HANMER PRISON CAMP.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2660, 16 November 1909, Page 2

HANMER PRISON CAMP.

THE TIMBER PROSPECTS

AND THE MEN’S LITTLE LUX UK lES.

A member of the Christchurch ‘Press’ staff who has paid a visit to the prison camp at Hanmer reports that of tha total area of 1488 acres of barren hillsides acquired by the •Government some' six years age, for the purpose of afforestation by prison labor, some 1200 acres have now been planted, and the question will soon have to be faced whether a further area shall be acquired or whether some other district shall be selected for treatment. Up to last, season, some two and a half million trees had been planted. Last season .something like a million more were put in, so that at the present moment there are growing on the 1200 acres throe and a half"million timber trees, comprising various varieties of the pine, larch,"alder, and silver birch. WHEN THE RETURN WILL COME.

The slowest growing of these trees will reach their maximum of industrial usefulness in about fifty years, while others, notably the larch., will have attained that stage in, say, twenty-five years. A substantial allowance must be inade for thinning, which process is due to begin in about ten years after planting. The timber thinned out w.»: be serviceable at the first at Ic-ast for firewood, and a considerable quantity of it will be of value for posts and rails, and year by year the trees marked down for thinning will be increasing in size and worth. In a treeless district such as Hanmer, where fuel and fencing materials are very costly, the trees thinned out will possess a much greater market value than might appear to be the case. Of the varieties planted, the larch and pinus laricio appear to bo most suitable for the locality, Although all the other kinds arc making vigorous growth. The actual planting is done during June, July. August, and September. The rest of the year is devoted to digging holes for the reception of the trees, tlirairing, ditching, fencing, scrub-cutting, and maintaining young trees already* planted out. Each prisoner plants on an average 1000 trees per diem. The hours observed are from 8 to 4 during six months of the year, and from 8 to o during the balance, with a Saturday half-holiday, which is usually devoted to scrubbing out huts, hair-cutting, and various recreations. A. “bank-to-bank” clause is observed, and no matter how far front camp the men may he working, tljie midday spell is so timed that thev shall reach camp for dinner at 12, and they do not leave for work again until 1. Some men are employed in the kitchen. One docs the washing, darning, and mending for the camjp. . Another acts as groom. Another cultivates the vegetable garden, and in his spare tinio tends the camp flower-plots, while others effect little repairs in blacksmithing, bootmaking, etc. The trees are raised from seed in a well-appointed nursert close to the prison camp; some six men, not prisoners, are here enilploved. The camp i.s in charge of Mr J. T. Held, who lias recently returned to continue the work which lio.inaugurated six years ago. t, SCENTED SOAP AND OTHER PRIVILEGES.

Distinctly tree-planting, camps are beneficial to the prisoners. The work is carried on amid health-giving surroundings, many of the most irksome of the prison regulations are cither non-exis-tent or are considerably relaxed, anil the men enjoy many privileges, chief among these, perhaps, being the liberty to receive and peruse the daih' and weekly newspapers and other topical •literature. They also may pursue hobbies, as wood-carving aiid the like, while every encouragement and facility are given for mental improvement, nor example, one man is studying shorthand, another the principles of marine engineering, and a third the rudiments of traction-engine driving, all the necessarv books and writing materials having been supplied for their use. The fact of friends being allowed to send in reading matter is "largely availed of, while relatives and friends keep quite a number of the- men siffpplied with such articles as scented soap, tooth powder, etc. ' . The men sent thither are specially selected on a count of their good behavior, and a rigid medical test assures their phvsiyuel Therefore the camps, containing a larger proportion of healthy bodies than the common gaols, naturally contain a larger prqportion of healthy minds. As much as possible is done to assist the prisoners in lightening the tedium of ’ their enforced retirement. Those who desire to cultivate little garden plots of their own, are "iven seeds and implements for tne work. They are allowed to keep pets, and dogs, .cuts, and even rabbits figure among the interesting little collect-;, ion. A violin and a flute are occasionally heard. One of the most highlyr appreciated innovations is the c.ivichng; of the huts (formerly fitted up to hold/ four men) into two compartments, with one man in each.