The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-03-13
A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT FROM
THE INSPECTORS.
They Recommend a New Prison, OF
that the Present Jail be enlarged
and Improved.
. Mnndamus Awarded Against the
Council,
&c., Sc,


whoIesome food has been furnished the prl-
soners. &c. &C., &C., have completed their
labors. The report WAS presented 10 the
Judge on Thursday night, and Yesterday IL
was entered Of record in court. The report
Is as follows:
To the honorable the Judge Of the Hastings
Court of the city Of Richmond:
We, the commissioners appointed by an
order of your court March 8, 1873, to exam
inc the condition Of the Jail OF this city, &c.,
beg leave to report, after careful eXalnlhatloh
of the same, as follows:
We find the dimension Of the Iai! proper
TO be twcnty-seyen by eishty-three feet. with
a ward, or court, extending the Wnoie iehSlh
of the building on each side OF thirteen ieel
in width, the whole enclosed bya wall higher
than the ewes Of the Jail proper. In this wall
there are no openings or apertureS 10 admit
light or air.
The Jail proper, or building appropriated
to the use of prisoners. Is two stories hlgn'
In the lower story are the cells, tWenty-lour
In number, each cell of the capacity OF SIX
feet by nine feet eight inches. On the second
story are seven rooms thirteen by thirteen,
four OF which are used for the confinement
Of females, the other three devoted TO the
use Of the jalor.
In the rear Of this main building and east
ward Of it is space of about tWcnty-iour ny
titty-three feet. occupied in part as yard by
the women. On this space is Il building two
stories high, containing on the upper story
three apartments for lunatics; on the lower
floor are three cells for prisoners subjected
to solitary confinement. Beneath these is
the furnace for heating the establishment.
In all, therefore, there are thirty-tour
rooms for prisoners and lunatics. The build.
ing is totally unfit for the purposes Of i Jail
Uy reason Of situation aud defective con-
structiou. Its situation is low and damp,
receiving the offensive drippings from the
hills which bound it on the west, surchargcd,
as they are, with the oozings Of the sinks and
prvics situated in that portion OF the city
and overlooking it.
Its contisuity to Shockoe creek, now re.
cciyinm, in addition TO its former supply OF
filth from every quarter, the Increased accu-
mutation from the culvertS required to be
constructed by every householder in the city.
Its detective construction may be found in
the smai!ne>S OF lis cells.
La one of these cells as many as eight men
are now confined. Now. six feet by niue feet
eight inches would allow as much space 10
each man Of six as he would be allowed to
occupy. to Use military phrase, in close
marching order. Now, when eight adult
men are crammcd into this space Of six feet
by nine feet eight inches, it involves mathe.
matical puzzle as 10 the method of their be-
stowal which it is not in the power OF this
commission to solve.
In another cell, termed double, because
the partition wall between two Of these has
been knocked down, thereby doubling its
size, there are as many as fourteen and in
this double cell there have been confined at
one time as many as eighteen.
In one of the single cells, six by nine feet
eight inches, there have been at one time as
many rs ten. TO these cells no other Vcnti-
Eaton is afforded but by small cancelated
opening in An iron door. The only other
| opening from these cells to the outer world
| Is an iron pipe or pot sunk into the floor OF
| the cell, communicating with an open cul-
vert, which receives all the accumulated filth
| from the Jail.
These pipes are used as priVics, without
traps. covering, or means OF the use of water
| to cleanse them, rendering the cells offensive
in the extreme; constantly pouring up into
them a stream of impure air, and making
them unfit, in fine, for the occupation OF
brutcs much less Of human beings. In illus
tration, the water is passed through the mair
culyert into which these pots empty, only
once in twenty-lour hours, and then for
short period of time only.
Even this limited use of water, we are in.
formed. is complained OF as waste by the
water officials of the city. There is no ap
portionment Of water, and no arrangement
by which it can be conveyed TO the second
story. All the water available Is IN the yard
of the establishment.
There is not in any cell for men or women
chair, bench, stool, or seat Of any sort of de-
scription. Nota towel, as far as we can learn,
| has ever been furnished in the Jail TO any
one of the prisoners. All these cells are
heated by steam conveyed in pipes. The
| heating apparatus, including the furnace be-
fore alluded to, is exceedingly defective, and
even were it otherwise there would still be
suffering from cold.
The last supply of coal is laid on at OF
| about dark, consequently during the coldest
season Of the twenty-four hours, from 8 al
night (at which time it may be supposed to
subsiGe) until next morning, when the fire
is again rebuilt, the cells become intensely
cold, the fire for ten hours having entirely
gone out.
The cells seem to us to be sufficient for TIC
safckeeping Of the prisoners confined in
them that is about the only purpose they
seem To answer. So much for their security
The records of the Jail show us that there
are at present confined there 159 prisoners
the smallest Number at any time within The
last thirty days being 154; tsie largest num-
Der on the lst of February being 1885 the
average number within the mouth OF feD'
ruary was lsS. This, the 1mior Informs us,
l., about the average during the %inter
y0nths.
We ind notwithstanding the crowded
condition Of the jail and the Inadeaaacy Oh
its accommodations, there We're lEe tTlson-
ers sent here from Chesterfield, ana that az
one time there had been rs aany as eWeNe
prisoners frolz this county,
The arrangements for cooking are bad ana
INADEQUATE to the proper preparatlen OF
food for the number OF priseners conhnea III
the {si. EXazsination OF The profis'oaS on
hapd disclosed the fact that they We've not
bad ia quality. yet, oWinG TO AelectlVe ar
rangements for their prepsraoioR, or "aat Vi
care and attention, they Eere, when pre-
pared. found to be defective in quant'ty,
quality, and variety.
Tue beds We're found to be very dirty !;
the blankets of an inferior Quality
Each cell is provided with single bed or
mattress common TO all the prisoners con-
fiued in il, with some exceptions. There 10
no place set apart for the slck-no h0spltaa
or infirmary, no nurse specially provided to
attend to them. and no hospital stores Tor
their use.
We found day-watchman on duty at the
Ill. but learned there were no nlght-Wateh'
men. On inquiry we learned that the day
watchman was employed and paid 10y the