watching the prisoners. The prisoners from the zillah Jail
might also be employed in this work, and if a couple of sentries with
loaded arms were placed over them during the day, few of the idle and
useless burkundauzes would be necessary at all.
6. The works performed are numerous and miscellaneous, and some
of them are fairly executed ; but there appears to be
no fixed plan or system pursued, so as to render the
employment of the prisoners as suitable and profitable as possible.
The facilities for working in iron are so great, that they should be
extended as much as possible, as the whole of the Jails in Bengal and
Behar night easily be supplied with fetters, bars, bolts and all their iron
work from Hazareebaugh at a cheaper rate than they can be made
elsewhere.
I have requested the Civil Surgeon to favor me with all the informa
tion he can gather respecting the sources and extent, as well as cost of
supply of iron ore, lime and coal ;and when I am in possession of his
report, and of the annual statement of the works executed in this Peni
tentiary, I will issue more special instructions upon the subject of the
labour of the prisoners.
There are no means at present of controlling the labour of the prisoners,
and an undue proportion of the Jailor's time is occupied in measuring
their work.
All this must be remedied when the new work-shops are built, and the
dismissal of a large number of the extra burkundauzes now employed,
will admit of the entertainment of craftsmen in their stead, to teach, and
at the same time superintend the work of the prisoners.
7. - The same objections apply to the time of feeding the prisoners,
that I have noted in connection with the zillah Jail,
Hours of Feeding.
. T,
,.
,
.
. , .,
and 1 beg to direct the serious attention ot the Magis
trate to the necessity of altering the existing practice. Again, all prisoners
from the plains and from Behar require acclimating when first sent to
Hazareebaugh, and in their disposal, until they are well accustomed to the
place, the Civil Surgeon should in all cases be consulted, and his injunctions
65
66
more time at his disposal than the Magistrate, that he might, in my belief^
in this manner, be most usefully and profitably employed.
At the time of my visit there was no officer at the station with powers
to act in the event of an outbreak of the prisoners. This is a serious
matter, and ought to be brought to the- notice of the Government, that
means may be devised of making some provision in the absence, on
circuit, of the Magistrate.
10. The person immediately in charge of the Penitentiary was for
merly, and may be still, a non-commissioned officer,
European Jailor.
named Rix. He is an intelligent man, and before enter
ing the army, was the foreman of an extensive manufacturing concern
in or near London. He is apparently well able to superintend workmen,
but I doubt much whether, from education, habits, and the other qualications necessary, he is fitted to have the control of a large body of prison
ers. There are questions connected with prison discipline that need an
amount of temper, self-control, firmness and knowledge to solve, such as
are not likely ever to be found in the class to which Sergeant Rix belongs,
and which can only be expected from a well-educated professional man.
The eminent success of the Jails at Agra and Lahore, in the hands of
Drs. Walker and Hathaway, may be adduced as proofs of the accuracy
of my opinion, while the absolute failure of the Penitentiary at Deegah
. may," in my belief, be in some degree (independent of local causes) traced
to the unfitness of the officers placed in immediate charge of it.
It would not be difficult to show, in minute detail, the ground of my
opinion one example must suffice for the present. Sergeant Rix inform
ed me that the only punishment for refractory prisoners, and for those
who do not perform the tasks assigned to them, is cutting or stopping
their rations. He could scarcely resort to a more injudicious and impro
per mode of punishment, or one more likely to injure the health, without
improving the conduct, of the defaulting convicts.
No professional man would ever think of employing so objectionable a
means of coercion, as he would know perfectly well how difficult it is
ever to restore the health of a prisoner who has become sickly in confine
ment.
Again, Sergeant Rix says that there are half a dozen refractory prison
ers in the Jail who are the plague of his life, whom he has no means of
controlling or punishing, and who are. a bad example to the rest. One of
them, whom he pointed out to me, he declared to have attempted his life
a short time since.
67
BURHEE LOCK-UP.
I visited the Hajut at this subdivision, in company with Mr. Tweedie,
the Deputy Magistrate, on Wednesday the 9th of January, immediately
on reaching the station.
2. The Hajut is a small mud building, consisting of low, dark, unventilated compartments, into which air and light were
admitted by small holes through the walls. The floors
are of clay, and there are neither cook-rooms, nor any conveniences
attached to it. Even water must be brought from a distance.
3. It has no permanent guard, the Deputy Magis
trate being compelled to borrow people from the Thannah for the safe custody of the prisoners.
4. There were two prisoners awaiting trial, and both
Prisoners
were fettered, which the Deputy Magistrate declared to
be absolutely necessary to prevent escape.
I believe the practice to be illegal, and that other measures for safe
custody should be resorted to, even in non-regulation provinces.
5. There is a Native Doctor attached to the Hajut, named Shaikh
68
BEHAR.
I visited this Jail, on the morning of Thursday, the 10th of January
1856, accompanied by the Civil Surgeon of the Station, the Magistrate
being absent in the District. My visit was quite unexpected, as I walked
into the station, and my inspection was made before my arrival was
known.
I again visited the Jail, on the 11th of January, chiefly for the purpose
of inspecting the guards, and I examined it a third time, on the 12th
of the same month.
2. Mr. Loch mentions in his memorandum, of the 5th of May 1854*
that as the Gya Jail has been condemned, it is not necesBuildings.
sary to do more than suggest such temporary changes
in its arrangements, as will improve its condition, until a more suitable
building is erected. Of Mr. Loch's suggestions, few have been attended
to, chiefly because the former Magistrate deemed them undesirable or
impracticable.
It is difficult to imagine a place more entirely unsuited for its purpose.
Built in the midst of a large and populous town, inhabited by a bigotted,
unruly and impracticable race, surrounded by wood-yards and combustible
buildings, undrained and unventilated, with no possible means of
classifying the prisoners, and of making imprisonment serve its ends,
I do not think it right to continue to use it as a place of imprisonment
even until a new Jail can be built, if the prisoners can be otherwise
disposed of. There are also, in my belief, many reasons against having a Jail at
Gya at all, except for the imprisonment of Civil offenders, and all sentenced
to terms of imprisonment less than a year in duration.
A new Jail will cost a large sum of money, and need a considerable
establishment to work it, and unless it be so constructed as to secure
separation of the prisoners, strict classification, and a judicious system of
profitable labour, it will neither be penal, nor reformatory, and, therefore,
be a burthen, without any corresponding benefit, to the State.
So far as my present limited experience of Indian Jails extends, the
greatest mistake in regard to them, I believe, to be their unnecessary
70
71
72
well as those of some other prisoners, unless the Magistrate has anyspecial grounds for retaining them.
They appear to have been manacled for safe custody in transit; and,
as they are now securely lodged in Jail, it does not appear to me to be
necessary to retain these extra ligatures.
The old bar fetters are objectionable, as they afford no additional
security, while they are extremely apt to injure the limbs. Indeed, I
saw evidence enough in the Jail of the mischief produced by them,
to lead me to request that the Magistrate will, as soon as he can,
change them for link fetters, not exceeding one seer and a half in weight.
The fetters themselves are roughly and badly made. They should be
smooth, even when new, otherwise they injure the skin with which theycome in contact,
Link fetters, after a time, wear away at the points of contact ; and I
saw some so thin that a moderate blow with a stone would probably
break them. All such should be replaced by new ones, as they are
temptations to escape when worn. .
6. These are at the lowest state of efficiency, and the Darogah admitLabour and Mann- te^ ^at tnere was no means of compelling any prisoner
factures.
to perform the task allotted to him.
The work-sheds are all outside the Jail, and were in a very dirty,
untidy state, as pointed out more than a year since by Mr. Loch.
I hold it to be useless and impracticable to attempt any reform in the
manufactures, with the means at the disposal of the Magistrate; but
there is no reason why the work-shops and their alentours should not be
kept clean.
7. In addition to the guard, there are enterEstablishment.
, . ,
tained :
A Darogah,
Rs. 25 0 per month.
A Naib Darogah,
15 15
A Jemadar,
10 0
3Duffadars,
18 P
77 Burkundauzes,
308 0
3 Mehtirs,
9 0
1 Lohar Mistree,
6 0
(
8.
73
74
'
tion of mustard oil for ghee.
The rice I found to be new, and not of good quality. The Contractor
says, however, that it is eaten by the inhabitants of the city and district,
and that none other is procurable. The Magistrate should inquire into
this, as new rice is undoubtedly unwholesome, causing disorders of the
digestive organs.
Oil is now so dear, that ghee can be procured for the same price, as I
was informed by the Contractor. If this be the case, I shall feel obliged
by the Magistrate substituting the latter for the former, as I entertain no
doubt that ghee is much more wholesome as an article of diet than mus
tard oil.
There is no fish or flesh occasionally issued in this, as obtains in other
Jails ; the same unvarying diet is given every day in the year. This is
one of the results of the improper contract entered into, and should be
remedied, if possible.
The prisoners also complained that the price of leaves, mats, leather to
protect their limbs from the irons, and all such matters was deducted
from their rations, and that it was not the practice in other Jails. The
complaint seems to me to be well-founded, and should be remedied if
possible.
I find that a contract has been made for three years, of which two still
remain, and that the Contractor has to feed and furnish each prisoner
with the materials of eating and cooking, at 4| pice per head.
I concur with Mr. Loch in deeming this a most objectionable proceed
ingFemale Prisoners.
75
76
,
.
,
second on their return from work at 4 or 5 m the after
noon.
This is an unhealthy practice, and quite opposed to the habits of the
people in Behar, as well as in Bengal.
Perhaps the Magistrate will kindly inform me what objection, if any,
exists to feeding the prisoners at 1 1 A. M. and 6 p. M., in the hot weather
and rains, and at 10 a. m. and 5 p. M. in the cold weather.
14. The messing system has never been fairly introduced into this
Jail, probably because an injudicious method of attempt
ing it terminated in an outbreak with loss of life, some
ten years since.
There are now 53 cooks employed for 504 labouring prisoners, or in
round numbers 1 to "9$.
77
;.. It is true that the prejudices of caste in Behar are very strong, as
might be expected from the general ignorance and bigotry of the popu
lation, yet it seems preposterous that men of the same caste cannot take
food from the hands of each other, and that every petty sub-division of
the same fraternity, should have rules and practices of its own.
With the agency now at the disposal of the Magistrate, I fancy that it
will be difficult to remedy the abuses that exist ; yet I think that a little
judicious inquiry and cautious introduction of more stringent regulations
would be attended with benefit, without any fear of raising the angry
passions of the tenants of the Jail.
15. This record shows that the officers in charge of the Jail, visit it
frequently ; but I do not find that the remarks made in
it receive sufficient attention. The medical officer, on
several occasions, has pointed out improprieties committed by the Con
tractor in regard to the prison rations, but it does not appear that he was
ever fined or punished for the non-fulfilment of his agreement.
The Contractor has excellent certificates from many of the officers
under whom he has served, and doubtless is a good man enough, if well
looked after. I am of opinion that he should be punished in every
instance in which a breach of contract is substantiated, and I am convin
ced that if this be done, there will be fewer complaints regarding their
food from the prisoners.
16. A suitable place should be built for the Darogah to live in. He
Darogah's Quart- at Present occupies an open shed near the main entrance.
tsAs the Jail must be removed, a single room over the
sudder entrance, by convict labour, will be sufficient for the present, and
cost little.
Eubbish in tie
^- The remains of a wall and old room removed
wad.
from the Hospital, obstruct the road near the principal
entrance.
This should be removed at pnce by the labouring prisoners. It is
unsightly, and obstructs the sentry box, which is nearly covered by it.
18. When returning from inspecting the quarters of the guard, and
Detection of im- the outskirts of the Jail, on the morning of Saturday
proprieties.
the 1 2th of January, in the main street of the town,
close to the gate, I perceived three men bartering at the shop of Jesumut
Singh. Dr. Allan who was with me^ immediately stopped his buggy,
and I arrested the men, and with the aid of a Chowkeedar, took them
back to the Jail ; one of them had a lotah in his -hand filled with rice,
78
and in a piece of cloth, was the dholl for the dinner of his mess appa
rently. This he attempted to conceal, and then to throw away, but I
picked it up, and on being examined, in one of the corners was found
enough dried Gunjah to render a dozen chillums intoxicating. A portion
of the rice and dholl had disappeared, but the man declared that he had
bartered none of it, and that it was as he had received it from the cook.
If so, but there was no proof of it, short weight must have been issued.
The names of the three prisoners are Dilwar (Ruj war), Milwar (Rujwar),
Juggooah Mussur, and the one on wliich the Gunjah was found is Milwar
All the while we were walking through the town, there was no
Burkundauz with the prisoners. The man shortly afterwards appeared
at the Jail, and gave an account of himself which was manifestly untrue.
The name of the Burkundauz is Jaffir Khan.
I directed the Darogah to detain the whole of them, and to report the
circumstances to the Native Officer in charge of the Magistracy, the
Principal Sudder Ameen.
,
Immediately afterwards, on driving towards the Station, we fell in with
another Burkundauz, named Tankah, in charge of five prisoners. These
were straggling over a space of about forty yards, and one of them was
in familiar conservation with a well-dressed townsman, from whom he
doubtless received every forbidden luxury, to solace the pains of his
imprisonment.
I beg to bring these cases to the particular notice of the Magistrate,
as they prove that, in his absence, the most obvious irregularities are
practised, without any attempt at concealment, in the open day, and in
the public streets.
Had I been armed with the powers of a Magistrate to try and punish
such cases on the spot, the result would have more effect than can possibly
follow the investigation which the Magistrate will doubtless direct to be
made by the Sudder Ameen.
19. I walked through the Jail on the evening of the 11th. The
Fires in the Wards Wards resembled a gipsey's encampment from the
at night.
number of fires burning in them. These fires are ap
parently made from the charcoal saved from the firewood allowed for
cooking. Some of it doubtless found its way in from sympathizing
friends without, or is openly purchased by the prisoners, in the daily
excursions which they make through the town.
The whole proceeding is an irregularity which should cease, and, in
fact, could not have existed, if the Darogah had been fit for his office.
79
PATNA (MEETAPORE).
I visited the Meetapore Jail on the morning of Tuesday, the 16th of
January 1856, accompanied by the Magistrate. I again visited it on the
17th of the same month with Dr. Dicken, Civil Surgeon of Patna.
2. The buildings are in good order, and the whole Jail is clean and
creditable ; I should have been disposed, a priori to con
sider the clay-floors unhealthy, but defer to the expe
rience of the local officers, who consider it preferable to pucca flooring,
in consequence of the large amount of Saltpetre in the soil.
The three wards without roof ventilators may be furnished with them
at once ; and the day privy and well for the female ward, already sanc
tioned, may also be supplied immediately. The portion of the passage
wall that is collapsing, may also be rebuilt. The whole should be done
by prison labour, and I shall be happy to sanction the expense, upon the
Magistrate's submitting an estimate in the usual form and manner.
3. The Work-sheds in the yards attached to each ward, are, as pointed
out by Mr. Loch, too small and crowded, and interfere
Work-sheds,
with the tidiness and cleanliness of the wards themselves,
'
80
As almost all the prisoners now labour within the walls of the Jail, and
their labour is profitable, the means of extending manufactures and of con
structing proper working-sheds are deserving of every consideration.
New Work- sheds, suitable for different branches of manufacture may
be constructed in the space between the outer wall and the wards, without
interfering with the ventilation of the latter. They should be constructed
gradually, and entirely by convict labour, the bricks, tiles, and all the ma
terials used, except wood, being made in the Jail, for which the requisite
means exist. The wood may be procured cheaply, if sent for from other
districts, where it is abundant. The season for bringing it should be
selected when carriage is cheapest.
By this means, in the course of two or three years, the manufacturing
arrangements of the Jail may be rendered complete, at a comparatively
trifling cost. In order to reduce the number of guards superintending
the labour of the prisoners, the external work-yards should be separated
from each other by the cheapest palisading that can be constructed.
Wood is now so dear in Patna, in consequence of the great demand for
the Railway, that I do not deem it advisable to adopt Mr. Loch's palisad
ing, as it would be extremely costly.
A small ditch, with a low earthen wall, surmounted by a cactus or
aloe hedge, would be cheap and efficient, and might be made to contri
bute to the drainage of the compound.
Perhaps, if he sees no objection, the Magistrate will be so good as to
construct one before the setting in of the next# rains, by which its utility
or unsuitability will be fairly tested.
At present, as mentioned to me by the Judge, the Magistrate and all
officials connected with the Jail are exposed to very unnecessary risk in
visiting the wards and yards in which the prisoners work.
The strict and excellent discipline of this Jail, is very unpalatable to
prisoners accustomed to lax management and little labour in other Jails,
in consequence of which they are anxious to exchange their present quar
ters, and, if disposed to violence, are able to gratify it with little risk to
themselves, as occurred a short time since in the attack upon the Darogah
By placing the Work-sheds outside, separating them, and over-looking
them, as now obtains at Alipore, the number of Burkundauzes may, I
think, be diminished, without any risk of inefficient supervision.
4. The Privies, although carefully cleaned, are not of the right sort,
and pollute the air of the Jail enclosure to an extent
that must be injurious. The filth now falls into a deep
81
pucca drain, through which it is washed the whole length of the building.
This drain has been carried to a distance from the Jail at some expense.
A slight change in the present plan, at small cost, would obviate the
objections that I entertain regarding it.
In place of falling into the drain it should be collected beneath in
earthen vessels, or in boxes lined with zinc, on which, as at Hazareebaugh.
by placing a small ridge an inch or so in height at the bottom of the
drain, it could be converted into a tram-way, (as Mr. Schalch has done
at Balasore,) and the whole could be carted or carried away, early in the
morning, without leaving any unpleasant trace of its passage through the
drain. Should this plan be adopted, a door will have to be opened in
the external wall of the Jail. It should be low, and made of bar iron
securely fastened, when it could not be used as a means of escape. I
shall feel much obliged by the Magistrate's submitting to me a plan and
estimate of the cost of carrying this suggestion into effect. The health of
the Jail will be materially improved by it, and the cost should be. defray
ed from the surplus profits of manufacture.
The lime now used in the drains might then be dispensed with entirely.
As a chemical disinfectant its supposed virtues are very doubtful, while
its use is somewhat costly.
5. The diet of the prisoners is ample and wholesome, and secures
an amount of variety which I have found absent in
Diet.
some Jails. I quite approve of the substitution at the
recommendation of the Civil Surgeon, of an equivalent in value of ghee,
in the place of mustard oil supplied in most Jails, and almost invariably
objected to, by both prisoners and Medical Officers.
The morning meal is, I am of opinion, taken at too early an hour to be
wholesome, but so long as the health of the prisoners is not affected by . it,
I do not deem it absolutely necessary to recommend any change in the
existing practice.
The articles of diet are constantly inspected by the Medical Officer, so
that their quality is well ascertained ; but there is no equal certainty that
the prisoners get the full quantity sanctioned.
I concur with my predecessor, therefore, in deeming it of importance
that the rations should occasionally be re-weighed after issue, in the pre
sence of some competent authority. The Magistrate and Civil Surgeon
of Patna have both an abundance of work, without adding to it ; yet, if
some arrangement can be made by which this important end could be
secured, it would certainly be of great advantage.
82
6.
The fetters were all bright and clean, but there is no necessity for
their being rubbed with such destructive benevolence as
Fetters.
f
.
to cause them rapidly to wear out.
They are at present of various weights and patterns. They should be
gradually assimilated in form and weight, as opportunities offer, to the
pattern sanctioned by Government upon the representation of the Sudder
Dewanny Adawlut.
There was one prisoner in confinement, a portly-looking individual, who
was not only manacled, hand, foot, neck, and body, with a weight of iron
not easy to carry, but in addition, chained at night to the bars of a
window.
The whole proceeding is barbarous and inhuman ; but, the culprit has
so often broken out of Jail, and exhibited so much ingenity and resolu
tion in effecting his escapes, as, in the belief of the Magistrate, to render
it impossible to retain him in safe custody by any other means at his
disposal.
If this be so, and I have no reason whatever to doubt it, I beg strongly
to recommend his removal to Alipore, where he can undergo the sentence
awarded to him without being subjected to restraints, of which the spirit
of the age in which we live, has recorded its entire and emphatic dis
approval. The cause alleged by the prisoner for his manifest evasions is,
that he does not get enough to eat, and that the desire to procure more
food is uncontrollable. He is a large, strongly-built man, and I doubt
not that there is some truth in his statement.
7. The manufactures of the Patna Jail have acquired
Manufactures.
considerable and deserved celebrity, and yield a fair
amount of profit.
They seem to me, however, to be almost too numerous, and with the
exception of the Dheynkee used in macerating the pulp from which the
paper is made, not to be in any way penal in character.
In a perfect system of Jail discipline, some work should always exist,
which, without being an absolute loss of power, as in the case of the
treadmill, would be a real punishment to those condemned to it. Such
means of curing refractory prisoners should be found in all Jails, and as
no other mode of compelling the execution of assigned tasks, or of punish
ing infractions of discipline, are in use at Meetapore, I deem the matter
deserving the attention of the Magistrate. At Alipore and Midnapore,
the oil mill is the bSte noire. Mr. Schalch again raises water for the use of
his Jail, in a manner that tasks severely those who are put upon the water
83
84
85
1 1.
The Hospital is a good building, well suited for its purpose and
in excellent order. Should it ever be much crowded,
however, it will need roof ventilation, and this may be
effected at a very trifling expense by convict labour, on Mr. Loch's plan.
The sickness in the Jail is very small at present, and this is, I am of
opinion, in a great measure to be attributed to the excellent arrangements
of the Civil Surgeon.
The manner in which the dieting of the prisoners is managed by Dr.
Dicken is also deserving of every commendation, and worthy of imita
tion in other Jails.
12. I cannot conclude this memorandum without an expression of the
gratification which I have experienced in witnessing the
successful exertions of the Magistrate in the manage
ment of his charge. The strictness of the discipline and constancy of
the labour in this Jail are, as I have already mentioned, such as to render
prisoners anxious to be transferred elsewhere; and yet, they are not
accompanied by any deterioration of the health of the prisoners. It
increases, however, the risk and responsibilities of the officers in charge
of the prison, and in the same proportion entitles them to commendation.
S H A H A B A D.
I visited the Shahabad Jail early on the morning of Tuesday, the
22nd of January 1856, shortly after my arrival at the station. During
my visit the Civil Surgeon came to see his patients, and accompanied me
in the remainder of my inspection.
I visited it again on the evening of the same day, accompanied by Mr.
Littledale, the Officiating Judge.
2. The Jail generally is in excellent order and very clean. The
main wards are apparently well ventilated, but that
Buildings.
.
,
11
, ,
.....
assigned to the women, and the small one adjoining it,
are not so.
My visit was sufficiently early to witness the operation of cleansing
the drains, and to perceive how well calculated it is to pollute the air of
the whole Jail. The yard of the non-labouring prisoners was scarcely
bearable while the accumulated filth of the day and night privies was
being swept through it.
86
This Jail has for some months past been much visited by severe sick
ness, to which I shall refer more particularly in a succeeding paragraph.
I have already, in a recent Circular, directed the attention of all
Magistrates to the absolute necessary of putting a stop to the extremely
objectionable practice of using the open drains of the Jail for purposes
of sewage.
In this Jail, which is otherwise not very ill-adapted for its purpose,
both day and night privies are so constructed as to cause the ordure to
pass through the drains on both sides of the -wards.
The filth must, as at Alipore, be collected in moveable vessels, and be
carried or carted to a distance, otherwise the sickness will increase as the
weather becomes warmer, until it will end in a general Jail delivery by
pestilence.
The drains themselves at present end in open sloughs so near to the
walls, that whenever the wind blows in that direction, the prison must
again be infected with these noxious exhalations, until the heavy rains
wash them away.
I shall feel extremely obliged by the Magistrate's paying the strictest
attention to this matter ; as, if the Jail were a palace, placed in a paradise,
it would be unhealthy with such imperfect conservancy arrangements.
The prison is not well placed, being too closely surrounded on two sides
by buildings, and near one of the walls the cloaca of the neighbourhood
seems to be situated.
This, I need scarcely say, should be removed at once, as an intolerable
nuisance.
3. Few of the prisoners seem to be provided with the Tat bedding
directed by Mr. Loch to be supplied in his Circular No.
Bedding.
87
88
against the laws, and to cut off some of them prematurely, forms no part
of their sentence, and is alike opposed to the intentions of the Govern
ment, and the common dictates of humanity.
I shall feel much obliged, therefore, by the Magistrate's making
some other arrangements for feeding the prisoners ; the more especially as
I am aware that he himself objects to the existing arrangement, as much
as I do.
Food of all descriptions, is, I know, very dear, and it is difficult to
get a contract taken up. If, then, it is 'impossible at present to change
the existing system, the regulating of the dieting should be made over to
the Civil Surgeon, and whenever he condemns the food issued, it should at
once be rejected, and a fresh supply purchased in the market at the
expense of the darogah, who should lodge security sufficient to cover the
cost of so doing.
The rice and attah shown to me were excellent, and if rations of equal
quality were always issued, the sickness in the Jail would rapidly
diminish.
Some of the prisoners had a scorbutic appearance. In all such cases,
preventive are better than curative measures ; and a certain amount, to be "
fixed by the Surgeon, of potatoes and other antiscorbutic vegetables,
should be occasionally issued.
6. The accommodation for the sick is good of its kind, and would
probably be sufficient, if outside patients were not
received into the Jail Hospital. The practice was very
properly condemned by Mr. Loch, and if a Dispensary is not speedily
built outside, all such cases should be placed in tents.
A curious fact connected with these outside patients, and with the
inmates of the civil Jail, is, that while cholera, fever, and dysentery were
decimating the criminal prisoners, they were exempt from those plagues,
The civil prisoners purchase their food from a moodie : had they been fed
by the Darogah, they would have, in all human probability, suffered as
as much as the others. The fact is- significant, and suggests the remedy.
There were two, or three miserable, moribund wretches, dying by
inches,who are very proper subjects for the clemency of the Government.
The Civil Surgeon told me that he had sent in a list of such cases, but,
that no orders had been received for their disposal, and that several of
them were since dead.
I beg very earnestly to recommend the matter to the consideration of
. the Honorable the Lieutenant Governor as some rapid means of action in
89
such cases are urgently required. I have scarcely visited a single Jail in
which I have not found instances wherein mercy might most properly be
extended to those, whose crimes are nearly expiated.
7. The books of the Jail are all well and carefully
Books.
iii,
i .
kept, and brought up to date.
The visiting book seems to have been zealously used when first intro
duced, but to have fallen since into desuetude.
The former Magistrate I perceive, merely, on most occasions, recorded
the fact of his visit. This is not the intention of such a record. Its pur
pose is to note on the spot, when the matter is fresh, all circumstances
requiring remark ; and this, which is a really useful object, should not be
lost sight of.
Mr. Tayler's minute of the 15 th August 1854, is the kind of
thing required, and if similar attention were at all times paid to this
important duty, the establishment, knowing that every visiting officer
would place their laches ou record, would be careful not to be found
napping.
8. Some arrangements are urgently needed for washing the clothes of
the prisoners. Are there no men of the Dhobie caste
undergoing imprisonment, to whom it might be assigned
as a regular task in the same manner as obtains with regard to the
cooks ?
And, if not, are there no men who might be so employed without
breach of caste ? I am not sufficiently acquainted yet with the delicate
subject of caste prejudices in Behar to be able to solve the difficulty, and
shall be glad to be favoured by the Magistrate with his views and recom
mendation on the subject.
9. The prisoners in the Hajut and non-labouring wards have no places
for cooking, except small choolas in the open air, by
jut and non-labour- which, in the rains and hot weather, they must be sub
jected to considerable inconvenience. Indeed, the latter
complained to me that they were so. Expensive sheds are not required,
but some suitable shelter should be provided.
The general cook-sheds of the criminal prisoners were clean and in
excellent order.
10. The state of the wells was noticed by Mr. Loch, and requires to
be carefully watched, as I am afraid that the sickness has been aggrava
ted by the saline matters contained in all the well water of the district.
The prisoners in the non-labouring ward complained much of it. .
M
(
11.
90
The Guards were clean and orderly, but their quarters and the
cook-sheds adjoining them, were in a very dirty state.
This should not be permitted.
There seems to be some doubt as to the authority of the Magistrate
over these Jail guards. In all such matters, they should, I am of opinion,
be as much under his immediate control as any other persons attached
to the Jail.
The sentries are too numerous. If some of them mounted with loaded
arms, half the number would, I think, be enough. As it is, in the event
of a sudden outbreak, the time lost in getting any arms loaded, might
be fatal to any official attacked by the prisoners. All guards attending
inspecting Officers at least, should be loaded. The old flint musket now
used, is a clumsy weapon, and would be of little service unloaded, against
a large body of irritated and determined men.
12. The Manufactures are numerous, and before the outbreak must
have been very profitable, but they are conducted on no
Manufactures.
fixed principle. Not one of them is really final in
character ; there is not, and cannot be, any efficient check upon the Darogah
in the purchase of raw material, the distribution and allotment of the
work, and the sale of the manufactured article ; and T cannot expect
that the Magistrate should take cognizance of all these details. Yet they
form a very essential feature of efficient Jail discipline.
I saw many strong, able-bodied prisoners spinning thread : fit occupa
tion for young boys and women, but not for male adult criminals.
As brick-making is very profitable, and the amount of work done may
be easily gauged in it, perhaps it would be better to employ the spinners
in it, if there be no special objection.
13. The chief complaint was of the absence of tobacco. I explained
to the prisoners
that this
was a luxury and an indulgence.
Complaints.
r
...
.
and that by becoming criminal, they had forfeited all
claim to such things.
Several of the prisoners complained of sore feet, and begged for shoes.
In all cases where the Medical Officer considers them absolutely necessary
for the health of the prisoners, they may be allowed, but in none others ;
and in general, when prisoners suffer from cracks in the heel and soles
of the feet they should be put in Hospital.
14. I saw nothing further calling for special remark. In all those mat
ters, of which the Magistrate
is able to take cognizance,
Conclusion.
b
.
'
I consider the state of the Jail to be very creditable.
91
SARUN.
I visited this Jail on the morning of Thursday, the 24th of January
1856, accompanied by the Judge, the Magistrate, the Assistant Magis
trate and the Civil Surgeon.
I again visited it alone in the evening of the same day, when the
prisoners had returned from their work, and took their evening meal,
when I carefully examined every prisoner, and listened to all their com
plaints, as mentioned hereafter.
I inspected it a third time on Saturday, the 26th January.
2. This Jail is particularly ill-contrived, and is so situated as to render
effective drainage impossible, when the surrounding
country i3 flooded. The floors of most of the wards
are of clay, which is frequently fresh leeped for purposes of cleanliness,
but which must be more or less damp at all seasons of the year. The
soil is likewise so saturated with saltpetre, as rapidly to destroy the walls
and plastering. The roof ventilation is tolerably good, but the yards are
so closely surrounded by walls as effectually to prevent any free circulation
of air. In spite of all these defects, which it would be impossible now
to remedy, without rebuilding the Jail, the whole was in a clean, creditable,
and healthy state, a result due entirely to the very careful and successful
manner in which the Magistrate and Civil Surgeon have watched over it.
3. The worst part of it was that in which the female prisoners were
confined, and this is so bad, that I shall feel obliged byFemale Prisoners.
.
....
.
V
the Magistrate s submitting to me an estimate ot the cost
of partitioning off one half of the Civil Jail as a Female ward.
This portion of the prison is well raised, has a puckah floor, is separated
sufficiently from the rest of the Jail, and the number of Civil prisoners
is never likely to be such as to be over-crowded in one half of it.
If the partition wall, cook-room and privy are made by convict labour,
with Jail-made bricks, the cost of the change will be trifling.
4. The new cook-sheds for the criminal labouring prisoners are excellent,
and were in a clean and creditable state. The nonCook-sheds,
labouring prisoners, have, however, no covered places for
cook-rooms, and in the rains are sometimes compelled to live on dry,
92
uncooked food. " At other seasons, they are exposed to the sun. I think
that all this might be avoided at small cost, but as I have not a plan of
the Jail with me, I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's favoring me
with a report of the most economical arrangement which he can propose
for the purpose.
5. The Privies are better than in most Jails, and yet
Privies
they are not altogether what they should be.
For the day Privies the Magistrate may purchase three more moveable
iron pans, to remove the filth.
The night Privies are still somewhat offensive, and the prisoners should
be strictly prohibited from urinating on their floor. I doubt if, in their
present form, they are susceptible of any improvement, except at undue
cost.
6. The solitary cells, six in number, are not bad of their kind, but
they require roof ventilation. Two of Mr. Loch's
Solitary Cells.
. ,
.,
.
,
.
, .
gumlan ventilators in each will be quite sufficient.
7. The Manufactures carried on are not numerous, nor has much .
' Manufactures.
, ,
skill been attained by
J the 0prisoners in those which
are introduced.
1 quite concur with the Magistrate in thinking that all the labouring
prisoners cannot be employed within the Jail, as there are neither worksheds nor proper labour yards for more than 150. I do not, however,
approve of the proposal to build a new work-shed at a distance from the
Jail, as it would be attended with most of the objections to out-door
labour, in addition to a considerable outlay for work-sheds, enclosing
walls, &c.
It is much to be regretted that buildings and bazars have been allowed
to encroach so much upon the Jail, as to render it impossible to extend it
in any direction.
Of out-door occupations, I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's adopt
ing those which, in addition to their being most penal in their character,
are at the same time most profitable, such as brick-making.
I entirely disapprove of stalwart vagabonds being occupied in spinning
thread, and such like apologies for work, which are fit only for women
and children. If absolutely necessary to supply the looms with thread
at a cheaper cost than it can be purchased for, such work should Be
made over to the weak, sickly, and convalescent.
There is a want in the Jail of skilled prisoners to teach different
branches of manufacture. If the Magistrate will be so good as to apply
93
(
9.
94
The Burkundauzes are not a very efficient looking body, and some
of them were only armed with sticks. The tulwars of those
Burkundauzes.
who had them, I should class with Hodge's razors, made
to sell and not to cut. They are wretched unserviceable things ; if the
men are to be armed at all, their weapons should at least be serviceable.
10. The fetters were better and more uniform than in almost any
Jail that I have seen, but many of them were not clean,
Fetters.
.
and the rivets of some of the ankle-rings are nearly
undone. This should be rectified.
11. The food is supplied by the Darogah, in consequence of the very
high price of provisions, rendering it unadvisable to
Food*
,
enter into a contract. The plan is an objectionable one,
although I believe it to be unavoidable in existing circumstances to
change it ; but the moment the state of the market admits of it, the
Magistrate should, I think, again endeavour to obtain a contract.
The prisoners complained much, and very generally of the insufficient
amount of the food supplied. As fraud in this particular is very easy,
and not unlikely to be practised occasionally by the Darogah and Cooks,
the rations should occasionally, after issue to the cooks, be re-weighed in
the presence either of the Assistant Magistrate, or of the Civil Surgeon.
It would occupy very little time and would here, as it has done else
where, tend to check fraud. The allowance is ample if fairly given, and
it is the duty of those in charge of the Jail to see that it is so.
The rice supplied, appeared good and clean, but was all new. This, in
other parts of the country, is regarded as unwholesome, and is deserving
of attention.
The attah contains a great deal of bran, which irritates the intestines,
and lays the foundation of some of the severe visceral affections which
are so rife and destructive among prisoners.
This also needs careful looking after.
As ghee is now nearly the same in cost as mustard oil, 1 shall feel
obliged by the Magistrate's causing an equivalent amount of the former
to be substituted for the latter. It is much more wholesome, and does
not come within the category of indulgences.
The water from the wells used in cooking and drinking, holds in solu
tion an amount of salts that must prove injurious, and when concentrat
ed in the dry season, act both as predisposing and exciting causes of dis
ease. Care should be taken at such times to adopt such means of puri
fication as will render it wholesome.
95
12.
This record shows that all the officers in charge of the Jail are
careful and" attentive to their duties, and that all remarks
Visiting Book.
...
..
meet with immediate attention.
To this may fairly be attributed the healthy state of one of the worst
constructed, and most unpromising looking Jails that I have yet visited.
13. The Hospital was clean and in good order, and
the patients evidently well cared for.
I do not, however, approve of the open railing compartment for women,
as this is a worse than Pyramus and Thisbe arrangement, which might,
and probably would, become the source of undesirable irregularities. I
must, therefore, beg that no women be placed in the male hospital at all.
The new place for the women, in half the Civil Jail, will obviate
the necessity of the arrangement above objected to; and as there are
scarcely ever more than one or two women sick at a time, it is hardly
necessary to have a separate hospital for them.
14. The Magistrate can send in estimates for the cooking vessels
needed for the Hospital, and one or two other minor
Conclusion.
.
matters which were pointed out to me.
As the floors of the Jail are irremediably damp, and as I fear, that
even the tat bedding will scarcely be a sufficient protection for the pri
soners, I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's making tuckta poshtes
from the planking intended to cover the surface drain, and placing them
in the dampest ward, as an experimental measure. They should be made
on Mr. Atherton's plan, raised upon a brick ridge ; and I shall feel oblig
ed by the Magistrate's favouring me, at the end of the next rains, with a
special report from the Civil Surgeon and himself, upon the result as
regards the health of the prisoners.
CHUMPARUN.
I VISITED the Mooteharee Jail on the 27th and28th of January 1856,
accompanied by the Sub-assistant Surgeon, in medical charge of the
station. The Magistrate was ill ; I did not, therefore, ask him to attend.
2. Although better placed in regard to its distance from the town,
than either the Arrah or Chuprah Jails, this is a badly
designed and worse constructed prison.
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97
issued in their stead, and accepted by the prisoners, probably not without
murmuring, but without any violent expression of opinion.
Ever since the introduction of the Mozufferpore rioters, many of the
prisoners, particularly of that most troublesome of all classes, the Gwallas,
have clamoured for them, and they were very earnest in their petition
to me for lotahs, and brass eating dishes.
I told them that those who could afford them, when they entered the
prison, or whose friends could supply them, might have them, and I
shall feel obliged by the Magistrates seeing that this is done at once.
To the others, I said, that as many of them had been for years without
them, without any infringement of caste, it was idle for them to urge
that as an excuse now ; that if their friends would provide them, they
might have them, as in other Jails, but that I could not recommend
the Government to go to the great expense of purchasing them for men,
who must be well aware, that the misconduct which caused them to be
confined, at considerable cost, in Jail, deprived them of every claim to
indulgences.
It is much to be regretted that any of the people connected with the
lotah riot, should have been sent to this Jail.
It is also very necessary that uniformity of practice in all matters
relating to caste, food and work should prevail in all Jails, and more
especially in all those placed in the same district or province.
In Behar, where, from the general ignorance and bigotry of the popula
tion, the prejudices and sub-divisions of caste, are stronger and greater
than in Lower Bengal, the utmost care should have been exercised in
this matter.
I scarcely enter a Jail in which an appeal, or an argument by a
prisoner, is not clinched by a reference to the practice of other Jails, in
which some of them have been.
This is not only wrong in itself, but is very unjust towards such
Magistrates as Mr. Ainslie, at Patna, whose stringent discipline is so
unpalatable to the prisoners, (as ought to be the case in all Jails,) as to
induce them to resort to acts of violence, for the express object, as they
hope, of being transferred to some more easy-going Jail.
