It is quite generally known that the prisoners at the Minnesota state
prison are prohibited from talking, and what conversation there is,
generally takes place on a holiday or is permitted in cases where their
work makes talking necessary. One day there was committed to the prison a
man who was proficient in a dozen different languages. The deputy warden
was examining the man as to his birth, nationality, religion, etc., and
when he asked the prisoner his nationality he replied that he could talk
in several different languages. “Hump,” grunted the deputy, “we talk
English here and d— little of that.”