Prisoners Join Bathing Parties.

When he first came to Gisborne Mr. Fyson stayed at a boardinghouse in Peel Street, near the site or the present Gisborne Garage, and with many others he spent much time on the beach. Opposite the boardinghouse was the prison, a yard enclosed with a palisade and fence, on the site of the present police station. On the way to the beach the bathers would converse with the prisoners. On several occasions prisoners anxious to join the bathing party would implore their assistance in removing some of the battens, and the offender would go to the beach with the party. On the return he would again enter the gaol, and the battens would be replaced.