The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1868-02-01
TO the Police jury OF the Parish Of St
Landry


The undersigned Commissioners appointed
to rxaminr the parish Jail. for the purposes tx
pressed in the resolution Of your body. passrt
on the 18th December, 1867, report:
That they have made the required rxamlna
ton, and tiud the public prison. by reaN,
on OF its detective construction, the dllapldattu
and drcaying condition IF its walls, its llnltr'i
capacity, the insufficient ventilation OF its CELLS
the want Of glazed sash rr shutters tr pre-
lection against the incltnrncies of the weather,
entirely unfit for the safe keeping OF prisone!s'
and III uriouS to their health.
Two grand iurirs, and a committee Of phv-
>irians Of the town ct NprIousas, appointed
for tn" purpose, have within the lasttwrjv"
months Inspected the building. and arrived at
the sam" conclusion. For the. facts and traS-
ons upon which they based their o~piQions, W..
refer to their several able reports. The last
named committee considered that its c"ndI-
ton threatened the general health of the town.
The Southern apartments ar not protrrt'l
by iron cages 0! castings. 1le>walls wlltl'
consist only OF brick and mort"r, have been
perforated, and prisoners have ESCAPED on tour
different occasions within the last eighteen "l
twenty months-in one instance at midday
This insecure and unhealthy condition Of
the Jail. has recently rendered il necessary t"
send all the prisoners to New OrleaLs for SAT-
Keeping, health aid comfort, to be returned
to this place, for trial, at heavy expense and
this necessity will probably recur with The
iirst approach of warm weather, 1t has also
imposed upon the jaiIor the painful aud harsh
necessity of placing irons upon the greater
part of tn" prisoners. anu to keep a guard
around the building by night, in order to &C.
cure their safe ruStoF, ali attended with heavy
.., C,,1 ...; .x IN n.iirn4nt tn +lA ara,
grrss of business inour courts.
Believing the pesrnt Prison to be wholly
untit for the purpo$s far which it was destined
We rtcummsud tnerrction Of another. Time
must however cbpsr before that end can be
! ACCOMPLISHED. I or'rr to provide for the
! comfort Of the p~fson"rs during that interval,
we advi>, tempesry repairs not to extend be-
yond glazed ssh, plastering and general
CLEANSING. EpnSlvr assures in the eastern
and western ,alls. render it unwisc to do
more.
The increas OF crime within the last two
years, from ,eIl understood causes, imposes
the nrcessitytOr a building OF increased Ca
! pacity.
We thcrefre recommend, that the new iail
be a bodybuilding As feet front by 50 in
depth. twokories high, with a passage twelve
feet wide trough the center, on each floor ;
that in theipper story there be three cells on
each siIeot the passage; and on the Lower
story thre cells on one side, aul two large
rooms oD'he other Of the passage, the latter to
be used or contining p",anns charged with
minor otncrs. We further rcomm,n that
an of se compartments contain iron Gags
ptacrdthree feet from the waits in every H.
lectiOi
1t Impossible, owing TO our restricted tine,
| and le limited means Of information at Oct
c%umpand, to furnish an accurate estimate Of
thepst of the building.-We believe that it
wilnvolve all expenditure of about 500, 900.
| Wsrecommend that a special tax for that
aTlnt be imposed, that it be collected in cash,
ap as speedily as possible.
n conclusion we will remark, that jmpor-
TT modern improvements have been mad" in
T. construction Of public prisons, all having
ference to the health, comfort and SAFE. keep
lfg OF the prisoners, and that it maybe adj
Esabie to consult with persons thoroughly
with the subject. All OF which is
respectfully submitted.
GEO. K. KING.
}. II. OEERTON,
w. K. MEGINLEY.
TIiOS. &. ANDERSON.