It is curious to observe the accurate knowledge of the internal economy
of all neighbouring Jails, possessed by the prisoners ; for I have in only
one instance been requested to transfer a prisoner to Patna, and I found
that he was a native of the place, and possibly had friends or relations
among the burkundauzes or nujeebs.
N
(
5.
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( ioo )
much of its being with-held. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's
furnishing me with a special report on this point.
9. There are 167 male labouring prisoners, and 3
Manufactures.
,
. , .
.
,. ,i
women condemned to imprisonment with labour.
The profit on the labour of each of the prisoners in this Jail does not
appear to be a rupee a month.
The falling down of the work-sheds has necessarily stopped most of
the manufactures, and as they are of little profit when in full work, I am
of opinion that most of the labouring prisoners should be employed in
remedying the defects of the Jail, until it is rendered as fit as it can ever
be, to fulfil the purpose for which it is maintained.
As soon as the Tat necessary to supply each prisoner with Mr. Loch's
pattern bed is furnished, the mat-menders, hemp-cutters, and tat-weavers
may be employed in brick and tile-making and masonry.
The chair-makers are useless. They are only three in number, but
they also will be better employed in the manner mentioned above.
The new enclosure for work-sheds seems to me to be too small and
confined. Is it possible to mend this defect now ?
All the prisoners work outside the Jail. This is destructive of disci
pline. The work-yard might be connected with the main enclosure by a
small double brick wall, protected by a strong door. This would dis
pense with some of the ticca burkundauzes now unprofitably employed
in assisting the prisoners to do nothing.
10. The guard is badly distributed. There are four sentry boxes
outside and four inside. The guards themselves are
very badly lodged, and so are the burkundauzes.
If the sentry boxes were placed on the angles of the walls, as at Meetapore, half the number of sentries would be ample.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's preparing and submitting to
me an estimate for carrying this into effect with convict labour.
All the objections noted regarding the Behar Guards in other jails, are
equally applicable to this one.
11. The Hospital is in a separate compound, and is
the best part of the Jail. It was in a clean and credit
able state.
The drains require to be repaired.
12. The Visiting Book is not much used, and its object appears to be
misunderstood. There are besides no remarks of the
i" 'Wk '
Medical Officer in it. Its intention is not only to record
ioi )
the visits of all officers connected with it, but to register their remaka
upon any matters which call for observation, at the time when the matter
is fresh.
The weekly visit and general inspection of the Medical Officer in parti
cular should be very carefully recorded, for the information, and, if neces
sary, the orders of the Magistrate.
I shall feel obliged by this being attended to.
There is another book kept in which the orders and remarks of the In
spector are entered and translated for the benefit of the Darogah. This
record must be kept with care and discretion, as many remarks of the
Inspector are for the information of the Magistrate alone, and not for
promulgation in the Jail.
All written orders to the Darogah should be entered in it, and signed
by that functionary, in proof of his having read and understood them.
The other records of the Jail are fairly kept.
13. The Darogah seems a careful, steady officer, but, as remarked by
two of the Magistrates under whom he has served,
aroga .
needs, as they all do indeed, to be well looked after.
14. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's furnishing me with a
special report upon the eight prisoners transferred, 3 from Mozufferpore,
3 from Meetapore, and 2 from Arrah. The Darogah represents them all
to be bad and dangerous characters, and to be at the bottom of all the
mischief that occurs in the- Jail.
The Jail is not calculated to hold more than 250 prisoners with safety,
although I believe it is supposed to be capable of containing 350.
When the number of prisoners exceeds the former amount, I shall feel"
obliged by the Magistrate's at once bringing it specially to my notice.
T I R H O O T.
I visited this Jail on Tuesday, the 29th of January 1856, accompani
ed by the Magistrate, and the Civil Surgeon.
2. The Wards are well raised and dry, but the
masonry seems to be of the worst description, and the
ventilation is very imperfect.
All require roof ventilation, and I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's
submitting to me an estimate of the cost of the same, upon the plan
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104
pains and penalties, from selling forbidden luxuries to any class of pri
soners, as by this mean3 they obtain admission to all classes in the Jail,
whose friends are able to pay for them. I shall feel obliged by the
Magistrate's taking immediate steps to carry this order into effect.
Among the Fouzdary prisoners Dr. Simpson attributes the general
prevalence of scurvy, to imperfect drainage, ventilation and conservancy,
to innutritious diet, and to too much sedentary occupation. The former
matters I have already considered.
With regard to diet, I believe the quantity of food to be ample if fairly
served out, but there is probably a deficiency in its variety, and it is
eaten at unsuitable hours.
Mozufferpore is placed in an extremely malarious district, where the
general health of the population is not good, whence many enter the
prison in a state which renders them peculiarly obnoxious to all depress
ing agencies, calculated to cause disease.
The existing evils may, to a great extent, be remediedalthough from
local causes it is not reasonable to expect that they can be entirely
eradicatedby two measures.
The one is by the establishment of a kitchen garden, by means of
which, light, out-door occupation can be found for convalescent and sickly
prisoners, while the supply of anti-scorbutic vegetables which ought by
this means to be furnished, will remove the existing objection to the
dietary, without increasing the cost of the maintenance of the prisoners.
Upon this, I have asked for special information from all Jails.
The other is by the adoption of the plan followed with eminent success
by Dr. Dicken at Patna, viz. the occasional change, when the epidemic
character of the season or other circumstances need it, of the dietary,
within the limits of the average cost of feeding the prisoners.
For example, in the hot weather, when cholera is epidemic in Patna, an
equivalent of dhye is substituted for meat. At other times, and general
ly, an equivalent of ghee is substituted for mustard oil, which is every
where objected to as unwholesome.
By these means, and constant vigilant examination of the food, the
health of the prisoners at Meetapore has risen far above the average of
that of the population without the Jail ; epidemics have raged in Patna
without finding their way into the Jail ; and yet the discipline of the pri
son is more rigid, and the labour of the prisoners more profitable, than in
any other Jail in Behar.
This too is accomplished without additional cost to the State, and with
105
" It would be idle for me to discuss with you the physiological grounds which render it
essential for the health of human beings that various principles necessary for the repair of
the wear and tear of the tissues, should be introduced into .. their systems. I could
not explain them so as to be intelligible to a person unacquainted with Chemistry,
106
107
" The real reason of the popularity of the Bengal prisons rests on a much broader
basist han the question of ghee versus mustard oil.
'* It is in the laxness of supervision j the utter absence of any really efficient system of
prison discipline ; the idle apology for work exhibited in able-bodied vagabonds spinning
thread and doing as much as a thrifty native woman accomplishes before she takes her
morning meal, as a fair day's work ; the corruption of native subordinates, rendering the
purchase of what are really esteemed luxuries, (tobacco, opium and gunjah) tolerably easy ;
and the herding together of criminals in large bodies, that the striking defects of our
Indian prison system are found, and not in any fancied love for a single article of food,
which the majority are stated never to have tasted before they became inmates of a Jail.
" While, therefore, I cannot but applaud the motive which has induced you to appeal
against my order, I must, for reasons which you will gather from these remarks, adhere to
its being carried out in its integrity, so long as Dr. Simpson considers it to be absolutely
necessary for the health of the prisoners.
" If you can find me any substitute for ghee, which is not deemed a luxury, which does
not possess the deleterious properties of mustard oil ; and which will be to the prisoners of
Mozufferpore, what olive oil is to the maccaroni-feeding Lazzaroni of Naples, I shall be
most happy to introduce it.
" It is a bland, animal or vegetable fat that is required, without an acrid principle.
" The health of prisoners is a matter of very grave and serious importance j and I think
you will agree with me that no practice regarding convicts is justifiable, which would
render an imprisonment of three or five years equivalent to a sentence of death, upon a
large proportion of those convicted of crimes not deserving of so severe a punishment.
That such is unhappily the case at present, is abundantly evident from the large amount
of preventible mortality that prevails in many Jails within my jurisdiction. Hence my
great anxiety on the subject."
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109
"0 )
MONGHYR.
I visited the Jail of Monghyr on Sunday, the 3rd of February 1856,
immediately after Divine Service, accompanied by Lord Ulick Browne,
and Mr Tucker, the present and former Magistrates.
I selected this day, because the whole of the prisoners are collected
together, and I was anxious to see them all, as there has recently been
very great sickness and mortality in this Jail. *I again went over the
wards and hospital with Dr. Duka, the present Civil Surgeon of the station,
on the afternoon of the same day.
I visited it a third time, accompanied by Lord Ulick Browne, and Mr.
Tucker, on Monday the 4th of February, to inspect the manufactures and
work-sheds.
2. This Jail is admirably situated in the old Fort of Mon
ghyr, well-raised, facing the river, and suscep
tible of the most perfect drainage, and yet it
has recently been the scene of a lamentable amount of sickness and
death.
The Hajut wards are excellent, but need additional roof and
antero-posterior ventilators.
The Fouzdary wards, five in number, are placed in a single enclosure,
and the rooms intercommunicate with each other by large, open, iron
gratings, to an extent that must be destructive of discipline. As a means
of ventilation they are singularly ill-contrived, evidently the result of an
erroneous knowledge of the true .principles of accomplishing that most
desirable end.
Except when the wind blows from the north or south, the prisoners
in four of the wards have the effete air of their neighbours blown
over them, which is anything but desirable in a sanitary point of
view.
When the wind blows from the south, it passes the privies, and,
laden with the sweets derived from this source, contaminates the air in
every one of the wards.
The remedy for this is easy to point out, but difficult to execute, on
account of the arched form of the roofs, and the bad quality of the
111
'
~
112
atmosphere.
A portion of the fluid contents likewise, I have little doubt, percolates
through the soil, and finds its way to the wells. The evil effects of this
it would be difficult to exaggerate.
The drain that needs most urgently to be set right is that at the north
eastern angle, outside the walls. This should at once be taken up and
reconstructed with tiles as a V shaped drain, to the edge of the outer
parapet, where the water falls on the river bank. The other drains of
the Jail should, in succession, be repaired in a similar manner, one
by one, by convict labour, with Jail-made bricks and tiles. They
H3
should all be well flushed with water once a day, until the rains
set in.
It has recently been ascertained in Europe that lime is not only of no
use as a disinfectant, but is positively injurious. This, I believe, from
private sources of information, is the verdict of the sanitary commission
sent, under the presidence of Sir John McNeill, to Balaklava.
The lime now used may, therefore, be dispensed with at once, and em
ployed in making mortar for the repair of the drains, until the whole
are in good order.
Should any bad smell remain in the drains for the next few weeks, it
may be removed by sweeping charcoal dust and ashes through them once
a week.
5. The Wells in the Jail are numerous, and some of them excellent ;
but, with one exception, they are all so constructed as to
permit of the percolation through the soil of the drain
age and sewage of the. place generally.
It has recently been discovered in London by a singular chain of ob
servations, to which I have referred more particularly in my report on
the Deegah Penitentiaiy, that the pollution of well water by sewage may
occur to a most deleterious extent, without impairing its apparent purity,
or so affecting its taste as to be perceptible to the consumers.
It is by no means improbable that the great sickness which has recent
ly afflicted this Jail, may have been aggravated by this cause.
Some of the smaller wells, particularly that in the Hospital compound
near the privy, should at once be disused, and that one be filled up with
dry rubbish. It is now in a filthy state, and a perfect focus of abomina
tion.
In regard to the water of the larger wells, I shall feel obliged by the
Civil Surgeon examining it occasionally, especially when they begin to
dry up ; and if he finds the salts contained in it to increase in amount so
as to render it unfit for cooking or drinking, to adopt the means of
purification pointed out in my recent Circular on the sanitary state
of Jails generally, of which the Magistrate will furnish him with
a copy.
6. Jhst beyond the great sally port are large collections of rubbish,
consisting of dust, dirt, decayed leaves, refuse food and similar matters,
well adapted to cause noxious exhalations.
While walking round the exterior of the Jail, on the river bank
p
H4
with Dr. Duka, I saw the rubbish thrown over the wall by basket
loads.
This should be all removed at once, and so should all smaller collec
tions of broken vessels, leaves, &c., such as I pointed out to the Darogah
in the yards of the female and non-labouring wards. The proximity
of the river renders it easy to dispose of all such refuse, without injury
to any one.
The holes in some of the yards should either be filled up with dry
rubbish, or with earth or sand brought from the river bank.
No decaying vegetable matter should on any account be permitted to
find its way into them.
The great Cotton tree in the centre of the non-labouring yard should
be removed at once. It affords no shade, and interferes with free venti
lation in an enclosed area.
7. In this great Jail, with many refractory and troublesome characters
to manage, there is not a single solitary cell. As I
hold that without the means of isolating bad characters
it is impossible to maintain discipline, except by bonds and manacles
of which I do not approve, and which only render a prisoner an
object of sympathy to his fellow criminals, I shall feel obliged by the
Magistrate's causing to be prepared at his early convenience, plans and
estimates for six solitary cells.
They should contain at least 500 cubic feet of air, have perfect roof
ventilation, be furnished with an open iron bar door in front and a
large ventilator high up in the opposite wall. For a privy, a moveable
nand should be placed in a corner of the ward, with an air-tight lid,
so that when closed no effluvium could find its way into the ward. As
an additional precaution a small basket of charcoal may be placed over
the moveable cover.
Those of two adjoining wards may be made in the adjacent angles, so
that three pans would be sufficient for six prisoners, for example :
A and B are two cells,a and b the privies
in the adjacent angles. By raising the floor of
the cells a foot or eighteen inches, and placing
the pans in a small masonry excavation, "as in the
Alipore day privies, they could easily be taken
' out morning and evening, and their contents
removed with the rest of the filth of the Jail.
115
H
The whole should be in a palisaded enclosure, so as to cut of all com
munication with other prisoners, and be watched by a single sentry on
duty.
If the Magistrate experiences any difficulty in procuring an estimate,
I shall feel obliged by his applying to the Executive Engineer to furnish
him with a plan and estimate from the above data.
8. The fetters were generally clean and in good order. The few that
now remain of the bar pattern should, as soon as possi
Fetters.
ble, be changed for the link variety, of the regulation
weight.
One man is chained hand, foot and body, for escaping. It is unfortu
nate that there is no solitary cell to put him in. In the absence of such
means of coercion, the Magistrate should put him on the hardest work
116
in the Jail, and remove the extra bonds, keeping a special watch over
him, and never letting him outside on any pretence.
9. There is a complete absence in this, and indeed in all other Jails,
except at Alipore, of penal labour for the punishment
Punishments.
of refractory prisoners, and or those who have commit
ted heinous crimes. One or more oil mills should be procured, and a
heavy Persian wheel be constructed, to raise water from the large deep
well communicating with the subterranean dungeons, to flush all the
drains of the Jail. When this drie3 up, it should again be deepened
until a spring is reached, or until it comes below the lowest level of the
water in the river, whence a perpetual supply could be obtained.
10. The manufactures in this Jail are numerous, important, and suc
cessful. I concur cordially in the sentiments on the
Manufactures.
..
iiiiot
.> i
subject, recorded by the cessions J udge at his last visit,
" I visited the Jail, and in paying my
" last visit I cannot record too strongly
" my opinion of Mr. Tucker's manage" ment. He has introduced successfully
" new manufactures, and that too in a year
"when sickness would have paralysed an
ordinary Officer ; he has improved the
" Jail and has projected still greater lm" provements which are now in progress,
" and all I can hope is that Mr. Tucker's
" successor may follow in his foot-steps,
" Dhunnoo Lall the Jail Darogah is an ex-cellent Government servant, worthy of
(feigned)
"Sessions Judge"
" January 9th 1856."
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118
119
I find one entry in the book, -which I feel bound to notice specially.
It is to the effect that the late Magistrate, upon hi3 last official visit,
in token of his satisfaction at the state of the Jail, directed sweetmeats to
be served out to the prisoners at his (Mr. Tucker's) expense. Such a
proceeding I hold to be quite inconsistent with the objects of imprison
ment, and although I believe it is practised in some of the Jails of the
North-Western Provinces, I cannot but consider it an amiable error of
judgment.
By a species of poetical justice, the same record shows that Mr. Tucker
was as liberal in the bestowal of the cane as he was in the administration
of the sugar ; but, the exhibition of the cane without the sugar, is more
to the purpose, in a penal point of view, than the bestowal of the sugar
without the cane. I hope, therefore, that Mr. Tucker's example in the
latter case will not be followed by his successor ; while in all other matters
connected with his excellent and most zealous management of the Jail, it
is well worthy of imitation.
The records of Jail manufactures, expenditure, and stock introduced
by Dhunnoo Lall the Darogah, are very good indeed, and much to be
commended. They show, what is much wanted in other Jails, the exact
state of all matters connected with every department, So as to enable the
Magistrate at any moment to take stock, or to test the working state of
the establishment. The number of records is thus multiplied to an extent
which a less zealous Darogah and Magistrate, would find it irksome to
continue, otherwise I should feel inclined to recommend its universal
adoption.
14. The very great mortality which has recently prevailed in this
Jail, led me to examine into this department with more
than usual care. I regret much that the departure
of the late Civil Surgeon prevented my ascertaining from him the detailed
history of this visitation, and the hygienic and other means adopted by
him to arrest the progress, and mitigate the ravages of the pestilence,
which carried off so many prisoners.
It appears' from an examination of the records of the Jail Hospital,
that Cholera, Diarrhoea and Dysentery have prevailed more or less for
nearly two years.
In his Annual Report for 1854, Mr. Collins attributed the mortality
chiefly to over-crowding, and to the prevalence of the same diseases of
severe character in the town and district.
In the past year the mortality was much greater, but beyond recom
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121
122
kindly furnishing to that officer extracts of all portions of this note, which
relate to the sanitary state of the Jail.
123
>
DEE6AH PENITENTIARY.
In reply to letter No. 23, dated 2nd January 1856, from Mr. UnderEeport on Deegah Secretary Russell, forwarding the whole of the corPenitentiary.
respondence connected with the Deegah Penitentiary,
its origin, progress and abandonment, and directing me, after reading this
correspondence, and making a personal examination of the locality, to
submit a report upon the subject, I have the honor to state
1. That I have carefully and attentively perused the mass of corres
pondence placed in my hands,
por . 2ndly. That I have had a personal conference with
Major Ommanney and with all the civil officers at Patna,.acquainted with
the subject ; and lastly that I have carefully examined the site of the
Penitentiary and such buildings as remain, twice, very minutely, alone,
and once accompanied by Major Ommanney, the Superintending Engineer
who kindly came in from the Barahar hills to afford me the very valuable
aid of his local and professional experience.
2. It would, I conceive, be an unnecessary waste of time to recapitu
late the history of this interesting experiment, which seems to me to have
failed more from the singular combination of errors that characterized its
progress, than from any inherent defects in the locality chosen, as I shall
endeavor hereafter to show.
As a place of punishment, and as carrying into practical operation the
recommendation of the Prison Discipline Committee, the Penitentiary
system has not at Deegah had any thing approaching to a fair trial.
To condemn it from the failure at Deegah, would be illogical and
unsound.
3. The simplest plan of placing my opinions upon this deeply inter
esting and important subject before the Hon'ble the
Lieutenant Governor, will probably be to consider seria
tim the various causes to which the great sickness and mortality which
resulted in the abandonment of the Penitentiary have been attributed,
and to show how those causes might in some degree have been obviated
in the present site. The deductions from these premises will necessarily
embody my views as to the advisability or otherwise of commencinnf
anew the Penitentiary plan of punishment at Deegah.
124
Recorded causes of
4- Tne causes of the failure, as I gather them from
Failure.
the correspondence, are
1*/. The unsuitability of the site selected, in consequence of the
impossibility of draining it completely.
2ndly. The improper and unsuitable construction of the brick build
ings containing the cells.
Srdly. The defective plan on which the mud buildings were erected.
\thly. The imperfect sewage of the whole Penitentiary, and conse
quent contamination of the water drank and the air breathed by the
convicts.
There were other causes in operation which are not contained in the
correspondence, but which, in my opinion, were among the less obvious
but not less certain sources of a failure, which must be a source of
extreme regret.
Site and Drainage
5. First, then, with reference to the site.
Its position on the high bank of a large stream, its proximity to a great
commercial mart for its manufactures, and its contiguity to an extensive
military cantonment, are all obvious advantages of a most important
character.
The large open area enclosed within walls, and free from all vegeta
tion, is also well suited to its purpose, and so is its centrical position for
the Jails of Behar, as pointed out by Mr. Loch.
,
All these requisites of a prison of the highest order are deemed to
have been counterbalanced by the single disadvantage of imperfect, or,
to state it more forcibly, impossible drainage ; for, it seems to have been
admitted, that, if that difficulty could be overcome, the other evils were
susceptible of removal.
This a professional question, which requires professional knowledge to
discuss; those best capable of affording that knowledge, the officers of
Engineers, have decided that it can be perfectly drained.
It is with much diffidence that I venture to express an opinion upon
this point, yet I cannot refrain from remarking that no complete and
proper attempt has ever been made to drain the place.
The natural fall of the ground, which is considerable, and so far
important, is from the river to the road, and the adjoining low cultivated
land.
. Except when the whole country is flooded, as was the case during
the past season, when the road to Patna was also submerged, all rain
125
falling upon the surface of the enclosure would rapidly run off towards
the south.
In its passage, it appears to have been permitted to carry with it so
much of the sewage of the mud huts in the interior of the enclosure as was
not absorbed on the way, as it had to flow through common earth drains,
in which much of it must have been imbibed by the soil, and subsequently
have exhaled its volatile portion during the process of drying.
The large shallow ditch to the south of the road thus became an open
cloaca, of so offensive a character, that it was disgusting in the extreme
to pass the Penitentiary.
This surely is not a fair objection to the locality, as the most healthy
position in the world would be equally unsavoury, were it subjected to
the same contamination.
When I was at Port Louis in the Mauritius, a few years since, I
pointed out a similar defect in the drainage of one of the finest sites in
the world, but which, from similar neglect, became a hot-hed of pesti
lence and a focus of fever of the worst types.
The whole country around Patna, Deegah and Dinapore is low, flat
and liable to inundation, when doubtless is sown the usual crop of
Fever, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, and in certain seasons Cholera, when the
requisite conditions for its production are present.
It must be remembered that heat and moisture, although essential
to the production of malaria, are inoperative without the addition of orga
nic matter in a state of decomposition.
Two of the conditions were present naturally, the third was added by
the absence of proper means of collecting and removing, beyond the
reach of contamination, the effete matter which invariably collects where
a large number of human beings are congregated.
It is not yet a decided question in science, whether rice cultivation and
the surface of alluvial soils, where water accumulates and gradually
dries up without the presence of decaying vegetable matter, is a source of
malaria.
In Italy it is belived to be so, and yet Arracan has become a healthy
province, since, by the removal of its jungle, it has become a rice-pro
ducing country. Dum-Dum, one of the healthiest stations for European
Troops in the whole of Bengal, is surrounded for miles by rice fields,
and yet, it is not many years since it became nearly as unhealthy as
Deegah was at the time of its abandonment, from over-crowding its
barracks with unseasoned soldiers.
126
127
128
The receptacles themselves are too small, and would be so, even if, by
natural or artificial means, the air could constantly be renewed in them.
As at present built this is impossible, and when the doors were closed,
and the wretched inmate was shut up with his own exuviae, which are
described with more truth than delicacy by some of the reporters, it
must have been impossible to exaggerate their misery.
To add to the singular combination of unsuitable circumstances, the
passage in front of the cells was converted into a work-shed, in which
the prisoners likewise eat their food.
By this ill-judged arrangement the prisoners inhaled a polluted
atmosphere day and night ; and instead of being surprised at the heavy
mortality of the Penitentiary, I am astonished that any convict ever came
out of it alive.
A very little additional expense would have rendered these cells per
fectly suitable. Their intention was not to introduce strict silence, and
solitude, which I concur with the Hon'ble the Court of Directors in
deeming unsuited to a tropical climate and impracticable with Asiatics,
except for very short periods. They ought therefore to have had air
holes in the intermediate walls, in the direction of the prevailing winds,
at least a foot in diameter. The doors should have been of open bar iron,
and the apertures in the posterior walls at least twice their present size.
In addition to all this, there should have been roof ventilation, upon
the principle adopted in the Medical College Hospital, of apertures, at
least four inches square, communicating with the roof by an enclosed
chimney in the masonry, protected at their external opening by a small
tile to prevent the entrance of rain. Two of these should have been
allowed, one in each of the intermediate cell walls.
Each cell should have contained a minimum of 500 cubic feet of air,
and have been furnished with the means of enabling its inmate to obey
the calls of nature, without being subsequently exposed to the noxious
exhalations of effete matter.
A simple contrivance would, at little cost, have effected this.
It was a vital mistake to convert the corridor of the cells into a workyard, for by this means all purification of the place became impossible.
Even in Europe, the work-yards of Penitentiaries are separated from
the cells, and there are special enclosures for exercise in addition, so as
to give the convict the best possible chance of inhaling pure air.
Instead of a high, dead wall enclosing the day privies and preventing
the gases, disengaged from them, being swept away by the prevailing
129
winds, the work-sheds should have been -separated from the buildings by
an open palisade, as at Allipore.
7. The cutcha cells are now in so dilapidated a state as to render it
difficult to ' judge of what they were when occupied.
Cutcha cells.
,
,
Ihey must have been more airy than the human
pigeon-holes of the pucca buildings ; but, from the absence of proper
draining and sewerage, must have been nearly equally unhealthy.
Failure of cell plan
8- Tne failure, then, of the cell plan, I hold to
not due to locality, have been essentially due to causes that have no neces
sary connection with the locality. .
I remember, many years ago, when attending the lectures of the late
celebrated Professor Orfila on Medical Jurisprudence, hearing him mention
a singular circumstace connected with a small apartment in the city
of Paris.
Several lodgers in succession, who entered the apartment sound and
healthy, died of the worst description of Typhus Fever ; and as it did not
prevail in the rest of the same house or street, it attracted the attention
of the ever-watchful police of that capital.
A Commission, of which Orfila was the chief member, was appointed
by the Government to examine into, and report upon the extreme
unhealthiness of this place.
After much trouble and search, a minute opening was found in the
conduit pipe of the privy, which passed across a corner of one of the
walls of the room, and although insufficent to permit the leakage of
fluids, allowed a small portion of the gases disengaged from faecal
matter, to taint the air of the apartment.
The quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen, to which the evil was attri
buted, was so small as not to be perceptible to the unaided senses, and to
be detected with difficulty by chemical analysis.
The leak was stopped, and the disease ceased.
What the emient continental Toxicologist would" have said to an
atmosphere tainted as described in the Deegah reports, it is not difficult
to imagine.
Were it not that to do so would be out of place in a general report,
I could adduce from writers in every language of Europe, such a mass
of evidence upon this point, as to show that the noxious influence of such
an atmosphere as was breathed in the Deegah cells, would render any
place pestilential.
R
(
9.
130
131. )
Modern science has shown that there was much sense in the proceed
ing, and that in all districts where malaria abounds, and the water is
impure, affections of the bowels are rife, and the general average of
vigour and healthy developement of the frame is low.
The history of Deegaii is most instructive in showing that drainage and
sewerage, as practised in India generally, are utterly destructive of health, and that when they are brought into unnatural union, a hideous monster,
compounded of plague and pestilence, is the issue.
This source of sickness and death then, cannot by any possibility be
attributed to the locality of Deegah, which is, in all conscience, far enough
removed from the Broad-street pump, to forbid the supposition of there
being anything common to the two localities, beyond the fatal coincidence
of the water used for drinking and cooking having been, in both cases,
contaminated with similar sources of impurity.
10.
Minor causes of
faUure-
the Jail ; and the improper conversion of the land immediately adjoining
it, into brick-fields.
11.
132
. .
,, , . .
, ,
tentiary, 1 am ot opinion that it resulted more from
the errors committed in its construction and management, than from any
inherent defects in the locality.
If the Hon'ble the Lieutenant Governor is of opinion that I have made
out a fair case for the re-consideration of the question of its re-establish
ment, I shall be happy, with the aid of the Engineer Department, to fur
nish a plan of a Penitentiary in the same locality, as it ought, in my
humble judgment, to be.
.
Such an institution is urgently needed. Without its aid it will be im
133
BHAUGULPORE.
I visited this Jail at day-break, on the morning of Thursday, the 7th
of February, before my arrival in the station was known, as I came in at 4
A. M. of the same day.
I visited it again during the afternoon of the same day.
2. The Jail in all parts was clean and creditable ; and its conservancy
arrangements better than those of any other Jail in
this part of the country.
In spite of this, great sickness and mortality prevailof which no
report of any description had reached me, and of which I only became
aware on my arrival at the station.
Instead of waiting to send half-yearly returns to the Superintending
Surgeon, every increase of sickness, beyond the ordinary average, should,
I think, at once be made known to me, with a special report from the
Surgeon and Magistrate in charge, of the probable cause of the sickness,
and the means they recommend to check it.
Preventive measures are so much better and more successful than
curative means, that too much care cannot be bestowed upon the removal
of all sources of disease upon its first accession.
From temporary causes, the result of the Sonthal outbreak, this Jail
is very much over-crowded, and the wards are so low and ill-ventilated, as
to deteriorate the health of all weakly prisoners at once, who are confined
in them.
The roof ventilation is the most defective, the three small holes pierced
in each being, in my belief, quite inadequate.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's ascertaining at his earliest con
venience from the Executive Engineer, whether a continuous ventilator
cannot be opened along the whole of the roof, and if it be practicable, at
what cost.
134
3.
J.J
135
136
It surely would not be difficult to find some more deterring, and less
costly punishment for such cases, than feeding and clothing them well,
and giving them thread to spin.
8. This Jail has now been continuously unhealthy for some years,
and during the past twelve months was visited by a very
Hospital.
i
severe outbreak of Cholera, attended with great morta
lity, no less than fifty-two convicts having died in one week.
That part of the sickness was due to climatic and endemic causes not
necessarily connected with the Jail is true ; but I fear that the prison
itself must be held responsible for a good deal.
Large sums have evidently been expended upon drains, and the con
servancy arrangements are tolerably good,yet the mortality among the
prisoners has increased.
The food does not appear to have been objected to on the score of
quality. That the regulated quantity is not issued, should such have
been the case, as was complained of to Mr. Loch, is the fault of those
whose duty it is to see that the regulations of the Government are strict
ly fulfilled.
My predecessor directed the weights and scales to be occasionally
tested, and the rations now and then to be re-weighed, after issue to the
cooks. I do not find that this has been done. The Darogah is, how
ever, a new man, and it may possibly have been done before his time.
But, although I am of opinion that Mr. Loch's injunctions should
have been strictly obeyed, I do not attribute the sickness to the food.
The work cannot be held responsible, for the amount performed is not
sufficient to warrant any such supposition.
To what then can such increment of sickness and mortality as is not
fairly attributable to any of the above causes, be assigned ?
Prisoners are proverbially an unhealthy class in almost all countries,
and as a good deal of petty crime arises from want, many prisoners
at the time of incarceration, are in a debilitated state, which renders
them rapid victims to all depressing agencies.
This is particularly the case with great number of the prisoners re
cently convicted ; in these districts disease has been rife, and food nearly
at famine prices.
But "beyond all this, I believe the improper construction and over
crowding of the jail, to be the real source of the continued pestilence of
sickness.
137
Cholera was present in the Jail, long before it was seen in the town
and district. At Meetapore last year, Cholera prevailed in the town and
district, but did not find its way into the Jail at all.
The over-crowding and imperfect construction were pointed out by
the Superintending Engineer, in his inspection report for 1853.
Since that time the Sonthal insurrection has more than doubled the
number of prisoners, while the accommodation remains the same.
Many of them are encamped outside, notwithstanding which the inte
rior continues much too crowded.
In three of the arched wards, Nos. 1, 3 and 4, there slept the night
before my visit, 120, 110 and 103 prisoners respectively.
These wards all inter-communicate by large lateral barred openings,
so that when the doors and windows are shut, some 400 human beings
breathe a confined atmosphere, with roof ventilation inadequate to remove
the effete air exhausted by one-fourth of the number.
It is mentioned incidently in the records which I have seen, that con
siderable additions and improvements have been suggested, but the nature
and extent of these are quite unknown to me.
In the rear of the Jail is a very fine piece of open ground, the property,
I presume, of Government. In the front of the prison, beyond the Dis
pensary and near the Church, is a large tope, in which some 300 Sonthal
prisoners are encamped. These are both available for prisoners, should
the numbers continue to increase.
Every outbreak of sickness causing the removal of prisoners, is at
tended with considerable expense, which is a dead loss to the State. The
best means of avoiding this is so to construct the Jail in the first instance
as to secure the necessary conditions of health. I am afraid that the
Bhaugulpore Jail is past redemption in regard to its old wards, without
incurring as great on outlay as would build a new prison.
The point for determination then is to make the best of the place,
without undergoing any great outlay.
The Hospital is the worst feature of the Jail, and that which most
urgently needs consideration.
The best temporary measure that suggests itself to me is to place all
the sick in the sheds now occupied by the Sonthal prisoners awaiting
trialto dig a deep trench around the tope, and with the earth from it to
form a mud wall, with a slope, as in making earthen batteries, so that it
may not be washed into the ditch by the first shower of rain. There
s
138
P U R N E A H.
I visited this Jail at day-break, on Sunday, the 10th of February
1856, shortly after reaching the station. The Magistrate was in the
district. I inspected the Jail again on the evening of the same day.
139
2.
'
140
HI
(
8.
142
H3
Surgeon. His visits and remarks should also be recorded, and more
especially the weekly inspection of the Jail, which he is required by the
regulations to make.
I perceive from the entries in this and many other Visiting Books, that
the object of the record is so much misunderstood as to lead me to
believe that a Circular Order should be issued regarding it.
By a little modification without much additional trouble, it might be
rendered a valuable record.
10. This is a large, well-ventilated place, but was
Hospital.
.
*
i
i
not as clean as it ought to be.
The unsightly earthen beds in two of the wards do not appear to me
to be of much use. If intended for three patients, the plan is altogether
objectionable; if designed for only one, it is a needless sacrifice of
space.
The floor is pucca, and with Mr. Loch's tat bedding ought to be dry
enough for the patients to lie upon, particularly as the floor itself is tole
rably well raised. Should the Civil Surgeon entertain any objection to
this, I shall feel obliged by his submitting at his earliest convenience, a
written report on the subject. The mounds must either be entirely re
moved, which I deem the preferable plan, or re-constructed of half the
height, three feet in width, and six and a half in length, with a sufficient
interval between each.
There were four mad men in the Hospital, which is evidently quite
unsuited for the retention of such patients. If there is no hope of their
speedy cure, arrangements should be made for their transmission to the
nearest Lunatic Asylum, which is, I believe, at Moorshedabad.
11. The number of labouring prisoners in this Jail is 381, and of
Labour and Manu- tnese probably a third are employed in manufactures,
fectures.
The out-turn of their work last year was valued from
the books shown to me at Rs. 2,945-10-1, and to produce this result,
calculating the number occupied each day, if the Darogah made no
no mistake, there were 36,377 men.
They took an average of 75 ticca Burkundauzes to assist the mountain
in producing this mouse. This, at 4 Rupees a month for each guardian,
gives 300 x 12=3,600 Rupees.
It is true that the estimated value of the work done upon the roads is
not included in the calculation. What its supposed value may be, I
have not means of knowing, .but, estimating the labour of five prisoners
H4
Ho
prisoners, and a door in the centre of the rear wall would lead into it,
without permitting the prisoners ever to find their way outside.
Near the place where the door would be, there is already a sentry
posted, so that no extra guard would be required for it.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's reporting to me what objections
he entertains to this plan.
If it did no other good, it would render imprisonment a little more
real than it is.
The mal-khana is at present very badly placed, and occupies an extra
man to guard it at night.
The manufactured articles might be placed in the room above the
gate, which is now unoccupied, and the jute be allowed to take care of
itself, with the aid of a good padlock, for it can scarcely be worth
stealing :moreover, the residences of the Burkundauzes are so close
to it, that there would be no great hardship in holding them responsible
for any that might disappear.
DINAGEPORE.
I visited this Jail on Tuesday, the 12th of February 1856, accom
panied by Baboo Isser Chunder Mitter, the Deputy Magistrate of the
station.
The Magistrate was absent on duty in the district.
2. The Jail wards are large, well raised, and not badly situated, but
most of them are over-crowded, and all are deficient in
Buildings.
'
146
147
148
149
which the late. General Forbes considered preferable for keeping out
damp, to flueing.
The Hospital compound should be enclosed by a ramp planted with
aloes, and a deep ditch, upon the principle mentioned in another part of
this memorandum.
5. Notwithstanding the very large number of sick in Hospital, I find
that neither of the Native Doctors sleep there. As
Native Doctors.
.
.
,
,
,
.
there are two ot them, they should remain, in turn,
on duty at night, so as to be able to afford immediate assistance, when
required.
The room to the right of the entrance, is used, if I understand rightly,
for patients in extremis: it should be cleared out, and not be employed as a
godown also.
The Native Doctors should be made to keep the Dispensary cleaner,
and. more tidy than it is. No vessel of any description, or food or
clothing and necessaries other than are absolutely needful, should be kept
in the Hospital.
A receptacle for the sick cannot be kept too clear or free from impurity
other than is inseparable from sickness.
Prisoners in health should on no account be allowed to stray into the
Hospital, nor should sick prisoners be permitted to visit the outside
cook-houses.
If they do so, the guards on duty should be punished.
6. By far too many of the prisoners are employed in out-door work,
Labour and Manu- which is not only destructive of discipline, but attended
factum.
w^lx considerable expense in the entertainment of a
large class of functionaries whom the Magistrate describes very accurately
as " without exception the greatest set of rascals he has ever seen."
They are costly rogues, too, and the advisability of entertaining one
vagabond to watch five others no worse than himself, is more than
problematical. I beg, therefore, to solicit the earnest attention of the
Magistrate to my predecessor's remarks on this subject.
The only really penal labour is the Dhinkee, and upon this few pri
soners can be employed at a time.
The paper made is wrongly arsenicated. The Hurtal used is per
fectly insoluble, and can only be mechanically mixed with the paper,
which it discolors, and renders coarse and uneven. The Sunkhya, or
white arsenic, should be employed. A small quantity boiled with potash
and strained should be mixed with the lye, and this be added to the
150
pulp. Great care must be taken not to allow any of the . white arsenic
to get into the possession of the prisoners, as it is a much more active
and dangerous poison than the yellow sulphuret.
The work-sheds are too low and quite unventilated, and arc covered
with a light, grass roof, in which a spark would cause a confla
gration.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's submitting an estimate of rais
ing them, and covering them with a well-ventilated, water-tight, tiled
roof. The materials and .construction to be furnished by convict labour.
I was glad to perceive, both in this and in the Purneah Jail, that the
weavers experienced no difficulty in working upon a raised seat, instead
of in a damp hole on the ground. The only objection mentioned was
that when the shuttle fell on the floor it took longer to pick it up, and
therefore that the same amount of work could not be done in the same
time. This difficulty will rapidly vanish when each man knows that his
allotted task must be performed in a given time.
The whole of the Jail compound should be enclosed in such manner
as effectually to cut off communication with the outside, and prevent
encroachment, without interfering with ventilation.
The cheapest and most effective method of accomplishing this will be
by digging a deep ditch, ten feet wide and sloping to a point. The
material thrown up from this would form an excellent ramp, eight feet
in height, on the top of which a double aloe hedge should be planted.
This is the plan adopted, and very successfully, at Hazareebaugh.
It would improve the drainage of the whole place, and the ditch itself
should drain into the large tank.
