The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page Four THE COLBORNE EXPRESS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9th, 1928 A Former Inmate Tells Story of Routine at Provincial Reformatory as Follows: Often and often one reads in the papers "John Doe" was to-day sentenced to serve 18 months in the Ontario reformatory' at Guelph and that, as far as the general public is concerned, is the end of the matter. No bead lines, photo or interview with the reporters, as in the case with toank bandits, so perhaps a few experiences of one who served time at Guelph may bring a little sympathy for the lesser offenders. A large percentage of the inmates of these places are first offenders who are da^ed by the shock, not being criminal at hear., perhaps a young fellow sentenced for "joy riding," whose case would be better punished by a few days in custody and a strapping, and would thus, if he behaved himself in the future, never need to come in contact with the sordid part This, however, not being a e-iticism of judicial methods we will have to return to the subject and having put in a wait of 10 days at the county jail, which is a little hell on earth, one finally is taken to Guelph. Here, immediately on arrival, you notice a different atmosphere, more cheerful surroundings and guards who look at you more as if you were a human being than a beast of the field. Then for a bath, a real hot shower, followed by a change into uniform, which is not so hideous as one expected, consisting of blue overalls, smock coat, grey socks and "army" boots; then one gets a meal. We arrived about 10.30 and the dinner of meat, potatoes, cabbage, bread, tea and custard was a revelation, especially after the so-called stew served at the county jail. After dinner medical inspection, blood test and routine questions, and finally we reached our dormitory containing 36 beds, each furnished with four blankets and a pillow. After con- versation with the inmates returning from work, the general trend of which conrkts of "How long are you doing?" and replies of "You lucky stiff; I have twice that," the lights are put out at 8 o'clock and you remain undisturbed until 5.30. At that hour a whistle is blown and one gets up, makes the bed and all file into break-fast. While on the subject of meals let it be said there is plenty of plain, good wholesome food that the average infantry-man during the war would have welcomed with open arms. At 7 o'clock the whistle again blows and the gangs line up in the yard for work and after the sergeant has taken the count you march off under charge of a guard or guards, according to the size of the gang, to your various tasks. The days of nicking oakum are now a thing of the past and the men are engaged in much more profitable work. The cannery, abattoir, dairy barns and woolen mills need no explanation, nor do machine shop, farm and garden gangs! but the "bull gang" would perhaps mystify some. This Amery Travels 55,000 Miles Pifty-five thousand odd miles in twenty-two days! * That will be the record of Lieut.-Colonel the Right Honorable L. C. M, S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Dominions, when he returns to England nfter his Dominions-wide tour on February 11. During this period Colonel Amery has visited South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and has delivered upwards of 380 speeches all told. His speeches have covered a wide range and have been enthusiastically received by monster audiences throughout. He has been particularly happy in hi3 references to the romance of the British Empire and, in his remarks concerning the economic position of the component parts of the British Empire, while in speeches touching on the Empire Marketing Board he ^has broken new ground with most satisfactory In every speech delivered by Colonel Amery in Canada he stressed the findings of •>.-.-. Imperial Con-- fererice in 1926, which made kno- ■ explicitly to the world, he stated, that every one of the Dominions was an equal Imperial partner in the British Empire. Colonel Amery landed in Canada from the S.S. "Aorangi" at Victoria on January G, and will sail from Saint John, N.B., on February 3, on the Canadian Pacific liner, the "Montclare," for Liverpool. For the journey across Canada, where stops were made at 18 important centres, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company placed a special train at the disposal of the distinguished visitor and staff. On arrival at Banff, Alberta, the capital city of the Canadian Pacific Rockies, Colonel Amerv threw all cares of state aside and spent all the day of January 12 enjoying