Introduction

In July 1934, 70 men were arrested at the Clarenville train station. They were brought to St. John's. The men were marched through the streets to the Court House. The Observer's Weekly, a newspaper of the time, described the scene like this:

The noise of the shuffling feet moving along the smooth surface of Duckworth Street drew the attention of passers-by to a curious sight that aroused sympathy as [70] men, mostly young, some robust and others looking as if they had not had a square meal in months, many of them with their feet shod in uncomfortably long rubber boots, all of them carrying clumsy packs containing their few belongings, tramped towards the Court House with a score of policemen marching at their side. Gladly they accepted the hot milk provided for them on their arrival at their destination.¹

They were joined at the Court House by another 18 men who had been arrested in Paquet. The Central District Court found the 88 men guilty of the crimes with which they had been charged. They were sentenced to pay a fine or serve thirty days in jail. None of the men had any money. Once again they were marched through the streets, this time to the penitentiary by Quidi Vidi Lake.

Conditions in the penitentiary were bad. There was not enough room for so many new prisoners. Some of the 88 men had to live in tents on the grounds. Then they were put to work on a penitentiary sewer project. Although the work was hard, they got very little food and it was not good. The men were fed the "prisoner's diet": hard bread (called "hard tack") and cold water. Only four other times in their twelve days of work and imprisonment were they given anything else to eat. Twice they had beans, once some pea soup, and once they were treated to a ration of mutton. As the reporter for the The Observer's Weekly noticed, many of these men were weak and sick even before their arrest. They came to St. John's hungry and tired. The conditions in the penitentiary made things even worse.