WHAT! MAKE THE RAT WORK.
"Well, Say! What Sort of a Town
Do You T'ink Dis Is?"
Confined for one week in the workhouse, where he was sent on a $500 fine in the municipal court February 18, John Riley, commonly called Riley the "Rat," a well known pickpocket, is "carefully guarded," but not allowed to do any manual labor.
On Tuesday afternoon "the Rat," dressed in the garb of workhouse prisoners, sat in the lobby of the bastile, conversing with his wife. His hands were as smooth and pink as those of any young lady of society. Although the rules regulating the length of time visitors may see prisoners to fifteen minutes are posted upon the walls,, "the Rat" was allowed to sit on a bench and talk to his wife for at least an hour.
When Patrick O'Hearn, the superintendent, was asked if Riley had been put to work, he said he had not.
"It is too cold, and the mud is too deep," the superintendent remarked.
Only in pleasant weather are the inmates, with pulls, allowed to work out their fine for the day.
