M.-Electrocution day here always attracts many
curious people about the prison walls, but the much heralded execution
of John Convert seems to have brought an unusual number of persons to
this neighborhood, and the hill overlooking the prison is almost black
with people, who have come from all parts of the State.
"Viewed from this hill, Sing Sing prison presents the appearance of a
huge, square pen, covering many acres of land, and enclosed by a high,
brick wall on the three land sides, and a tall, iron picket fence on the
side adjoining the Hudson River.
"On the top of these walls, sentinels are stationed at intervals, who
walk back and forth, armed with breech-loading rifles, and under orders
to shoot dead any prisoner attempting to escape.
"Within the enclosure, at the north end, are several red brick
buildings, which are used as workshops for the twelve hundred time
prisoners, now incarcerated here. Running along its eastern border is a
massive stone structure, about seven hundred feet long, fifty feet wide,
and sixty feet high, with windows crated by heavy, iron bars. This is
the main building of the prison, and is used principally as a dormitory
for the inmates and offices for those who have charge of the
institution.
"The extreme south end of the main building is walled off separately,
and occupied exclusively by prisoners whom the State has doomed to
death. This place is called the Death Chamber. Inside of this chamber is
a high steel cage, four tiers high, and divided into several cells,
which are about eight by six feet in dimension.
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