Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-01-18
Animal ReDort of the ohio Penitentinry

Annual Report
The Report of Warden VAN SLYkE shows
that the excess of expenditures for the past fis-
cal year are SI7,l5O 14-the total receipts be-
ing $50, 200 76, and the expenditures s7s,S5O
CO. The earnings of the prison were not as
great as last year, although the number of con-
yicts has been greater This has been owing |
to the loss of time occasioned by the burning of
the workshops, and to the epidemic which pre-
vailed.
The discipline of the Ohio Penitentiary is the
most humane of any prison in the country. For
nearly three years no corporeal punishments
have been inflicted and yet, says the Warden,
we have fewer cases of insubordination than un-
der the rule of the ''cat" Confinement in the
dungeon and spare diet of bread water, have
been found amply sufficient for the most refrac-
tory Mr. VAN SLYKE adds:
1t has been my aim in maintaining the disci-
pline of the prison to inspire the convict with
strong sense of right and the manly satisfaction
| of knowing that he has governed himself, rather
than that he should be compelled to acknow-
ledge that he had sayishly submitted to be gov
erned by others.
The report of the Chaplain, Rev L. WAR
NER, shows a marked moral improvement in ma
ny of the convicts The whole number who
have enjoyed the advantages of the night school
during the year is l34. There are IS scholars
in the Sabbath School, and ten teachers who
are regular in their attendance, and devoted to
their work The prison library is nearly worn
out institution, and additions are greatly needed
An intelligent and observing correspondent of
the Cincinnati Gazette, who recently spent an
hour in the Penitentiary, gives the following
interesting account of matters connected with
the institution;
There are now in confinement 724 prisoners,
of whom l3 are females, and vet the prison is
provided with but 705 cells The excess, how
ever, is very well accommodated at present bv
the vacancies occasioned by the sick list, al
though there are a less number in the Hospital
than is usually the case in institutions SO COM
{ pletely filled. The prisoners appeared healthy
and in good physical condition, and although
they cannot perform their tasks with pleasure.
they certainly do with a degree of energy that
is in striking contrast with out door labor. But
work occupies the mind it kills time. and
makes the years come round more quickly
In looking over the list in the office books.
kept by Mr. GOss, the gentlemanly clerk, we
! find that the youngest person received into the
prison since Its erection, was IL years of ape,
and the Oldest 60; that the number who were
81 years old and under, when thev were sen.
5 tenced was 1863, and the number who were 60
and over, was s. The total number of wears
for which the persons now in the Penitentiarv
have been sentenced, exclusive of those who
r - e. e.
those who have a life long service before them
, in expiatiOn of the crimes for which thev have
been convicted, there are At. Living dead men
are they, most emphatically, so far as the world
and its business, and pleasure, and associations
are concerned. What a dreary blank must be
the long, dark, unfathomable future, lighted IN
only by single glimmcring ray of hope, scarce
ly more substantial than the foam on the billow
the syren promise of release!
The statistics of the married and single. show
that the former are less addicted to grave of
fences than the latter, and furnish an araument
In favor of early marriages. Of those who had
families when they were sentenced, there are
294, while those who were single, number 3s2
IA difference In favor of the married of So =
= Of widoweTs there are &C. and Of widows s.
Those who have not profted by one term OF
Imprisonment, but have returned 10 life OF
: crime and been sent back to prisoners. number
! So; for the third term IL, and for the fourth g.
. One of the third-term convicts is fine LOOKING
young man named Campbell who was sent from
: Athens county, and every time for horse-steal.
= ing-the last sentence being for fifteen years.
i He is the head "cutter" in the State department
: and handles the big tailor's shears with dexter.
ity, although his "hts' might suffer in compari
= son with Fourth street artist. But that NAV
: | L. ~s-l g. g. 4l..> 4I.aa-
tanners ii q IN ha mo- tra1
: and figures, and are never disappointed because
their clothes are not sent home in time. He
is tailor without cabbage" but cuts his coats
according to his CLOTH and yet always gives
! full measure. In this respect he is model for
the outside world.
; Of the total number in confinement, a GOOD
: proportion are without anv education whatever
!! ! except what they may have picked up in their
:. butfetings with the world. Those who cannot
: : read nor write, number 1874; those who can read
: little, but cannot write, IS; those who can
= read and write German, 81; those who can both
: read and write, 33s. The lists show that in.
temperance is the great source of crime OF
the total number 326 were incorporate men be
! fore sentence; 1877 were moderate drinkers and
: l7S were temperate, though not all of them to-
: tai abstinence men. OF all the occupations at
\ which they labored before being sent to prison.
| there are more persons classed as FARMERS" than
. any other calling there being ia of them. No
: less than 1913 have been sent for burglary, and
: I36 for grand larceny, and yet but one person is
put down as ''thef'-which probably means
that he never had any other profession" and
finally reaped the reward of perseverance in it.
> Seventy four of the inmates took fancy to 9th
er peoples horses, and rode to the Pententiary
in Consequence. One "pugiHst'' fought his way
within the walls, and employs his stalwart arms
in a more useful and honorable calling than
''milling" an antagonist in the prize ring. There
are numbers OF the same calling perambulsting
the country, who would grace his company at
the blacksmith's anvil Seventy-four colored
: men, from the slightly tinged to the deep ebony
: are doing the State good service-"slaves" for
. term of years, with no prospect of manu-
mission
. In conclusion the writer says:
:, The eonvicts are well fed. many of them liv-
' ing better than they ever did out of prison
e Meat, vegetables in abundance, coffee twice a
t day, is good enough for any class of men The
s fact that they are furnished with good whole
), some food, accounts for the very small bill of
: mortality in the prison, and the vacant beds in
I the Hospital. Pecuniary interest, as well as
e humanity, prompts this course.