winter sports. The Colonel is an expert ski-ier and took great pleasure in overcoming th. difficulties of Tunnel Mountain. Throughout th tour Mrs. Amery, herself a Canadian girl, acco:. panied her gifted husband. Others to make the tr were Capt. W. Brass, MJ>. for the Clitheroe Divisi, of Lancashire and Parliamentary Under-Secreta: , for Health; G. G. Whiskard, Assistant Secretary -.; the Dominions office, and G. Huxley, of the Emphe Marketing Board. Canadian Roses for Paris A gesture of courtesy that used as pression the fragile flowers of the heart of ♦ummer conveyed by railway, steamship and airplane, over three thousand miles of land and sea, in the depth of winter, to two ladies in France, was chronicled in the information given out by the Canadian Pacific Express Company. The flowers were two boxes of roses, grown in the huge greenhouses of the Dale Estate, Brampton, Ontario, and sent by Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Maclean, president of the Maclean Publishing Company, of Toronto, to Princess Carolyn de Faucigny-Lucinge, who was a patient in the American Hospital in Paris, and to the Countess Odon de Lubersac. They were sent as a Christmas present to those ladies, but the weather intervened, and they did not reach their destination until some three days' later. When they did reach their objectives, however, it was found that they were as fragrant and fresh as if they had been plucked a few minutes earlier from their bushes. The Canadian Pacific Express Company was responsible for the handling of the roses from Brampton via Saint John and overseas on board the SS. "Montcalm" to Liverpool. They arrived at th<_- latter city December 23, and were then shipped to the Croydon airdrome, to be carried by airship to Paris. Their despatch from this country had been timed to the minute to decorate the ladies' breakfast tables on Christmas morning in Paris. But the storm that struck Great Britain around the Christmas season had a say in the matter. The airdrome was snowed under, and it was found impossible to send out an airship. The roses were held up and did not finally reach Paris until December 28, when they were delivered promptly. The disappointment was more to the sender and the express company who had strained every resource to get the flowers to their destination on time and who were only defeated by weather that was unprecedented in Great Britain, and that could not be foreseen and guarded against. What the recipients' reactions to the gifts were, are not chronicled, but it is fairly sure that they were delighted with these Canadian flowers from a Canadian gentleman, and impressed by the tour de force of their despatch, which disproved the words of their great national poet, who mourns in one of his best-known poems that the rose "endures but the space of a morning." is nothing to do with live stock, but, to use a basdball term, they are the "general utility men,* who unload cars of coal, repair the roads around the institution. Working hours are from 7 to 11.30 and from 12.30 till 5 o'clock, with the exception of the weekend, when all work ceases on Saturday at 2.30. Sunday is the day of rest and, with the exception of church, one remains undisturbed to read, smoke, talk or what you will. There is an issue of forms the medium of trade within the institution. Many of the inmates have become skilled at making horsehair chains and these are sold for so many decks of "weed," others cut hair or write letters---one of which is allowed a week---for other fellows, etc. The high spot of the weekdays is the evening mail at 6 o'clock, and if people on the outside were aware of the sad-looking faces that are to be seen at times they would certainly write oftener. One has to be inside looking out to appreciate what a postcard to say all is well at home means, and an old magazine to read--anything to let you know you are not forgotten. Saturday afternoon in the summer if the weather is fine there is a ball game and in the winter concerts which are nearly always organized by the inmates, and thus the boys are giv^L a chance to forget themselves and their worries for a few hours. Many of these impromptu concerts, gotten up at perhaps a day's notice, would not be put to shame on any concert platform, and at one time we had a five-piece orchestra. And so the time creeps on slowly the first few weeks and then speeds up till the last two, when a peculiar condition of mind known as the "short time blues" gets hold of one. Fellows will start to pester the' seg-geant days before their release is due. "Have my clothes been sent to be pressed?" "Is my ticket