Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-12-18

Hole Of WaahinGtan--sThe Horrinie OeH
WAsHnerOS, Dec. IS, 1881. !,
FprroRs LEADER:-The sunlight recently !
st in through some new assures, expose :
,ome quaint revolving abuses and ~Outrases,tn- ,
,idept to the wretohed uusOverned condition
this District which has, as you know,
always under the immediate govern
ment of Congress, aud under the personal
inspection Of ali Of its members. With all
to that enlightened body, it Is IN
quesHOnsbly true, that no portion Of Christ
endOm is 50 badly governed, except the Pa
pal States, as the District of Columbia has
been.
Fer instance, odds and 0ndsof the statutes
Of the State of Maryland, passed while this
was a part Of that State, and which were
slOughed of there forty years ago, are still
holden to in force here. And Other innu-
msrabls odd, out of the way monstrOsiies'
dead elsewhere the world over, are still hale
and vigorous here, and not to be got rid OF
till the entire surface is broken up and turned
over.
Perhaps the city prison is IS fair a type as
shy Of this state of things. Mt. Pendleton'
of Ohio, having received q note from a pres
emit inmate Of that institution, whose father
resides in your city, called my attention to
him, and together we to-day paid him a
visit and were by the courteous attendants
shown over, or rather under the institution
The building Is a low, rough, Ponderous,
squat structure, if such a name can hs ap-
piled to q mass of huge, rough stone, With q
few dark holes into and thrOughit it. It COZ
siss of three stories, or rather Of three tiers
of cells, or caves, or ovens. Can it Be be-
Ieved, yet it is true, that in twelve cells, ten
BY twelve each, niasty-siz prisoners we're CON
fined, eight to each cell. These open into g
, low, narrow gallery running one N fEOrt OF
three cells, into which the inmates nay empty
themselves during the day, but at P. N
they are huddled into their low, dazk, snHo'
= eating sites, with no possible ventilation saw
the small CRATE at the door, where they les
ter and reek till 2 the next morning. ClC
and youug, the condemned and newl- ar
Z rested. We saw one quite young lad,
brieht-eyed, ingenious looking boy, sen
fenced for some offence to IL or Is months
Il -penned;and cooped up with hardened, lee-ing
II blear eyed old wretches, whose faces Wer
, scanned with the scars Of an hundred crimes
Il The only possible classification 10 e di7isiol
of sexes and colors, the last imperfectly.
n Any reference to the persoaGle OF u
IL wretched throng would be noisOme and IN
sudurabls. There were to. day il the prisO
about two hundred and fOrty-among ther
the thirty or forty fugitive slaves who, wer
h bv themselves. And l was last night il
10 formed BY Mr.. William Slade, well known
Of your city, that some 80 or 70 men were COZ
q fined in the the wOrk-hOuse, another vi
place over east of the capital end hay
to already put a com mittee after it.
We were also informed there we're anon
IN the prisoners fourteen on the charge Of nu
- der. one of whom, a small, bad cslebrit
called Jenny Lind, charged with tbs nu
Il. der of a teamster, at a nameless hs1nt vi
pointed out to US, among the fonalos,
whom. thank Heaven and w~omalhood, the
a were very few. OF the modes and pcactic
" Of committing. msgistratssa "shystsrs," y,
a.. who furnish the inmates and infsst the ja
:. we heard curious and revolving stories.
h Among the curiosities of the place,
were shown into the cook room, also s5o
II. the size Of one OF the cells; the mott
n power of which was furnished BY ? To-
NJ huge Fireplace, on the hearth Of whit
were about & half dozen old-ashioned lit
bake pans, with Goals on and under theI
and by this means all the baking Cor t
whole hungry crowd. is done. Near it in
sort of rude arch, we're cauldrons for 1akii
soup or swill.
I'm And this jail, with its ragged, sufOcate
he diseased, sickly, squalid, infected, leprO
AZ crew, packed and mashed into che reekin
-, rotten mass, with the nameless air and il
Ma press of ghastliness, many move beyol
liz dispair; with the prison faint CT i,cOnm
II nicable odor on them, is not in Austria
ar. Rome, or Naples, but in the city OF Was
IL iupton. under the shadow of the Capt.
Nm dome of the United States of North Ant
de. ca, in this present year of grace.
,lv It has always been what it now is, thou
'be not usually 60 crowded. The Grand n
Mt regularly at every session march up, he
their noses, and go through it. and aft
purifying themselves, present it as e nuisan'
I'D I ought to remark that the officers and el
- ployees about this place were evidently
,iv good bsdy of efficient and humane men, q
ing all the means in their power will PERI
to relieve and make endursble the conditi
=, of the unfortunates under their care.
For your consolation, Messrs. Editors,
aid am happy to assure you, that there are e:
,-t Gent COMMITTEES of both Houses of Go
i've ersss, now busy looking into and thrOua
IL the entire condition of things IL the Distri
With q very settled deter u~inatioa on t
part of a majority Of both bodies, to make
10 thorough and profound puEgatisn Of ever
ar thing in II, including slavery, Of course.
Ort The sad story Of bin we visited I'm
give you another time.
As ever, A. 4. K.
Warrington Itemss
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