After this short break in our prison life the same daily routine was once more taken up. Whether it was due to the change of air or other physical causes I can not say, but from the time of my arrival I began to droop. I lost strength and suffered terribly from insomnia.
A New Prison Régime
Six months after our arrival, there came a change of authorities, and with the passing of the years a more enlightened régime was instituted by the Home Office. If a prisoner has any complaint to make or wishes to seek advice, she asks to have her name put down to see the governor. She is then termed a “wisher,” and is “seen” by him in his office in the presence of the chief matron. Her request is written down by him in her penal record, and if he can not settle the matter out of hand it is referred to a “visiting director,” to whom the prisoner is permitted to make a statement. If this gentleman finds that his powers are insufficient to deal with the question, he in turn passes it on to the prison commission, and sometimes it goes even to the Secretary of State himself.
The same privilege holds good concerning medical matters. If a prisoner is feeling ill she asks the officer in charge of the ward where she is located to enter her name on the doctor’s book. At ten o’clock the prisoner is sent for, and sees the doctor in the presence of an infirmary nurse. He enters her name in a book, also the prescription, both of which are copied later in the prisoner’s medical record. If a prisoner is dissatisfied with the treatment she is receiving, she can make application to see the “medical inspector,” who comes to the prison every three months. But if neither the governor, nor the doctor, nor the director, nor the inspector gives satisfaction, then there is the “Board of Visitors” to inquire into the complaint.
The Board of Visitors
The idea of the “Board of Visitors” is to act as a guaranty to the public that everything is honest and above board, and that there can be no possibility of inhuman treatment. If this is the sole object in view—namely, that the prisoners shall be seen by these “visitors”—then the object is largely attained. They have done much to ameliorate the prisoners’ condition. Whereas, at one time the women slept in their clothes, they are now provided with nightdresses; instead of sitting with their feet always on the stone floor, they are now allowed a small mat, as well as a wooden stool; and, as the result of many complaints regarding the rapid decay of teeth, toothbrushes are allowed, a concession which I much appreciated. For a short time felt slippers were granted us, but these have been discontinued on the ground of expense. The same beneficent influence also secured wide-brimmed hats for the women. Formerly they had nothing to protect their eyes, and the reflected glare from the stone walls was the cause of much weakness and inflammation.
There were several changes in the diet also. Tea was substituted for cocoa at breakfast and supper, white bread in lieu of wholemeal bread, and tinned meat replaced the dry bread and cheese previously given on Sunday.
The time of solitary confinement was reduced from nine months to four, and immediately on its expiration the probationers can now work in “association” in either the laundry or the tailor’s shops where the officers’ uniforms—of brown cashmere in summer and navy-blue serge in winter—are made, besides all the clothing for the prisoners’ own use; also in the twine-room, where excellent spinning is done; while the prisoner with special aptitude may be recommended to the bead-room, which turns out really artistic work.
Regulations Concerning Letters and Visits
The prisoners were also allowed to receive three photographs of near relatives and to keep them in their cells. Previously these had to be returned within twenty-four hours. Best of all, the intervals between letters and visits were reduced by a month. The number of letters permitted to be sent by a prisoner varies according to the stage she is in. In the fourth stage a letter is allowed every two months, and a “special letter” occasionally, if the prisoner’s conduct has been satisfactory.