One hundred prisoners in three months, could accomplish this. There
should be one grand entrance to the whole enclosure, and that should be
on the eastern side.
The space to the south of the Musjeed, extending from the east to
the western road, would make a capital vegetable garden. A larger
sum than Rupees 150 a month may be allowed for purchasing rawmaterial for manufactures when it can be procured at an advantage
ous rate.
7. The food which I saw was all good and wholeDiet.
some, but from what I learnt, the cooks here seem to be
a more unblushing set of rascals than elsewhere.
They should be very carefully watched, and severely punished when
any pilfering or selling of rations is detected.
151
152
belonging to her. If there be no special objection, the one now in the Jail
should also be made over to their charge.
There was a woman confined there likewise,a mere child still, yet she
is condemned for life, and has already been five years in the Jail. She is
said to have poisoned her husband when ten years old ; but I am con
vinced from her present appearance that she could not have been so old
at the time.
It is dreadful to contemplate the fate of this wretched creature, who
could scarcely have been a morally responsible agent at the time of the
commission of the crime.
9.
10.
153
M A L D A H.
I visited this Jail shortly after reaching the station, on Friday, the
15th February 1856, accompanied by Mr. Johnson, the Deputy Col
lector.
The Magistrate was absent in the district on duty.
2. It is, I believe, well known to the Government, that the Jail at this
station is a common bungalow, with the partitions of
Buildings.
^ c&aiXQ room kicked downthe whole surrounded
by a low external wall.
It was never visited by Mr. Loch.
In the centre room are two strong posts, to which a heavy chain is
attached. This chain is passed through the connecting rings of the pri
soners' irons, and the convicts, thus shackled, sleep in a double row at night.
Each man is furnished with a small open earthen vessel, to relieve the
wants of nature. I was told that if a man were taken seriously ill
during the night, the chain was unlocked, and he was removed to the
Hospital.
This, from long experience of native habits, and their utter disre
gard of all suffering that does not immediately affect themselves, I
take leave to doubt entirely. Indeed, I was informed, a few days
u
154
155
The records of the Jail are all kept in Bengali, with the excep
tion of the hospital register, which is in English. They
fi0"!s"
were all in good order, and brought up to date, I did
not see a Visiting Book.
156
11.
RAJESHAHYE.
I visited this Jail, on Sunday morning, the 17th of February 1856,
alone. I re-visited it on the evening of the same day, accompanied by the
Magistrate and Civil Surgeon.
I again inspected it on the morning of Monday, the 18th of February
1856, with the Magistrate and the Civil Surgeon.
2. The Jail generally was clean and in good order,
the bedding was all out airing, and my instructions had
evidently been carefully attended to.
The arched roofs are still imperfectly ventilated, notwithstanding the
introduction of Mr. Loch's gumlahs. I fear it would not be safe to open
the arches again for additional ventilators.
The women's ward is very close and confined. As there are only two
male prisoners in the adjoining ward, and as their presence there causes
the opening for ventilation to be closed, I shall feel obliged by the Magis
trate's removing them elsewhere, and knocking down the intermediate
walls, so as to afford more air and space to the female prisoners.
As they work in their ward, are never let out, as are the male con
victs, and have recently been sickly, this change I believe to be urgently
required.
The women seem to collect a great deal of dirt and rubbish about
them. It is, I know, difficult to prevent this, yet the propensity should
be checked as much as possible.
The. cook-houses in the female yard are miserable places*.
Two small pucca ones should be built by convict-labour. I shall be
happy to sanction the expense, upon the submission of an estimate in the
usual form and manner.
3. These are all bad, and the filth falls into the
drains; so long as this practice continues, the Jail cannot
be healthy and free from bad smells.
157
158
little, while it will improve the general healthiness of the place, as much
as a similar proceeding did the station of Dinagepore.
When completed, this tank may be stocked with fish for the use of the
Jail ; and if kept clean, will be both ornamental and useful.
The high ground immediately adjoining it, and that lying between it
and the Jail, may then be converted into a vegetable garden for convales
cents, as suggested in my Circular No. 35.
The tank now attached to the Jail requires to be cleaned, and additional
barriers to prevent the escape of prisoners, should be placed in it.
6. The Hospital is somewhat close and confined, and
is inadequate for the wants of the Jail.
It should be removed to the present Dewanny Jail, which affords
nearly 10,000 more cubic feet of space.
A small room can be partitioned off for compounding, &c. The walls
of this need not be more than eight feet in height, and the doors, &c., in
the present Hospital can be transferred to it, as when the Dewanny pri
soners are removed there, the separate apartment will not be required.
Very great and fatal sickness has prevailed in this Jail during the past
year ; but, I find on careful inquiry, that the mortality among the prisoners
has been less than among the surrounding population.
This has also been the case at Bhaugulpore, Monghyr, Dinagepore and
other districts. The result of the past season has, in addition to the
ravages of pestilence, added dearness and scarcity of food, so that I fear,
their invariable concomitants, crime, the result of want, and increased
disease, the effect of both these causes, will be the characteristics of the
approaching hot weather and rains.
For these reasons I am most anxious, now that there is a temporary
lull in the sickness, for the Magistrate to lose no time in adopting every
possible expedient to remove all ordinary and obvious sources of disease
from the prison and its immediate vicinity.
The Hospital establishment does not appear to be very complete or
efficient. This should be looked to in time.
The Civil Surgeon is anxious that a permanent hut should be placed
near the tank for Diarrhoea and Dysentery patients. I have no objection
to it, if as great sickness should again prevail as occurred during the
past year ; but as it is an eye-sore, it should be only resorted to in case
of absolute necessity. The extra expense of guarding all detached bodies
of prisoners is so very great, that measures of removal and separation
should never be adopted, except in urgent circumstances.
159
7.
160
1M
162
3.
The plans and elevations for a new Jail, which Captain Layard
Jan
kindly showed me, are very superior to those of any
prison now existing in Bengal ; but I am doubtful whether
Berhampore is a good position for a large Jail.
4. In Berhampore itself, I was shown a branch prison for labouring
t, v
. ., convicts, which is much worse than even the Maldah
Berhampore Jail. _ ..
Jail. Nearly 200 convicts are here nightly chained
down in a close ill-ventilated place, in a manner of which I cannot too
strongly record my disapproval.
These prisoners should at once, I think, be transferred elsewhere, and
I shall feel extremely obliged for a special report upon the place from
the Magistrate.
K I S H N A G H U R.
I VISITED this Jail on Wednesday, the 20th of February 1856, ac
companied by the Civil Surgeon. The Magistrate was absent in the dis
trict on duty.
2. The general state of the Jail in all departments was excellent, its
cleanliness all that could be desired, and its conservancy
General state,
arrangements better than those of any Jail I have yet
inspected, with the exception of Alipore.
3. The drains are nearly all out of repair ; when mended, they should
be constructed on a different principle, viz : as V shaped
drains with large tiles, so that they can be more easily
flushed, and will last longer. Instead of lime, I recommend that they be
strewed with the ashes of the cook-room before being washed. This will
deoderize them effectually, which the lime cannot do.
4. The only suggestion I have to make regarding the ordure is, that it
should be carried to a greater distance. As at present
disposed of, it cannot fail, ere long, to act injuriously.
5. ' The ventilation of all the wards is very imperfect, and from the
arched construction of the building, is difficult to remedy.
At the time of my visit, although they had been open,
and airing for some hours, three or four of them were very close and
confined.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's kindly ascertaining from the
Executive Officer if the ventilators cannot be continued as at present con-
163
structed, along the whole, or the greater part of the roof with safety. If
it can, I wish to be favoured with an estimate of the cost at which it can
be effected.
The ward occupied by the women is very close, confined and insuffi
cient. The unoccupied rooms above would be much more appropriate
for them. To prevent their escaping into any of the adjoining yards, the
whole of them should be barred, and those in the rear, looking on to the
Dewanny yard, be furnished, in addition, with large fixed jhill-mills, the
battens of which should be inclined upwards.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's submitting to me an estimate
for effecting this change in both the upper wards, as it will afford a great
deal of additional well-ventilated accommodation for prisoners, which is
at present unoccupied.
6. The existing classification of prisoners only causes some wards to
Classification of ^e over-crowded and unwholesome, while others are
Prisoners.
barely tenanted. As it does not isolate the prisoners at
all times, it is nearly, if not quite, tiseless as a measure of prison disci
pline. I shall feel obliged, therefore, by the Magistrate's exercising his
discretion in relaxing it, when the health of the prisoners renders such a
proceeding absolutely necessary.
7. The food supplied by the contractor seems to be good, and there
are no complaints regarding either its quality or
quantity. It is also eaten at suitable hours.
It should nevertheless, I am of opinion, be frequently re-weighed after
issue to the cooks, to check frauds on the part of the Jail establishment,
as well as of the contractor.
8. There were few sick in Hospital, and the prisoners
as a body seemed to be an unusually healthy set.
While Cholera, Fever, and other diseases have been rife and destructive
in the town and district, they have not found their way into the Jail, a
fact which tells well for its management, and is highly creditable to all
concerned.
There is gradually growing up* round the Jail, however, a source of
contamination which, if not checked in time, will affect the health of its
inmates, and if once disease finds its way into a prison in Bengal, experi
ence shows how very difficult it is to get it out again.
I allude to the injudicious manner in which the neighbouring soil is
excavated for making bricksleaving shallow pits, which on drying,
became each year foci rich in malaria. To this it is only necessary to
. <
164
165
12.
The fetters were all clean and bright, and the only other remarks
I have to make respecting this excellent Jail, relate to
the aged female prisoner, whose case has been referred .
to the Sudder Court, and to the prisoners confined for crimes against the
person, until they can afford security.
These are probably judicial matters beyond the sphere of my functions,
yet, as I am desirous of making a reference to the Government on the
subject, I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's kindly furnishing me
"with a statement of their cases. The Darogah will point out the prison
ers to whom I refer, as I have not taken a note of their names.
I was much pleased with the zeal and intelligence of the said Darogah,
who is an educated native, and who will, I hope, prove here, as many of
his educated brethren have done elsewhere, that competent and trustwor
thy native agency is to be found among those who have been trained in
our colleges and schools.
C H I T T A G O N G.
I VISITED the Jail at Chittagong on Saturday, the 15th of March 1856,
accompanied by the Magistrate, the Civil Surgeon, and the officer in
charge of the 2nd division of the Arracan road.
Situation and
2- The Jail is vei7 wel1 Placed as regards its site, but
Buildings,
js jn much too close proximity to the cutcherries and
town.
The buildings were all in good order, having recently been plastered
and whitewashed ; and the whole of the prison was in a clean and credit
able state.
Most of the wards, however, need additional roof ventilation,
which may easily be supplied at small cost, by the adoption of
Mr. Loch's gumlah ventilators. Two to each ward will probably be
sufficient.
3. The greatest defect in the arrangements of the Jail is undoubtedly
in the construction of the day and night privies, which by
permitting the ordure to fall into and be swept through
the open drains, pollutes the whole place.
This should be changed at once, as in so unhealthy a district as Chit
tagong it is impossible to calculate upon the prisoners being long exempt
ICG
from any general causes of sickness and mortality which affect the whole
population. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's indenting, at his
early convenience, upon the iron bridge yard in Calcutta for two iron
pans for each ward, upon the Alipore plan and pattern.
The wooden frames for their reception can be made at Chittagong.
The present projecting excrescences can then be removed, and a window
with iron gratings placed in the room of each, which will add materially
to the ventilation of the wards.
The gumlah urinals already placed in the wards by the Magistrate are
excellent. Similar vessels will answer well for the day privies, whence
the ordure can be removed by hand, as is done at Alipore, and at the
House of Correction in Calcutta.
All the filth of the Jail should be removed to a distance, and be either
buried in a waste spot, or thrown into the river below the town.
4. The guard house is at present close and confined.
Guard House.
T
It would be rendered wholesome and airy by the addi
tion of a few gumlah ventilators in the roof.
5. The only yard furnished with a well is that of the female pri
soners. All other water is brought from the outside,
Wells.
.
where the prisoners likewise bathe.
Each ward should have a well of its own, as it is not possible to
construct a tank in the Jail enclosure : these wells can be cheaply and
efficiently made by the convicts themselves, as they will not require to
be dug very deep.
The best way of constructing them is to mark out the area of the well,
and build upon it a hollow circular wall, sufficiently thick to prevent its
collapsing : when this has been raised three feet in height, the earth can be
excavated beneath and within it, until the wall sinks to the level of the
ground. The double operation can be repeated until the requisite depth
has been attained, when the superstructure of masonry can be placed
upon it.
By this means a permanent well can be cheaply constructed, which
will seldom need repair, will not be liahle to collapse, and will not permit
the drainage of the soil to pollute the water, as occurs in all the cutcha
wells of the country.
I shall feel much obliged by the Magistrate's making one of these wells
in the first instance, and reporting to me its cost, and the time it took to
complete. I should think that three feet of masonry and excavation
could easily be effected on alternate days.
167
6.
The sentry boxes are badly placed, and too numerous. They
should be constructed at the angles of the outer walls.
Sentry boxes.
,
'
when one sentry for each wall would be sufficient.
As they must be raised, and mounted by an outer staircase, small
mal-khanas and tent-houses could be placed beneath. The sentry could
easily watch the prisoners and room beneath at the same time. The
doors in this case would all of necessity be outside.
Trees and Cutcher- ? The front of the Jail i3 at present much ennes"
- croached on by trees, and small cutcherries which are
singularly ill-placed.
The trees should be cut down at once. They interfere with ventila
tion, (afford facilities for idleness and escape, and two of them are in the
way of the wall to enclose the work-shops, sanctioned by Mr Loch.
The most objectionable of the small cutcherries is that of the Abkaree
Department; but all are in the way, and should, if possible, be removed.
The proximity of the Opium Cutcherries at Mozufferpore was found to
affect the health of the Jail , and in the recent outbreak, to afford an
amount of countenance and support to the rioters, which compelled the
civil authorities to yield to them, although they were at the time in
open mutiny.
All prisons should, for obvious reasons, be as much isolated as possible.
I shall therefore feel obliged by the Magistrate losing no time in
bringing the matter to the notice of the Judge and Commissioner, and by
his reporting the result of his reference to me as soon as possible.
8. By far the greater number of the prisoners are employed on the
LabourandManufae-
f*M-
168
169)
A K Y A B.
I visited the Jail at Akyab, accompanied by the Magistrate and Civil
Surgeon, on the 17th March 1856.
I again inspected a portion of it, accompanied by the Magistrate, on
the 26th March 1856.
2. The Jail buildings were burnt down some time since, and are tem
porarily replaced by frail, badly-built, insecure sheds,
which cost a considerable sum in annual repairs, and
yet are at present in an extremely dilapidated state.
The whole are placed in an octagonal enclosure, in which life prison
ers, term prisoners, European sailors, women, and the sick in hospital,
are all congregated together, with no further attempt at separation or
classification than are afforded by mat walls and mere wooden partitions^
(170
The Jail enclosure is said to be flooded during the rains, and is very
imperfectly drained.
The privy is an open sewer, which pollutes the whole Jail, and in
which there is no attempt to screen the men in obeying the calls of nature.
Discipline, in the circumstances above mentioned, is well nigh impossi
ble ; and, with the more-than-ordinarily inefficient Jail guards at his dis
posal, the Magistrate can exercise little effective control over the prisoners.
A plan for a now Jail has, I am told, been sanctioned, and sent up to
the Government of India.
As the drawings connected with it are not in the office of the Execu
tive Engineer, I must postpone the consideration of it until I have access
to the correspondence and drawings in Calcutta.
3. From the very great and rapid increase of shipping in the Port of
Akyab, a large number of European prisoners are
European Prisoners.
,
constantly in Jail. The chief offences for which they
are committed are, refusing to work, and affrays ; the great majority of
offenders being of the former class.
In the Jail, they are lodged in a wretched mat building, in the same
enclosure with the other prisoners. The only labour on which they are
employed, is breaking stones, and of this, the allotted task is so small, that
an able-bodied seaman can perform it with ease in two hours. It is in
amount, one-sixth of what is done by the native prisoners ; and as the
men are well-fed, the Jail is, in consequence, a very popular institution.
The Jailor is evidently afraid of them, and no sort of discipline is attempt
ed to be maintained.
The construction of the Jail, and its establishment do not admit of
much being done ; but as the cost of maintaining these refractory cha
racters in comparative idleness is considerable, some attempt ought to be
made to render imprisonment more real and less popular than it is.
The amount of task work allotted to each man should be the same as
that in the House of Correction of Calcutta ; and every man who does
not perform his share, should be put on bread and water, as long as the
Civil Surgeon considers that he can be kept on low diet, without injury
to his health. The term of imprisonment seldom exceeds a month, and
no risk of injury to the refractory is incurred, if any of them are
sufficiently obstinate to hold out beyond*a few days.
The men should be placed in a separate yard, as at Alipore, each with a
sleeping cell, well ventilated, and raised sufficiently high from the ground, to
admit of his breaking his allotted share of stones, sheltered from the weather.
171
It would tend much to diminish the great tendency which Sailors have
to evade the fulfilment of the engagements they enter into, if, in all
cases where wages are due to a man, the cost of maintaining him in JaiL
were deducted from themprovided he had no just or reasonable ground
for refusing to serve on board a particular ship.
High wages in a foreign port are the most frequent cause of their
striking and desertion, which too often results in much loss to the
owners of vessels and cost to the State in punishing them inefficiently.
While every protection should be afforded to the seaman in claiming what
is his due, and shielding him from injustice and oppressionhe
should, on the other hand, be compelled to fulfil his engagement by more
stringent means than are now adopted. The short imprisonment to which
he is subjected, with light work and an abundauce of food, is no
punishment at all. It is well known that a month in Jail with total loss
of liberty, is preferred to a month's work on board-ship, with its occasional
leave and indulgences. The sooner a state of things so much opposed to
the real interests of all concerned, is put a stop to, the better. If the
existing law is insufficient for the purpose, application should, I am of
opinion, be made to the legislature to amend the Act relating to Mer
chant Seamen to such extent as may be necessary.
4. There are few records kept in the Jail, and there is no Visiting or
Visiting Book and Order Book. The latter should be introduced at once.
Records.
upon the plan directed in my Circular No. 39, dated the
27th February 1856. It will prevent many irregularities, save much
unnecessary correspondence, and exhibit at once to all inspecting officers
the state of internal economy and discipline of the prison.
5. The Hospital is the best part of the Jail, but it should not be in the
same enclosure as the wards of the healthy prisoners.
ospi '
That its being so situated is the cause of much irregu
larity, was evident at the time of my inspection, when several healthy pri
soners were loitering about it, in open defiance of the authorities present.
Malingering is, I fear, very common in this Jail, from the undue
amount of extras allowed to prisoners on the sick list.
Among these I find a tola of gunjah, which ought never, in any cir
cumstances, to be given ; and the use of which, except as a medicine in
Tetanus and such diseases as it is'occasionally employed in, must cease
from the receipt of this order.
In addition to hospital extras, I find that regular rations are drawn and
charged for sick men. It is impossible that they can be consumed, and
172
as the average cost of each prisoner is already higher than in any other
Jail in Bengal, the practice must be at once discontinued. A regular scale
of hospital diet for Europeans and Natives, as sanctioned in the Medical
Code, must be drawn up and introduced forthwith ; and the regular rations
of the prisoners in no circumstances be drawn while they are in Hospital.
I shall feel obliged by the Civil Surgeon, in future, exercising the
greatest circumspection in the granting of indulgences inconsistent with
a place of punishment, and calculated entirely to defeat the object of
imprisonment.
That this caution is not uncalled for will appear, when I state that
the average monthly cost of each patient in Hospital for the last five
months of 1855, was Rupees 2-13-11, in addition to the expense of his
Jail rations and European medicines.
In spite of the notorious sickliness of the Province, and the recent
existence of Cholera in an epidemic form, the Jail lias been comparatively
healthy.
I am inclined to attribute much of the healthiness of the prisoners
to their being locked up at an early hour, and thus protected, in spite of
themselves, form those causes of sickness which are most rife between
sun-set and sun-rise, in all malarious countries,
All the prisoners at present work within the Jail, and to this cause
may also, in all probability, be attributed some portion of the compara
tively low mortality.
6. The following is a list of the prisoners in conPrisoners.
*
*.
nnement at the time ot my visit :
Transported Convicts for life,
7 Years and upwards,
1
42
43
Local.
7 Years and upwards,
2
Total,
21
40
13
77
13
5 - .
5
174
217
173
There is no place for the custody of maniacs in this Jail : all who
appear to he incurable should be sent either to Russapuglah, or to Dacca.
The former I consider to be the most eligible place, as they can most
easily be sent there by the Steamers running to and from the Presidency.
The Commissioner has, I believe, more than once strongly represented
to the Government, the injury which has resulted to the Province from
the cessation of transportation. Most of the great public works executed
since it became a British province, have been by means of convict
labour, which in Arracan would appear to have been more profitable and
efficient than free labour.
From the unexampled commercial prosperity of the district, and the
great scarcity of labourers of all classes, free labour is valued at almost
a fabulous rate. To such an extent has this occurred, that, I am informed ,
the earnings of a common cooly are occasionally as high as rupees 16 a
month, and seldom lower that 12 or 14. The result of this is, that hands
cannot be procured to man the Flotilla, recruits are with difficulty found
for the Local Battalion, the Jail guards are the very refuse of the
idlers of the Province, and handicrafts are valued at a ruinous rate.
Much as I am, on principle, opposed to out-door labour for convicts,
I am disposed to think that it may be safely resorted to with regard to
transported felons, in this Province. The outside population have no
sympathy with the Natives of Bengal or Behar, and if the Jail guards
were more efficient, and less corrupt, the labour of road and bund mak
ing is here more severe and penal in character, than it is in the Regula
tion Provinces.
Transportation to Arracan is much dreaded, as I find from the earnest
appeal for removal made to me by the Bengali and Hindustani prisoners
now in the Akyab Jail.
The value of their labour on the roads would here more than repay the
cost of their maintenance, the converse of the state of out-door convict
labour in the Regulation Provinces.
On all these grounds, which are special to the Province, I beg strongly
and earnestly to second the appeal of the local authorities.
The subject of tickets-of-leave for good conduct to life prisoners, I have
considered in my report on the Kyook Phyoo Jail. The temptation to
desert on the main land is too great to admit of its being adopted here,
without the exaction of very heavy securities.
All local prisoners should continue to be worked within the Jail, for
reasons which are obvious.
174
, .
.
T
r .
ters cannot be forged in Akyab, the Magistrate may
submit an indent for such a supply of them as he may require ; the for
mer being put in store or sent to the forge at Kyook Phyoo, to be
wrought into chains.
The prisoners are at present chained down at nighta barbarous
and inhuman practice, but one which is, I fear, unavoidable with so frail a
structure as the prisoners are now confined in. The hew Jail should be so
constructed as to render the continuance of this practice unnecessary.
8. The greatest source of the inefficiency of the discipline of Jails in
as ndEstab- Arracan, is the bad material of which the guards are
lishments.
composed.
The pay of the Burkundauzes is scarcely a third of the amount earn
ed by a coolie in the bazar, each of the Jemadars receives less than a
common labourer, and the European Jailor is remunerated at a rate which
scarcely enables him to live in the Province.
The following is the establishment which I found :
1 European Jailor,
Rs. 80 0
1 Mohurir,
15 0
2 Jemadars, at 10 each,
20 0
8 Duffadars, at 8 each,
' 64 0
57 Burkundauzes, at 5-8 each,
313 8
Total, Rs. 492
175
The strength of establishment sanctioned includes in addition a Soubadliar at Rs. 30, and ten more Burkundauzes at 5-8 each, but the latter
are not procurable.
Of the existing guard 14 are sick, it is said from having had double
duty to perform for the last two months.
There then remain only 43 men for duty, of whom 17 are required a3
sentries during the day, and 14 for each night watch of four hours.
A certain number are on duty daily at the Magistrate's Cutcherry, and
a Duffadar and four Burkundauzes are occupied in guarding the Com
missioner's house during his absence.
The police being paid at a higher rate than the Jail guard, the best
men are naturally drafted into the former. The inefficiency of the
latter, from all the causes above mentioned, need therefore excite no
surprize.
The first step towards improving the. existing state of the Jail, is to
procure efficient guards. It is not my intention to discuss this question
further at present, as I have called for special information regarding it
from all Magistrates in my circle of inspection.
One point of vital necessity in this province is to separate the Jail
establishments from the Police, and to restrict the employment of the
former to their legitimate duties.
9. Spinning twine and making gunny-bags are the chief work of
such of the convicts as are not employed in breaking
Manufactures.
....
stones or picking oakum.
Basket-making, iron work, and putting together coffins for the Euro
peans who die in the port, occupy the time of a few of the prisoners.
The raw material for the gunny is procured in Calcutta, and the ma
nufactured article is sold by auction. If I am rightly informed, the lat
ter is not the most advisable or profitable means of disposing of the bags.
In Bengal, where the Jailor is allowed 25 per cent, of the profits realized
by the sale of Jail manufactures, he is also permitted to sell them to the
best advantage, and as his own interests are involved, the articles gene
rally fetch a higher price than the average market rates.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's informing me if any and what
objection exists to the adoption of the same practice at Akyab.
10. The feeding of the prisoners is, as at Alipore,
entrusted to the European Jailor,the contract system
having been formerly tried and failed.
The cost of dieting the native prisoners is greater than in any Jail in
170
the Regulation Provinces, and there are no less than four different scales
of diet in use,one for Mngh prisoners, a second for Bengali term pri
soners, a third for life convicts, and the fourth for Europeans and Eura
sians.
I shall he glad to receive a special report on this subject from the Ma
gistrate and Civil Surgeon, and to know whether, by purchasing the food
in a cheaper market and storing it, the cost of feeding the prisoners could
not be reduced, without depriving them of any portion of what is consi
dered necessary to maintain them in health and in good working con
dition.
KYOOK PHYOO.
I visited this jail, accompanied by the Civil Medical Officer, twice
during my stay at the station, and inspected it very carefully, on the 19th
and 20th of March 1856.
2. The buildings are all placed in a single square enclosure, surrounded
by a brick wall. They consist of four- large wards.
Buildings.
177
The Chief Engineer objects to the plan, as not based on scientific prin
ciples, as not providing adequately for ventilation, as not admitting of
classification or separation of prisoners, and as not furnishing work-sheds,
cook-houses, privies, or guard-rooms.
The Commissioner of the Province considers " that plan the most
scientific, which secures a sufficient adaptation of the means to the end at
the least cost of time and money," and deems his comparatively rude con
structions, more admirable than buildings which would cost eight times
as much, and take years to finish.
Captain Hopkinson is of opinion that all the purposes of classification
can be answered in a single enclosure, a3 the great majority of the pri
soners are life convicts, who work on the roads, for whom no further
segregation is needed ; and that the local prisoners, then 48 in number,
being separated by his plan into Civil, Hajut, Female, Insane, Labouring
and Non-labouring, need no further classification.
He states that guard-houses, cook-sheds, tool-godowns, &c., are con
tained in the outer enclosure, and that there are no privies inside tha
Jail, but that they might with advantage be supplied.
While I fully concur with the Commisioner in the opinion that costly
buildings are unnecessary, there is nothing in the local circumstances of
the Province to -show that the ordinary principles observed in the con
struction of Jails, are not as applicable to Arracan, as they are to the
Regulation Provinces.
Although the crimes for which life punishment is inflicted differ much
in moral character and turpitude, no further end will be answered by
separating them in detached yards when transported : so far I assent to the
views of the Commissioner.
But, I cannot believe that it is right in principle, to place in the same
enclosure, felons, civil prisoners, women, mad-men, the untried, and the
sick, although separation to a certain extent is effected at night by plac
ing them in different wards.
Classification, to be of any use, must cause separation by day as well as
by night, and every plan of building prisons which are insecure, renders it
necessary to resort to means of coercion, which are as cruel- as they
are illegal.
There is probably no department of the Civil Government of any State
in which mistaken economy is productive of worse effects, than in the
construction and management of Jails, and I believe, that if all the
objects contemplated by imprisonment are not fulfilled, there is no real
Y
178
adaptation of the means to the end, and that the saving of part of
the cost required to render incarceration efficient, is not worthy of
consideration.
In all the Jails of Arracan the prisoners are chained down at night,
and confined in sheds of such inflammable material that carelessness
on the part of guards or prisoners might cause a conflagation, which
might be attended with serious loss of life.
I am not aware of the circumstances in which the Akyab Jail was
burnt down, but I know that instances have occurred in other parts of
India, where convicts "were destroyed by fire before they could be taken
off the chain. At Maldah a prisoner was strung upon the chain in
health at night, and his corpse was removed from it on the ensuing
morning.
Any plan of building which renders such contingencies possible, would,
in my humble estimation, be dear at any price.
Local circumstances cannot, of course, be disregarded in public build
ings of any descriptionbut advantage should be taken of them to
render the structures as complete and durable as can be accomplished
without undue cost. I have elsewhere considered the question of the
employment of prisoners in Arracan. In my belief, all local prisoners
should be strictly confined within the walls of the Jail, and be employed
in manufactures, or such handicrafts as are profitable.
The transported convicts may not only be employed on the roads, bunds
and bridges, but I believe, from the extreme dearness, and, in the island
of Ramree, the utter absence of free labour, their being made available for
the purposes above mentioned, is the most profitable method of disposing
of them that can be resorted to.
This being the case, I am of opinion that advantage should be taken
of the necessity of re-constructing the Kyook Phyoo Jail, to enlarge it,
and to render it really efficient as a place of punishment.
Presuming that the Government will not object to increase the number
of life prisoners to be transported to Kyook Phyoo, I would reserve for
them exclusively the existing Jail compound, re-building the wards upon
Captain -Hopkinson's plan ; and placing in the enclosure day privies and
cook-rooms on the Alipore plan.
The only building that I would remove would be the Hospital, which
should, as in every well-regulated Jail in Bengal and Behar, be in a
separate enclosure.
In the recent report of the Inspector General of Prisons of Bombay,
179
it is stated that the Hospital should be outside the Jail, and thereby
obtain an exemption from all local causes, which sustain disease in its
" more malignant type."
There are other reasons equally cogent why the healthy should not
have access to the sick, which it is not necessary to discuss here.
The Hospital should be constructed on the plan suggested by Captain
Hopkinson, and should have separate cook-sheds and privies in its own
enclosure.
All the buildings above referred to, need not be raised higher from
the ground than designed by the Executive Officer.
It is however, I submit, extremely desirable that some more durable
and less combustible form of roof should be used, than the shingles
and thatches employed in Arracan. If beams, with a beaten pucca
roof be too costly, it would be advisable to try iron tie-rods, which,
although dear at first, are cheap in the end, from their indestruc
tibility.
A separate enclosure should be walled in for the local prisoners, and of
this, a sufficient space should be again separated by an eight-foot wall,
for the women's ward.
The solitary cells should be entirely separated from other buildings,
should be at least twelve in number for a Jail of 500 prisoners, and each
should contain a minimum of 500 cubic feet of air, 'besides being well
ventilated.
As the cost of masonry is not great, each of the wards for local
labouring prisoners should be raised on pillars, at least ten feet high, so
that the under part might serve for work-sheds, by which arrangement
the prisoners would never see the outside of the Jail.
With regard to ventilation, I consider the plan suggested by Captain
Hopkinson to be excellent ; at the same time I concur with Colonel
Goodwyn, in considering that there should be at least three more lateral
apertures for the admission of air in each ward. These may easily be
so constructed as to prevent the night air blowing upon the bodies of
the prisoners.
The greater part, if not the whole, of the proposed additions and
alterations should be effected by means of convict labour.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's submitting to the Executive
Officer, through whatever channel may be the practice of the Province,
the above remarks, and by his calling upon him to furnish fresh plans and
estimates in accordance with them. The work should be estimated for
180
181
That for the two European convicts has been framed upon the scale
allowed to European Soldiers, and is ample.
The cooks are too numerous, and so are the messes, particularly of the
Hindus. Each mess should contain 35 if possible, and the cooks should
be employed in no other work, as, if they keep the kitchens clean, and
attend strictly to their proper business, they ought to have quite enough
to do.
5. The Hospital was in good order, and the sick
Hospital.
ii/.
34
8
37
)>
;>
4
G
3
2
3
1
3
1
4
13
1
2
10
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
Moochee.
Hospital Attendants.
Cooks.
Grinding Wheat.
33
Breaking Stones.
33
33
33
182
Preparing Dhall.
12
Sick in Hospital.
Making in all 198 life convicts.
Of term prisoners, there were
2 Old men fencing trees.
2 Making Rice-husking machines.
2 Cooks.
8 Cleaning Rice.
2 Breaking Stones.
20 Removing the remains of the Commissariat Godown.
1 Preparing Bark for Gunny.
1 Excused labour.
5 Sick.
In all 43.
There were 10 prisoners in Hajut.
5 Insane.
1 Civil prisoner.
Making a total of 257 prisoners.
There is no objection to employing such life convicts as can be spared
in the station ; but I think that the 37 old men are quite enough to
devote to that purpose, except on extraordinary occasions. The work is
much too light for able-bodied convicts, of whom I saw many gathering
and carrying away dried dead leavesfit occupation for invalids and the
aged, but utterly unsuitable for strong felons. Thirty-nine old men had
one Duffadar and eight Burkundauzes to look after them. One active
young guard ought easily to look after and control ten of these old infirm
convicts.
As the guard are all armed with muskets, if they were trustworthy,
fewer should suffice to guard the able-bodied convicts on the road than
are employed.
There are three Burkundauzes employed in superintending the work
of fifteen prisoners in the work-sheds. As these are close to the guard
house, two would be quite enough.
The twenty convicts removing the remains of the Commissariat
godown, have a Jemadar, a Duffadar, and five Burkundauzes to look .
after them, or in the proportion of a fraction less than one to three. This
is a very unnecessary number to employ.
183
184
_
.
r
Committee of 1838, contains the
i
, . ,
, .
.
remarks which are quoted in the
margin. They embody the ex
J.
ZZ::ho:iZT^l%2tZit
185
adoption.
It should also, I think, not be forgotten that with all the vigilance, up
rightness, and sterling integrity which characterize the judicial officers of
India, the nature of native testimony must render it impossible to doubt
that the innocent may occasionally be inadvertently punished, and that
z
186
some "of those doomed to perpetual imprisonment, have not been guilty
of the crimes of which they are convicted.
A remarkable instance occurred a few years since in the very Jail which
has caused these remarks, when a man who had been transported to
Ramree for murder, recognized in the sentry guarding the Jail, the indivi
dual for whose supposed destruction he had been banished from society,
and branded with the infamy of the least expiable of all human crimes
the shedding of human blood.
That such instances are extremely rare, is more than probable. But
that they have occurred, and are likely again to happen, is, in my belief,
an argument for the mitigation of punishment in all cases, when years of
good conduct in the most trying circumstances afford the reasonable pre
sumption that the heart of the criminal is softened, and that he may be
trusted to pass the remainder of his life in the country of his banishment
with comparative freedom.
I am strongly disposed then to recommend to the Government the trial
of the ticket-of-leave system at Ramree. Its insular position, the nature
of the population, and the absence of the ordinary inducements to com
mit crime, render it probable that the experiment may be tried with safety
in regard to natives of the peninsula of Hindustan.
I inquired of the petitioners whether the place afforded any reasonable
hope of their being able to earn an honest livelihood when emancipated,
and I explained to them the consequence, that would result from any
repetition of criminal courses or attempts to escape. They earnestly
implored that they might be tried, declared that they could gain a live
lihood by honest exertions, and that they knew too well the consequence
of relapse to be tempted to resort to crime or escape.
It would however, I think, be well, before resorting to any such mea
sure, to call upon the civil authorities of Arracan to report upon the
whole question of transportation, its advantages, disadvantages, and pro
bable moral results.
For term prisoners I am not disposed, in any case, to advocate transpor
tation; but for the reasons contained in the .report of 1838, which has
exhausted the subject, I am of opinion that for life prisoners it is the
most efficacious, desirable, and profitable mode of disposing of them that
can be adopted.
187
SANDOWAY.
I VISITED the Jail at Sandoway on the 22 nd of March 1856, accom
panied by the Medical Officer in charge of the station. The Magistrate
was absent on duty in the interior.
2. The buildings consist of one ward 100 x 20, two
Buildings.
*
i
70 x 20, and two 40 x 20, enclosed in a square com
pound bounded by a high brick wall.
One of the medium sized wards was partitioned off by a mat wall for the
custody of the women.
One of the small wards is used as an Hospital, and the other is empty.
There are no drains or privies within the Jail.
In front of the prison, enclosed by a light wooden fence, are two guard
houses 60 X 20, five cook-rooms 60 X 15 each, and a godown 27 X 20.
There were some other out-houses not contained in the plan.
The whole are raised on wooden piles, and are mat buildings with
thatched roofs.
The Jail was built in 1848, by Lieutenant Fytche, at a cost of Com
pany's rupees 5,697-8-4, and is calculated to contain 232 prisoners, for
whom their are 6,400 superficial feet of accommodation. It is difficult to imagine any arrangements worse than those of all the
Jails in the Province of Arracan.
The Officers who designed them could not have been acquainted with
the most simple principles of the construction of prisons, for safe
custody, classification, or the introduction of any system of Jail discipline.
The Jail at Sandoway seems to be used as a receptacle for the aged,
infirm, and worn-out prisoners of the Province.
3. At the time of my visit there were 175 prisoners, of whom 152
were life convicts, and 21 local prisoners. The chief
Prisoners.
occupation is road-making and mending, the aged and
weak being employed in watering trees, picking up leaves, and similar
nominal work.
The internal occupation consists of basket-making, in which the
convicts are employed on an open plot of ground, immediately in front of
the market-place. A more improper place could scarcely have been
selected.
( .188
The women are employed in husking rice, and there are, in addition, 2
Blacksmiths, 3 Carpenters, 3 Dhobies, 2 Mehters, 2 Barbers, 2 Hospital
Dressers, and 38 are altogether excused work on account of old age and
infirmities. Eight of them are perfectly blind, having a convict fully
occupied in attending to each pair of them.
There is one madman in the Jail.
The labour of these prisoners is very unprofitable, and their discipline
so lax as to encourage every species of irregularity.
There are no great bunds, or public works at this station, and I can
not see the use of sending life convicts there, beyond a few to keep the
roads in repair. It entails considerable expense in extra establishment,
which might, I think, with advantage, be saved when those now there
gradually die of.
The prisoners are chained down at night, as at Akyab and Kyook Phyoo,
from the insecurity of the buildings, and the inefficiency of the guards.
The remarks which I have made on this subject on the other Jails of
Arracan, apply equally to Sandoway.
Records.
4. I could find no books or records of any kind.
The orders given seem to be verbalthe punishments to be awarded
in the same manner, and in fact nothing can well be more lax than the
management of the whole concern.
This will be rectified when the Magistrate receives the Circular Orders
which have been sent to him, on the various matters connected with Jail
discipline and management, and to which I request his early and serious
atention.
5. The prisoners are fed by the Darogah,a worthless and inefficient
officer, over whom there is no check in the matter of the
food, beyond the Surgeon's examination of its quality.
The weights should occasionally be tested, and the rations re-weighed
after issue to the cooks. Of these there are sixteen employed, or in the
proportion of about one to every eleven prisoners. I shall feel obliged
by the Magistrate's reducing them to one-half the number on the receipt
of this order, and by his organizing the convicts in eight messes. The
cooks should then be employed in no other work than is connected with
their kitchens.
