From my position on the bench I could see every prisoner brought to the desk. About ten o’clock there was a stir in the hall and several policemen came in with Chinamen from a gambling-house raid. This was before they had cut off their queues, and instead of handcuffing their prisoners the cops came in driving the silent, stolid Chinese before them like charioteers. Each cop had the tails of three Chinamen’s queues in each hand. Ahead of the procession walked a white man with a heavy bag of gold in his hand which he put on the desk, and waited till the names of the prisoners had been taken. Then they all went back up the corridor out of my sight⁠—the Chinamen back to Chinatown to their gambling, and the bag of gold into the bond-and-warrant clerk’s office to insure their appearance in court.

Several times during the night men were brought in, questioned at great length, searched thoroughly, and led away to another part of the prison⁠—felony cases. About midnight two young fellows about my age were brought in by a copper and stood up before the desk.