A large greenhouse is located in the western end of the prison yard, just
opposite the prison hospital, presided over by a life prisoner who has
been there over eighteen years. By the boys of the institution he is known
as “Sindbad the Sailor,” having spent many years on the high seas before
the mast in the merchant marine, on board of whalers and in the old navy.
The greenhouse supplies flowers for decorating the lawns and park, cut
flowers for the hospital inmates, the officers’ and guards’ mess rooms and
the room used by the members of the State Board of Control on their
monthly visits to the prison. When Sindbad becomes lonely for the wash of
the sea waves his assistant throws a few buckets of water against the side
of the greenhouse and he exercises his imagination for the rest.