6. The worst feature in the Jail is the women's department. There
are ten female life prisoners, most' of them confined for
murder, and with them is associated a Mugh woman
sentenced to a year's imprisonment for theft.
189
They occupied the end of one of the male wards, separated by a mat
partition, through which they can at any time be overlooked by their
neighbours. .
I found that one of them, named- Budnee, had a child at the breast, two
years old. She was sentenced in 1849, and has been in the Sandoway
Jail more than three years.
Another, named Jusseah, who was imprisoned in 1845, has been in the
Sandoway Jail for six years. She has a child theee years old, and mis
carried a year ago.
If all that I heard regarding this female ward be true, it is little better
than a brothel, and a scandal to the prison.
I beg strongly to reoominend to the Honorable the Lieutenant Governor
that the ten life convicts be, by the earliest opportunity, sent back again
to Alipore.
If her sentence admit of it, I think that the Mugh woman should also
be removed and sent to Kyook Phyoo, where the European Jailor will
prevent such scandalous irregularities as disgrace the Sandoway Jail.
7. In going round the Jail, my attention was accidentally directed to
Detection of other some chill urns openly placed behind the bamboos in the
Irregularities.
ward.
This led to my instituting a strict search
throughout the Jail, when I found in money Oo.'s Rs. 50-12-6, a large
quantity of gunjah, tobacco, opium, gambling dice, and various other
substances: The former I directed to be paid into the local treasury ; the
latter I had burnt in my presence.
I punished two prisoners on the spot, one for having a quantity of
arsenic in his possession, of which he could or would give no proper
account ; and a second for attempting to conceal tobacco and money
in my presence, when I ordered the persons of. the prisoners to be
searched.
,
I should have punished several others in whose possession illicit articles
were found, but they were all old men, and I dismissed them with a caution
not to offend again, or I would find some punishment suitable for their age
These irregularities could not possibly have occurred without the con-,
nivance of the Darogah and the guards.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate, with the sanction of the Com
missioner, dismissing the Darogah as soon as he can make arrangements
for carrying on his duties.
The guard should also be dismissed, but that I believe they cannot be
replaced, and to punish would probably cause them all to desert.
190 )
191
BARASET.
I visited the Jail at Baraset on Friday, the 30th of May 1856,
accompanied by Mr. Mangles.
2. The prisoners are confined in the old cadet barracks, which are
three storied, and afford ample
space
for their
Buildings.
*
c
accommodation.
The arrangement of the building, however, renders the classification
of the prisoners as nearly nugatory as possible, inasmuch as there are no
means of separating them during the day.
The space allowed to the convicts, and the height at which they
sleep above the ground, have rendered the Jail healthy.
The barrack was built in 1807 at a cost of Rupees 12,185, and
contains 9,504 square feet of ^pace, calculated to accommodate 475
prisoners.
..'
They are at present lodged in the two upper floors, of which some
Wards are unoccupied. The only objection which I entertain to the
existing arrangement, is regarding the position of the Hospital.
This is at present on the middle floor continuous with the other
wards. The sick and the healthy are thus not only in unduly close
proximity, but the latter are exposed to exhale the impure air unavoid
ably resulting from the consequences of severe sickness. The chief
advantage of the arrangement is, that it places the patients high above
the level of the ground ; but this desideratum, great as it undoubtedly
is, is more than counterbalanced by the objections to the plan.
I shall feel much obliged, therefore, by the Magistrate's kindly clean
ing out two of the lower wards, each 24 feet by 12, removing the brickwork
of theurches between them, and fitting them up in the manner of the upper
rooms now appropriated to the sick. One of the rooms on the opposite
side of the passage may be appropriated to the Dispensary and Native
Doctor.
,
Although it is desirable to isolate the Hospital completely, I am afraid
that it would not be advisable at present to build a wall across the lower
A
192
passage, as I fear that such a proceeding would interfere with the general
ventilation of the lower floor.
The remainder of the rooms on the ground floor will afford ample
accommodation for the Moodie's store, and Malkhanas of every descrip
tion, without any fear of their heing plundered hy the convicts, if the
latter are safely locked up at night, and carefully guarded during the day.
3.
The cook-rooms
4.
completed.
This space is to be again sub-divided by palisades into three separate
compartments, each to be complete in itself.
The manufactures are now carried on under serious disadvantages
in the rooms of the outer building, used as a Guard-house and Treasury.
I cannot ascertain from the records whether the work-sheds have
been sanctioned or not. If on enquiry the Magistrate finds the latter to
193
194
worked at the oil mill, who had ever been seen again within the walls of
that Jail !
The same has, I believe, been remarked elsewhere, and a recent
report from Patna intimates that its introduction at Meetapore has been
efficacious.
In bearing the above principles in mind, and applying them with
discretion to individual cases, I believe the Magistrate of Baraset will
experience little difficulty in cleaning his district of bad characters, and
in rendering his Jail a terror to evil-doers.
In all this there is, however, no systematic attempt to reform the
offender ; but that is a vexed question, upon which I am not prepared at
present to enter.
6. The food is said to be sufficient in quantity, and too good in
quality, inasmuch as the Magistrate obtains some
articles, at enhanced cost from Calcutta, which are
better than the food procurable by respectable people in the district.
There is certainly no need for this, and so long as the articles
supplied are wholesome and of fair quality, every consideration to which
even a criminal is entitled, is strictly fulfilled. All that the State is bound
to furnish is such an amount of plain wholesome food, as is absolutely
necessary for the maintenance of health. All beyond this may fairly be
classed with the luxuries quaintly denounced by Sydney Smith as a mere
mockery of punishment, when a criminal sits down to dinner " with
fetters on his feet and fried pork in his stomach."
But, the other doctrine of the prison reforming Dean that " the most
vulnerable part of a thief is his stomach," is a dangerous one to apply to
a nation of vegetenarians.
From causes as yet unexplained, but which seem to be common to
all races and climates, depressing agencies operate more rapidly and
injuriously upon captives than upon any other class of society, of all
depressing agencies the most sure, certain, and fatal, is the reduction of
food below the standard necessary to repair the waste of the body, and
maihtain the animal heat. These agencies take some little time to pro
duce their effects, so that while they are innocuous in houses of correc
tion, and for prisoners sentenced to less than six months' confinement,
they are sadly mischievous to those who are doomed to spend years in
Jail. Some of the most experienced medical officers in the country have
195
told me, that when a prisoner once loses his health in confinement,
he scarcely ever regains it, and is almost invariably carried off
by any epidemic that visits the Jail and station. Thus, a sentence of five
or seven years is, I am afraid to a very large proportion of prisoners,
equivalent to a sentence of death.
Hence my anxiety, if possible, to avoid a contingency not contemplated
by the law, and not sanctioned by the precepts and practice of common
humanity.
7. There were 176 prisoners in the Jail at the time of my visit, of
whom 31 were employed in manufactures, and 76
in out-door labour, the remainder being nonlabouring prisoners.
.
Among the non-labouring prisoners was an American confined for
riot and assault, and placed in a separate apartment on the ground floor.
He seemed happy and contented.
The Hajut prisoners are divided into two sets. Advantage should be
taken of this to classify them, so as to prevent the contamination of mere
misdemeanants, by contact with decoits and felons.
The civil prisoners have been removed by the Officiating Magistrate
to the outer buildings. I concur with Mr. Mangles in considering the
Criminal Jail an improper place for them ; but, as the guard house is ex
posed in every direction, I think it would Be better that the civil prisoners
should sleep in the Jail, and remain outside during the day. So long as
it is deemed necessary to continue imprisonment for debt, the incarceration
must not be entirely nominal.
It will be well also, as soon as the means exist, to make all labouring
prisoners work at manufactures, instead of employing them on the roads.
8. The conservancy arrangements of the Jail are good, and to them
must be attributed some portion of its freedom from
Conservancy.
sickness. There were only three patients in
hospital.
9 The guards are fewer in number than are absolutely necessary
for the safe custody of the prisoners. Upon this sub
ject I find the following remarks of my predecessor,
in the 11th paragraph of his memorandum, dated 9th February 1854.
" Your permanent Jail Guard is very weakonly 14 men, but I
' think it not very legitimately, (under the circumstance) made consi" derably weaker ; two men are detached as part of the guard over the
196
"
"
"
"
"
"
197
11.
JESSORE.
I visited the Jail at Jessore on Sunday, the 1st of Jane, and on
Monday, the 2nd of the same month accompanied, on both occasions, by
the Magistrate and the Civil Surgeon.
On the latter occasion, the whole of the prisoners were mustered in
their respective yards, and their bedding and clothing carefully examined.
I again visited the hospital portion of it, on Tuesday, the 3rd of June,
with Dr. Palmer.
2. This Jail, as pointed out by Mr. Dunbar, is extremely ill contriv
ed for its purpose, and difficult so to sub-divide as
to secure a proper and efficient classification of the
prisoners, without rendering it unhealthy.
It was built in 1822 at a cost of 32,000 Rupees, and contains 10,155
cubic feet of space, which is calculated to accommodate 507 prisoners,
giving an average of 20 square feet to each. In such a climate as that
of Jessore, with endemic causes of disease rife at all times, and epidemics
of annual occurrence, it is never safe or prudent to confine a larger
number in such a space.
I find on examining the Jail correspondence, and the report of the
Superintending Engineer, that more than 1000 prisoners have sometimes
been confined in the space intended for half the number. This I regard
as extremely objectionable, and as the cause of much of the great
mortality which for many years prevailed in the prison.
The number at the present moment in the Jail is more than it is
calculated for,the consequence is, that the Hajut ward is crowded to an
injtirious and improper extent, as I shall refer to more particularly pre
sently. As regards health, this is of less consequence in the Hajut, than
198
it would be in any other ward, as the prisoners are only confined there
for a short time, are daily removed to the Cutchery, and are buoyed up
with the hope of acquittal until they are actually convicted.
Upon the buildings Mr. Dunbar, in his note of the 1st March 1854,
remarks that it is one of the worst Jails he ever saw in the- country, that
it was badly arranged, miserably ventilated, and extremely filthy. That
Officer suggested the building of an upper story, and the conversion of
the present wards into work-shops, if it would not cost too much.
I doubt if the walls would bear such a superstructure, and the plan
would cost as much as to build a new Jail.
The arrangement of the wards is past remedy, and the ventilation
is, I fear, not susceptible of much improvement without risking the fall
ing in of the arched roof.
Major Ommanney, in his report of the 6th January 1854, suggests,
with a view to prevent over-crowding, that a board should be fastened
over the door of each ward, showing the exact number it was capable
of holding.
*
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's carrying this excellent
suggestion into effect, calculating 20 superficial feet as the allowance for
each prisoner, and reporting to me when it is done.
Should circumstances at any time render it necessary to exceed this
number, a special report should be made to me at once, in order to pro
vide such remedy as may be in my power.
Another matter, noticed' by Major Ommanney, also struck me as
deserving of consideration, viz. the absence of solitary cells, and the objec
tionable shifts that have been resorted to in consequence.
The Superintending Engineer states that the Jailor had been in the
habit of making use of one of the wards, 44J feet long, as ,a condemned
cell, and another as a punishment cell.
Without the means of isolating refractory characters, it is impossible
to maintain any thing approaching to strict discripline.
A Jail for 500 prisoners should contain at least twelve solitary cells,
and in such a climate as that of Jessore, each should possess at least 80O
cubic feet of air, with full and free ventilation.
I can scarcely determine from the plan in my possession where this
range could best . be placed. The Magistrate and Civil Surgeon had
better, therefore, select a suitable site, and when the matter is reported to
199
200
If taken up, re-constructed of the saucer or V shape, and the tiles well
cemented together, they would be efficient.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's informing me if he can accom
plish this at small cost, with convict labour.
7. The prisoners complained that the rain beat
Side Ventilation.
.
in through the lateral ventilators, and some of the
blankets had been cut up to act as screens.
The Magistrate proposed to have shades outside. These are ex
pensive and interfere with the free passage of air. It would be better
to supply small squares of canvas, which can be taken down,
and rolled up out of the way when it does not rain. They should be put
up only on the side through which the rain beats.
8. The jail statements appear to be carefully kept and brought up to
l
,
date, but the records are not filed in the manner
Eecords and Visitor's Book.
.
directed in Circular No. 39 of 27th February last.
I request the careful attention of the Magistrate to this.
201
The old Visitor's book contains one note by the late Sessions Judge
the new one is blank. Upon this subject also I shall feel obliged by
the Magistrate and Civil Surgeon consulting the circular above
referred to.
The periodical inspections of the latter Officer as required by the regu
lations, should, in particular, be carefully entered in it. It is of much
importance that all remarks should be noted when fresh in the
memory.
9. The prisoners now confined in the Jail
Prisoners.
amount to 591, disposed of as follows :
Ward No.
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
33
3)
3)
33
33
33
33
33
33
1.
67
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
54
73
48
108
87
35
38
40
15
18
8
Hajut.
Civil and non-labouring.
Labouring.
33
33
33
33
33
33
Hospital.
33
Female.
591
10.
202
The privy is one of the worst in the Jail, and the arrangements seem to me
to need urgent and immediate amendment.
The only means by which this can be accomplished in existing
circumstances is by the removal of the women elsewhere, and by placing
their yard and shed at the disposal of the prisoners awaiting trial. The
plan suggested by Mr. Loch, more than eighteen months since, has not
yet been commenced, and will probably take at least two years to accom
plish from the date of its beginning.
The female prisoners are now confined in a small unsuitable, ill
ventilated building, intended originally for a cook house. It is placed in
a large yard immediately adjoining that of the Hajut prisoners.
11. The female prisoners are eight in number. Three of them are
sentenced to short terms of imprisonment, all of
Female Prisoners.
.
...
.
_,
which will expire in three months. There will
then remain but five, who might, I think, be transferred to Kishnaghur
with great benefit to themselves, and relief to this Jail, if the Magistrate
can manage to find some other suitable place for the custody temporarily
of any woman who may be convicted of crime, before the Jail is enlarged.
The cook room is not suited for the incarceration of any prisoners at
all, and should be restored to its original functions.
12. The civil prisoners are very badly off. They are not only in
the Criminal Jail, but are confined with the nonCivil Prisoners.
....
labouring prisoners, and in close contact with the
Hajut. As a result of this, they are of necessity subjected to restrictions
which are not strictly legal or right. The withdrawal of tobacco is one
of these.
.
This is a strong additional reason for the early completion of the
additions long since and repeatedly urged to be necessary for the wellbeing of the Jessore Jail.
13.
(
14.
203
204
By preventing the fall of the shuttle it saves much time, and entirely
obviates every objection to a raised seat for the weaver.
In future, I think it would be advisable to confine the manufactures to
such as are profitable, necessary, and penal. The first is undoubtedly
gunny; the next comprise blankets, jail clothing, and t&t for beddinc;
the last is the oil mill. By apportioning these judiciously to the crime
and the criminal, the result will be profit and punishment, in more exact
proportion than obtain at present.
There is a great want in many jails of artizans, particularly masons,
so that whenever even petty repairs are needed, it is necessary to call in
aid from without, at great expense. With more than 12,000 labouring
convicts at our disposal, this should not be.
As a considerable amount of masonry is now about to be undertaken
at Jessore, I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's selecting fifty able
bodied, long term convicts to be taught brick-making, the preparation of
soorkee, and so much of building as an operative builder should under
stand. No prisoner under five years of unexpired sentence should be
selected. When the Jessore buildings are completed, the masons can
then be distributed as instructors to pther jails. Those who exhibit skill,
aptness and docility, should be rewarded by the removal of their irons, by
being made Khillaburdars as at Alipore, and by such moderate indul
gences as are permissable in a place of punishment.
I beg to solicit the earnest attention of the Magistrate to this as the
commencement of an experiment to render prisons independent of all
external aid, and to teach convicts useful and profitable trades, so as to
enable them to earn an honest livelihood when released.
In the same manner it is my intention to rear a corps of skilled
blacksmiths at Hazareebaugh ; of carpenters and weavers 'at Alipore;
of carpet-makers and blanket-weavers at Meetapore and Monghyr ; and
so on, until every thing required in a jail is made by prisoners.
It is the beginning of an organized system of labour which I am
sufficiently sanguine to hope will, with the zealous aid of the Magistrates,
prove successful. I am sure that I can rely on the cordial co-operation
of every officer in charge of a jail in carrying out this great measure of
prison management.
16.
Tank.
205
KHOOLNAH.
I visited the Lock-up at Khoolnah on the morning of Saturday, the
5 th of July 1856, accompanied by the Deputy Magistrate and Mr
Rochfort.
2. The present Lock-up is a dark, damp, ill ventilated, thatched
hut in the rear of the Magistrate's house. It has
Existing Lock-up
only one small door for ingress and egress, at which
a burkundauze is placed.
The inmates are fortunately not chained down, as in the event of a
fire they would infallibly be roasted before any of them could be got out.
As it is, should a conflagration unhappily occur, the result would be dis
astrous.
There are no out-houses attached to it. The kitchen is under a big
tree, of which the lower branches are festooned with blackened cooking
206
5.
207
208
BDRRISADL
I visited this Jail on the evening of Sunday, the 6th July 1856,
shortly after the arrival of the Steamer, accompanied by the Magistrate
and Civil Surgeon.
I again carefully inspected the prisoners on the succeeding morning,
in the presence of the Magistrate, Additional Judge, Collector, and Civil
Surgeon.
The prisoners were, on this occasion, all carefully examined, and
their bedding and clothing specially inspected.
2. This is one of the worst contrived and singularly badly placed jails
General construction I nave yet seen. It is built in a swamp, near a
and position.
dirty crowded khai, of which the water at the
time of my visit was higher than the level of the main drain of the
prisonthus rendering its drainage, at this season, impossible. ,
The buildings themselves are grouped in four square blocks in which
it must be difficult for fresh air to enter, and nearly impossible for it to
get out again when it has become effete.
The floors are on the level of the ground, and so coated with the
grease and sordes of years, and so damp as to render it almost impossible
to clean them.
The privies are of the worst possible construction, and permit the
whole ordure of the prisoners to fall into the open drains, and thus to
pollute additionally the already stagnant air of the wards.
The cook-rooms are in the same enclosure, and are so ingeniously
contrived as to prevent the egress of the smoke.
The wells in the centre of these quadrangles are, I am sure, in a
state of pollution that would render the water unwholesome in the
hot season.
The work-sheds are a few wretched, ill constructed, thatched huts.
It would be difficult to crowd together a greater number of defects
in the same space.
The floors, walls, and old wooden bedsteads are so saturated with
bugs and vermin, that the prisoners complained very bitterly of the
misery to which they were subjected in consequence.
209
The Jail was built in 1818, and with subsequent additions cost
Rupees 49,182. Its superficial space is 14,464 square feet, and it is said
to be capable of accommodating 723 prisoners, allowing 20 square feet
for each. This is a very false method of calculation, as it affords no
indication of the cubical contents of the wards.
The Hospital is really well constructed, and a great contrast to the
rest of the buildings.
The women's ward is also better built, but the masonry did not
appear to me to be good.
Most of the defects above noted attracted Mr. Loch's attention in
1854, but from the great and very unnecessary delay which occurs in
obtaining estimates, nothing has yet been done in the way of improve
ment.
I am responsible for the last three months of this delay, for when
the estimates were sent to me in March last by the Chief Engineer, as
they amounted to nearly 8,000 rupeesone-fifth of the estimated cost of
the whole jailI did not deem it right to submit them to the Government,
until I had personally seen the place.
3. Without entering into a minute detail of the defects and remeChanges urgently re- dies required to remove them, which are con,uireiitained in my predecessor's report I will here en
umerate those most urgently needed, and when they are supplied,<it
will be time enough to turn our attention to such further alterations
as may then appear to be advisable or necessary.
They are.
(a.) Improved ventilation.
(6.) Better sewerage and drainage.
(c.) New cook-rooms.
(d.) Such changes in the floors and walls as will render them dryer
and cleaner.
(e.) The best means of destroying bugs, &c.
(f.) New work-sheds.
(jr.) The separation of the yards in which the prisoners work.
4. (a.) The ventilation will be most readily, effectually, and econo
mically
gumlah ventilators in
Ventilation.
J amended by
J placing
r
the roof of each ward, as suggested by Mr. Loch.
These, according to the estimate furnished, may be made for one
rupee each, and 32 are sanctioned.
210
The Magistrate can supply these at once, sending in a bill for the
same as soon as they are completed.
The ventilation of the Hajut will be improved by removing the upper
half of the present fixed jhill-mill, and furnishing the means of opening them.
All the panel doors in the wards should be bored to a height of
four feet from the ground, with circular apertures an inch in diameter,
and six inches apart.
Mr. Loch recommended in addition the removal of the front of each
of the four squares, but the Magistrate objected to it on the ground of
its rendering the jail less secure.
I was at first disposed to doubt the prudence of my predecessor's
suggestion, but on careful re-consideration, after hearing all the Magis
trate urged against it, I am disposed to concur in it, and to think that
stout open palisades will be quiie adequate in the way of protection.
I shall feel much obliged therefore by the Magistrate's again carefully
examining into the matter, for it is one of very great importance,
as respects the improvement of the ventilation of the wards.
5. (b.) The sewerage of the prison must at once be changed,
nothing can possibly be more offensive than its
Sewerage and Drainage.
present state.
The Magistrate should indent without delay on the Iron Yard at Alipore
far pans of the Alipore pattern, in wooden boxes, wtfch latter on indent,
can be procured from the Alipore Jail. As soon as these are procured, the
present privies should be removed, and an iron grated door be placed in
their stead which will open into the outer yard of each ward, as men
tioned anon. The pans should be placed in a corner of the ward, pro
tected by a dwarf screen wall, the filth being removed every morning
and thrown into the khal at a distance from human habitations.
When this is accomplished, all the present drains must be taken up and
re-constructed as shallow surface drains, to carry off the rain water.
The yards of the civil and female wards should be metalled at onceTbey are at present very damp and swampy.
6. (c.) These can be constructed in the outer yards at a sufficient
distance from the walls to prevent their beinc used
Cook-rooms.
.
=
as a means of escape.
The Magistrate can submit an estimate of this at his early conve
nience, adopting the dimensions and principles of construction laid down
by Mr. Loch, and contained in the circular on the subject.
211
212
Prisoners.
'.
..
.,
10
18
22
2
25
2
2
16
14
5
213
Tanks,.
Repairing the road West of the Jail,
In Hospital,
Hajut,
Non-labouring,
Excused labour,
Civil prisoners,
by Nizamut,
Magistrate,
Referred to Nizamut,
Committed to Sessions,
Awaiting trial,
,
Civil prisoners,
8
19
25
10
80
30
10
10
20
Total,
...
328
20
52
13
1
6
Total,
...
420
9
64
190
96
4
13
38
6
<
Total, ...
420
Life prisoners have no business in such a jail as this, for obvious
reasons, and I beg to recommend their transfer to Alipore, where they
can be better accommodated and more profitably occupied. One convict
named Ramsaugor Nundy was brought to my special notice as a jail
breaker, and as being the ring-leader in all the mischief that occurs
in the prison. A jail in which there is no penal labour, and not a single
solitary cell, is scarcely a fit place to reform such an one, or to prevent
his contaminating others. I beg, therefore, strongly to suggest that he
also be transferred to Alipore, where he will soon find the means of
becoming a wiser, if not a better man.
214
215
216
FURREEDPORE
I visited the Furreedpore Jail on the morning of the 9 th July 1856,
immmediately after the arrival of the Steamer, accompanied by the
Officiating Joint Magistrate.
I re-embarked en route to Dacca, immediately after I had com
pleted my inspection.
2. The Jail is a good one, and was in excelCeneral state.
lent or(jerj ^ejng clean an(j neat throughout.
217
(
5.
218
These are by far the worst features of the jail : the filth falls into
open drains through which it is washed to a main
Privies and Sewerage:
. .
.
,
, ,
.
...
drain, perfuming the whole prison in its passage.
The Alipore plan described in so many of my reports, should be
adopted at once, and an indent be sent to the iron yard for pans and
to Alipore for boxes, to be supplied as soon as possible.
As soon as these are obtained, the openings of the present privies
should be bricked over, and all the deep drains taken up and re-constructed
as shallow, saucer-shaped surface drains, never on any account to be used
for purposes of sewerage.
The filth should be carried to the nullah on poles passed through the
rings in the iron pans.
Day privies should be constructed in the corner of the work-yards,
and of the civil, hajut, and female yards, on the plan in use at Alipore.
Each consists of a couple of earthen pans, let into a small masonry
platform, placed behind a couple of dwarf walls, four feet in height. The
filth from these is also remov&l by hand.
6. The enclosures for work-yards are excellent, being each 150 by
120 feet. The present imperfect, perishable and
Work yards and Sheds:
confined mat huts abutting upon the walls, are
quite unsuitable.
In each of the yards should be constructed two sheds of 100 x 25 feet
each, with an interval between them of 30 feet. They should be tiled, with
raised cutcha floors, and provided with hanging jhamps to keep out the rain.
1
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's submitting an estimate of the
cost of these.
In them can be carried on every kind of in-door labor that is penal
or profitable. In one corner of each of the yards should be a day privy
near the wall, and at the opposite angle a cook-shed, as mentioned in the
succeeding paragraph.
The puckah godovvn in one of the work-yards may be used as a
malkhana for storing raw material and for keeping all tools and imple
ments belonging to the jail. It is too good for a soorkie house, the
purpose to which it is at present devoted.
7. The present cook rooms are dilapidated, insufficient, and by being
without the jail are the source of very many irreCook-houscs.
gularities pointed out by the Magistrate, and nearly
impossible to prevent with the present worthless and inefficient guards.
219
220
2 Non-laboring,
14
,, 3 Laboring,
9
(
Sleeping Ward No.
55
jj
55
221
4 Laboring,
57
5
6
49
9
j,
55
55
55 7
j,
55
55
55 ^
55
55
55 9
55
55
55
55 10 Solitary,
Dewanny Ward,
In Female Ward (laboring prisoners,)
In Hospital,
8
57
36
1
2
18
20
304
Disposed of as follows:
Cleaning the drain of the Jail,
Meyhter,
Attending the sick in Hospital,
Blacksmiths,
Cooks,
Sweepers,
Cutting trees in Jail compound,
Repairing Jail Wards,
Weavers,
Making Paper,
String,
y
Gunny Bags,
Baskets,
Ink,
Soorkee,
Chattas,
Carpenters,
Sawyers,
14
2
8
2
13
11
25
6
13
27
6
53
5
7
2
35
9
3
8
248
5
12
222
Non-laboring,
Hajut,
Civil Prisoners,
Dewanny,
11
17
9
2
304
Sentenced as follows:
By Nizamut,
Sessions Judge,
Joint Magistrate,
Deputy Magistrate,
,
Sudder Ameen
.
Referred to Nizamut,
Awaiting Trial,
Civil Prisoner,
Dewanny,
Transferred from Rajeshahye,
11
102
131
4
27
9
17
1
1
1
304
,
,
district is an unhealthy one, showing that by pro
per care and management, the health of prisoners can, and ought to be
raised above the standard of the outside population, without any pam
pering or improper indulgences.
1 3. The divisional walls and entrance yard may be removed in the civil
.
jail, as they are of no earthly use, and the material
Concluding remarks.
can be employed in some of the alterations above noted.
The coping of all the jail walls should be removed as it tends to
facilitate escape. The walls should be made flash, as shown in the
accompanying rough section.
,
Hanging lanterns should be placed in the wards instead of the
cheraghs now in use, and the Magistrate is authorized, in case of sickness,
223
DACCAI visited this Jail, accompanied by the Magistrate and Civil Surgeon,
on the evening of Wednesday, the 10th, and again on the morning of
Thursday, the 11th of July 1856.
The wards, yards, sheds, and other parts of the interior of the Jail
were as clean as their construction admitted of.
My predecessor visited this Jail in January 1855, and suggested
various important improvements and changes, not one of which seems
to have been carried into effect.
This has probably resulted from the frequent change of Magistrates
in the time which has elapsed, and is much to be regretted on every
account.
2. The Jail was built in 1790 by Colonel Fleming, and cost
rather more than 80,000 Rupees. It is badly
placed near the Chouk adjoining the Insane Hos
pital, and so surrounded by roads and buildings, abutting upon it as to
render it very difficult to enlarge and improve it.
The guard-house is within the Jail enclosure, which is a large open
space, in which the prisoners congregate in a body without let or" hin
drance. In this are the cook-houses, a large mat work-shed, and a
smaller hut for paper making. To the South of this enclosure is a large
tank common to the Jail, Hospital, and Lunatic Asylum. This is in a
very dirty state, and should be cleaned after the rains, the greatest care
.being taken to remove the decayed vegetable matter and filth from it to
a distance and not to spread it over any surface in the immediate vicinity
of the Jail, otherwise an outbreak of cholera will be the most likely result.
To the North was, in close proximity with the wall, a large stagBant tank, which was for many years used as the receptacle of all the
ordure of the Jail.
It is now partially filled up, but in its stead at the North-Eastern
angle, is an indescribably filthy ditch which is reeking with ordure, and
pollutes every thing in its vicinity. In the two directions last indicated,
huts, are built close to the jail walls.
E
224
The jail walls are very low, and from the character hereinafter
given of the Darogah and Guards, it will be perceived that the convicts
must be a very amiable well-disposed set of criminals not to escape by
wholesale from a prison which presents so few difficulties, and offers so
many facilities to the Jack Sheppards of Eastern Bengal.
The criminal wards are well furnished with ventilators, and would
be well suited for their purpose if they were less crowded. But the
ventilation, fair as it seems, is not so perfect as to permit of the space
for each prisoner to be reduced to 300 cubic feet, with impunity.
The Hospital is in a separate compound of its own, and is a good
building of its kind, but insufficient for the wants of the Jail. All the
out-houses are mat huts.
The Civil Jail, called the House of Correction, lucus a non lucendo
is. also detached from the Jail, in a separate bungalow, with a separate
establishment.
In this, in addition to the civil prisoners were confined the nonlabouring prisoners and the Magistrate's Hajut. The building in which
the latter sleep looks out upon the road. All these arrangements are
most objectionable.
3. Mr. Loch recommended that the existing guard house should
be converted into a sleeping ward for prisoners,
Changes proposed.
and that a darogah's house and store-rooms should
be built over it.
In this, I entirely concur. He also suggested that new guard
rooms should be built at the sudder entrance outside the Jail walls.
To this I also assent.
He likewise proposed the division of the large enclosure into five
separate spaces, walled and palisaded for work-sheds and yards.
To this, I likewise assent, but would prolong the palisades to the
southern wall, and construct a separate cook-room and day privy for
each, as at Alipore, so as entirely to obviate the necessity of the prisoners
ever leaving their separate enclosures, and being herded together in a
body as they are at present.
If the Magistrate concurs in these recommendations after perusal of
Mr. Loch's Memorandum, No. 828 of the 26th January 1855, I beg
earnestly to solicit the sanction of the Government to plans and estimates
for effecting the same being obtained without delay, if they should not
already have been drawn and calculated.
225
Bridge.
A similar method of fill
ing up a tank near Middle-
226
ton Row, has left a perpetual generator of cholera in the corner. Such
mistakes are as inexcusable as they are mischievous.
5. Mr. Loch recommended the purchase of a plot of ground
Purchase of ground to
to tlie North and East at present occupied by huts
the North and East
an(l the filthy pool above referred.
A generous old lady offered to present the portion belonging to her,
but before it was taken possession of, she died, and a host of claimants
appeared for it.
The purchase of all this I hold to be absolutely necessary, and I
strongly advise, that as soon as the sanction of the Government is obtained,
it be taken possession of under the provisions of Act I. of 1826.
I believe that a good garden might be formed on the ground to the
North.
6. The walls surrounding the Jail are every where too low: an
active man might easily vault over them. They
Walls.
should, as proposed by Mr. Loch, be raised four
feet all round.
When estimates for the whole of the changes and additions above
noted, are sent in, I shall be happy to submit them all for the sanction
of the Government, as they will amount to a sum very considerably in
excess of that which I am authorized to pass.
In the mean time, the Magistrate may send in estimates for the
petty repairs required for the cook-sheds in the Civil and Criminal Jails,
and such others of the temporary out-houses as require them.
7. The establishment of this Jail seems to be more than usually
Establishment, Guards, inefficient, and I am of opinion that with such aid,
&<=.
the Magistrate will never be able either to main
tain strict discipline, or to render it remunerative from the labour of the
prisoners.
The Darogah is a middle aged Greek, who speaks no language
intelligibly, can neither read nor write Bengali or Hindustani, can
furnish no information respecting his charge without referring to the
Mohurrir, and appears to be destitute of all control and authority over
prisoners and guards. He understands nothing of manufactures, is inca
pable of keeping or checking any of the records, and seems systematically
to disobey and disregard the orders of the Magistrate. How he can
have been allowed by successive Magistrates to remain in an office for
which he is glaringly and grossly unfitted, I am unable to understand.
227
The guards did not hesitate to treat him with the utmost contempt
in the presence of the Magistrate and myself; and it was a matter of
some difficulty to put a stop to so unseemly a proceeding.
I am sorry for the man, as he appears a quiet, harmless simpleton,
but the public interests imperatively require the removal of so incapable
an officer, from a post of so much trust and importance as the Daro<*aship of a large Jail in a great city.
A short time since, in an affray between the prisoners of two dif
ferent zillahs, which appears to have been a Dacca Doneybrook on a
small scale, this valiant Greek is reported to have enacted the part of
Caesar's steward, mullum agendo nihil agens, running up and down,
wringing his hands, and doubtless appealing to all the Gods in pure
Homeric Greek, to arrest the dire contention.
The prisoners treated his lamentations very much as the Atlantic
behaved towards Dame Partingtonwith utter disregard, and the
result has been an increase of the contempt in which he was formerly
held.
Even at the time of my visit, a large proportion of the guards
absented themselves, and he was unable to arrange the prisoners for
inspection.
In these circumstances, I shall feel much obliged by the Magis
trate's submitting a report on the man's claims, services, and fitness for
his office ; and should this report bear out my estimate of him, I am
afraid there is no use in retaining him longer in the jail, than will be
necessary to procure a successor.
In such a jail, I am of opinion, that the most able and energetic
European Jailor who can be found should be appointed. If the Magis
trate concurs in this view, a proposal for increasing the pay of the office
to rupees 75 per mensem may be submitted in the usual tabular form, in
order to secure the services of a competent officer.
The guards are a disorderly, impudent, useless set, who are always
quarrelling together, and are a source of infinite trouble and annoyance
to the Magistrate. They are of no earthly use, and bandied about
charge and countercharge of derelictions of duty towards the prisoners,
with an effrontery and coolness that I have never seen surpassed.
The Magistrate tells me that it is impossible to procure better men,
or to make any radical change so long as the present set remain ; .and
all attempts to maintain discipline with them are impracticable.
228
Paper,
126
Soorkie,
11
Cooks,
24
Cleaning Jail,
39
Attending Sick in Hospital,
10
Washing Prisoners' Clothes,
3
Carpenter,
1
Procuring Stones from Ramna jungles for making
Soorkie and Khoa for Jail,
15
Cleaning the outskirts of the Jail and rooting up
grass, &c., in Jail,
17
229
Cleaning Roads,
Burial Ground,
Church,
Lunatic Asylum,
In Hospital,
Hajut,
Dewanny,
Non-laboring,
5
5
5
10
43
32
11
47
616
Sleeping as folloios :
Ward No. 1 has Five Rooms
In Room No. 1,
99
99 9*J
99
99
99
99
99
99
.
.
.
.
99
99 4 9
99 5,
6~
50
11
74
6 .
^-Laboring Prisoners.
147
Ward No. 2,
3,
134 I
122 |
4,
Hajut Ward,
In Female Ward,
Hospital,
47J
15
16
52
99
99
99
99
99
1,
2,
3,
4
^9
5,
22~
22
15 y Laboring Prisoners.
14
1^
10^
616
230
Sentenced as follows :
Under sentence of Nizamut Adawlut,
Sessions Judge,
Magistrate,
Pandit,
Ditto
Manickgunge, ...
39
313
113
5
14
6
51
32
573
19
9
2
2
. 11
616
The price realized for the Gunny Bags is now 25 Rupees a hundred,
and the Magistrate hopes by putting it up to auction to obtain a larger
sum, probably 30 Rupees.
This clearly demonstrates the accuracy of my surmises that the
Magistrates of Backergunge and Furreedpore have made very bad bar
gains in taking contracts for 15 Rupees a hundred, when the market
value of the manufactured article is nearly double.
It also shows the necessity of subjecting these contracts to super
vision, as in two jails only, if all the prisoners were fairly at work, a
probable loss of Rupees 400 or 500 monthly, is sustained.
In macerating the pulp for preparing paper, some of the prisoners
have had their fingers crushed by the iron shoe of the dhenkie, and have
been mutilated in consequence. Great care should be taken to prevent this.
The dhenkies are all outside the jail, near the tank between the
Hospital and the Jail. This must be productive of irregularities.
As the tank and the enclosure and all their belongings are the pro
perty of the Government, the entrance to the road should be bricked up,
and a new entrance made near the angle of the jail compound, at the
end of the weaver's shed.
231
They are not fit inmates for outlying Jails, in which the discipline
and arrangements are necessarily less severe than at Alipore. At Dacca
their labour is worth 4 Rupees a year, at Alipore 31 Rupees, a
sufficient reason, if there were no other for removing them, inasmuch
as they must be maintained by the State for the remainder of their
lives.
9. The fetters were of several different patterns and weights ; a
few
long
links ; and others
Fetters.
. bar
. ; some with
.
& elliptical
r
with six short links without a connecting ring.
232
They should all consist of six links, with an intermediate ring, and
their weight should be uniform, as well as in strict accordance with the
orders of the Sudder Dewanny on the subject.
The prisoners are in the habit of polishing their fetters with pieces
of burnt brick. This is not at all necessary for cleaning them, and as
it will rapidly wear them out, should be prohibited.
Some of the labouring prisoners condemned with fetters had ancle
rings. The recent order of the Honorable the Lieutenant Governor on
the subject should be observed.
10. The clothes and bedding of several of the prisoners were
very dirty, and saturated with grease and sordes,
Washings.
..
...
~ .
.
.
ordinary washing is not sufficient to cleanse them.
They should be boiled with Saji Mati in a common copper pan, which can,
I imagine, be obtained cheap at Dacca, and a small brick furnace would
cost little.
Several of the convicts were adorned with long, greasy, duty elf
locks, which are unhealthy and unsuitable for a Jail.
I do not know of any reason why the practice of the North-Western
Provinces in this respect, should not be introduced into <all Jails in the
Lower Provinces. It is conducive to health and cleanliness, and is a very
legitimate addition to the prison garb as a portion of Jail discipline.
The following is the rule referred to viz. :
" As a general practice, it is very desirable that every criminal pri
soner, who is sentenced to imprisonment with labour, should, on final
confirmation of the sentence, or expiration of the period of appeal without
an appeal being preferred, have his head and face close shaved, and be
subsequently shaved every 15 days by prisoners set apart for this duty
the Hindu retaining the chotea. The beard and moustache of both
Mussalman and Hindu prisoners being close clipped."
" But Magistrates are authorized to exempt from this rule those pri
soners to whom they think that such a proceeding would be justly offen
sive or degrading."
" Seikhs in the Jails of Umballa, Loodiana, and Ferozepore, are ex
empted from this rule, and must be similarly exempted wherever they
may be imprisoned."