made out to -----?" and a hundred and one ether useless things, which just go to sb.ow the mentally excited state of the 'inmate. However, fortunately, the guards are understanding and when a man has only a short time to go they let up on him a little and pass a good many things which would otherwise be reprimanded. It is this human side of the staff which cannot be rated too highly, that makes things bearable. One of the most amusing games one can play with tneself is to guess what crime each prisoner committed. The story book which describes the criminal as brutal looking is all at sea. The most ferocious looking individual may be a forger, while a mild-mannered who one would imagine would not hurt a child may be doing a yea-assault and maiming. Time and time again I have tried to guess these, but there is no hard and fast rule as far as a man's features go. Finally my turn came to be leased and every man before leaving is given a sum of money, the amount b^ing reckoned at 2 per month, thus, insuring that no man leaves the institution destitute and that he _3fc» w dollars to keep him until ivork. One is driven to the station and for the first time in many months orle is free. Oh, the relief and eagerness to get back home. The train cannot move fast enough. Very little outside goods are pu chased, the institution being practh ally self-supporting, potatoes, cal bage, carrots and other vegetables b< ing grown in large profusion. T< matoes, rhubarb, etc., are sent to the cannery and canned for winter All the miilk necessary is produced by a fine herd of Holsteins of good pedigree; about 64 head is the eral run, plus a piggery of about 120. At the abattoir animals are killed and sent to the kitchen for meals, a large amount of cooked meats are made such as corned beef, veal loaf, etc. The bread is all baked on ths premises and the whole is" like a small city itself. Much has been said about p persecution, but I myself have found no trace of it. Perhaps if one hung around low dives where suspicious characters are, things might be different, but that surely is the fault of the fellow, not the law. Ontario is to be congratulated her well-conducted institutions if the reformatory at Guelph is a san _ a place where one learns one's lesson without having it beaten into and although' there is a good many kickers, there were plenty of them in the army and it was generally those who had not been used to the good things of life that made the loudest squawk, and so it seem;: be much the same. Used Car Parts Jack Cowey jr. COAL GENUINE SCRANTON COAL We screen our coal. My scales are enclosed and always in perfect order. 2000Et>s. is a ton with us Service is a pleasure. Special attention to farmers. Shed oper from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ira Edwards EXPRESS ADS. BRING RESULTS McCracken & McArthur Funeral Directors ROOMS IN OPERA HOUSE BLOCK COLBORNE, ONTARIO Day or Night Calls Promptly Attended Telephone Connection Motor Equipment Terms Moderate OUR 18-inch SURFACED ROLL ROOFING makes an excellent Barn Roofing, being nailed every 18 inches. It offers special resistance to the wind. A carload of the Mineral Surfaced 4 in 1 Shingles, Sheathing and Building Papers te choose from. PRICES RIGHT ! Will exchange lo^s for roofing material Custom Sawing Done Promptly R. H. TYE Planing and Saw Mill ANTHRACITE Lehigh Valley Coal Name-- Stands for Quality This Coal is sold in all sizes. ORDER NOW WHILE PRICES ARE LOWEST Also Pocohontas Soft Coals for Domestic Use J. Redfearn & Son C.P.R. Telegraph Office. Issuers of Canadian Pacific Railway and Steamship Tickets. Car Load of Wire & Gates CHEAP FOR CASH FULL STOCK OF IMPLEMENTS AND REPAIRS AT REDUCED PRICES We handle PLOW POINTS and SHOES for ALL MAKES of Plows Full Stock of BINDER TWINE on hand JOHN REIVE King - Street Colborne OUR MOTTO : Good Goods - Close Prices We dp not claim to sell the lowest price goods in town, but we do ^aim to sell GROCERIES OF BEST QUALITY AT REASONABLE PRICES In our long business experience we have learned to know pretty well the requirements of every housekeeper, and we aim to carry a variety stock to meet your demands. We Purchase in the Very Best Markets We sell the famous BROWN'S BREAD, OF TORONTO None better. Try some to-day. Costs no more. Goods Delivered Promptly FULL WEIGHT FULL MEASURE R. COYLE Quality--Service Magazine Subscriptions We are Subscription Agents for all LEADING CANADIAN, ENGLISH AND AMERICAN PERIODICALS Abo Foreign Ones most likely to be asked for GET OUR CLUBBING OFFERS ! Reduced Rates on Any Combination of Magazines THE EXPRESS Phone 44 Printing Office Colborne