Part of the jury's business in
the interval was to inspect the arrangements there, which of course were
found in applepie order. My brother was greatly impressed by his own
importance when the man in livery at the head of the procession
repeatedly called to the crowd, "Make way for the Grand Jury!" He saw
the prisoners picking "oakum," or untwisting old ropes that had been
used in boats, tearing the strands into loose hemp to be afterwards used
in caulking the seams between the wood planks on the decks and sides of
ships, so as to make them water-tight; and as it was near the prisoners'
dinner-time, he saw the food that had been prepared for their dinner in
a great number of small tin cans with handles attached, each containing
two or three small pieces of cooked meat, which he said smelled very
savoury.
Finally they came to the treadmill, and as no prisoners were on it,
some of the jury expressed a wish to try it; one of the jurymen seeing
my brother, who was the only child present, kindly took him on and held
him by the hand. When all were in position the wheel was started slowly,
and as one step went down they mounted the next, and so on up the
stairs, but they never got to the top! The steps creaked under them as
the wheel turned slowly round, and a prison officer stood behind them
with a big stick, which he was careful not to use on any of the jurymen,
though my brother heard him say he had to use it sometimes on the
prisoners.
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