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's reporting whether he knows
of any objection to the introduction of this wholesome practice at
Dacca.
. .
233
11.
The books and records of the Jail are kept entirely in Bengali,
and it is very difficult to obtain any precise inforBooks and Records.
.
mation from them.
I was unable to procure a precise account of the classification and
distribution of prisoners in the various criminal wards, and it struck me
from the confused and imperfect statements of the Darogah and Mohurir,
that they are not arranged as they ought to be.
This is not a matter of much importance at present when the prisoners
commingle freely in the outer yard during the day, but it will become so when
they are separated by day as well as by night, as I hope will, ere long, be
accomplished by the changes advocated in a previous portion of this report.
The prisoners should be classified in the manner directed in the
margin of para. 4 of Government let" *Prisoners convicted of perjury,
"forgery or fraud, to be classed with
., ..
.,
i ,
n
i
ter, JNo. 2344, dated 3 1st December
"^trTrne^oruLe!
"2.
felonious offences.
Ditto under ditto for misdemeanours including affrays and the
like.
" 3. Male prisoners sentenced to imprisonment with labour in irons
not redeemable by fine for periods exceeding three years.
" 4. Male prisoners sentenced to ditto for periods not exceeding
three years.
" 5. Male prisoners sentenced to imprisonment without labour or
with labour redeemable by a fine.
" 6. Women under trial.
" 7- Women convicted."
The only records properly kept were those df the Hospital.
With the present inefficient Establishment, I do' not think it possible
for the Magistrate to keep the records as they ought to be kept, but as
soon as the necessary changes are effected, I shall feel much obliged by
the rules on the subject being strictly observed.
12. In the Civil Jail, as remarked before, are now confined civil
prisoners, non-labouring prisoners, and the Magis
trate's Hajut.
It is wrong in principle to place civil prisoners in contact with cri
minals, and if the Magistrate, by any other distribution' of his convicts,
can remedy this, it is most advisable that it should be done.
234
13.
SERAJGUNGE.
I visited the jail at Serajgunge immediately after the arrival of
the Steamer, on the morning of Monday, the 14th of July 1856.
The Sub-Assistant Surgeon, in charge of the Station, accompanied
me, and when the inspection was concluded, the Deputy Magistrate,
whose house is at some distance, joined us.
2. The jail at present consists of one large mat hut, which serves as
'
a prison for laboring and non-laboring prisoners,
and as hajut, hospital, female ward, parish stocks,
and store-house of the station physic. In one corner of it is a privy, and
at some small distance is a dilapidated mat shed serving as a cook house.
There are no bars, bolts, walls, or other means of securing the prisoners.
There is necessarily no attempt at separation, and guards and pri
soners pig together with scant ceremony, and little regard to the order of
their coming and going. To reach this building I was obliged to take to
boat, as it at present enjoys an insular position.
This building was formerly used as lock-up.
*
From all that I could gather, and from the fragments of public cor
respondence shown to me, it would appear that, on the recommendation
235
of Mr. Mills, three buildings were sanctioned for the jail, viz. the one now
occupied by it, the bungalow used as a dispensary, and a third in which
the Sub-Assistant Surgeon performs his dissection of all cases sent to
liim for medico-legal examination.
If I apprehended this matter rightly, the buildings intended for a
jail have been alienated from their intended use, but on what ground, or
by what authority, I could not gather.
Such as they are, I am of opinion that all the buildings above re
ferred to will be annexed by the river during the next rains, if they are
not saved by timely removal.
3. There were at the time of my visit 41 prisoners in custody,
viz. 8 laboring prisoners, 5 non-laboring prisoners^
and 28 in hajut. Of the latter several were
awaiting trial for dacoity.
All prisoners of longer sentences had, on the setting in of the rains,
been sent in to Pubna and Bograh respectively ; the longest sentenced
prisoners at Serajgunge were for six months.
The prisoners complained very bitterly of the length of time they are
retained in the hajut. Nineteen men charged with dacoity had been four
months in custody, and I was informed that some had been as long as
eight months.
This is a matter beyond my province, and I only mentioned it, that en
quiry maybe instituted as to the cause of the delay, by the proper authorities.
The prisoners also complained of having no clothes served out to them,
and of their suffering from sickness when long confined, in consequence.
This is very likely, and whenever a prisoner is retained for more
than one month in hajut, a piece of tat bedding, a blanket, and one suit of
clothes should be issued to him, the whole to be returned in the event of
his acquittal.
The bedding issued to the labouring prisoners was in no case furnish
ed with a pillow as required by Mr. Loch's circular on the subject.
This should be remedied.
,
Many of the hajut prisoners, and principally the dacoits, were fettered.
This is illegal, but unavoidable from the utter insecurity of the jail.
4. The prisoners are fed by contract at so much a head. The
allowance is ample, but the Sub-Assistant Surgeon
Food.
.-ii.
.
complained that it was not always of good quality,
and that there was not enough variety in the dhalls j no fish or flesh is
236
237
GOWALPARAH.
I visited the jail at Gowalparah on Tuesday, the 22nd July, accom
panied by the Magistrate and by the Civil Medical Officer.
2. The jail is placed at the base of the hill, upon the bank of the
river, and consists of thatched buildings with bam
boo walls, surrounded by a frail bamboo fence.
It is scarely possible to imagine any thing more insecure, and yet
escapes are infrequent, notwithstanding the manifest inefficiency of the
guards. The prisoners must be the most docile and well conducted of
convicts, or the jail must be very much more desirable than their own
homes, to account for the fact above-mentioned.
The jail was clean, and in excellent order throughout. The princi
pal ward is divided into five sectionsone for women, three for male
labouring and non-labouring convicts, and at the extremity, adjoining the
hospital, is a small compartment in which cholera cases are placed.
The principle of classification is necessarily out of the question in such
an arrangment ; which, in regard to the space allotted to female prisoners,
is liable to all the objections pointed out in my note on the Sandoway jail.
There were no women in confinement at the time of my visit.
The placing of cholera patients in the corresponding compartment
is not right. If it be deemed necessary or advisable to isolate sporadic
cases of that disease, a separate detached hut should be provided for them.
Notwithstanding the openness of the bamboo walls, the jail buildings
and more particularly the hospital are badly ventilated. This is partly
due to all air from the South being cut off by the hill, and in part to the
absence of openings in the roof to allow the escape of effete air. The
bodies of the convicts are also too directly exposed to the night air.
The remedy for some of these evils is cheap and obvious.
The ridge of the roof should be opened so as to permit air to escape,
without allowing rain to enter. A small mat screen, two feet in height,
238
should be placed round the walls at the level of the bodies of the convicts,
who sleep on raised bamboo machauns. The side of the hill should be
scarped where it is feasible. But I am afraid that all these means will
not materially diminish the great sickness to which this jail is, and always
will be, liable, so long as it is situated at the base of the hill, and on its
northern aspect.
The hospital is a detached building similar in character to the wards,
but furnished with a verandah.
The cook-sheds are roomy, but in a very dilapidated state.
The hajut and civil jail are in the same buildinga manifestly
undesirable arrangement.
The work-sheds are small thatched huts.
The guard are lodged in mat sheds at the entrance gate. Their
quarters are much too crowded.
I do not deem it desirable to suggest any alterations in the arrange
ments of this jail, until I have visited all the prisons in the province,
as I believe that they may be centralized with ease, advantage, and
economy, and then for the reduced number of prisoners that remain, it
will be easy to make more suitable provision than now exists.
3. There were 145 prisoners at the time of
Prisoners.
. .
. ..,_,
.
, , .
. . ,
my visit, viz., 3 civil, 2 sessions and 140 criminals.
They were specially mustered for inspection. The Garrow prison
ers were muscular, sturdy looking fellows. Most of the others had the
faded, sallow, emaciated, stolid appearance of broken down opium-eaters,
which most of them were.
Several of them were covered with offensive and unsightly skin
eruptions, partly, I fear, the result of want of cleanliness.
Labor.
4. The convicts were disposed of as follows :
Working on the Roads,
75
Weaving of Cloth,
8
Blacksmiths,
4
Weaving Setringees,
4
Spinning Thread,
13
Carpenters,
9
Sawyers,
4
Pellats,
5
Cooks,
7
Cleaning the Jail,
4
239
Cleaning Hospital,
>
1
Non-labouring,
2
Sick,
4
The labor in the jail is almost nominal. There is no market for
manufactures, and there are no skilled convicts to teach any variety of
handicraft, if there were.
The working on the roads is in the form of gentle exercise, with
very light loads. Upon a bamboo resting on the shoulders of two convicts
was placed a piece of matting, in which were a few bricks, and this was
being carried along at a funeral placethe burkundauzes and prisoners
all having the appearance of a collection of sleep-walkers, and yet the
convicts complain of the severity of this labor. With opium eating,
drowsy, dreaming guards, it is, I know, very difficult for the Magistrate to
prevent this. Indeed, the proceeding was so open and undisguised, that
the actors evidently laboured under the belief that they were engaged in
hard labor.
The only way of remedying this is to fix the load to be carried, and
the amount of work to be done, and to punish both burkundauzes and
prisoners if the allotted task be not executed It will take time, and need
firmness to overcome the existing vis inertia of people so unaccustomed
to physical exertionyet, I believe, that with patience, it may be accom
plished.
There was one lunatic in the jail, chained to a pillar of the veran
dah of the hajut. He appeared quiet, but as there is no knowing when
such unhappy beings may break out into paroxysms of uncontrollable
mania, he should be sent to Dacca by the next Steamer.
5. The Magistrate has taken the feeding of the prisoners into his
own hands in consequence of the contractor attempt
ing to extort a higher rate than the market value,
for articles of consumption by the prisoners.
This man has supplied the jail for twenty years, and being the weal
thiest man in the place, no one appears at present inclined to enter the
field against him.
I entirly approve of the step taken by the Magistrate, and counsel
his holding out, until the monopoly is destroyed.
6. I postpone all further remark upon this jail until my return
from the other stations of Assam. In the mean
time I shall feel much obliged by the Magistrate's
G
240
KAMROOP
I visited the jail at Gowahatti, on Friday, the 25th of July 1866,
accompanied by the Magistrate and the Officer in charge of the Civil
Medical duties of the Station.
The general state of the jail in all its departments was most satisfac
tory, and although a portion of the scrupulous cleanliness and order visble
throughout were evidently due to the fact of my visit being known and pre
pared for, enough remained to show that it is well cared for by the Officers
in charge, and that its ordinary condition is such as to deserve my approval.
As it is my intention, in communication with the Commissioner, to
sum up my review of the jails in this province when I have seen them
all, I shall only now note a few obvious changes needed in the existing
arrangements, whether the jail remains in its present footing, or the long
term prisoners are transferred to a Central Penitentiary.
2. The buildings are good of their kind, and well adapted for those
who have been accustomed to live in mat huts.
They, however, need roof ventilation, which may
readily be given upon the ridge. The intermediate brick walls should
be removed and replaced by. strong bamboo work : the eastern wall
should be assimilated to that on the western side, and additional ventila
tors near the ground should be opened.
Instead of oil cheraughs, cheap lanterns should be used, removed
beyond the reach of the prisoners at night.
241
242
This may be made four feet square and three in depth, and from this
the draining of the cook-rooms should be daily removed by hand and
thrown in to the river exactly as if it were ordure, than which it is little,
if any thing less pernicious.
All the pucka drains in the jail compound should be taken upthey
are worse than useless.
The floors of the wards and the pathways in the yards and compound
should be occasionally leeped.
4. The prisoners sleep on machauns raised from the ground.
Most of them are of light
bamboo work,
but . in
Beds.
a
.
one ward they are constructed of planking, fitting
in a wooden frame supported ort masonry pillars. The planks are im
moveable, and although it makes an excellent and healthy bed, a very
simple change in the arrangement will improve it materially, without in
creasing its cost.
Each bed should be three feet in width and six feet long. The
planks forming it should be united beneath by small wooden battens, and
the whole should rest on small masonry pillars as at present, with a cross
beam connecting them.
The end nearest to the wall should be sufficiently distant from it to
allow a guard to pass readily round.
The tukta-poshtes should be taken into the yards every morning
when the convicts get up, while the wards are being carefully swept out
When taken in again they should rest on their ends against the walls, so
that the ventilation of the wards would be as little interfered with as
possible.
They should all be scrubbed once a week to keep them free from
bugs and dirt.
As wood is cheap and abundant at Gowahatti, and some of the
convicts are tolerably good carpenters, the above can be carried into
effect at small cost by means of convict labour.
5. There were at the time of my visit 159 prisoners distributed as
follows, viz.
Prisoners.
Coaling Steamers, making and repairing roads, and
bringing wood for carpenters,
35
Making Soorkie,
12
Tiles (Khuprail,)
,
20
Carpenters, .,
40
243
Blacksmiths,
<
Mehturs,
Cooks,
At Rice Dynkee,
Hospital Servants, ..,
In Hospital,
In Hajut,
Dewany,
2
5
6
6
5
131
10
17
1
,
,
159
Sleeping as Follows.
Ward No 1,
9,
2,
99
99 3,
99
99 4,
5
,, 6,
99
99 7*
8,
... ..
Hospital,
35 Labouring
35
28
,.
28
Committed by Nizamut,
Deputy Commissioner,...
Magistrate,
3
51
79
5
1
1
18
1
159
They were specially mastered for my inspection, and were generally
in better condition than those at Gowalpara. Even the confirmed
opium-eaters, when once the habit is broken, improve in the jail.
The labour is not severe, but in some of the manufactures very
creditable progress has been made. The fatal facility with which opium
is obtained at present in the province is said to be rapidly depopulating
244
245
246
NOWGONG.
I visited the jail of Nowgong on the morning of Monday, the 28th
of July, accompanied by the Magistrate and Apothecary in Medical
Charge of the Station.
2. The jail is enclosed by a low wall and the level of its interior was
at the time of my visit, about two feet below the suiSituation;
.
face of the river, so as to render drainage lmposable during the height of the rains. The necessity of raising the ground
had been strongly urged by the Magistrate previous to my visit, but I
postponed the consideration of all radical changes until I had seen the
place.
247
248
6.
The
. .
"
Cooks,
Carpenters,
Blacksmiths,
Mehturs,
mois.. . i
Jheel
Care
,....
87
3
6
"
2
6
109
249
In Hospital,
Hajut,
Dewanny,
Excused labour,
10
3
3
1
126
Sleeping as follows :
Ward No. 1,
2,
In Hospital,
Hajut,
Dewanny,
*
#
41 Labouring.
65
Ditto.
14
3
3
126
Committed by Nizamut,
3
n
Deputy Commissioner,... 16
Magistrates,
101
Hajut,
3
Dewanny,
3
126
Those who were present were specially mustered for inspection.
Most of them seemed sickly, and some more or less emaciated. The
majority exhibited proof of being opium eaters.
In the Hajut were two prisoners ironed, who have been awaiting
trial since September 1855, or nearly ten months. They are Nagas
accused of murder.
To iron Hajut prisoners is illegal, unless they have attempted to
break jail, or the Magistrate has reason to believe that such a measure
is absolutely necessary to prevent escape.
The great length of time for which these men have been detained
pending trial, is deserving of enquiry.
A great many more prisoners are employed outside than is at all
necessary.
(
8.
Guards.
250
The guards are pretty much as elsewhere, and did not impress
me with a. high
The
e estimate of their efficiency.
.
J
following is the strength of the establishment :
Rs.
1 Darogah,
15
1 Mohurrir,
10
1 Jemadar,
12
2 Duffadars, at 6 Rs
12
1 Havildar,
6
2 Naibs, at 5 Rs
10
20 Burkundauzes, at 3 Rs
,
60
24 Ticca Burkundauzes, at 4 Rs
96
Co.'s Rs
2 Carpenters, at 8 Rs. each,
221
16 (Permanent.)
237
This gives 50 guards to 126 prisoners or less than three prisoners
for one guardan amount altogether disproportioned to the real neces
sities of the Jail.
The permanent guard is ample for the whole number of prisoners, and the
greater number of the ticca burkundauzes should at once be dispensed with.
There are also two Carpenters entertained as permanent establish
ment/at a charge of Rupees 8 each. If required to teach the prisoners,
they should be hired for a limited time, and paid for from the manufac
turing funds. If not required for that purpose, they should at once be
struck off the strength of the establishment.
I shall feel obliged to the Magistrate's submitting explanations on all
the points above referred to.
9. The prisoners are fed by contract, and the rates are reasonable,
with the exception of that of the rice. Regarding
this I find a note from the Medical Officer to the
effect that a contract rate of one rupee and four annas per maund is paid
for clean rice, while six prisoners are allowed to proceed to the contractor's
shop in the bazar daily to clean the said rice for the prisoners.
This is an abuse which should not have been allowed to occur, and
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's causing it to cease at once from
the date of receipt of this order.
251
Mr. Pingault's note says, that the unhusked rice can be purchased at
14 annas the maund, and if husked by the convicts in the Jail, that a
saving of six annas and three pie per maund will be effected.
If this be so, and the data seem to be correct, I shall feel obliged by
the Magistrate's causing the Contractor to supply unhusked rice, and by
his having it cleaned in the Jail from and after the receipt of this order.
Fifteen rupees a maund for oil seems also to be very dear. It should
be expressed in the Jail, in which a common Bengali oil-mill should be introduced at once, both as a measure of economy and of discipline.
10. There is at present no special accommodation for female con
victs_ at . Nowgong, a defect pointed out to me by
Female Prisoners.
J
the Magistrate.
Although all women sentenced for more than six months in Assam
are transferred to Tezpore, accommodation is required for them in the
local Jail while under trial, and for those sentenced for shorter
terms.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's submitting a plan and estimate
of building a small ward capable of containing twelve persons.
The foundation should be of masonry, the walls of open bamboo work,
and the roof tiled, and ventilated in the manner mentioned in a former
paragraph.
Each person should have at least 500 cubic feet of space, and the
yard should contain a cook-house, privy and well.
1 1 . The Hospital, and indeed all the Jail buildings are within the
same enclosure, with no separation of any sort*
Hospital.
In the absence of any proper system of classification
this is not of much consequence as respects the Criminal Wards, but in
regard to the Hospital, Hajut, Civil Jail, and Female Ward, it is a mistake.
The separation might easily be accomplished at a cheap rate by means of
a strong bamboo fence, care being taken not to allow it to approach within
ten feet of the outer wall in any direction, otherwise it would, as remarked
by the Magistrate, facilitate escape.
The ventilation, privy arrangement and darkness of the Hospital
are all as defective as those of the wards, and need to be remedied in the
same manner.
Mr. Pingault complains of the want of a dead-house and a separate
ward for contagious diseases. The former is necessary, but I am not
quite convinced of the urgency of the latter.
(252
A small tiled hut twelve feet square, would be sufficient and could be
built at a small cost.
The books, instruments and medicines in the Hospital were all in a
very creditable state;the treatment adopted by Mr. Pingault was judici
ous and successful, and the condition of the department under his charge
is very creditable to that officer.
12. The prisoners were all dressed in red Curwah cloth, which the
Medical Officer disapproves of as dear and of
inferior quality. The Magistrate does not concur
in this judgment, and questions the right of the Medical Officer
to . express an opinion upon a matter which is beyond his pro
vince.
The specimens of Curwah which I saw were decidedly of bad quality,
and expensive, and I am afraid that I cannot concur in the propriety of the
rebuke administered by the Magistrate to the Medical Officer in the visitor's
book. I consider it to be the clear and bounden duty of the Medical Officer
to make known to his official superiors all matters connected with the
economy and discipline of the Jail, which come under his notice and which
he deems it his duty to reportand I regard it to be equally the duty of
the Magistrate to attend to all such remarks, when properly and respect
fully made.
,
The clothing of the prisoners has much to do with their health, which
it is the special province of the Medical Officer to watch over. Some of
the clothing is nearly worn out already, although it has not served half
its appointed time.
The Assam cloth shown to me by Mr. Pingault is superior to the
Curwah and much cheaper, and I must express my regret that it was not
adopted by the Magistrate, both as a measure of economy and
efficiency.
The only objection to it is, that it is not sufficiently distinctive but
that is a minor consideration if the calculation given by Mr. Pingault be
correct, from which it appears that the prisoners might have been better
dressed, with a saving to Government of fourteen annas in the cost of
each suit, consisting of a chudder and dhotee.
I am about to issue a special Circular on the subject of jail clothing,
in which the color, quantity, and quality will be indicated, so as to enable
Magistrates to adopt uniformity of plan and principle in a matter which
is of great importance in jail economy.
253
13.
The Jail wall is much too low and should not have had a toping
to facilitate escape. It is not worth the cost of
changing at present, as all long term convicts will
probably ere long he removed to a Central Jail.
14. The registers of the Jail are well and carefully kept and were
brought up to date. I do not however find any
record of the visits of the Magistrate to the Jail.
This is required by the regulations of the Government, and I shall feel
obliged by the Magistrate's being so good as not to omit it in future.
15. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's submitting to me a
report of the reduction of guards, and general
saving that will be effected by removing all prison
ers whose sentences extend beyond one year to a Central Jail ; what pro
bable average number of prisoners (taking the statistics of as many years
as his record extend)will remain in his jailand what the effect of the
measure will be upon his station.
DEBROOGHUR.
I visited the Debrooghur Jail on Saturday of the 2nd August 1856,
accompanied by the junior Assistant to the Commissioner, Captain Reid,
the Executive Officer of the Division, and Dr. Moir, the Officer in charge
of all the medical duties of the station.
2. The buildings of this jail are on the worst possible plan,
situated in low ground which it is exceedingly
Buildings.
difficult to drain, surrounded by a frail bamboo
fence, in close proximity to the lines of the Burkundauze, and so arranged
as to render classification impossible. Criminal prisoners of all classes,
except those confined for civil offences, are placed in one large, ill-ventilated
dilapidated building. There is a separate shed for civil prisoners in the
same compound, but as none have been imprisoned by the Civil
Courts for several years, the building has been, and is used as a pottery.
The Hospital is in the same enclosure, and very unfit for its purpose.
The cook-sheds are a miserable collection of hovels, and the carpenter's
shop is not very much better.
The guard house is at the entrance, and adjoining it is a separate
enclosure for female prisoners, of the same character as the rest of the
jail.
254
The Hajut adjoins the criminal ward, and was unoccupied at the
time of my visit.
The compound of the jail is low and swampy.
The whole of these buildings are in so dilapidated a state that to
repair, it would be necessary to re-build them, which they most
assuredly are not worth.
They have long been condemned by the local officers, and the
question of building a new jail has been six years under consideration.
In the propriety of condemnation and the necessity for a suitable jail
I entirely concur, and I sincerely hope that the matter will now be
soon definitively settled. Captain Reid pointed out to me the site
selected by a special Committee long since for a new prison, and upon
examining it carefully from the tower of the excellent church in its
vicinity, I entirely agree with the Committee in the eligibility of the
place chosen.
I am of opinion that the plan now in the office of the Chief Engineer
is very much more expensive than is at all necessary, and that in many
important particulars which it is not necessary to discuss here, it is not
suited for the place or the province.
I would suggest, if the Magistrate concurs in my views, that plans
and estimates be prepared as early as possible for a new jail on the
following scale :
(a) A criminal ward for fifty prisoners, of sufficient extent to allow
five hundred cubic feet to each man :twenty-one feet in breadth so as
to admit of a passage of 2^ feet behind and three feet between the beds
ventilated below and in the whole length of the roof, and with only as
much solid masonry in the wall as will be necessary to give stability to
the building and to support the roof.
It should be surmounted by a pent roof, with the ridge pole raised
for ventilation, and open gables for the same important purpose.
Instead of bamboo machauns each prisoner should sleep on a
tukta-poshte three feet and a half in width, and six feet long, moveable,
and supported on small masonry pillars, with an intermediate cross
beam.
The intervals in the masonry of the walls should be filled with strong
bamboos well dried.
On the South-East and West side should be a verandah six or eight
feet wide, and not falling lower than within six feet of the ground.
255
256
In the hospital compound should be a day privy and a small deadhouse twenty feet square, lighted from the roof, or from windows placed so
high up as to screen it from observation from without. It should be sur
rounded by a slight palisade, and might have a small well secured door
communicating with the outside, so as to render it unnecessary to carry
dissected bodies through the jail compound.
A cook-room of suitable dimensions will also be required for the
hospital.
(e) Within the great enclosure of the jail should be a Moodie's
store-room, 16 by 10, ventilated with a door to lock up the property at
night.
(/J To the Darogah's house should be attached a small store-room
for the safe custody of the property of the jail.
(p) The large enclosure of the jail should be surrounded by a
walL twelve feet in height, tapering to a point, and without a coping.
(h) In this enclosure, in addition to the wards and yards abovementioned, should be a large deep tank, with the earth of which the whole
compound should be raised, and slope outwards with a sufficient inclination
to cause all moisture to run off. It should be covered with dry sand
well beaten down to the depth of two feet, and upon this should be placed
a layer of khoa a foot in thickness, connected together by a sufficient
quantity of soorkie.
(i) The jail should be furnished with six solitary cells, each contain
ing at least 1,400 cubic feet of space, and well ventilated, particularly in
the roof.
If the magistrate concurs in the above suggestions, I shall feel much
obliged by his kindly placing himself in communication with the Execu
tive Officer to obtain a plan and estimate.
Orders having already been given for a new jail, a fresh application
to the Chief Engineer is not, I believe, necessary.
Any suggestions from Captain Reid or modification in the proposal
submitted above which he may deem advisable will be most acceptable,
as his long experience and intimate acquaintance with the climate and
peculiarities of the prisoners, will render his counsel extremely valuable.
3. The wards and yards were not quite as clean as they ought to
be; and cows, goats, and dor's belonging to the
General state. '
Burkundauzes are allowed to be kept within the
compound.
257
The female ward was half filled with lime, and the woman confined
in it was cooking her morning meal on the floor in close proximity with
considerable quantity of dry grass for thatching, placed in the verandah.
A spark blown by a puff of wind in that direction, would burn down the
whole jail.
The machauns are all extremely dirty, and apparently infested with
bugs.
The Darogah seems a careful and strict man, but does not under
stand the value and necessity of scrupulous attention to- cleanliness in
every thing relating to the prisoners. The moment I directed his
attention to the matters mentioned above, he promised to amend them
immediatelyand I shall feel much obliged by the Magistrate and Medical
Officer seeing that he does so. The machauns should be scrubbed once
a week, and boiling water be poured over them to assist in the destruction
of the vermin infesting them.
4. There were fifty-nine prisoners in custody at the time of my visit,
one of them a female confined for theft,and the other
Prisoners
a lunatic. Of the prisoners, there were committed
by Nizamut,
1
Commissioner,
1
Deputy Commissioner,
10
Magistrate,
39
Transferred from Gowalparah,
3
Ilajut,
4
Lunatic,
58
1
59
The lunatic is not a convict, but detained for safety. He should
be transferred to Dacca as soon as possible. ,
There is one life-prisoner in the jail. The following is the disposal
of the prisoners: .
Breaking Stones,
5
Pounding Soorkie,
1
Masons building Ghaut,
5
Carpenters,
5
Blacksmith,
1
258
Mehturs,
Cooks,
Cleaning Magazine, Roads, &c.,
2
5
24
In Hospital,
Hajut,
Non-laboring,
48
5
4
1
Lunatic,
.s
59
There are two young children in the jail : as they have both been
weaned, if they have any relations or friends to take care of them outside,
they should be removed.
If there be nobody to take charge of them, a ration of milk may be
issued to each of them daily and charged in a special contingent bill,
which I shall be happy to pass monthly on presentation.
Although there is a special Hajut, the Darogah allows the prisoners
under trial to sleep in the criminal ward. I shall feel obliged by the
Magistrate's directing him to discontinue this practice,
5. The Darogah informed me that the bedding of the prisoners
had been . destroyed
been originally
Clothing.
. from having
e
.
J
infested with vermins : and that none has since been
issued most of them had small mats, which are scarcely sufficient for the
purpose.
Blankets also have not been issued for some time to the convicts.
Some of the prisoners had accumulated a quantity of old clothing :
all in excess of the regulated allowance, should be taken away from them,
and regarding clothing generally, I shall feel much obliged by Magis
trate's kindly consulting my predecessor's Circular on the subject.
The prisoners should be made to wash their clothes once a week, on
Sundays.
7. The prisoners are fed by contract : they complained much of its
being bad in quality, and deficient in quantity.
The good condition in which all but the con
firmed opium eaters were, proved that they have not much ground for
complaint.
259
The rice, however, shown to me, was dirty, and the dall of inferior
quality. The former should be issued in the clean state, and the number
of chittacks allowed should be free from impurity, according to the state
ment of the prisoners, which the Darogah did not contradict, they lose a
cluttack a day, from the presence of impurities. This is probably an
exaggeration, yet the matter is deserving of attention.
The following are the contract rates, viz :
Per Maund.
Rice,
18 0
Dall,
1 4 0
Vegetables,
16 0
Salt,
5 8 0
Oil,
13 0 0
Mussallah,
10 0 0
Wood,
0 2-0
Fish is supplied every other day at a cost of from four to six rupees
a maund.
The cost of feeding a laboring convict is,
10 pie.
A non-laboring prisoner,
9J
A Hajut prisoner daily,
9
8. The amount of sickness in the jail is not
Hospital.
great.
The acting Native Doctor is a dismissed student of the Medical Col
lege, who never obtained a diploma, and is quite unfit for the office which
he occupies. Perhaps the Civil Surgeon will kindly explain how such
an individual came to be appointed, for the only proof of professional
capacity with which he seems to be provided, is a certificate of qualifica
tion for the duties of compounder.
9. The records of the jail are brought up to date, but the general
correspondence is not filed separately as required
by Circular No. 39, dated 27th February 1856,
and I found no regular prison order book.
10. It is proposed to transfer all prisoners of more than one year's
sentence to a central jail at Tezpore. As this meaConclnsion.
sure .will deprive the Magistrate of road laborers,
I shall feel obliged by his reporting the probable effect of this measure
upon the station, and the amount of reduction in guards and establish
ment that would be effected by it.
260
SIBSAUGUR.
I visited the jail at Sibsaugur on Monday, the 4th of August 1856,
accompanied by the Magistrate and Civil Surgeon.
2. The prison in all departments is in exGeneral State.
*
cellent order, and kept as clean as such a place is
capable of being kept.
3. The existing buildings have been condemned for many years,
and a long and protracted
correspondence
has
Buildings.
.
r
taken place regarding the building of a new jail.
Various plans and estimates seem to have been submitted and reject
ed, until a recent one was sent up from the office of the Chief Engineer.
This would form an excellent jail elsewhere, but is, in my opinion, ill suited
to the climate of the province, and a great deal more costly than is
necessary.
The existing buildings are in so frail and insecure a state, that I am
surprized at their not having tumbled down long ago.
The wants and circumstances of the two stations are so similar, that
the plan which I have suggested for a new jail at Debrooghur, will be
equally applicable to Sibsaugur. There is no need therefore, to repeat it
here.
The new jail should be built on the site of the old one, and contain
a criminal ward for fifty prisoners, a hajut for twelve, a female and civil
ward for six each, with suitable cock-houses and privies, also six solitary
cells.
4. There were at the time of my visit 111
Prisoners.
.
.
in,
'
prisoners in custody, ot whom 5 were women.
Of the prisoners, there were committed by
Nizamut,
3
Sessions Judge,
*..... 29
Magistrate,
55
Sub-Assistant Commissioner, ... 14
Maharajah Porunder Sing,
1
Hajut,
102
9
111
261
Of the above two are life-prisoners, and one of them is liable to occasional
fits of insanity. I am of opinion that the last of these should be transferred
to Alipore.
Of the term prisoners, one is a leper who has still two years of un
expired sentence. There are no means of isolating him. I think, there
fore, he should be sent t6 the leper ward of the Burdwan jail, to prevent
his tainting others, and to "afford him a chance of cure.
In the hajut, a frail mat hut with bamboo sides, there are no less
than five murderers at present, of whom one is only awaiting the sen
tence of the Sudder. There is neither condemned cell, nor any means
of providing for the safe custody of such desperate characters, except
placing the armed guard in the same building with them. The want of
a new jail is so exceedingly urgent, that I trust there will be no further
delay in the matter than is necessary for the preparation of the plan and
estimate by Captain Reid.
Of the female prisoners, two are for short terms and three are await
ing trial. The place in which they are all confined is very unsuitable, and
has neither privy nor cook-rooms attached to it.
The prisoners are disposed of as follows:
Breaking stones,
3
Cleaning roads,
82
Blacksmith,
1
Mehturs,
2
Cooks,
5
Sicks
6
Non-labouring,
3
Hajut,
9
111
No classification of the convicts is possible in the jail, as it is at
present.
Guards.
5.
1 Darogah,
1 Duffadar,
21 Ticca Peons, @ 4 each, ...
6
84
113 Rupees.
. x "
262
The Darogah is also Mohurrir and draws tlie pay of the two offices,
amounting to 25 rupees. This is a very old arrangement, but as it is
opposed to the orders of the Government, it would be better to have the
pay of the Darogah fixed at 25 rupees, and to suppress the office of
Mohurrir.
The ticca guards also take the ward duty of the jail at night.
In addition to the above the jail is guarded by a detachment of the
1st Assam Light Infantry consisting of a Havildar, a Naick, and 16 Se
poys for the jail, and a Naick and four Sepoys for the hospital, and a
Havildar and eight Sepoys for the hajut.
The whole cost of the guards of all descriptions is rupees 329-10 a
month, a large sum for so small a number of prisoners.
6. The prisoners are fed by contract at the
following rates :
Rice, per maund,
1 12 0
Dhall,
3 0 0
Vegetables,
3 0 0
Fish,
5 0 0
Oil,
16 0 0
Wood,
0 4 0
Salt,
5 0 0
Mussallah,
20 0 0
These rates are somewhat high, but I suppose this is unavoidable
in so isolated a spot as Sibsaugur. The quantity of wood allowed for
cooking is in excess of that given in other jails. It should be reduced
to the extent of half a seer for each prisoner.
The food is good in quality, sufficient in quantity, as varied as local
circumstances will permit, and agrees well with the prisoners.
7. The hospital has recently been built, and is a good building of
its kind. It needs a night privy, a covered way
Hospital.
,.
.
, ,
,
,
to the day privy and doors to the two ends.
The day privy may be dispensed with when a proper night con
venience has been built.
The Magistrate may submit estimates for the above, which I shall
be happy to sanction as far as may be in my power.
The sick of the detachment of the 1st Assam Light Infantry, and
outside cases of accident and injury are placed in the verandah of the
jail hospital. I need scarcely say that this is a very undesirable arrange
263
ment, and that suitable accommodation for all sick not belonging to the
jail, should be found without its walls. The sepoys object to it, and not
without reason.
In existing circumstances', however, it is unavoidable.
The medicines, hospital registers and instruments were all in good
order. Some of the latter appear old and unserviceable.
The hospital guard at present sleep in the hospital verandah, unpro
tected from the weather. A small guard room should be built for
them.
The verandah of the hospital requires chicks which may be provided,
but I do not approve of fixed jhill-mills. The hospital cannot be too
well ventilated, and light is nearly as necessary as air, for the recovery of
the sick.
Fixed jhill-mills interfere with both.
A small dead house is also necessary. Estimates for the whole of
the above may be submitted.
8. The prisoners were all clothed in red curwah, of good quality.
The plan of a distinctive dress is a good one, and
Clothing.
..i,,,a practice introduced by Captain Holroyd, of
affixing a number to the clothing of every prisoner, is excellent.
It assists in identification and prevents the destruction and stealing
of the clothing.
9. The fetters of the prisoners were rough and several were not
of the pattern approved by the Sudder Nizamut.
The Magistrate may indent on the jail at Alipore for
one hundred sets of three link fetters, to be sent up by an early
steamer.
The old fetters may be sold as old iron, or kept in store, to be
converted to any other uses for which iron may be required.
10.
,
-j
ing what number of labouring convicts he considers
absolutely necessary to keep the roads &c., in repair, and what reduction
of establishment would be feasible by the transfer of all criminals sentenced
to more than one year's imprisonment to a eentral jail at Tezpore.
264
TEZPORE.
I visited the jail at Tezpore on Wednesday the 6th, and Thursday
the 7th of August, 1856, accompanied by the Officiating Magistrate, the
Executive Officer of the Division, the Sub-Assistant Commissioner, and
the Medical Officer in charge of the station.
2. The jail buildings are well situated, and were in excellent order
_ x of-...,
throughout.
The classification of rprisoners >; the
General, State
the jail.
.
cleanliness of the wards and yards ; and the
internal arrangements generally, were such as to command ' my
approval.
I would suggest, however, that all animals be removed from the
jail, as they are always the cause of impurities, which in time become
offensive and injurious in enclosures.
3. The criminal jail consists of four wards, each 50 by 25 feet with a
verandah on the western side. The roof is of
Buildings.
thatch ; the eastern wall is of masonry with small
longitudinal openings ; the western wall consists of pillars with bamboos
in the intermediate spaces, and on the same side running the whole
length of the building is a good verandah.
The prisoners sleep on bamboo machans placed against the wall,
and well raised from the ground.
The privies project from the eastern wall, and formerly communi
cated with a deep pucka drain. The floors have been closed up by the
Magistrate and gumlahs used, with great advantage to the cleanliness
and purity of the jail.
They were changed by the Magistrate upon reading my notes on
the sewerage of other jails, and the change has my full approval.
The eastern drain may be taken up and filled with earth. The
bricks can be used for any other purpose requiring them.
The cook-sheds are open mat buildings, 100 by 10 feet each. They
are much out of repair.
At the south-western corner of the great yard is an unventilated
ill built work-shed.
Two small wells are also in the same yard.
The hajut is to the south of the criminal yard in a large enclosure,
and is a building of similar character to the criminal wards, 50 by 20,
with a night privy and thatched cook-shed.
265
To the eastward of the hajut yard and opening into it is the civil
jail, also 50' by 20'. It is at present used as a school room, and place of
confinement for murderers and desperate characters, whom it is deemed
desirable not to retain in the Iiajut.
I need scarcely say that this is an undesirable arrangement, but in
existing circumstances without a single solitary cell, or other means of
isolating particular prisoners it is unavoidable, and as no civil prisoners
have been sentenced for some time, no practical harm has resulted from
using their ward as a condemned cell.
The hospital is in a separate enclosure on the north side of the jail,
is 70 by 25 feet, and has a verandah on its eastern and western aspects.
Like all the other buildings, it has no proof ventilation, and the
doors are not sufficiently numerous for the free admission of air.
In the same compound are a cook-house, and dead-house twenty
feet square.
To the east of the hospital is the female yard and ward, the latter
40 by 20 feet, and in every other respect similar to the other
buildings.
There is no hospital or work-shed for the women.
The whole jail is surrounded by a low, ill built masonry wall; and
the masonry in general of the buildings, which seem to have cost a large
sum of money, appeared to me to be of inferior quality.
In front of the main entrance on either side of the gate are two
buildings 30 by 20 each, used respectively as a malkhanah, guard-room,
and jail office.
In the space in front of the jail were some dilapidated work-sheds,
and a rice-store.
As I have written a separate and special note upon the changes and
additions necessary to convert this into the central jail of the province,
it is not necessary to reconsider the matter in this place.
3. There were at the time of my visit
Prisoners"
110 prisoners in custody, of whom ten were
females.
