names and dates. I do not think I was ever in a more elaborately frescoed apartment.
Against the wall hung a placard containing the prison laws. I made a note of one or two of these. For instance: The prisoner must pay, for the "privilege" of entering, a sum equivalent to 20 cents of our money; for the privilege of leaving, when his term has expired, 20 cents; for every day spent in the prison, 12 cents; for fire and light, 12 cents a day. The jailor furnishes coffee, mornings, for a small sum; dinners and suppers may be ordered from outside if the prisoner chooses,—and he is allowed to pay for them, too.
BISMARCK IN PRISON. |
Here and there, on the walls, appeared the names of American students, and in one place the American arms and motto were displayed in colored chalks.
With the help of my friend I translated many of the inscriptions. Some of them were cheerful, others the reverse. I will give the reader a few specimens:
"In my tenth semestre, (my best one,) I am cast here through the complaints of others. Let those who follow me take warning."
"III Tage ohne Grund angeblich aus Neugierde." Which is to say, he had a curiosity to know what prison-life was like; so he made a breach in some law and got three days for it. It is more than likely that he never had the same curiosity again.
(Translation.) "E. Glinicke, four days for being too eager a spectator of a row."
"F. Graf Bismarck,—27-29, II, '74." Which means that Count Bismark, son of the great statesman, was a prisoner two days in 1874.