Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-11-23

Saint Barnes, the valiant Foreman Of
Grand Juriss, who used bis oncisl positioa
70 crafty psrsosal spite. 10 tsld by the Di.
rec,ers Of the Poss that BE- dsssn't know ~
nssh = hs inaeiass, ty advisisg tes a..
psrvissrs 70 raise he salary ofths Steward
q The Pesr House, - the Dirsstsss alsss
have charge u that matter. asd tel fully
eempsssut y sttssd - thsis swn bssinsss.
Peer D.rsssl Try your gigantic intellect
sesiu. The following, frsm Major Sehnit-
eor. may slss b interesting:
Epires DsxocsAf In answer to the re-
rort Of Grand Jury, Addressed 70 the pse-
pie, which Was Published in yeur paper Of
ihe 20th inst. Isu viii allow me. please. 70
make some explanation, in addition 70 the
rsmarks made By you.
The iail 10 By no means % iare % 1t
ought 70 bs. The prison proper has TIVE
tiers of cells. The lever tier 10 Ter men,
and has accommodations for twenty per.
sons by putting four men in each cell. In
THE tier there are i've cells for drunkards.
Nev. during the summer have seldom had
lee thsa "a aals prisoners, and sometimes
The number has reached 30. This has com
PEELED me 70 fll up the drunkards' calls
With prisoner il the night time. who did
set belese there. The calls for drunkards
cannot b. kept strictly clean, % any one
whs has had experience in jsil-kesptng can
testify. The putting Of these ssbsr men in
the drunken nen's cells 10 the means BY
which one of the ether cells get lousy"
New want the public to know that niss-
tsuths Of the men xhe ere Gem mittsd to
iail-and some are committed slmess daily
are beth nlthy and lsusy-ths women q.
NEST invarisbly %. Ts keep the jsil free
from lice, every man wsuld have to be strip
ped Of eli bis clething, ssaped and bathsd,
and shaved, and provided with clean clothes
threughous. Even then be will net bs free
from parisiteo. e oil know who have ssrv-
Cd in the army. ask II the people are
willing TO pay the expense Of such opera.
tions for men who are the scourge Of the
country, and whe are brought to jail, 20 10
ffeaueutly The caes, four timss nenth.
The bed clethiue in the cells consists 81
straw ticks, quilts and blankets. The ticks
are illsd with fessh STRAW twice . year,
and ticks, quilts and blankets are washed
once every six months. The jail vas pro
vidsd with entirely new bed ticks this fell.
On sash Sunday morning every man IN jail
gets clean hickory shirt, the seams Of
which are smearsd with eminent, u pre-
vent the wsarer getting lousy, if possible.
o. that day, alse, they ere provided With
soap and towels, and can wash thsoeslves
il they wish to.
I asknswledge that the number Of ban-
ksts in the jsil wsuN not b sufficient dur.
ine the winter for the number Of men in
the iail when the Grand Jury visited It (;
but kns sing that at least seventeen Of the
inmates would 70 out at the close Of the
term of the District Court, ! did cot got
blankets ct the eounty's expense tor the
few days Of Geld weather intervening. but
gave orders to have the Jail kept warm day
and night.
The coils are cleaned out BY their inmates
every morning, after which the prisoners
g int the hall and the cells are licked.
The cells have . concrete deof. which 10
scrubbed with water twice week.
Now, as to the report Of the Grand Jury.
The foreman, Mr.. Barnes. obtained his in
formation from the prisoners, and freu no
one else. These prisoners have . spite
against the keeper. he 10 strict, yet net
harsh nor tyrannicsl, in his treatment Of
them. This deem necessary for the sake
Of security asd safety. Instead Of making
inquiries Of proper persons, and learning
the reaseu Of matters to which he refers,
and thus gathering material for IN impar-
tisl statement be adopts - truth I'll that
the prisossrs tell him, and ssts his report
afloat, and publishes Il in the GssettS b.
fore even the Judge had IN opportunity Of
seeing Il. Judge ReAuan dete ted tue
spite that Wa manifest in that oct and rep
rimandsd the foreman for bic conduct.
l invite any respectable citizen Of Scott
county, who wishes to sss the jail, to come
and inspect it for himself. | have visited
several jails, in and cut Of Iowa, since |
have been Sheriff, and have found none in
b>ttsr, and few in % good. condition 20 the
Scott county jail, although have Eve
tnes - many prisoners for the capacity
Of the jail % any one Of the others have
seen. Yours respectfully,
G. ScHNIfo.R.
Sheriff Of Ssett County.