Of the above there were:
Committed by Nizamut,
6
Ditto Sessions Judge,
4
Ditto Commissioner,
1
Ditto Deputy Commissioner,
33
266
Committed by Magistrate,
Ditto Sub-Assistant Commissioner,
51
4
Hajut,
99
11
110
There are three life prisoners in the jail, of whom two are women.
They should all be removed to Alipore.
There are two children in the jail, one four, and the other two
years old. As neither of them now need be retained by their mothers, I
shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's instituting enquiries as to whether
they have any relatives able and willing to take charge of them.
Should such prove to be the case, they should be made over to them at
once.
The following is the manner in which the prisoners are disposed of
viz :
Carpenters,
.12
Sawyers,
4
Blacksmiths,
3
Farmers,
3
Cloth-weavers,
8
Making Petarahs and Bamboo Screens,
9
Repairing roads &c.,
38
Cooks,
4
Sweepers,
5
Cleaning arms,
1
Sick,
5
Hospital Servants,
3
Convalescent,
1
Non-labouring,
1
Jail Bukshee,
1
School Master,
1
Hajut,
99
ii
110
267
30
2
3
31
19
>,
Hajut Ward,
Female Ward,
Hospital,
.-.
9
10
8
110
The jail school master is a moonshee who was sentenced to banish
ment in connection with the Moorshedabad murder case. He is reported
to be an extremely well behaved man, and is a good Oordoo and Persian
scholar. His pupils are chiefly the sons of the Omlah of the court, and
of respectable inhabitants of Tezpore, and they are taught in the jail.
I am afraid that I cannot sanction the continuance of this arrange
ment. The jail is a most unfit place to familiarize children with ,
Persian and Oordoo are not languages needed in the province, and as
there is a Government school at Tezpore, the children should be
encouraged to go there, and pay for a suitable education, instead of
obtaining elemosynary instruction in the jail.
A prison school is a good thing, but its pupils must be inmates of
the prison. If the Magistrate can organize a class of convicts to be
taught reading, writing, and the form of accounts current in the province
in Bengali, I know of no objection to the moonshee's being engaged in its
instruction, under suitable regulations, but the present system must
cease from the date of receipt of this order ; and no outsiders be allowed
within the precincts of the jail on any account whatever.
As there is no mohurir in the jail, and the moonshee is probably a
Bengali scholar, he may be employed at once in assisting to keep the
jail records.
I do not understand what is meant by the jail Bukshee, and shall
feel obliged by the Magistrate's explaining in what manner he is employed
and how such an occupation came to be instituted for a convict.
4. The prisoners are fed by the Magistrate, there being no person
of sufficient substance at Tezpore to undertake a conFood.
...
tract. A store of rice was laid in by the late Magis
trate; the fish, meat, mussalahs, and vegetables arepurchased by the darogah.
268
Oil,
13 11 6
Salt,
4 8 0
Wood,
0 3 0
Fish,
3 9 0
Meat,
5 8 0
Vegetables,
110
SUNDAYS.
Eice,
Salt,
Oil,
Mussalah,
Dhall, ...
Vegetable
Wood, ...
11 chittacks
1 tollah
1
1
3 chittacks
1
1 seer
Wood,
1 seer
Rice,
14 chittacks
Salt, ... 1 tollah
Oil, ... 1
Mussalah, 1
Dhall... . 2i chittacks!
Vegetable, 2
Wood,... 1 seer
The Sunday ra
tion of the labour,
ing prisoners is
that allowed to
non-labouring con
victs on all days.
1
1
3
32
1
Darogah,
,
Jemadar,
Duffadars at 6 ..
Jail Burkundauzes at 4
Blacksmith,
>
Rs.
30
10
18
128
8
1 Carpenter,
\ Rajmistry,
269
Rs.
8
6
208
60
6
3
69
Hospital.
1 Native Doctor,
1 Dresser,
20
10
30
Total Rupees,
307
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's ascertaining from his records
and reporting to me, the authority by which a blacksmith, a carpenter
and a rajmistry have become a part of the permanent establishment.
Among the guard is a female peon, who remains in the women's
ward, and has charge of them during the day. Her pay is three rupees
a month, I should be glad to know the origin of this excellent arrange
ment, how far the Magistrate considers it to have been successful, and
whether it cannot be extended to having a female guard at night, so that
the men of the guard should never have access to the female ward.
The hospital was clean and orderly and had
Hospital.
.
. .
few sick in it.
The instruments are in good order. There were many medicines
on the shelf of which the original fastenings have never been taken off,
and which are evidently wasted, at some cost to the State. There seems
to be no proper check upon the expenditure of such medicines as are in
ordinary use.
The hospital records are not properly kept, and I found no detail of
miportant cases. The weekly sanitary report of the Surgeon upon the
state of the jail generally is not furnished, as required by the regulations.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's kindly directing the attention of
the Civil Medical Officer to all these matters.
270
JUMALPORE.
I visited the Lock-up at this station on the evening of Monday, the
11th of August 1856, accompanied by Mr. W. Cockburn.
2. The building is a single mat hut, very much out of repair, 45 feet
by 13, without surrounding wall, palisade, or pro
tection of any kind. It has neither cook-room nor
privy, nor is it in any way fitted for a place of confinement.
It contained, at the time of my visit, 57 prisoners, employed as fol
lows:
Clearing away jungle,
32
Working on the roads,
11
Cutting Cane from jungle,
5
T_
48
(
llajut.
Non-laboring,
Sick,
271
)
,
3
4
2
.scS
57
The sick, the non-laboring, the prisoners awaiting trial, and those
sentenced for periods varying from 15 days to 5 years, are all huddled
together, without the semblance of an attempt at separation.
Two prisoners had escaped the day before I reached the station, by
cutting through the mat wall, and there was nothing to have prevented
the whole from accompanying them, had they been so disposed.
The hut was so crowded that I cannot imagine how so many men
were able to lie down in it at all.
3. The jail is guarded by a duffadar and six burkundauzes from
the thannah. These men dislike the work, naturalGuards.
ly enough, for it is impossible, in existing circum
stances, to hold them responsible for the escape of those confided to their
charge.
The laboring convicts are superintended by nine teeka peons, who
draw the same pay as the permanent establishment, viz, four rupees a
month each.
Until better arrangements are made, one-half of the Kamjaree bur
kundauzes should be placed on night duty.
4. The rprisoners . are ....
fed by a branch conFood.
tractor ot the Mymensing jail, and get the same
rations as in the Sudder'jail.
Mr. Cockburn informed me that the contractor gave him a great
deal of trouble. His principal should be punished if this recurs.
5. No time should, I think be lost in buildxiecommenaation.
ing a suitable jail for this subdivision.
In spite of the overcrowding, exposure, and other drawbacks mention
ed above, the prisoners are healthya significant fact and one that should
not be lost sight of in the construction of a new lock-up.
The more I see of the jails under my charge, the more I am con
vinced that solid, massive, costly pucka structures are unnecessary
for the safe custody of the prisoners, and are the cause of much sickness
and mortality to those confined in them.
272
273
MYMENSING.
I visited the jail at Mymensing on Tuesday, the 12th of August
1856, accompanied by the Magistrate, his Assistant, and the Civil Surgeon
of the station.
It was inspected by Mr. Loch in February of last year, whose me
morandum points out most of ^the defects of this singularly ill-contrived
prison, and as they are nearly all exactly in the state in which he found
them, it is not necessary for me to recapitulate his remarks.
One striking improvement effected in consequence of his visit has been
the enclosure of a large space for work-sheds which is nearly completed.
Part of the new ward is occupied. It is built on an extravagant scale
quite unnecessary for its purpose, but is in all respects, infinitely superior
to every other part of the jail.
The old wards are low, damp, and ill ventilated ; the sewerage of
the prison is on the defective plan so frequently noticed in my remarks on
other jails ; the work shops are a collection of mat sheds without the walls ;
*he female ward, hospital, and non-labouring wards are entirely separated
from the main jail ; and the cook-sheds are in as bad a state as can well be
imagined.
s
274
Much credit is due to the present Magistrate for many useful and
necessary reforms introduced, and I found his prisoners more free from
evidences of having obtained tobacco or any other forbidden luxuries, than
those of any other jail which I have recently visited.
The general state of the prison was as creditable as so very unsuitable
a place can be, with an inefficient Darogah and worthless establishment.
To introduce any radical measure of amelioration, would render it
necessary to rebuild and recast the greater part of the jail, which is not
worth the outlay that would be required.
As it is probable that Central Penitentiaries will ere long be established
that will relieve most of the existing jails of a considerable proportion of
their population, all that I deem it necessary to recommend at present is to
remove all obvious defects that can be remedied at little cost, and to sug
gest such improvements as are necessary in existing circumstances.
These I shall briefly consider in the following order, viz. : prisoners
diet, clothing, drainage and sewerage, state of the yards, work and cooksheds, labour and hospital, guard and establishment.
3. There were in custody on the day of my
Prisoners.
.....
<> i
,
visit, 504 prisoners, ot whom 12 were females.
Of these there were
Committed by Nizamut,
40
Sessions Judge,
161
Magistrate,
94
Deputy Magistrate,
81
Assistant Magistrate,
1
Law Officer,
45
Transferred from Jumalpore,
10
In Hajut,
60
Dewanny,
12
504
They were disposed of as follows, viz.
In Ward No. 1
157 Laboring prisoners.
2
,
76
Ditto.
3
54
Hajut.
,,
4
24 Non -laboring prisoners.
Lall Dewanny,
Dewanny,
Hospital,
Total,
275
504
Of the above six are life prisoners, one male and five females. These
are all murderers and should, in my opinion, be at once transferred to
Alipore.
The association of term and life prisoners is extremely objec
tionable, and the only jail in which they can be effectually separated is at
Alipore.
There is another prisoner under trial for murder, who is manifestly
insane, and was known to be a lunatic long before he committed the
crime for which he is imprisoned. He should at once be transferred to
Dacca, for I am afraid he is a hopeless, as well as a dangerous maniac.
The jail is much overcrowded, particularly in the hajut, and No. I
ward. I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's at once removing 57
prisoners from the latter and placing them in the unoccupied division of
the new ward.
Its not being quite finished is of less consequence than crowding so
many men together in a space utterly insufficient for their healthy custody.
The convalescent ward is also too crowded. Those who have slight
sores on the limbs should also be put, if labouring prisoners, in the unoccupied
portion of the new ward. I am afraid there is no means of relieving the
pressure in the hajut, but crowding is not of so much consequence there
as in the criminal wards.
In regard to occupation, there were
Making paper,
79
Gunny weavers,
80
Bricklayers,
45
Raising the ground of the work yard,. . .
84
Cleaning the Jail,
14
Cooks,
11
Hospital attendants,
,
...
15
Blacksmiths,
2
330
276
55
18
34
5J
12
55
504
The laboring convicts are not as profitably employed as they
might and ought to be, but of this, I shall say more in a subsequent
paragraph.
The prisoners generally appeared to be in good condition. Some
of them had however a scorbutic look.
4. The prisoners are fed by contract at the
Food.
,
.
,
undermentioned rates, viz. :
Rice,
1
0
8 per maund.
Dhall,
1
4
o
0
Vegetable,
0 13
Oil,
10
2 10
Salt,
4
0
o
Mussalah,
3
0
o
Wood,
0 10
0
Fish or Meat,
3 12
o
The rates for rice, dhall and wood, appear to me to be very high.
At Bhyrub Bazaar, in the junction of the Brahmaputra and Soorma
rivers, not far from Mymensing, unhusked paddy is sold at the rate of
2 maunds and 5 seers for the rupee. The cost of carriage to Mymen
sing can be very little.
Wood again can be floated down during the rains at a cheap rate.
The present contract was not made by Mr. Lance. When it
expires I shall feel much obliged by care being taken that the rates are
more reasonable.
At present a laboring prisoner costs 13 pie daily, and hajut and
non-laboring prisoners 11 pie. In such a district as Mymensing the
former should not cost more than 9, and the latter 7 pie each per diem.
277
Sundays.
Phall,
Vegetable,
Oil
3
1
H tollah,
Mussalah,
Dhall,
1
Vegetable, ... % pow,
Meat or Fish, pow,
Oil,
H tollah,
Salt,
If
Dhall
3
Vegetable, ... 14 pow.
Oil
H tollah.
Salt,
If
(
6.
278
279
280
Hooghly jail. They are quite as good as that of Alipore, and considerably
cheaper.
10. The hospital is detached from the jail, and is one of the worst
buildings belonging to it. It is too closely hemmed
in by walls, is badly drained, insufficiently ventilated,
and much too crowded.
The posterior wall is tumbling down, and should be repaired as
quickly as possible.
It strikes me that the Lall Dewanny, with slight additions would
make a much better hospital. If the Magistrate and Civil Surgeon
concur in this opinion, I shall feel obliged by their submitting a special
report regarding it. The yard would require to be raised as mentioned
above, and a tiled verandah might be added to it at a trifling cost.
The hospital records are well and carefully kept, and the patients are
properly cared for.
1 1 . These require remodelling as in almost
Guard & Establishment.
,
....
. .
every other jail, the existing guard, from the
Darogah downwards, being evidently inefficient.
The old muskets in the guard -room had better be returned to the
Ordnance Department, as they are worn out and useless.
12. The fetters are not all of the proper pattern, and the rings
are now iust below the knee instead of at the
Fetters.
ancle. This should be changed.
There were some Hill men in the hajut awaiting trial, fettered. I
scarcely think this can be necessary to prevent escape, with jail walls so
high as those at Mymensingh.
13. The records of the jail are well and
Conclusion
'
.
.
carelully kept in the manner required, and they
were all brought up to date.
CHERRA POONJEE.
I VISITED the Jail at Cherra Poonjee on the 18th and 19th of August
1856, accompanied by the Magistrate and Civil Surgeon.
2. The jail buildings consist of a long stone bungalow, with a
.,,.
tiled roof covered by
Buildings.
J a thatch, in two
compartments
r
one 50 by 23^ feet in which the prisoners are
281
lodged, the other opening into it, 16 by 23 feet, and serving as a guard
room and hajut. In the same enclosure is a sepoy guard-room of similar
construction 20 by 14| feet. The whole is surrQunded by a stone wall,
and is situated in the Civil portion of the station.
The hospital is a small detached stone bungalow at some distance
from the jail, and having no wall around it.
A female ward, most unsuitable for the purpose, without any other
aperture than the door, is also detached.
So likewise are the cook-room, the manufacture shed, and store
room, all of which are dilapidated mat huts.
The criminal ward is ample for the present wants of the district, and
the prisoners have been very healthy in it.
It was originally built as a magazine and was converted by Col.
Lister into the jail, when it ceased to be required for military
purposes.
The old jail was in a large bullock shed of the Sylhet Light Infantry
Battalion, very badly placed, in an isolated position, and unhealthy.
The removal of the prisoners to their present locality was a judicious
measure.
A claim for the restoration of the building to military purposes was
made a short time since, but was negatived upon the representation of the
Magistrate and the Agent to the Governor General.
Apparently by an oversight, the buildings were not then finally
transferred from the military to the civil department. This should, I
think, be now done to prevent future mistakes and misapprehensions, the
more especially as various additions are urgently required to render it
suitable for its present purpose, which will entirely unsuit it for any
future military occupation.
There is at present no accommodation for civil prisoners ; the hajut
prisoners share the quarters of the burkundauzes, which again open into
the criminal ward, all of which I hold to be objectionable.
In the advisability of these and indeed of almost all the changes
necessary, I have been anticipated by the Magistrate, who had drawn up
a note for my information before I reached Cherra.
Mr. Hudson suggests the building of a ward for civil prisoners
and a hajut each 26 by 18 feet to the south of the present criminal ward,
in the propriety of which recommendation I concur. They should be
separated by a small six foot wall, and have ample roof ventilation, which
282
(
3.
283
284
Salt,
t
6 4 0
Kessaree Dall,
1 14 0
Chillies,
10 0 0
Onions,
2 8 0
Huldee,
14 0
Firewood,
0 2. 0-.
The charges for salt, mussalah, and rice are high as compaired with
Sylhet, whence the carriage, except in times of panic as sA present, ought
not to be high, particularly as the Government have a number of Com
missariat elephants near the foot of the hill, which are nearly always
available for the carriage of Government property. They took up,
during my stay at Cherra, a large quantity of mess and the stores,
and could with equal facility carry up the prisoners food. The boat
hire from Sylhet to Teriah ghaut would not amount to muck The
following are the prices to which I refer.
Sylhet.
Rice,
Salt,
Mussalahs,
Cheeea.
Rs.
,,
0 10
4 6
2 8
2
0
0
Rice
Salt,
Chillies,
Rs. 1 9 0
6 4 0
10 0 0
The following is the diet table of the Cherra prisoners with its
cost :Labouring Prisoners.
12 Chittacks of rice, at^l rupee 9 annas per maund,...
Es. Aa.
Pies.
5,62,500
0,46,875
0,75,000
0,60,000
1,55,625
1,00,000
10,00,000
285
Non-labouring Prisoners.
11
Its. As.
Pies.
5,15,625
0,46,875
0,75,000
0,60,000
1,52,500
0,50,000
9,00,000
From this the paun and sooparee must at once be omitted. The pri
soners declare that they will die if their masticating material be taken
away from them. So they also said when tobacco was stopped, and paun
is just as much a luxury, and just as little a necessary of life, as the
Nicotian leaf.
For the present, the cost of the paun and sooparee, viz. 1 pie in the
case of labouring, and half a pie in the case of non-labouring prisoners,
should be expended in the purchase of fresh meat or fish three times a
week, if the amount mentioned be sufficient.
The prisoners were all in excellent condition, and while the free cossiah
are dying at a rapid rate in every direction, were free from disease,
a tolerably good proof that their food is wholesome and sufficient, and
that they' are well cared for.
The following are the rates at which the articles mentioned, are pur
chased for the use of the prisoners, viz :
Blankets,
1 12
each.
Red Gurvvah cloths, for dhootees-.
and chudd.ers, each 13 to 14 1 1 8 0
hats long,
J
Small earthen cooking pots,
0 0 9
;>
Large ditto ditto,
.0 1 6
JJ
Earthen plates for eating,
0 0 6
286
Dhoonah,
0 5 0 per seer.
Flax for ropes,
0 16
Chattas,
0 13
each.
Lanterns should be substituted for chiraghs, and when charcoal is
used, dhoonah may be dispensed with. Instead of earthen plates, which
are constantly breaking, the prisoners should make stone plates for
themselves.
5. The prisoners are all clothed in red curwah at 1-8 the piece.
This was introduced by the late Commissioner of
Clothing.
Assam, Mr. D. Scott, and is excellent as a diag
nostic costume, but is not otherwise suited for the purpose. In addition
to this, it is very expensive.
A flannel jacket, made with sleeves, was introduced some time ago,
with excellent effect as respects the improvement of the health of the
convicts. With this jacket, which costs 2 rupees, a chudder is unneces
sary and should not be allowed. The jacket at the cost mentioned ought
to last a year.
i
The Magistrate and Civil Surgeon recommend the grant of a third
blanket in the cold weather, to place under the prisoners, the present
allowance of two being necessary to cover them. I am afraid that I
cannot concur in this recommendation as a good, stout, warm piece of
Tat bedding ought to be quite sufficient. The blankets ought, however, to
be large enough for a prisoner to roll round him.
6. The Magistrate recommends the second ring of the fetters to be
removed, which may be done at once, as they were
never intended to be placed there, and must have
been introduced from misapprehension when the bar were changed to
link fetters.
,
Leather Mozahs were sanctioned in my Circular No. 41, dated
30th April, 1856.
7. The night privy of the criminal ward cannot be used, and
none of the others have any privy at all. The
best form is that of a simple projecting room, with
a ventilator in the roof, and a pan to receive the ordure which should
be carried away in the morning.
A day privy, consisting of a moveable pan behind a dwarf screen
wall may also be constructed in the work yards. I shall feel obliged by
the Magistrate's sending me estimates for the above.
Privies-
287
8.
Those at present carried on are few and simple, and the work
generally of the jail seems to me to be too li^ht.
Manufactures.
m.
i
i
They may be increased in any direction which
the local experience of the Magistrate may suggest to him as being penal
and profitable, but care must be taken to apportion the task to the strength
of the prisoner, so that every convict does a fair day's work.
_ .
9. The existing
Establishment.
,
establishment of the Jjail
is as follows :
Assistant Surgeon in Medical charge, Rs. 100 per mensem.
1 Native Doctor,
15
1 Dresser,
10
1 Jemadar,
12
1 Duffadar,
20 Burkundauzes, at 5 each,
100
Total,
254
I am of opinion that the Civil salary of the Surgeon should not be
debited entirely, if at all, to the jail. The pay is well earned, and quite
small enough, but as Cherra Poonjee is a Sanatarium, and the calls on
the time of the Surgeon are neither few nor unimportant, the charge
should be debited to the Civil duties of the station.
The Jemadar, who is in reality a Darogah is not sufficiently paid in
so expensive a place as Cherra, but this had better be rectified in the
general revision of the jail establishments.
Money allowances to prisoners are very objectionable, and I shall feel
much obliged by the Magistrate's kindly informing me how, and when
the allowances in question was sanctioned, and what objections there are
to its being discontinued.
Regarding a blacksmith, for whom the Magistrate applies as a per
manent addition to his establishment at 8 rupees monthly, it will be better
to transfer a convict blacksmith, which I shall be happy to recommend.
10.
288
The hospital was in good order, the books well kept, and the sick
are carefully and successfully treated.
11. The books and records are admirably kept, and were brought
up to date. They exhibit the great interest taken
Books and Eecords.
....
,
,
.
, ,
STLHET.
I visited the Jail at Sylhet on Saturday the 16th, and Sunday
the 17th of August 1856, accompanied by the Magistrate and Medical
Officer in. charge of the Station.
2. I found the jail in excellent order throughout ; but the prisoners
are very numerous, a large number of them are unhealthy, and there
are several matters connected with the jail, which need radical and
immediate change.
3. It was visited by Mr. Loch in December 1854, nearly twenty
months since, and the changes considered by him to be necessary were,
the construction of new work-sheds, the removal of the western wall,
the metalling of the jail yards, the closing of the intercommunicating
openings between the criminal wards, and several minor improvements, few
of which have been effected. Much of this great delay has arisen from
the time occupied in procuring estimates from the Executive Depart
ment, and some portion of it is due to my having been unwilling to
sanction any expensive alterations, until I had myself visited the jail.
4. I will take up the different points requiring consideration in
the order in which they were discussed by my predecessor for facility
of reference, noting the plans in which I agree, and the proposals hi which
I differ from Mr. Loch.
5. The Sylhet jail has long occupied a high
New work-shops.
.
.
position for the variety and excellence of its ma
nufactures, and it csntinues to maintain its reputation. The works are,
however, carried on in miserable, dilapidated sheds, without the walls
of the jail, and in close proximity to a large colony of prostitutes, neither
of which circumstances is calculated to maintain the discipline, or mend
the morals of the convicts.
289
)
/.
tt
i.i
! i c ii_
6- UPon the Subject of the
work-sheds, Mr. Loch's remarks
in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th para,
, .
,
graphs ot his memorandum as
ted in ^ margin for readier
*
o '
reference,
The Magistrate Objected to
.1
i
.i
,
n
the removal of the western Wall
on the ground that throwino- the
B
work-shopS inside the jail, Would
*
render it unwholesome from the
P ,
..
,
retuse ot the oil and paper manufapture>?
"
I do not consider this objec.
*,
destroyed.
tion to be valid for the refuse
should be carefully removed, whether it be within or without the wall,
and the prisoners at night would not be exposed to it more in the one
case, than they are in the other.
A more valid objection to my mind is the great cost of the palisades
which would not be so necessary when the present western wall of the jail
is lowered, as it may be with safety, when the outer wall of the work yard
is built.
,
7. I would therefore reduce the height of the western wall, as well
as of the prolonged partition wall to 8 feet, guarding the points of junc
tion with triangular masses of masonry, as recommended by Mr. Loch.
8. The work-sheds may be placed as in the plan submitted by
Lieutenant Eckford, and the whole should be submitted for sanction as
early as possible, that no further delay may occur in obtaining the sanc
tion of the Government to the outlay necessary.
wara^P6ntagS betW6en ^
9'
290
" fere very much with the circulation of air, and would enable a much
" better classification to be introduced than can be carried out at present."
10. This was not done in consequence of a belief on the part of the
excellent Officer in charge of the Medical duties of the Station, that- it
would interfere with ventilation. While I am disposed to treat with every
consideration any opinion expressed by Mr. Norval, I believe that in the
present instance the advantages of the existing plan are more than coun
terbalanced by its grave disadvantages.
11. Where ventilation is so imperfect as it mnst always be in a
buildin" surrounded by high walls, the result of lateral openings in the
partitions dividing the wards is to cause the effete air and noxious exha
lations to be diffused through all the wards, and to increase the additional
contamination of all of them. The only true ventilation in such cases is
to cause the passage of all deleterious gases through the roof, to effect
which the number of gumlah ventilators in the ceilings of the criminal
wards may with great advantage be doubled, when the lateral apertures
may with equal advantage be altogether bricked up, the iron bars being
removed, as they may be serviceable elsewhere.
12. All of this can be effected by convict labour for the mere cost
of the lime, the bricks required being made by the prisoners ; I shall feel
obliged therefore, by the Magistrate's carrying it into effect without delay.
13. The yards of nearly all the wards were
Metalling the yards.
-.
. .
nearly impassable at the time or my visit from the
damp and boggy nature of the soil. This also attracted Mr. Loch's notice,
as the following remarks will show :
" The whole of the new work yards must be laid down with broken
" brick, well and smoothly beaten down. In fact as Sylhet is such a damp
" place I should like to see it done in every yard and the grass entirely
" removed, at any rate pucka paths ought to be made for walking on.
" This is especially required in the hospital and I request you to consult
" Dr. Norval on the subject and carry out his wishes. The cost of the
" above cannot be very great, as the prisoners will make the bricks and
" do all the labour."
14. The proper method of accomplishing this very desirable and
necessary object is that laid down by Captain Beadle when Secretary to
the late Military Board.
15. It is to dig up and remove the upper stratum of soil in the
yards, and to fill it up with dry sand tightly rammed down ; over this
291
292
depth of 1 1 feet of water which is almost liquid manure from the vast
amount of impurity contained in it.
22. The average depth of the mud is 1\ feet : it is a mass of
decayed vegetable matter, and would answer admirably for manure.
23. Immediately behind the southern portion of this stygian lake
is a swamp, through which a pucka drain leads to a large open cesspool
in which all the ordure of the jail is collected. In riding through the
swamp with the Civil Surgeon,- our ponies were knee deep in mud in
some places.
24. Familiar as I am with the causes and effects of noxious exhala
tion in the production of disease, I am surprized that cholera, fever, and
dysentery are ever absent from this concentrated collection of miasmata
of the worst description.
25. There is undoubtedly some risk to be incurred in removing this
perennial source of disease, yet it is, in my belief so absolutely and ur
gently needed, that it must be accomplished at all hazards.
26. If properly and carefully done, it may be accomplished with
out much danger.
27^ From all that I could ascertain the river in the cold weather
falls about 2 1 feet. The deepest part of the bottom of the tank does not
exceed 11 feet, there is therefore, a fall of at least 10 feet, which is more
than sufficient to drain the tank.
28. It should be emptied gradually about two feet at a time, which
a simple sliuce gate will effect. The mud thus exposed should be rapidly
removed by at least 300 convicts, so that it would not have time to cause
any ill effects by its exhalations.
29. The mud should be removed until the natural soil is reached,
and the whole should either be thrown into the bed of the river, or re
moved to a spot where it can do no mischief.
30. By repeating this process the whole of the offensive matter
ought to be removed in a week. As the inhabitants of the neighbourhood
are so much interested in the cleansing of the tank, they will propably
lend a helping hand.
31. As soon as all the mud is removed, the tank should be deepened
and its sides consolidated.
32. Advantage should be taken of emptying the tank to
drain the swamp bordering in the jail, and to fill up the open
cloaca.
293
Sessions Judge,..*
201
Magistrate,
289
Hajut, ...,
61
Dewanny,
8
Lunatic,
1
615
38. The madman is not a criminal, and should be transferred to
Dacca as soon as possible.
The jail is not a lunatic asylum, and is a most unsuitable place for
the safe custody of madmen.
39. The prisoners were disposed of as follows :
Working on the roads,
145
Cleaning the jail,
12
Clearing away jungle,
16
Making paper,
158
294
Making Cloth,
;
Setringees,
Mats,
Morahs,
Baskets,
Pounding Soorkie,
Oil Mill,
Selling stones,
Bringing lime stone,
Carpenter,
Cooks,
*
Hospital servants, ......
On light work,
Making garden at Circuit house,
Bringing cane and bamboo for mats,
23
..- 13
15
5
3
14
8
16
6
1
18
10
1
10
10
484
/"Labouring,
SickX Hajut,
(.Lunatic,
Non-labouring,
Hajut (males),
Dewanny,....
29^
3 V
\J
33
32
58
8
615
40. Seven of the abovementioned, of whom five are women, are
life prisoners. They should all be transferred to Alipore, for reasons
mentioned in many of my reports on other jails.
41. As there is great sickness prevailing in the district, and it is
impossible to protect the prisoners properly from the weather, the out
door labouring convicts should be immediately withdrawn.
42. The Magistrate will find on consulting the mortality statement
of his jail that the deaths among the out-door labouring prisoners in his
jail in 1854-55 was 46'66 per cent. This alone is, in my belief a suffi
cient reason against sending them away from the jail "at any time.
43. When mustered for my inspection, I found a larger number
of the prisoners scorbutic and out of health, than in any jail I have yet
seen, except Tirhoot.
295
Wards.
No.
n
Description of Wards.
No. of prison
ers sleeping
in each.
Civil Ward,
Sessions Ward,
Sessions Hajut
Criminal Ward,
Ditto,
.,
.,
,,
l
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
>,
13
Criminal Ward,
27
Female Ward,
21
36
10
39
59
58
62
61
57
Converted into
( Sessions and Niza- )
57
Ditto Ditto.
48
Ditto Ditto,
46
Non Labouring Ward,
34
Class of Prisoners.
Dewanny,
Labouring.
Labouring.
Ditto.
Ditto.
Ditto,
a Malkhana.
Labouring.
Labouring.
Ditto.
Labouring Cooks, Mehturs &c.
[ Of these 26 are Non-Labouring and
I
on light labour.
615
296
Superficial space.
.... 110
Ward No. 1 Civil,
....
28
2 Labouring,
....
18
3 Hajut,
....
18
4 Labouring,
....
17.46
5
n
266
....
18.2
270
6
....
19.17
289
T
f A large ward containing 16,500 Cubic feet, and
8 t 1,100 superficial feet is used as a Malkhana.
19.17
289.27
9 Labouring,
22.44
10
343.36
23.42
358.22
11
32.12
12 Cooks, Mehturs &c.
485.10
13 Non-Labouring, ...
40
601.3
Female Ward, ...
24
357.3
Hospital,
,.
217.18
15.15
49. Except in the Civil Ward, not a single prisoner has 500 Cubic
feet of space, which in a recent dispatch regarding the Rungpore Jail,
the Hon'ble the Court of Directors have stated to be the minimum that
should be allowed to each convict.
50. The labouring and sick again require more space for healthy
respiration, than the Non-labouring.
51. The best mode of relieving the existing pressure will be to
clear out Ward No. 8, at present used as a Malkhana, and to place the
Hajut prisoners in the Civil Jail.
By this means two large wards each containing 16,500 cubic feet of
space will become available for criminal prisoners, and the Hajut prison
ers will have proper out-houses, which they have not at present.
52. The Civil Prisoners are few in number \ there is no need
whatever of such strict seclusion as regards them, and I shall feel obliged
by the Magistrate's making such temporary arrangement as he can, . for
their accommodation,
53. A small permanent ward can be built for them over the en
trance to the Jail, where they will be entirely separated from the other
prisoners.
For this I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's sending me an esti
mate at his early convenience.
Cubic Feet
1650
425
279
284
297
54. The women are very badly lodged. Regarding them Mr. Loch
remarked,
" The womeu's ward is badly situated, abutting immediately over
" the Tank, but I see no cure for it at present ; it is however made very
" much more confined than it need be, the Magistrate's Malkhana taking
" up one of the wards properly belonging to it. I would be obliged by your
"at once removing "the articles in the malkhana and having this ward
" thoroughly cleaned out and white-washed, which, it much requires, and
" a gumlah ventilation put in the roof."
55. I concur with my predecessor in considering their present ward
insusceptible of any material improvement. A Malkhana is much needed,
and their quarters would make an excellent one.
56. The female convicts are seldom numerous and an excellent ward
could be built for them on the site now occupied by the black-smith's
shed. Their yard should contain a small work-shed, cook-room, and privy.
Of this also, and a suitable wall to surround it, I shall feel obliged
by the Magistrate's sending me a plan and estimate.
57. The prisoners are fed by contract at the
Food
following rates.
Rice,
0 10 2 per maund
Dhall,
3 2 0
Salt,
4 6 0
Oil,
12 8 0
Mussalla,
2 8 0
Vegetable,
14 0
Fish,
2 8 0
Wood,
0 3 4
Leaves,
0 1 0 per 100
All these prices seem to be reasonable, except for DhalL
The following is the scale of rations adopted.
Mondays, Wednesdays and Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Fridays.
Saturdays.
Sundays.
Bice
Dhall
Vegetable,
Salt,
11
3
... 1
1J
chittacks.
tollah
pa,
Mussalah,
Wood,
Leaves
1}
1 seer.
2 pieces.
Rice,
Dhall
Fish,
Vegetable.
Salt
Oil,
Mussalah,
Wood,
Leaves
12 chittacks.
1
% pow.
... 1 chittack.
H tollah.
1*
lj- ,.
1 seer.
2 pieces.
Rice,
Dhall
Vegetable,
Salt
Oil
Mussalah,
Wood
Leaves
...
12
3
i
1J
1J
1]
1
2
chittacks.
pow.
tollah.
seer.
pieces.
298
- %&'?Z?^^i^
of receipt of this
COmmuni-
Cation.
(
his subordinates. I
particular attention to
65. The fetters
infirm men, who were
Manufactures.
299
LOHARDUGGA.
I visited the Lohardugga jail on the evening of Thursday the
19th, and on the morning of Fri'day the 20th of February 1857, accom
panied by the Principal Assistant Commissioner, Captain Davies, and on
the evening of the 21st instant, with Captain Davies and Dr. Warneford.
2. The jail was clean and orderly throughout, but, with the excep
tion that the three wards were united by a mud
General state.
.
wall, was in exactly the state described by Mr.
Ricketts in his report. Civil prisoners, criminals, and all other classes
are mixed together, without any attempt at classification, separation
being, in the present arrangements of the jail, impracticable. A portion
of one of the wards is walled off for women, of whom there are two at pre
sent in custody ; they are not otherwise separated from the other prisoners.
p
300
The wards are three in number, built of mud, with pucka floors and
tiled roofs. The yards between them are laid with gravel.
The defects of the jail are its site, want of drainage, absence of the
means of separating different classes of prisoners, objectionable con
servancy arrangements, absence of in-door labor, expense of guarding,
undue cost of repairs, general laxness of discipline inseparable from its
construction, and the mode of employing the convicts.
3.
The
paragraphs
quoted in the
Sita # r
margin * from
the report of Mr. Ricketts,
embody the objections to the
existing positron of the jail.
Having also examined
the different sites, I quite
concur in the recommenda
tion of Mr. Ricketts that
the prison should be re
moved to the locality mark
ed No. 3 in his plan, as the
present site is, in every point
of view, most undesirable.
The ground on which
the jail now stands is valu
able from its proximity to
the Bazar, and it is not imporbable that if sold in build,
ing lots, it will realize suffi
cient to purchase the ground
and materials for buildino- a
new jail near the hill.
I beg, therefore, strong
ly to recommend the adop
tion of a proposal which
has been urged for some
years, by every authority
interested in, and personally acquainted with this jail.
301
304
This is a direct tax on the jail if not less than Rupees 1,200 annually,
in addition to removing the convicts from the control of the Magistrate,
whose authority ceases at the cantonment boundary.
In the rains there is no shelter for the convicts, and the distance
renders it almost certain that they must be thoroughly drenched once or
oftener, on every day in which rain falls.
The Commissioner's house is a public building, but its roads might
6urely be kept in perfect order for the salary of the two burkundauzes
guarding the prisorlers, independent of the heavy tax levied in the
ten prisoners whom they are appointed to assist in doing as little as they
possibly can.
It is these abuses which render the cost of jails so heavy, and their
management so ineffectual as regards the punishment of crime in the
Lower Provinces.
The only remedy for them is the introduction of the Central Peni
tentiary plan, and the assignment of the product of the convicts labor to
the purposes above mentioned.
The expense of guards is out of all proportion to the requirements of
a really efficient penitentiary, and in a district jail, with a superannuated
Darogah and a corrupt establishment, is a waste of the public money.
9. I found that the periodical repairs had commenced under the
Repairs.
direction of the Department
of Public Works and
r
on questioning the boy in charge of the work,
it seems that they are to cost more than three hundred rupees.
This boy, a half educated pupil of the Russapuglah School, draws a
salary of Rupees 12 a month, and is entrusted with the framing of esti
mates, which cannot be properly controlled by the Executive Officer at
a distance.
The whole of the mud buildings forming the jail cannot be worth
very much more than the sum above mentioned, and as I regard the
charge to be altogether incommensurate with the result to be attained,
I have directed the work to be stopped, as soon as the ward now untiled
is covered in. I have also directed three roof ventilators to be added.
The Chief Engineer must, I fear, have misunderstood my wishes in
the matter of those repairs. It was only intended to employ skilled
agency in work requiring it, when the Magistrate was unable to under
take it himself. Now in the repair of the Lohardugga mud huts there
305
is nothing that the Magistrate could not execute, with the aid of convict
labor, under the supervision of a single tiler. The skilled agency of the
twelve rupee boy is probably no better than that of the inefficient
Darogah, I shall feel obliged, therefore, by the Magistrate's completing
the repairs himself with convict labor, and intimating to the Executive
Officer my reasons for stopping the execution of the work by his depart
ment. It is my intention on my return to the presidency to communi
cate again with the Chief Engineer on the subject, with a view to the
issue of revised instructions.
The cost of repairs last year was returned to me as Rupees 324-3-5J
I do not understand this, as the former repairs were executed in 1853-54,
and shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's kindly ascertaining from his
f records why the sum was only brought to account last year, and why it
was not liquidated at an earlier date, instead of being debited to a year
with which it had no connection.
10. The prisoners, as Mr. Ricketts remarked, are too well fed and
presented a sleekness of appearance and embon
point, which induced them to complain to me of
the withdrawal of tobacco and the want of oil to anoint their bodies, as
insufferable hardships. I have reason to believe that much delusion
exists as to the necessity of old rice, which is not procurable, and not
eaten in the district by people far superior in condition to the convicts.
There is not only no need to feed them on a finer variety of food than
they are used to in their own houses, but it is an abuse which ought not
to exist.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's therefore seeing that they
get only such food as they have been accustomed to, sufficient in quan
tity, and good of its kind. More than this is not necessary.
The establishment of a vegetable garden would very much dimin
ish the cost of food, and give the prisoners the variety necessary to
prevent their becoming scorbutic.
SINGHBHOOM.
I visited and inspected the jail at Chybassa on Sunday the 22nd
and Monday the 23rd of February 1857, accompanied by the Principal
Assistant Commissioner and Sub-Assistant Surgeon.
2.
306
307
of the hardship of not having fat, gram-fed mutton to indulge in. Now
I am told that the Coles never by any chance have meat in their home
steads, I therefore concur with Mr. Ricketts in deeming the indulgence
altogether misplaced, and, provided they have a sufficiency of wholesome
vegetable food, with the variety of " turcarie" procurable from the station
garden, it can be at once withdrawn without any fear of injury to the
health of the convicts. I shall be obliged, therefore, by the Magistrate's
abolishinc the issue of meat from the end of the month in which this
order is received, and by his directing the Sub-Assistant Surgeon to note
carefully and report the result in his monthly return on the health of the
prisoners, until it is fully established, as I have no doubt that it will be,
that they can thrive perfectly well without it.
*" It was stopped on the suggestion of Mr. Ricketts, and resumed
again on the recommendation of the late Principal Assistant Commission
er, based upon a report of the Sub-Assistant Surgeon. I have read over
the correspondence carefully, and do not consider that a fair case for the
resumption was made out.
The post hoc, was, as it too often is, taken for the propter hoc.
The increase of sickness was trifling and not of a character that
would have been caused by the withdrawal of meat, had that been the
real reason of the augmentation.
The unhealthiest time of the year at Chybassa appears to be the
hot season. Should the number and severity of the attacks of Diarrhoea
and Dysentery undergo any perceptible change for the worse, a ration
of dliye twice or thrice a week, may be issued to every sickly prisoner.
The jail is not worth spending monev on, nor
Changes recommended.
.
do I think a new and more costly prison necessary
for the district, as mentioned hereafter.
The only changes I would now make are to ventilate the roofs
along the ridge, to open air holes six inches square near the floors, pro
tected by iron bars ; to take up the present privy drains, and substitute
for them day privies on the Alipore plan, but with iron instead of earthen
vessels. These vessels should be fitted carfully into masonry beds, and the
filth be carried away daily and buried in trenches to the leeward of the jailThe cook-rooms need repair urgently. They are too numerous.
The one nearest the wards may be removed immediately, and a portion
of one of the remaining three be walled off for the prisoners under trial.
Q
308
4.
Labouring,
Non-labouring,
Hajut,
Life convict ordered to Alipore,
140
1
29
1
'
171
Of the above five are employed in clearing the jail and five as black
smiths, the remainder work on the roads.
There are thirteen cooks, ten for the Coles, and three for other castes.
This is too large a number. The Cole messes should be 30 strong,
for whom one cook is sufficient.
There is no strictly penal labor in the jail. As manufactures can
not be introduced, the oil mill should be tried, as it is both penal and
profitable, oil-seed being abundant, while oil is extremely dear in the
the district.
Guards.
5.
1
1
36
Jemadar,
Duffadar,
Burkundauzes, @ 4 each,
Total,
16 Rupees.
8
144
168 Rupees.
309
Total,
Ill Rupees.
Or the whole monthly cost of the guards is Rupees 279, being for
171 prisoners at the rate of 1-10-1 per mensem eacha very heavy out
lay for such a purpose.
6. There were few sick in hospital, and the
Hospital.
cases were not very serious.
The cost of medicines is however very extravagant, and the charges
for the physic of the Cole Hospital and the detachment of troops as well
as of the prisoners, are all debited to the jail.
Upon carefully examining the list of European medicinesI found twelve
that have never been used, and many more which there is no real need for.
In this, as in almost every other jail hospital in my jurisdiction,
there is a considerable and most unnecessary waste of the public money,
which it is not in my power to check, and for which I am unable, there
fore, to be responsible. These out-stations are never visited, and never
likely to be seen by a Superintending Surgeon. That Officer has no
particular interest in the economical management of jails, hence an
amount of outlay that is out of all proportion to the real requirements of
the sick, for a large number of the medicines spoil and are thrown away.
The expenditure of bazar medicines is likewise extravagant, and
needs to be curtailed, but as the bills are not at present submitted to me,
I have no control in the matter.
7. This is another department in which the absolute and wanton
waste of the public money is still greater. The
annual repairs of this collections of mud huts
amounts to nearly half their value, and there is nothing connected with
them which the Magistrate might not execute with the . aid of convict
labor, at an outlay of a few rupees annually.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's kindly stopping the execution
of any further repairs or additions by .the Executive Department, and
by his taking them into his own hands for the future, submitting to me
estimates of such works as may from time to time, be urgently required.
310
MAUNBHOOM.
I VISITED the jail at Purulia with Captain G. N. Oakes, Principal
Assistant Commissioner, twice on the 26th of February 1857, in \rhich
visits I examined carefully the buildings, and the whole of the prisoners
specially mustered for the purpose.
2. The buildings are exactly as they were when examined by Mr.
Ricketts and described by
in his published
General State.
J him
.
'
report, of which the extract in the margin* con
tains an accurate and faithful account. Such places are, as Mr. Ricketts
observed, beyond criticism
Para. 104. This jail is of the same character as
the Chybassa jail, mud and thatch. The plan is
there is no need, therefore,
open to fewer objections, but the arrangements are
to waste more words upon
worse.
Para. 105. There is one large room 130 X 16,
them.
in which all those sentenced to long periods of im
prisonment are confined. In this room there are now
The place was as clean
106 persons ; allowing 6 X 4, or 24 superficial feet,
for each person to lie on, the space should be 2.544
and orderly as the most
feet, but the ward is only 2.080 feet, so that there
scrupulous
care and atten
are now more than there should be, and the number,
if necessary, is increased to 125. In the room to the
tion could make it, and I
left of the gate, 90 X 16, those sentenced to short
periods, and those under trial. are placed. Here
have never seen a better fed
also there are too many, I found 70 in confinement ;
they ought to have 1,680 feet, they have only 1,440.
and more sleek collection of
At the season of the year "it is of less consequence,
criminals. The abundance
the jail being a little crowded and they are not unhealthy ; but in the hot months, there should not
of the food, the lightness of
be above 86 in the long ward and 60 in the smaller
ward at the utmost.
the work, and the evident
Para. 106. The cook rooms are longer than is
facilities for obtaining for
necessary. I would convert one half into another
ward for prisoners. The civil prisoners and the
bidden indulgences which
women should be removed elsewhere, and the rooms
the construction and guard
they occupy marie into another ward.
Para. 107. The hospital for the sick is situated
ing of such a jail render it
to the South, the cooking room for the sick is to the
north. I would enlarge a sentry box, which stands
nearly impossible to prevent,
near the hospital, and make it into a cooking room
for the sick. I would make the room marked A the
are, in my belief, the pri-
311
**e
3.
.r
absence of Ventilation in the
.
wards, and occasional OVerj
Crowding.
Present change, pro- air holes opened near the floor of the wards at
posed.
intervals of six feet each.
Day privies on the Alipore plan may be constructed in the wards.
The door of the civil jail should open into the outer enclosure,
instead of being, as at present, a portion of the criminal jail.
The cook-rooms are much too extensive; one-half should be walled
off to serve as a Hajut, instead of the present confined space, but the
utmost care must be taken to avoid the chance of fire from the very un
safe and unwise thatched roof now covering the cook shed. As soon as
it can be accomplished, tiles should, at least in the cook-shed, be sub
stituted for the thatch: a little leaking is not of so much consequence as
the great
risk of fire.
.
h
4. At the time of my visit
there were O0O
232
Prisoners.
prisoners in custody, viz :
Sentenced to labor,
Without labor,
u .
Hajut,
Sessions,
Dewany and Oollectorate,
172
o
32
12
Insane,
Wounded,
232 '
There are no manufactures in the jail, all either work on the roads
or as jail servants.
312
The oil mill should at once be introduced, and the female prisoners
be employed within the jail.
5. Here, as in Singhbhoom, the prisoners who never eat meat in
their own homes, are provided with animal food
twice a week, at considerable cost. This must at
once be discontinued, care being taken that the amount of vegetable food
is ample in quantity, and as varied as the district can produce.
In the charges are included two pice a head monthly for shaving.
This also is an unnecessary expense. When there are no convicts of the
barber caste in jail, two or three steady prisoners of other castes should
be taught to shave, and all shaving, washing, and similar operations
should be done on Sundays, when there is no other occupation for the
prisoners.
.
_, The non-laboring prisoners should not be exempted from messing,
except on special grounds.
6. The repairs of this jail are extremely and unnecessarily costly,
as the following enumeration of the sums expended
in four years will show:
1852-53
1853-54
1854-55
1855-56
61 4 8
373 7 3
189 11 0
414 13 11
The Magistrate should at once take them into his own hands, and
execute none but such as are absolutely necessary.
7. Whether the long term prisoners are, or are not, transferred to
a central jail, a new prison will be required for
Conclusion.
.
.
_
.
this station. Its nature, cost, and extent will
necessarily depend upon the decision of the question above referred to.
In the mean time I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's ascer
taining and reporting on the following points from his records as far
back as possible, viz. :
The average number of criminal prisoners of six months' sentence
and under, in custody, giving at the same time the maximum ever confined.
The average number of civil and female prisoners.
The Darogah was under suspension for six months, at the time of my
visit, the cauee of this should be reported to me.
313
BARE
I visited the Lock-up at Barh immediately on my arrival
at
of January
Lock-up B*.
lg57the station, on the 30th
2.
PATNA (HAJUT.)
I visited the Hajut attached to the Court of the Deputy Ma
gistrate in the City, with Dr. Dicken. The
Patna, City Hajut.
Mouluvee received and accompanied us in our
examination, which was unexpected.
y
(
2.
314
315
BEHAR (LOCK-UP.)
I only became acquainted accidentally with the Hajut attached to
the Sudder Thannah of the City, and visited it on the morning of Sunday,
the 15th instant, accompanied by the Civil Surgeon of Gya.
It consists of a room adjoining the Thannah, with two small, dark,
unventilated godowns opening into it, one of which was locked up, and
was said to be a Mai Khanah, the other was open, and from the abomi
nate smell proceeding from it, seems to be used as a privy.
There were three men confined in it at the time of my visit, two of
whom declared that they had been there for eleven days. The place was
very dirty, but as the Darogah and Jemadar were absent in attendance
on the Rajah of Benares, I could obtain no information regarding it.
There was an impudent fellow apparently in charge of the guards,
from whom I could extract nothing.
It appears to me that no prisoners should be confined in such a place
for more than a single night : and as the Magistrate will doubtless en
quire into its state, he will pass such orders as may be necessary for its
being kept in a clean, wholesome state.
HOWRAH JAIL.
I visited the reduced Jail at Howrah a few days since, accom
panied by the Magistrate and the Civil Surgeon.
It contains few prisoners, and was in good order throughout.
2. There slept in the prison on the 28th of
Prisoners.
_ .
.
Total,
4
8
14
26
316
Tabove
change
a*week
the
of
days
lSundays,
rcwhen
will
the
except
theaoeonnbcrsameasvoneiuactrveisng
Seers
19per
At
Seers
Rupee.
At
10per SAt
Mds.per
At
Md.
At
1-15-6
Rs.perRupee.
7eersper Rupee.
ditto.
Seers
At
00perMaund.
Rs.
At
10per Maund.
Rs.
At
10per Rupee.
Remabks.
00
i 0 10
1i
00
o0 0
I0
1f
0i
o
0- 0 10
100 0
3000i
4
7
00
P.
A.
Rs.
Price.
0
Tuesday.
soner
each
to Priper
Quantity
of al
Articles lowed
Working
Prisoners.
Ch.
S.
M.
diem.
0
\
00
0 0 10J
1J6
1i
7
0J
000
60
1
Rs.
P.
A.
Price.
$
0
Monday.*
soner
lowed
to Priper
of al
Quantity
Articles each
Ch.
S.
M.
0i
000
0i
1 0 0 01
4
100 0
0000
o 00 10$
0
oI
1i
6
00J
1
0
i 00
00
101 3
0 0 0 i0
4
01
diem.
Priceper
P.
A.
Rs.
Nand
on-Labouring
Hajut
Prisoners.
day.
soner
lowed
to Priper
Quantity
of al
Articles each
diem.
M.
Ch.
S.
}
0
[
ing
Priut
each
Total
feed--)
of
cost
Descofription
Articles.
Oil,
Mustar. d.
Vegetable,
Rice, Doll Fish,. .' Flesh, Salt,
)
soner,
ncon-vliacbotusr.ing
(318
4.
KISSENGUNGE.
I visited the Deputy Magistrate's Hajut at Kissengunge on Friday,
the 17th April 1857.
2. So far as the place admitted of it, it was clean and in good order.
3. It consists of a large mat building with a thatched roof, a nar
row verandah on one side, and the whole slightly raised from the ground.
In this building are placed all prisoners of both sexes, under trial, and
around the room sleep the burkundauzes. It is scarcely possible to ima
gine any arrangement more insecure and objectionable.
4. The hospital is in a separate mat hut of large dimensions, about
a hundred yards from the Hajut. It serves for a public dispensary as
well, and is entirely without the means of preventing the escape of any
prisoner. The public store of medicines and instruments contained in it is
also liable to be stolen at any time, for the native doctor lives at thirty
yards distance from the hospital, and no one remains in it at night.
5. As the district is extensive and a good many prisoners pass
through this lock-up in the course of the year, it is very desirable that a
suitable place of detention should be built on the plan and scale of those
recommended for Burhie and Bhuddruck.
6. The roof of the jail urgently needs repair, which should be
effected before the setting in of the rains.
7. The Native Doctor complained, with some reason, of being com
pelled to send in his reports in English, a language with which he is
entirely unacquainted, and which men of his class are not expected to
understand. He is consequently obliged, from his small pittance, to pay for
319
the translation of his returns into very bad English. They should either
be translated and copied for him by the Mohurrir of the Deputy Magis
trate's Court, or if that individual be also ignorant of English, the Native
Doctor should be permitted to send in his returns in his own vernacular
tongue.
8. Again, the Native Doctor brought to my notice that the prevail
ing (endemic) diseases of the district are Goitre, Fever, and Spleen, the
half yearly supply of medicines for the treatment of which is exhausted
in a fortnight. This might easily be remedied without much additional
cost.
9. The Native Doctor lastly applied to me to grant him leave of
absence for six months to proceed to his home, as he was somewhat out
of health, and had not enjoyed any such privilege for twelve consecutive
years. I directed him to apply for it through the regular channel. He
declared that he had done so four times without effect, but I can scarcely
credit his statement, and therefore, recommend that the Civil Assistant
Surgeon of Purneah send in his application in the present instance.
10. This out-post needs frequent medical visitation.
DARJEELING.
I visited the jail at Darjeeling on Monday, the 27th of April 1857,
accompanied by the Officiating Superintendent and the Civil Surgeon.
2. The present prison has long been condemned by the local autho
rities as entirely unsuited to its purpose, and I
Present State.
.
,
,.
. T .
*
concur in the verdict, tor 1 have seldom seen so
objectionable a place. In the infancy of the station, before it became
surrounded by bazars and buildings, it may have answered tolerably well,
but an entire change of site and arrangements is now an urgent necessity.
It is situated close to the bazar, contains four ill-ventilated and
badly lighted compartments, and is covered by a frail, combustible roof
The out-offices, and small tanks for the prisoners to bathe in, are on the
public road, and the sick prisoners are placed in a side room of the sta
tion hospital.
It was clean, and in as good order as such a place can be, but for
obvious reasons it is singularly ill-adapted for a place of imprisonment.
320
321
A dozen solitary cells are also needed for refractory prisoners, and
for all whom it may be desirable or necessary to separate temporarily.
The roof of all these buildings to be of shingle, and the fire places
to be so constructed as to be inaccessible to the prisoners, the fire being
fed from without.
All the wards to have roof ventilation, and to afford at least 500
cubic feet of air for each inmate.
The solitary cells to have at least 800 cubic feet of air, to be venti
lated in the roof, to be warmed by heated air from below, and to be
furnished with such conservancy arrangements as will admit of their
being kept clean and pure from without.
The hospital to be separated from, but in the same enclosure with
the jail, to afford accommodation for at least twelve patients with 600
cubic feet of air for each, to be ventilated in the roof, and to contain in
addition small suitable apartments for the subordinate medical establish
ment, and dispensary.
The out-offices to consist of guard rooms, kitchens, privies, and
store rooms, adequate to all the requirements of the institution.
A small dead house to be placed in the vicinity of the hospital.
The privies to be so constructed as to admit of the daily removal of
all the filth, either to manure the garden or to be carried away beyond
the reach of infecting the jail.
The sentry boxes to be raised at each angle of the outer walls, so as
to overlook the whole enclosure.
The whole jail to be surrounded by a Btrong, seven foot wooden
pointed palisade, let into masonry two feet in height, and well tied
together.
4.
322
RUNGPORE.
I visited the jail at Rungpore on the 13th and 14th of May 1857,
accompanied by the Magistrate and the Civil Surgeon. It had not been
seen since Mr. Loch's visit in 1854, nearly three years since.
2. Of the various suggestions made by my predecessor, several
had not been carried into effect, for reasons which do not appear in the
records, and which I could not ascertain as the Magistrate then in charge,
is no longer so.
,
3. The wards and yards were clean, but in all essentials, this,
although a costly and substantially built jail, is
II. General State.
.,,.,.
very ill suited to its purpose.
4. It is in an unhealthy position, all the out-houses of every des
cription are on the open plain, and the hospital in addition to being at a
distance from the jail, is in the very centre of an undrained swamp.
5. While costly and unproductive, it is one of the most unhealthy
prisons in Bengal.
6 . The following are the points requiring consideration, and to
which I beg the most earnest attention of the Magistrate.
7. The ventilation of the whole jail is imperfect from its arched
construction and the smallness of the apertures in
III. Ventilation.
,
n ,
,
,
the roots ot the wards, but there are two wards
which are not ventilated at all, and which are perfect Golgothas. They
are the wards beneath the second story at each end of the building, the
one occupied as a Hajut, the other devoted to the non-labouring prisoners.
From a special report furnished to me by the Civil Surgeon during the
past month, it appears that many of the prisoners in this, jail die from the
Hajut before they are convicted, a result that is lamentable and must
immediately be corrected.
323
324
14. The present drains which are much out of repair, should all
be taken up when the ground is properly raised and levelled.
15. The cook sheds, and those used for manufactures are built on
the open maidan, are all thatched and combustible
miLteS Sh^s andB*' buildinns> and with such guards as are employed
in this jail, render it impossible to prevent the pro
curing of forbidden indulgences. A sufficient space in the rear of the
jail should be enclosed by a low wall to include the large tank referred
to above, all hollows in it should be carefully filled up, and a complete
series of tiled roof out-houses be built, including a cook-room with parti
tions for Mussulmans and Hindus, and a couple of manufacturing sheds,
each capable of containing 100 prisoners at work.
16. The Magistrate is requested to prepare and send in plans and
estimates to effect this urgent change.
17. The sewage of the jail is bad, for although General Garstin's
model privy which is in use, was infinitely superior
Privies SeTerage and Day to its predecessors, it does not prevent a portion of
the ordure from falling into the deep drain and
being swept through the whole jail, its abominations being concentrated
in the yard of the present Hajut ward, where the greatest sickness pre
vails. The arrangement for urinating is a perennial nuisance. The
only radical cure for this undesirable state of matters is to adopt the
Agra plan of which a drawing is attached. A khillaburdar from among
the well conducted prisoners should be appointed to each ward and held
responsible for its not being defiled at night by any of its inmates.
18. The Magistrate will be so good as to prepare an estimate for
converting all the present privies to the Agra model. If he is unable to
do so, he will address the Executive Engineer on the subject.
19. Day privies there are at present nonethe convicts frequenting
and polluting the maidan in the rear of the jail. This is an objec
tionable practice both on account of its insalubrity as respects the jail,
and on account of the facilities it affords for escape and breaches of
discipline.
20. In the new work yard day privies on the Alipore plan, should
be placed in the far corner ; and all ordure of every description must
be removed by hand to a distance from the jail. At present it is
collected in a stagnant jheel so close to the jail as to be perceptible
from it.
325
21. The large tank now near the place should be deepened, as
mentioned in a former paragraph, stocked with fish, and kept pure and
sweet.
22. All these measures are absolutely necessary to improve the
healthiness of the jail, and must not be delayed a moment longer than is
necessary for passing the estimates.
23. There were at the time of my visit 374 prisoners in custody,
who were distributed through the wards in the
VII. Prisoners.
following manner :
. 1
.
* . . ...
Ward.
18
2
23
3
68
4
32
6
0
91
6
62
7
43
8
9 (Females,)
6
Hospital,
25
24. The result of this unwise arrangement is, that the only two
really well ventilated wards on the upper story are assigned to the
women and Civil prisoners, who are seldom sick or sorry, whose num
bers are very small, whom there is not the same necessity for hermeti
cally sealing at night, and who thus enjoy the highest standard of health,
while their scarcely less criminal neighbours are perishing in the unventilated dungeons below.
25. The sooner this is changed the better. The Civil prisoners
and women must be sent down below, the Hajut and non-labouring
prisoners be placed in the upper wards. The doors of the lower wards
need never be locked at night, as neither the women nor the dewanny
prisoners are likely to attempt to escape.
26. The convicts in the remaining wards must be distributed with
more regard to the capacity of the wards, than to any abortive attempt
to classify them according to crime.
At the same time care must be taken to separate as much as possi
ble heinous from petty offenders.
27. The manufactures of this jail are at a low ebb, and its profits
inconsiderable. I do not expect much improvement in these respects with
326
Darogah,
Rs.
Mohurrer,
,
Jemadar,
Sirdar Dewan,
30
8
10
30
5
21
224
( 327
34. Mr. Loch remarked upon the guards being armed with
spears, and directed its discontinuance. I request the attention of the
Magistrate to my predecessor's orders on this subject, and shall feel
obliged by their being carried into effect.
35. The books are few in number and are
IX. Books and Records.
,
,
carelessly kept.
Like Mr. Loch, I found the Darogah inexact in his statements, and
although I returned papers twice to him for correction, I failed to obtain
the exact information that I required.
I shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's warning him that unless he
amends very materially before my next visit, I shall deem it my duty to
recommend his removal.
37. My remarks under this head on the Dinagepore jail, are so
entirely applicable to that of Rungpore, that I
subjoin them for the information and guidance of
the Magistrate.
" The establishment of jail gardens having been directed by the
" Government in all places in which their institution is practicable, I
" shall feel obliged by the Magistrate's setting one on foot immediately
" in the large plot of ground surrounding the jail. Although the land
" is at present extremely sandy, an artificial soil can easily be produced
" by means of the manure of the jail, which should daily be buried in
" fresh trenches, and the whole ploughed up and exposed to the air
" towards the end of the rains.
" The garden should contain every variety of native vegetable ac" cording to season, and when it is fit for their reception, I will, in the
" cold weather, send up Cape and American vegetable seeds.
" In addition to the above, a hedge of the Castor oil plants
"will supply all the oil needed for lighting the jailthe plantain
" will supply the food for the prisoners, and the fibre for making
" paper, and the varieties of orange and lime trees that can be
" found to grow, will give a valuable anti-scorbutic article of diet for the
" prisoners.
" If fully and fairly carried out the establishment of the garden will
" diminish the cost of feeding the prisoners, will afford a certain amount
" of healthy out-door occupation for them, and will, I am convinced,
" lessen sickness by removing the scorbutic taint under which so many
" suffer at present."
( 328
329
41. It would answer much better for a Dewanny jail, and the female
ward attached to it would contain all the women easily. Both of the
above classes are healthy, and by improving the drainage, ventilation and
sewage of the hospital, would probably remain in as good health there as
in any other place in Rungpore.
42. I am therefore strongly of opinion that a new hospital on the
plan of that sanctioned for Dinagepore, for fifty patients, with suitable
out-offices, should be built.
43. In the mean time some changes may, with benefit, be made in
the existing hospital whatever its ultimate destination may be.
44. The filthy open cesspool in the rear must immediately be
abandoned, and the filth be carried to a distance, as far from the jail as
possible.
45. The large stagnant hole in one of the compartments of the
compound must be filled up, which can be done by enlarging the tank
near the hospital, and using the earth dug from it in the manner
indicated.
46. The patients must in no case be permitted to defecate on the
floor, as some of them do at present. The plea of weakness and inability
to walk to the privy is inadmissible, as in all such cases, pans should be
placed at the bedside. If the practice continues in spite of this warning,
the consequences will be visited on the Native Doctor, who is responsible
for the cleanliness of the wards.
47. Six gumlah ventilators may be placed in the roof of the male
ward, and two in that of the female ward.
48. A good lantern is required, and should be suspended beyond
the reach of the patients.
49. The room now used as a store-room should be properly fitted
with shelves, and have a lock and bolts, to serve as a compounding shop,
and for the safe custody of the medicines.
50. Tickets should be supplied for the bed head register of the
cases, as in all well regulated civil and military hospitals.
51. The keys of the hospital gate must never, on any pretence, be
removed by the Darogah, nor must he interfere with the orders and
directions of the Medical Officer, except upon the authority of the
Magistrate recorded in the order book of the jail.
52. The post mortem house is not well adapted for its purpose, and
is too much exposed to the public gaze.
330
53. A new one on the plan of that sanctioned for Burdwan, which
is appended to this report, may be built for Rs. 53 annas 6, and should be
surrounded by a strong bamboo fence to secure the privacy necessary in
the medical examination of bodies.
Estimate of the quantity and cost of materials for the construction
of a dead house 12 feet X 12 feet as the Burdwan Jail, the labour to
be performed by convicts.
The foundation wall to be of masonry, 1 foot in depth and 2\ feet in
breadth, the plinth to be of brick masonry 1 foot in height and 2 feet in
breadth, the wall to be of tempered earth and 5 feet in height except at
the ancles, which are to be run up to 9 feet in height, on which the roof
will rest, the intermediate space to have a lattice work of bamboo. The
flooring to be 1 foot in depth of brick and lime and a raised platform
in the centre 7 feet X 4 feet x 13 feet for post mortem examina
tion, the roof to be thatched with rice straw 5 inches in thickness
throughout.
Rs.
As. Pie.
11
14
12
16
0
0
3
53
(
nil. Sanitary State of
the station generally.
56-
331
* " A comparison of the case of the district of Dinage" pore with that of the adjoining district of Hungpore ex" emplifies how much may be done by well directed efforts
" to improve the sanitary condition of an unhealthy loca" lity. It appears from the comparative statement showing
" the average rates per cent, of mortality of all the jails in
" the Bengal Provinces from ordinary diseases (excluding
" Cholera) for the eleven years from 1843 to 1853 inclusive
" that of all the districts in the Barrackpore Circle of medi" cal superintendence the average rates were highest in the
" districts of Dinagepore and Rungpore the rate in the for" mer being 6'65 and in the latter 859 per cent. In the
" first five years the annual rate in Dinagepore was between
" 8 and 1 1 per cent" and in Rungpore between 7 and 9 per
" cent. In the last 6 years however the annual rate in Di" nagepore fell to between 4 and 6 per cent, and in Rung" pore rises to between 8 and 1 1 per cent. The jail at Di" nagepore has no higher rate of mortality than have the jails
" of some other districts which are generally healthy, and
" the jail at Rungpore takes its place as the most sickly in
" the entire Circle. The cause of the improved healthiness
" of Dinagepore is to be found in the Report of the Civil
" Assistant Surgeon at that Station who refers to the prais" worthy exertions of the public officers there in removing
" sources of unhealthiness and clearing and otherwise im" proving the Station. The special attention of the Inspec" tor of Jails should be called to the continual unlieaithi" ness of the Jail at Rungpore."
Court of Directors
I
'
Called Upon the Civil
o
/>
the
following reply
.
Was forwarded to me
.
.i
answer to tne specific Questions asked.
.
, .
. .
,, . ,
.
view, surrounded as it is on all sides by in
r^LtnTT J ju^ST
332
" some spot a thick screen of bamboos which have been wisely allowed to
" grow and by this means keep off some of the miasma which it does suc" cessfully. There are other smaller jheels in and around the station
" which are no less a source of disease than the larger one. There is one,
" or rather a succession of small ones on the South-East near the Nowab" gunge bazar, extending for some little distance to the South. Another
" in the centre of the Station. In fact the drainage is so imperfect on
" account of the low situation of the station, that whenever the ground is
" much below the level of the main road, water remains, weeds spring
" up therein and ill health of some of the inhabitants results.
" The jail at Rungpore is situated about three quarters of a mile to
f> II. " The position of the jail " the WeSt of the Sudder Station and Carmot
" and the state of the ground " be said to be altogether in a bad position,
around it for a quarter of a
333
" not very far distant is there a bazar called " Dhapp" and immediately to
" the West is a large tank which appears to be deep and clear of weed
" &c., but it is surrounded by much- low ground and the swamp already
" mentioned to the South- West of it must be very noxious and something
" should be done to remedy the evil.
" The jail buildings are tolerably good, surrounded on all sides by a
TTT
.jdescription
of. "wall 15 feet in height
and only
ILL " A. ubrief
" distant
" the jail buildings, their drain- " from them about thirty feet, all round which
" age and conservancy ar,
.
, . _, . .
" rangements, the amount of
perhaps is too near to admit ot a sufficiently
-sTer anTfheVte'Vthe " free ventilation especially seeing that the
" ventilation of the wards, also height of the wards themselves is only 13
" the food of the convicts, and
D
" the hours at which their " feet in the centre of the arched roof. The
"construction of the buildings is solid with
" arched pucca roofs supported by pillars and pucca floors upon which
" are raised bamboo platforms for sleeping. The whole building is di" vided into nine wards numbered accordingly, each ward being sub" divided into compartments according to its size. Nos. 5 and 9 are
" upstair wards and are well ventilated and good. Every ward has a
" court yard attached varying in size with the ward itselfit is fur" nished with a nice pucca well, and is well drained generallythe com" partments of all the wards except two are ventilated by means of the
" roof ventilators which I think are too smallbut the walls are " pigeon
" holed" for ventilating purposes, also most of the wards have plenty of
" doors or windows and all have a closet adjoining. The drainage of the
" jail is very satisfactory, and the wards are all kept in very good order
" on the whole. But the wards numbered 1 and 4 are in a very bad
" condition and in their present state unfitted for healthy abodesespe" cially for the number that are now inhabitants thereof. No. 1, is to the
" North side of the building has a court yard 45 feet x 40 feet with a
" somewhat imperfect drain and a well in the centre.
" The ward is inhabited at present by forty-three prisoners, is divid" ed into two compartments, has no roof ventilation, aud only two doors
" that open properly, the others being closed to prevent any communication
" with the female prisoners. The size of each compartment is 43 feet by
" 8 feet and 1 1 feet high (e. i. allowing for the arched roof) so that each
" prisoner in this ward will have about 183 cubic feet of air. The
" closet is situated at the side of the entrance door, and is not in such
" good order as it ought to be. Ward No. 4 is much similar in all res-
" pects the number of prisoners being less, only thirty, the size is the
334
"
"
"
"
"
"
.n
C 3
Chks.
Chks.
Chks.
Chks.
Seers.
Tolah.
Sunday, .....
11
ii
Monday, ....
12
Tuesday,
..
12
Wednesday*,
12
Thursday, ..
12
Friday, ...."
12
n
n
n
Saturday, .
12
Tolah. Tolah.
H
H
" The time of taking the meals morning and evening have varied
lately, but I have thought it advisable to request the Magistrate to
let the food be given at nine o'clock in the morning, and about five or
six in the evening, which is I believe now accordingly done.
" The labour performed by the convicts is such as is most likely
" to suit the temperament of each, but upon
IV. " The labour perform" this point I cannot say much ; but this I
1 ed by th prisoners, how
' many are employed outside
"
believe to be the case, the strongest and
' the jail, and the nature of the
1 work in which they are so
" stoutest working at the heavier kinds of
' engaged.
" labour and the more delicate ones at lighter
work as weeding and making string, &c. ; but, I do not think any
of them are over burdened with labour, some are employed in making
paper, clothes, gunny, or pounding soorkee, &c., others in clearing
jungle, &c. ; about the station the number of those working outside
the jail, varies averages about 75 or 76, and their employment consists
335
" in cutting jungle, levelling, and filling up, and occasionally picking up
" the roads for repair."
57. From the above it appears abundantly evident that in addi
tion to causes of disease inherent in itself, the jail suffers from the
general unhealthiness of the Station and District.
58. The causes of this may be briefly stated to be the swampy, low,
undrained, and undrainable tract of country in which the station of
Rungpore is situated ; the abundance in every direction of rank, decaying
vegetable matter ; the absence of a free circulation of air from the belt
of jungle surrounding it on all sides; and the existence of a great
stagnant ditch on the south side of the station, formed by the old bed of
the river.
59. So long as these obvious and abundant sources of disease exist,
it is manifestly impossible for the station to be healthy. To render it
moderately so, would need the immediate expenditure of a large sum of
money, and a constant annual outlay to maintain any improvements that
may be effected.
60. The remedies are easier to suggest than to effect. They are,
(a.) To drain the land for at least two or three miles in every
direction into the small river Gagette, running past the station.
The fall is small, and at the height of the floods might be insufficient.
(b.) The conversion of the present stagnant bed of the former
channel of the river, into two or three large, deep, wholesome tanks, the
remainder of the slough being filled up with the earth taken from those
tanks.
(c.) The adoption of strict conservancy arrangements in the nu
merous parcels of huts scattered in and about the station, and the bodily
removal of such of them as are in the line of direction of the prevailing
winds.
(d.) The cutting down for miles of the dense bamboo jungle sur
rounding the station in the direction of the prevailing winds, and the
planting on the borders of swamps and jheels of a curtain of mangoe or
any other large forest trees, to intercept malaria without at the same time
preventing the access of a current of air to perflate the station.
61. Nothing short of the measures above mentioned will reclaim
Rungpore, and they will probably cost more than would be required to
remove it to an eligible spot on the high bank of the Teesta, from a
position in which it ought never to have been placed.
336
BOGRAH.
I visited the jail at Bograh, accompanied by the Magistrate on
Monday, the 18th and Tuesday, the 19th of May 1857.
2. It was last visited by Mr. Loch, in 1854, and the jail was burnt
down during his visit.
3. Since that time, temporary mud buildings have been used.
4. The present jail consists of two large mud thatched huts, of
which one is divided into two compartments for
II. Buildings.
.
^-~
the hajut and non-labouring prisoners, and the
other contains the labouring prisoners. The civil ward is of the same
character in an adjoining yard, and next to it is the hospital.
5. Light is admitted to those wards by square holes in the walls.
Ventilation there is none, for night privies a gumlah is used, and the
clay floor on which the prisoners sleep is raised about a foot and a half
from the level of the surrounding ground.
6. The cook rooms are in a separate enclosure at a short distance
from the jail, and the quarters of the guard are in the same vicinity.
7. The day privies are composed of gumlahs placed over a drain
and the drinking water of the jail is furnished by small wells which are
much out of repair.
8. The jail walls are low, and formed of the red clay of which the
surrounding soil chiefly consists.
9. There is one woman in custody, who is placed in a small room
adjoining the jail door.
10. All long term prisoners are at present transferred to Rungpore, whence some, if not most of them, are sent to Dinagepore.
The prisoners are fed by contract.
1 1. There were in custody at the time of my
III. Prisoners.
. , fc.
visit, 74 prisoners, vtz :
Labouring,
44 including 1 Female.
Non-labouring,
13
Hajut,
13 including 1 Lunatic.
Dewanny,
3
Collector's,,
1
337
16 Burkundauzesat4each, 64
1 Native Doctor,
20
i
1 Compounder,
6-12
1 Blacksmith,
6-12
1 Mehter,
3
Fluctuating.
338
Hajut.
Criminals of one year sentence.
Female wards for short term prisoners.
Civil prisoners.
Hospital.
,>
APPENDIX.
CIRCULAR ORDERS.
>
APPENDIX.
CIRCULAR ORDERS.
No. 1819.
From
THE UNDER SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT
OF BENGAL,
To
THE INSPECTOR OF JAILS,
Lower Provinces.
Dated Fort William, Ike 4<A September, 1855.
Sir,
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 573,
dated the 29th ultimo, reporting on the subject of certain complaints
made by the Prisoners in the Nuddea Jail, in regard to the supply of their Cotton
Clothing, and in reply to inform you, that the Lieutenant Governor approves of your
proposal to allow four yards of Cloth to each female, and one yard, to serve as a
gumcha, for each male prisoner, in addition to the eight yards now given to each.
2. You will be good enough to issue a Circular accordingly, as proposed by you.
Judicial.
No. 29.
Fort William, December 24, 1855.
During my recent tour of inspection, I have perceived, that much
injury results to the limbs, and in many cases, I doubt not, is remotely destructive of
the lives of the prisoners, from the neglect of the iron rings immediately in contact
with their skins.
IV
APPENDIX.
No. 30.
Fort William, December 26, 1855.
From reports which have reached me from different quarters, and
from the result of personal observation during my recent tour, I believe that cholera,
fever, and bowel affections are at present prevailing to a great extent in some localities
in Bengal, and that they are not unlikely to extend to places now free from th em. "
2. In these circumstances, I deem it my duty to bring the matter specially to
your notice, in order that every possible precaution may
Object of this Circular.
,
,,,,,.
be taken to prevent any outbreak of those diseases among
the prisoners in the
Jail ; and should they unhappily find admission,
as they will do if those diseases assume an epidemic character, that their ravages
may be mitigated as much as can be accomplished, by the adoption of those prophy
lactic measures which medical experience has shown to be most efficacious.
3. For this purpose, I shall feel obliged by your causing every possible source of
Remedial measures disease, from .accumulations of filth, rubbish and rank ve.mthin the Jail.
getation, to be at once removed from the Jail, convict
labour being employed in this most essential operation, in preference to its being
bestowed upon the repair of roads or any external occupation of any kind.
APPENDIX.
4.
#
'
in the direction of the prevailing winds, should also be
cleansed, and otherwise robbed of their power of doing mischief, as far as can be
accomplished by the means at your disposal.
If the proprietary rights of any persons to whom they may belong are interfered
with by the execution of this order, the same should, I think, be specially reported
to the Government, should the existing state of the Law not admit of the adoption
of compulsory measures for the preservation of the public health, on the approach
of epidemic disease.
5. I beg to direct your most earnest attention to the ventilation of the wards,
Special objects deserving the state of the privies, the avoidance of over-crowding at
attention.
night, the cleanliness of the clothes and persons of the
prisoners, their food and drink, the hours at which their meals are taken, and the
nature and amount of the work performed by them.
(a.) In regard to ventilation, and the purity of the air in the wards, the moment
the prisoners leave their beds, all doors, windows, and
Ventilation.
.
every aperture through which air enters should be thrown
wide open, the bedding and blankets of the prisoners taken out and aired in the
yards attached to the wards, and the rooms well and thoroughly swept, so as to
remove every particle of dirt accumulated by, and around the prisoners. When this
is done, which need not occupy more than half an hour, the bedding should be neatly
folded up, and placed in the position occupied by the prisoner to whom it belongs.
As an additional purifier of the atmosphere, in all Jails where the practice has
not already been adopted, vessels of wood charcoal, broken into small pieces, may be
placed, at least one in the corner of each ward. Wicker baskets, eight inches in
diameter and two inches in depth, will be the most suitable receptacles of the
charcoal, as I believe that they can easily be made in most Jails, or if not, are pro
curable at a very small cost in the Bazaars. The charcoal will require to be occa
sionally renewed, or its purity and fitness for destroying and disinfecting purposes can
easily be restored by baking it.
Recent researches in Europe, and their practical application in hospitals and dis
secting rooms, have shown, that for purposes of purification, especially in ill-ven
tilated places, charcoal is an extremely valuable agent.
(6.) The state of the privies is, if possible, of still greater consequence. All or
dure should be accumulated in moveable vessels, and not be
imc'"
allowed to fall into any of the drains of the Jail. They can
then be removed by hand in the morning, and should be carried to a sufficient distance
from the Jail, to the nearest waste spot, there to be buried in a fresh trench each day.
The prisoners must be specially interdicted from a dirty and unwholesome practice,
which I have found in most Jails and Hospitals, viz., that of urinating upon the
Vi
floor.
APPENDIX.
Proper pans can be provided, and all prisoners disregarding the order should
be punished.
If you entertain no objection to the plan, and can, without any additional cost for
guards, leave the door of the wards open at night, and place all vessels for the
reception of filth in the most remote corners of the yards attached to them, it will be
a vast improvement upon the existing practice. The plan, I am aware, is not
feasible in some Jails, from their defective construction and arrangement. It is so,
however, at Cuttack, Balasore, Midnapore, Burdwan, Bancoorah, Beerbhoom, and
the female ward of the Hooghly Jail, all of which I have seen ; and may be so in
others which I have not yet visited.
I have not had an opportunity of consulting most of the Magistrates personally
upon the point. Those to whom I have spoken have expressed their concurrence
in the measure, and anticipate no additional difficulty in preventing the escape of
prisoners.
(c.) The over-crowding of the wards themselves must be scrupulously avoided.
The importance of this cannot be exaggerated, or too
Over- crowding.
,
,
APPENDIX.
Vll
Till
APPENDIX.
The Magistrate, Mr. Scbalch, informed me, that the practice has since been per
severed in, and that the Jail has remained healthy.
In some Jails but one cooked meal is allowed. This is the case at Allipore,
where it is cooked and eaten at 1 P. M. and yet the prison is in a healthy state.
It is very desirable that uniformity of practice should prevail, if there be no local
circumstances forbidding it.
In the mean time, as a general rule, I am disposed to think that the safest plan
will be, to adopt the habits of the people of the District in which the Jail is placed.
This may not be practicable for out-door prisoners, but there is no reason why it
should not be adopted with those who work within the wallsthe only place iu
which prisoners should be occupied, in any thoroughly efficient system of Jail discipline.
The occupation of the prisoners is at all times a matter of most serious considera
tion, both as respects their health, and as a question of
Labour.
,.,,....
_ .
.
.
. .
. .
Jail discipline. It is my intention to institute particular
inquiries hereafter, upon this important topic. I do not desire any present change,
beyond that indicated in my Notes upon the Jails which I have already visited. In
the event, however, of great sickness occurring, all sedentary occupations, and those
in which there is much dabbling in water, as paper-making, should be intermitted,
and the prisoners employed, as much as possible, in the open air, in such active work
as, without over-tasking their strength, will keep their minds and bodies occupied, and
consequently out of mischief. It is a mistake to suppose that all work should cease
upon the outbreak of disease. Nothing would be more calculated to encourage
despondency, and the depressing agencies which are invariably so injurious in such cases.
It is impossible for me, at a distance, to specify the exact amount of labour that
may safely be exacted in all Jails, where great sickness prevails. Much must neces
sarily be left to the judgment and discretion of the local Officers, and while mistaken
notions of humanity should not, on the one hand, interdict all labour, the strength of
the prisoners should not, on the other, be over-tasked. To carry efficiently into
practice any scheme of labour, in such circumstances, requires the cordial co-operation
of the Magistrates and Civil Surgeons.
6. In the event of the actual outbreak of Cholera, the prisoners should be at
Management when Cho- once removed to pals, and encamped in the most healthy
lera is present.
spot tnat can be selected, with reference to thejr gafe cus.
tody. All jheels, stagnant pools, and collections of decayed animal or vegetable
matters, should not only be avoided, but care should be taken that the camp is not
placed on the lee-side of any such place. The most scrupulous care should be
exercised in the sanitary arrangements of the camp, and its immediate vicinity.
The ends of the tents facing the prevailing winds should be closed at nifht, and
the prisoners should not be exposed to dews or exhalations of any kind, between
sun-set and sun-rise.
The walls of the Jail Wards should be white-washed, and a portion of the pri
soners be removed into them as soon as the disease begins to yield.
APPENDIX.
IX
The Darogah, and all guards on duty, should be warned to report immediately all
cases of sickness that occur, and the prisoners themselves should be enjoined to make
known any appearance of diarrhoea at once, as affording them the best chance of not
falling victims to the disease.
7. Although not so immediately connected with the object of this Circular, it is
Arrest of Cholera in of much importance that the progress of Chclera in the
Town or District.
Town or District should be arrested. Hand-bills, in die
vernacular language of the place, should be distributed, pointing out to the people
the propriety of removing all obvious sources of disease in and near their habitations,
and of not disregarding the slightest attack of diarrhoea.
They should also be told freely to resort to the Charitable Dispensary at the Sta
tion, where a supply of the simple remedies generally found sufficiently to check this
preliminary diarrhoea, should be kept. In all cases where they do not at present
reside there, the Sub-Assistant Surgeon, and subordinate Native Staff, during the
continuance of the epidemic, should remain at or as near the Dispensary as possible,
so that aid may at all times be immediately available.
No. 31.
Fort William, December 28, 1855.
Under instructions from the Honorable the Lieutenant-Governor of
Bengal, I have the honor to request that all weavers, who at present sit upon the
ground, with their feet in small pits excavated near the looms, may be furnished with
suitable seats above the ground, the pits being filled up with dry rubbish, and the
looms being raised to a sufficient height to enable the men to work efficiently at them.
2. It is true, that the use of the small hollow for the feet is the practice of the
native weavers working in their own huts ; but, it is equally true, that sitting for
many hours on the damp ground, especially in Lower Bengal, is an unwholesome
proceeding, and not unlikely to be the cause of some of the attacks of diarrhoea,
dysentery, cholera, and bowel affections generally, from which the natives of Bengal
suffer so much and frequently.
3. I can imagine no real practical difficulty in the execution of this order, as
regards the weaving, notwithstanding the proverbial attachment of all natives of India
to the practices of their forefathers, and their personal dislike to change, however
advantageous to themselves.
No. 32.
Fort William, December 31, 1855.
Nothing struck me more forcibly, during my recent inspection of the
Jails in Orissa, and those in the Burdwan and Beerbhooin
Districts, than the manifest inefficiency of the guards
B
APPENDIX.
generally, the indifferent manner in which they are armed, their free and easy com
munication with the prisoners, and the large number employed, particularly in
superintending the work of those who are occupied without the walls of the Jails.
2. At Allipore, the guards are armed with swords attached to the wrist by a
Want of uniformity in leather thong. In addition, the sentries, from the Calcutta
anns>
Militia, are armed with muskets.
At Hooghly, the guards carry long lattees in their hands, because a sword had,
on some former occasion, been wrenched from one of them, and with it a prisoner
had effected his escape. At Balasore and Cuttack, the Paik Corps furnished the
guards, who were armed with heavy muskets. At Pooree, where some of the
guardians are ancient and venerable, the arms in use are old spears of various patterns,
resembling those of the rural police.
From this it will be seen, that there is no uniformity of plan or system in the
arming of guards.
. ._
3.
Again, the guards are, in my belief, too much and too closely in contact with
APPENDIX.
XI
No. 33.
- _
Xll
APPENDIX.
No. 34.
Calcutta, January 4, 1856.
To enable me to draw up my detailed report for the year
1855-56, on the several Jails which have been placed un
Miscellaneous.
der the charge of this office, I have the honor herewith to forward certain Forms of
1. Manufacture Statement.*
of Statement, as noted in the margin, to be filled
4. Escape Statement!
2. To make these Statements clear to you
and to obviate the necessity of their being returned hereafter for correction, I have
appended to this an Explanatory note, pointing out fully in what manner it is intend
ed that each column of the Statements in question is to be filled up, and I would beg
to impress upon you most earnestly, the propriety of their being prepared with great care,
inasmuch as these Statements will form the basis of comparison in future years :_aV*l
as Statistical Reports of this kind to be of any value should be furnished immediately
on the expiry of the time for which they are drawn up, you will oblige me by taking
such steps as will enable you to forward them on or about the 15th of May at the
latest.
3. I shall also require from you a short report as to what has been done durinor
the year 1855-56, under the following heads.
1.
2.
3.
4.
4. The note appended to this will, as I have already stated above, explain to you
the mode of filling up each Column of the different Statements, but it will be neces
sary for me to add here, that the averages given in the different Columns should be
calculated in every Jail on an uniform system, for which purpose the averages in
Part 2, of Statement No. I, and in Statements Nos. 3 and 4, should be calculated
midnight, and that the averages in Part 3, of Statement No. 1, should be calculated
for the evening of each day at the time when the prisoners knock off working.
5. To the preparation of the remarks in Statement No. 3, I would beg the best
attention of the several Medical Officers, and would be obliged by their furnishing
me with every information in their power, which may enable me to trace the cause of
the great difference of mortality that takes place in the several Jails.
APPENDIX.
Xlll
6. The Medical Officer will be pleased especially to note with reference to the
deaths of labouring prisoners, how many occurred among those employed on Manu
factures, and how many among those employed on the Koads, together with the
average numbers of prisoners so employed during the year.
7. The Medical Officer will also be pleased to note with reference to the deaths
of non-labouring prisoners, how many were among the Civil, and how many among
the Criminal prisoners, together with the average number of each class during the year.
8. The information required in the foregoing two paragraphs, were called for by
my predecessor for his Report of the past year, but could not be furnished satis
factorily, owing to their being no records to show it. I hope that proper precautions
have been taken to supply that information complete in the statement now required.
9. As there will be some difficulty in obtaining, in time, the exact value of
European Medicines expended during the years 1855-56, that part of Column 7 of
Part 2, of Statement No. 1, may be left blank, and the Medical Board will be re
quested to take the necessary steps in directing the Medical Officer of each District
to furnish, as soon after the 1st of May next as possible, a List of European
Medicines expended in his Jail, and its dependent outstation Lock-ups, for the pur
pose of being priced by the Apothecary General, and in instructing the latter Officer
to furnish me with a Statement giving that information with the least possible delay.
10. As a similar difficulty will also be felt in filling up a part of Column 9 of
the same part of the above Statement, viz., the value of additions and alterations
to the Jail Buildings by the Department of Public Works, during the years 1855-56>
that part of Column 9 may also be left blank, and the Chief Engineer Lower
Provinces, will be requested to call for and furnish me, as soon after the 1st of May
next as possible, with that information.
11. It may be needless to state here, that the blanks which will be left as directed
in Paras. 9 and 10, will entail the necessity of leaving blank parts of Columns 7 and
9, and Columns 10 and 11 of the same statement, which blanks will be filled up on
the receipt of the information contemplated above.
12. A double set of forms is supplied, one of which will serve as your Office
Copy; and it is earnestly requested, that you will see that there are no changes
made in these forms.
XIV
APPENDIX.
2. In the 1st Column of the 2nd part, the daily average number of Criminal
Prisoners of all classes (of course including the Hajut Prisoners) should be entered.
The other Columns with the exception of those noted in Paras. 9 to 11 of the
Circular, should be filled up as soon as possible, after the Audit of the Bills for April
1856, when the Officer in charge of Jails shall have been able to get at the exact
total expense of the years 1855-56.
3. Columns 2 to 8 of the 3rd part, will show the average daily number of
Prisoners, and their different employments during the year, and its Column 1 the
total of the same. The filling up of Columns 9 to 1 6 of this part is obvious, and it
is only requested that the averages in Columns 10, 12, 14, and 16 may be calcu
lated carefully down to Pies and Tenths of Pies.
II. Report of Criminal Prisoners. 4. Columns 2 to 7 of this Statement,
will show the Criminal Prisoners of all classes who may sleep in Jail and its outstations, on the night of the 30th April next.
5. Columns 12 to 14 will show the accommodation of the Jail and Hospital.
Column 13 showing the number of Wards of each description, Column 14 their
estimated capacity, and Column 1 5 the actual number sleeping in them.
6. Memorandum A is intended to show the exact location of the Prisoners ; its 1st
Column will be the result of its 3rd Column, taken from Column 1 1 of the main
Statement, and ought to agree with Column 1 5 of the same Statement. The use of
Columns 2, 4 and 5 is obvious.
7. Memorandum B is intended to show the employment of the Prisoners on the
last day of April next, and the different kinds of Manufacture on which they might
be employed should be noted under the 1st heading, care being taken not to specify
the sub-division in the different stages of each manufacture, but to give the whole
number under its general name ; for example, spinning jute for Gunny and weaving
Gunny, should both come under the head of Manufacturing Gunny, and all the
different kinds of cloth should come under the head of Manufacturing Cloth. A
List is given below of the different manufactures carried on in the Bengal Jails, and
it should be the aim of all Magistrates to confine themselves to the strict nomencla
ture given herein, adding others, should such be found absolutely necessary.
Making of Bricks.
Ditto of Soorkey.
Manufacture of Lime.
Pottery.
Manufacture of Saltpetre.
Ditto
of Oil.
.
Husking Rice and grinding Otta and Dall.
Carpentry.
Iron Work.
Saddlery.
Shoe-making.
APPENDIX.
XV
Tailoring.
Manufacture of Gunny
Ditto
of Blankets
Ditto
of Cloth
Ditto
of Table Covers, Towels and Dosoottee
Spinning Thread.
Manufacture of Tape.
Ditto
of String and Twine.
Ditto
of Paper
Ditto
of Bamboo, Rattan and Reed Articles.
8. Under heads 2 to 7 of this Memorandum, no detail is required, as it will be
sufficient to give only the total number opposite each heading of them.
9. It is needless to say, that the total of Memo. B, and the totals of Columns 2
to 7 of the Main Statement, ought to tally.
tOT_~-Memorandum C is intended to explain Column 10 of the Main Statement,
and both their totals ought to tally.
II. Memorandum D is the Messing Report, the total of which ought to tally
with Column 1 1 of the Main Statement.
III. Mortality Statement. 12. It is intended that this Statement should exhi
bit the average daily number of Prisoners in the Jail and its out-stations, of all classes,
vis., all Criminal sentenced Prisoners, Hajut Prisoners, and Civil Prisoners ; the
two latter being classed in the body of the Statement as non-labouring, together with
those Criminal Prisoners who may be sentenced without labour.
1 3. In first Column should be entered the average daily number of prisoners of
each description, of each caste, specified therein in Column 2 ; the number of deaths
among them, and in Column 3, their average per centage of deaths to strength calculated
to three places of decimals. Columns 4 to 8 are intended to show the period of
imprisonment of each Prisoner, at the time of death, and the aggregate of these five
Columns ought to tally with the number set down in Column 2 of the same state
ment.
14. Memorandum A in this Statement, is to show the average daily number of
labouring prisoners, the number of deaths among the same, and the average per
centage of deaths to strength calculated to three places of decimals. The total
average daily number of Prisoners in this Memorandum ought to agree with Column
1 of the third part of the Manufacture Statement.
15. Memorandum B in this Statement, is, in like manner, to show the deaths
among the non-labouring Prisoners, comprising as above stated, Criminal Prisoners
sentenced without labour, the Hajut and the Civil Prisoners.
16. The total average number of labouring and non-labouring Prisoners at foot of
Memos. A and B, ought to tally, in its principal particulars, with the grand total at
foot of the Main Statement.
XVI
APPENDIX.
17. The remarks by the Medical Officer should be comprised under the follow
ing heads, and it is particularly requested that remarks be made on each and every
head, in the order set down herein, additions of course being made at the end should
such be found absolutely necessary.
Clothing.
Diet.
Use of Tobacco and other interdicted Articles.
Ventilation and Cleanliness.
Over-crowding.
Drainage with reference to Damp.
Drainage with reference to Privies and Sewerage.
IV. Escape Statement. 18. This statement should show the average daily
number of Prisoners of all classes in the Jail and its out-stations, and the average in
its Columns 1 and 8 ought, as a matter of course, to tally with that given in the
Mortality Statements ; that in Column 1, with that given in the Mortality Statement^
of 1854-55, and that in Column 8, with that given in the Mortality Statement of
1855-56.
Columns 2 to 7 will be filled up from the Escape Statement of 1854-55. Columns
9 to 12 will show the number of Escapes, and Column 13 their total. Column 14
the number re-captured of the same, and Column 15 the number re-captured of those
escaped in former years. Column 15 will be the result of Column 14, taken from
Column 13.
20. The use of Column 1 7 is obvious.
Conclusion. 21. It is particularly requested, that the Statements before trans
mission to this office, be carefully checked and thoroughly revised, to prevent the
necessity of unnecessary references in their return for correction.
No. 35.
Fort William, January 2, 1856.
When I visited the Hooghly Jail a short time since, Dr. Baillie, the
Civil Surgeon of the Station, pointed out to me a waste
Origin of the proposal to
.
establish vegetable gardens spot without the walls, which he thought might be proin connection with Jails.
,,
, .
. ,
.-, ,
. ,
.
.
ntably converted into a Kitchen (jarden, for the use of, and
cultivated by, the prisoners.
The suggestion appeared to me to be a valuable one, and I placed it in my
Memorandum accordingly.
2. It is very desirable, I believe, in all Jails, to find some light out-door occuObjects and uses of such pation close at hand, for convalescent Prisoners, and for all
a garden.
Up0n wnom confinement, change of diet and habits, and
similar causes, have produced a scorbutic condition of the system.
APPENDIX.
XV11
The latter class also need a larger supply, and greater variety, of certain vegetables
which are known to possess anti-scorbutic properties, than can be allowed in any
fixed dietary.
In some Districts, such substances are not procurable, as their cultivation is
unknown, and there is no demand for them.
Chief among them is the Potatoe, the free use of which in Europe has, with other
hygienic measures, caused the entire disappearance of scurvy in Jails and Poorhouses, where it prevailed to a great extent.
Again, very many of the prisoners in the Jails in Bengal are from the agricultural
population, to whom the cultivation of the soil is familiar, and who might be more profita
bly occupied in a kindred pursuit, than in learning manufacturing processes, in which
they can never attain any proficiency, and which will be of no use to them when set free.
In addition to all this, by a little care and trouble, new plants of economic value
-xuay^by such means, be gradually introduced in Districts where they are at present
unknown, and where they may, hereafter, become staple articles of food, or sources of
fibre and other material for manufactures to the surrounding population. Much time,
and long continued perseverance are always necessary to effect any change in the
habits of a people so little disposed to innovation of any kind, as are Asiatics in
general ; but, where so many useful ends, present and prospective, may be served by
adding gardens to Jails, there is nothing idle or visionary in the belief, that the pro
posal is deserving of trial and consideration.
In these circumstances, I shall be glad to be favored, for submission to the Go
vernment, with a report as to the means and facilities
afforded by the Jail under your charge, for the addition of
a vegetable garden ; your objections, if you entertain any, to the proposal ; the
nature and capabilities of the soil which your prisoners would have to work upon ; and
such other particulars as you may deem it desirable to place on record on the subject.
The Garden might be made a means of improving the drainage of the Jail, and by
a proper distribution of its work, few, if any, extra guards would be needed for the
safe custody of the prisoners whilst so employed.
The Civil Surgeon will, I doubt not, be able to afford you valuable information
upon this subject, and I should be glad to be favored with any remarks or sugges
tions he may have to make regarding it.
No. 36.
Camp Patna, January 18, 1856.
Mr. Dunbar, during his circuit as special Commissioner, remarked in the
Jail at Jessore, " that all Prisoners sentenced to imprisonment without labour, even
for misdemeanors, have an iron put round one ankle," a practice described by Mr.
Dunbar as not only cruel but illegal.
C
XV111
APPENDIX.
The Honorable the Lieutenant Governor has directed me to submit a report on the
subject. To enable me to do so, I shall feel obliged by your informing me, as early
as you can, whether the practice prevails in the
Jail, and if so,
by what authority it has been introduced, with any remarks you may deem necessary
on the occasion.
No. 37.
Camp Monghyr, February 6, 1856.
The Honorable the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal having instructed me to make
the necessary arrangements for the holding of an Exhibition of Jail Manufactures, in
Calcutta, as soon as possible, I have the honor to request that you will be so good as
to transmit, at your earliest convenience, a sample of each of the Manufactures carried
on in the
Jail under your charge.
2. Each specimen should be labelled with a number, and a list be prepared and
sent by Dawk, specifying the cost of raw material, the value of the manufactured
article, and such other information as will enable me to prepare and arrange the
articles for Exhibition.
3. The packages should be addressed to
The Inspector of Jails, L. P.
Calcutta.
and sent on the Public Service by the most readily available mode of transmission
to the Presidency.
4. The despatch of the articles should be duly advised.
No. 38.
Fort William, February 26, 1856.
The withdrawal of Tobacco from all prisoners in the Jails of the Ben
gal Presidency, having been accomplished for more than three years, the means of
forming a correct judgment upon the result of this measure must now exist.
My attention having been directed to the subject, I am desirous of submitting a
special report to the Government regarding it, for the information of the Honorable
Court of Directors.
To enable me to do this before I leave the Presidency to inspect the Prisons in
Eastern Bengal, I have the honor to request that you will call upon the Civil Sur
geon of your station, to furnish me, within ten days from the receipt of this order,
with a special statement upon the effects of the withdrawal of Tobacco upon the
Prisoners under his charge.
APPENDIX.
XIX
Should he be of opinion that it lias operated injuriously upon their health, I shall
fee] obliged by his stating, in detail, the grounds of his belief, and by his affording
me positive illustrations from his Case Books, in support of his statements.
The question is one of considerable interest in a physiological point of view, and is
deserving of very careful consideration.
No. 39.
Fort William, February 27, 1856.
In the rules for the conduct of the duties of my office, drawn up by
Mr. Beadon, Secretary to the Government of Bengal, and circulated to the Sessions
Judges in the Regulation, and Officers exercising the power of Sessions Judges in
the Extra-regulation Districts, in Circular No. 6, dated 31st December, 1853, from
the Bengal Office, occurs the following paragraph :
II. "In order to facilitate your enquiries, it will be well, that all English correspondence
" in the Offices of the Sessions Judges, Magistrates or Assistant Commissioners, connected
" with the Jails, should be kept in separate books, which, together with all other official
' documents relating to the same subject, will be at all times open to your inspection. A
" book should also be kept in each Jail in the English and Native languages, in which all
" orders, which may be passed by any competent authority relative to prison management,
" should be entered. This maybe termed the ' Order Book of the Prison.' It will show
" you whatever changes may have been introduced since your last visit to the place."
2.
During my recent tour, I have found few Jails or Stations in which this sug
been able to make as minute an examination of the Jail records as I could wish,
and, in some places, I have not been able to examine them at all.
3.
In these circumstances, I shall feel obliged by your being so good, from and
after the receipt of this Circular, as to keep all your Jail records strictly in the manner
directed, as it is my intention, in future, to call for the records referred to upon my
arrival at each station, in order that all circumstances connected with each Jail, may
be known to me at the time of my inspection.
4.
In more instances
than one, where the Magistrates were absent on duty in the District at the time of my
visit, the Darogahs affirmed that important orders relative to the Jails, had not been
communicated to them.
no record in the Jail to convict them, I was compelled to rest content with the
suspicion.
The orders should not only be entered and translated, but should, in addition, be
signed as seen and read by all authorities connected with the Jail, whom they con
cern.
XX:
APPENDIX.
Date of Visit.
Remarks of Visitors.
Orders of Magistrate.
In very many cases, no orders are necessary ; in those instances the opposite column
may remain blank.
I am particularly desirous that all inspections, reports regarding food, cleanliness,
over-crowding, and such matters, should be carefully entered by the Civil Surgeons
in this record ; and that the orders thereon, by the Magistrate, should be entered in
the opposite column.
The necessity for this will be apparent when I mention, that in one Jail the Civil
Surgeon was reported never to enter it, unless sent for to superintend a punishment.
In another, the Surgeon had only occasionally entered the Jail for a couple of
months, in a time of great sickness ; and in others, various irregularities had occurred,
which never could have happened had this record been kept as carefully as it ought
to have been.
In still more instances, I found urgent and important remarks made by Civil
Surgeons, which had either been altogether disregarded by the Magistrate, or upon
which a verbal order was given, which, in all probability, met with little or no atten
tion from the Darogah, or other Jail subordinates.
I am aware that every Magistrate in the country has quite enough to do, without
being troubled with additional records, of which there are already more than enough.
I venture, however, to hope, that the keeping of Jail records and orders in the
manner hereinbefore noted, will not only not inflict any extra trouble upon the
Magistrare, but will, by systematizing, render them less irksome and complicated,
and infinitely more available fjr reference and examination, than thev have been
heretofore.
F. J. MOUAT,
Inspector of Jails, Lower Provinces.
xiaNaPPA
I
Remarks.
18.
r1
re-capture. for paid
reward of amount Total
F>
Total
No. re-c0aptured
No.
the
during
Escaped
year.
1855-56.
of uncaptured Remaining
J
yaars. Former
1855-56.
ascapas. of Total
Lock-ups.
Sub-Division From
HospitaL Prom
Jail.
the outside Prom
Jail.
the inside Prom
year.
00 the during Prisoners
of number daily Avarage
re-capture. for paid
raward of amount Total
1854-55.
of uncaptured Remaining
No.
Total re-0captured
c
*
13
during
the
Year
18.5 -56.
III
MI
0'l0ll
S1.
Annual
Part
the
of
OtuMain
the
Jail
tof
Zillah
-netumfeanrct ure
j
purposes,
j
sold, Value
ditto
fori
cof
onsumed Public
avalue
in
Add
of
j
rstoreticles
Receipts
of)
Gross
aconount
close
of
atstore
aDeduct
of
value
in
rticles the
produce
of
)
Reaonc eouinpt s
iduring
Charges
)
the
ncur ed
Total,
Grand
Receipts
Total
close
the
of
}
atyear,
\
the
cuyear,
r ent
Rof
ecteisp,ts, of
Excess
Charges,
preyear,
ceding
)
cuyear,
r ent
Ivii
APPENDIX.
3o
H
''di <w tom
s 2 a
1
112
|3
OEn
&
o
' oo-
o
SW
U>H
M
n
1
Hospitalcharges.
7.
1
1
Eur.Med. Med.Baz.
Ttal,. .
Extra Guards.
6.
00
EsFixed tabl0shment.
wM
-i
**
5.
0nCloth0ng, Blankets andBed0nfr.
cluding
Money-Al owance.
'8J[j0M ouqnd jo
^uaraiJ-Bdao; q paJrg;
*sj[jom anoou^nsosxn
'apaoa no Sui^Jo^
ijBf sB paiofduia;
4.
*S9jn;o,BjnuBjg;
m paXojdma;
^HaraijudaQ;
29i1)0 XaB Xq pajtjj
3.
Rations.
2.
Da0ly
ofn)Pruaimvsboenreagsj
eofallCHJailandloasinpsietBal,
Sltoeantbeoncr-.d
Total
v.
1.
00
m*i
xiaiiaddv
CD
H
W
OS
wM
00
j<
them.
in confined actually Prisoners of Number
CJi
3.
p
Prisoner. per feet
calculation the at taiuing
co of capable are they Prisoners of Number
i superfici 2i of
Si
O
CO
"
Eo
-> 0e
5
?s3
WrJft
^P-fll
is_t-l-i-i*
la
OS
pfff oW;
r
Columns. preceding
the in included not are who Prisoners
F,
ST.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
Sessions.
the before trial take to Committed
p.|
fb 5
a
Er* -- P
&
period. limited
a of expiry the after rity
secu without discharged be To
11
p.
M.
P>P
B
OS
r.
15
&c
M
a
eo
9
CD
iC
M.
under.
and year 1 for imprisonment Of
F.
M.
year. 1 above
and years 2 for imprisonment Of
V.
j/'
M.
*
years.
CO
Female!
Male.
p -J
a ;.
11B'fi 1S |,
f.
OS
2,i>
CH
&
Pf
a S
c
P *i
* rti
^E
_ - tfia.
9 tJS
on -trate i-trat
Niz
e mie-ic Ju
1"
inate
1
I
a
^ - ..
Q.
of Prisoners.
Work
the
which
tf
Pronihesoennr-s Number
e(Cols.
7)are
mhour.
tplooyed.
0
oRWthe2.Ja0l,
(uodontraesktd0iasneigl 0wMEtheJa0l,
3.msnocpesonlriakondeyseu d (HJa0lrSand4.Asonote-dsrqevpua0tnraesdil),
LS0ckandP5.Caro0bnsvoaulners0cnegt,
PNWell,
S0ckando6.rni-sLoanboeu.rsi,ngCofall7.PJail,
olatru0atso-snPe-o.rst
dOn
below.
Maen1.
tuasfaictluerds
EJmpSlaotyhmiento.f
Total,
Othe
Ja0l.
uts0de
r(enotdq-u0traed0,l)
the
Inside
Jail.
-Memorana\ tenced0
-1
r-notqu0r-d,)
B.ut
which
Workon and
emarks.
employedrother
F.
F.
OanduatJaeftof
the-Souetf
PandftolrNo.asi.w0psdnie-ronsg
Total.
3.
5.
Cols.
of
in
9.2tCol.
a10,
gin
P-of
nrcdC
o0espoglnsaetnraset0on M.
M.
Out-Post
In
F.
in
Distance m0les
from
Ja0l.
2.
Ja0l.
Pof
rlithe
MosecA.
of
manoetriaso.ndum
4.
of
the
till
irof
nceasocPrnaonoivdnseuoi,rnetydrs PState
NrTunder
tonite'auwhose
.rP-tare0umetans,col.nesrs
r7is*oVn7e"rsY,athe
M.
F.|
Col.
11.
Pof
rReport
Messing
iasper
D.soners
tUnderr0al.
SInud er
F.
PNo.
of
r0soners.
Total,
Ja0l.
1.
F.
M.
M.
3.
spec0al
for
Mess0ng
from
erxaD0tto
seonms.pted
Sentenced. F.
M.
M.
Total,
Total,
Grand
Messing
acPof
rNo.
tiusoanl-rsy
Total,. .
Stations.
deof
other
sPcr0spotnieorns,
2.
at at at
No.
Prisoners saclteuapl0nyg tal
of
only,
theon
and
Ja0l
in
Hosp0
Males Females
Total,
Apr0l
30th
1857
1.
PNroinDitto
s-oMnesr ing
bs
APPENDIX
g
jA
.qjSaajlB 1
E
3N
0
H
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R
w
M
n
w
*JK3A*
03
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sqatepjo 'ojj
3
e0
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.qiSuaJis
to sqicep
jo sBBjuao
-iadd3BJaAyi
o^ sqi-Bsp
jo e3Bindo
jod a3i?j3Ay
.jbsX
Bqt ^uunp
Bqiwapjo -0^
SS
H
1
--
H
o
A
-1
tJ
09
M
a
an
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j-
n
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5 *
au
d
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ao
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O
.
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ft "
S-
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11
If
E -
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fi.S
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spj^Mdn
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S9
^S
.5
C rC
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no BAoqi*
pilE B.IbOA' g
|'.-
pp
few
'sq^uotu
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fcfl
pTIT
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si{4noui
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puTist|juoni9
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.qiSuaJjs 01
sqiptop jo eSw
-^TiaDJSd d^RJOAy
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............
Ph
o
::::::::::::
::::::::.:::
3 ^
s ! :-S.2 : : ;.s.3 :.s
rv=^fte_li!=^-pJ
g-gcp^p^^^^^phq
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B*
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05
.-
fa
xiaNaPPA
Remarks.
to
to
1856-57.
of uncaptured Ramaining
of
ured
No.
Total re-capt
1"ol-.
oo
years. Formar
1856-57.
S!
ascapas. of Total
Look-ups.
Sub-Division From
Hospital. From
durin
iped
tg
year.
o
p
a
to
(-<
year.
the during Prisoners
of numbar daily Avarage
of
ured
No.
Total re-capt
a>
cni
W
00
Sduring
a>
yaars. Former
r>
1855-56.
P>
ascapes. of Total
Lock-ups.
Division Sub- From
*-
Hospital. From
r.
aped
No.esc
llii
APPENDIX.
No. 61.
The second Annual Exhibition of Jail Manufactures will be held
in the Town Hall of Calcutta on, or as soon as possible after, the 1st October
1857.
2. I am directed by the Honorable the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal to
request that you will forward duly addressed to me on the public service, samples of
all articles manufactured in your Jail.
3. These samples should be at least one foot square in size, or in the case of
Carpets, of such dimensions as will exhibit fully the design and texture of the
fabric.
*;
?4. Each article should have a number carefufl, ,.'..."'..''.".:' *.>. ._>-i:r.-;y r.\.-<(
on it, as to prevent its being lost or misplaced.
5. The numbers in your Invoice should correspond vi\>! *v.^ "~*};ii=ii .
. ,
and contain the following information, viz., 1, No. 2, Na:c.-5 .a f;':' - . . ,, n .*
Raw Material, 4, Cost of Labor, 5, Selling price of the A-:. _. hv ..-. " . . . <;
piece, (in the latter case the exact dimensions and weight o ..c jjici-c ucmg given,;
6, Probable amount that could be furnished by the Jail on contract.
6. From these particulars the Tickets and Catalogue will be prepared in mv
Office.
7. All articles must be despatched at such time as will ensure their reaching
Calcutta, at the latest, by the last week in August 1857.
8. The value of labor in column 5, should be calculated at the daily market
rate of labor in the district, multiplied by the number of days actually occupied in
the Manufacture.
No. 62.
Dated Fort William, 1 3th March, 1857.
With reference to part 3 of my Circular No. 60, dated 10th January
1857, relative to the Annual Mortality Statements of your Jail for the official year
1856-57, I have ths honor to request the favor of your being so good as to intimate
to the Civil Surgeon, that the return in question is to be furnished for the calendar
year 1856, from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, and not for the
official year.
2. The change is made for the purpose of saving unnecessary trouble, as a
duplicate of the return furnished to the Medical Board will answer for me.
appendix.
lxiii
3. I wish, however, to obtain a complete list of the fatal cases which occurred
in your Jail during 1856, in the form required by para. 3 of Circular No. 59, dated
6th January 1857, as far as it can be furnished from your records.
4. I shall feel obliged by your forwarding to me the returns now called for
at the latest in 30 days from the date of receipt of this order, and by your seeing
that the average number of all classes of prisoners in custody is very carefully calcu
lated in the manner indicated in the Circular first referred to.
5. This Circular is forwarded in duplicate in order that one copy may at
once be made over to the Medical Officer.
No. 63.
To
THE CIVIL SURGEON OF
Sir,
With reference to the rules for the Medical Management
of Jails, promulgated by order of the Hon'ble the Lieutenant Governor
of Bengal, with my Circular No. 59, dated the 6th January 1857, I have
the honor to forward the accompanying forms, with explanatory notes
as to how they should be kept, to secure uniformity and accuracy with
the least possible trouble to Medical Officers.
II. No. 1 is the Surgeon's special Register of Prisoners on admis
sion and discharge.
This requires little explanation, yet it is an important record, as by
it alone can be determined the extent to which the Jails are responsible
for deterioration of health, and mortality among prisoners.
There can be no doubt that many prisoners, and particularly
those who are convicted in times of want and famine, whose crimes are
the result of poverty and starvation, or who are drunken, depraved, or
addicted to Narcotics, take into the Jail the seeds of the diseases to
lxiv
APPENDIX.
which they rapidly fall victims in confinement. For this the prison is
in very many instances only partially responsible, and in some not res
ponsible at all. At present such cases are entirely unaccounted for in
the returns.
The register of the weight of a convict on admission and discharge
is important in regard to the sufficiency or otherwise of the prison dietary,
and to the influence of labour, solitary confinement, and other points
connected with prison discipline upon the general health of prisoners,
respecting all of which, up to the present time, the jail records of the
Lower Provinces furnish no information whatever.
The previous diseases of a p ii.-i- .v:
..if'- ' V.y i.r ..a*.
fectly ascertained from natives, y - > i-v >'., 44- . ''- -u* .
I wlw I."
interest in determining the most juc v.m .u,' ,<;
.
.{.:> . r>t
ing of them in captivity. It is also
.J
- ' ... '_'. w-lr-", 1
causes of the tendency of particular ct< s- if-:-. : . urVv ->'.irt
culous cachexia, and the intractable
diarrhcea, regarding which our knowledge is at present imperfect and
defective.
For the present, and until a sufficient number of properly construct
ed weighing Machines can be furnished, in those Jails not already
provided with them, the weight of convicts may be omitted.
III. No. 2 is the Mortality Statement of the Jail. Its advantages
and necessity are so obvious, as to need no further mention.
The briefest outline of the course and symptoms of the disease, of
the general indications of treatment, and of the post mortem appear
ances, is all that is required.
The first ten heads of information can be filled up in the jail by the
Mohurrir, the remainder wil! not occupy much of the time of the Surgeon.
For facility of transmission and record, this return will be best kept
in loose sheets, which can afterwards be stitched together in the Jail
Records.
IV. Nos. 3 and 4 are the Cholera Registers, the former of all
cases that occur, the latter of the result of fatal cases only.
Cholera is so frequent a scourge of the jails in the Lower Provinces,
and there are still so many disputed points in its pathology, as to render
it desirable to collect accurate and trustworthy records, especially in
public institutions, where the means of carefully observing the whole
progress and characters of the disease, exist.
APPENDIX.
Jxv
Ixvi
APPENDIX.
Case,
Sex and age,
3.
9
m. 25
jq
Re-action Typhoid.
Glands near pylorus jnm
5.
swollen.
6. Small intestines.Increased vascularity towards ileum.
7. Large intestine.Below the valve congestion, extravasation of blood, a
superficial ulceration. Solitary glands enlarged.
APPENDIX.
8.
lxvii
Diarrhoea,
lxviii
Cholera,
APPNEDIX.
Ur
f -.
" . -4 -. .'.','
pressed.
" Instruction II. Absence of Stages.The absence of any one or more
of the earlier stages should be indicated by the word " absent" or " abs," written
opposite the deficient stage in the place of the date of commencement. The fact
of the disease not reaching the later stages will be sufficiently shown by the mode
of termination of the case, (" death" or " recovery") being written opposite the stage
at which the disease ceased."
" Instruction III. Dates.When the time of commencement of a particular
sta^e cannot be ascertained, the words " not known" or " n. k." should be
written in the place of the date. But although the precise hour of the com
mencement of each stage cannot be determined exactly, except in rare instances,
it may generally be stated approximately by taking some intermediate time between
a known period when the symptoms of the particular stage were entirely absent,
and one in which they were clearly developed.
Instruction IV. Recovery. The date of recovery should be fixed at the time
when all the symptoms of the disease, and all marked disturbances of health directly
resulting from it, have disappear- ed, although some degree of debility may remain.
Instruction V. Treatment.The nature of the treatment should be in
dicated in the table as concisely as possible When any uniform and definite plan
of treatment is adopted in a series of cases, that plan should be accurately described
in the space for " Remarks" and should be indicated on the table by one or two
words, as " Salines" " Calomel c. op" " Stimulants" Sulph, Ac., fyc.
Instruction VI.If any patient at the time of the attack was already
suffering from another disease, the nature of that disease and the treatment used for
it should be mentionedin the " Eemarks."
*\
APPENDIX.
Ixix
APPENDIX.
lxx
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