, 1875-02-14
THE COUNTY JAIL,

The almost constant escape OF prisone,
from the new County Jail, since the ne,
Sheriff took charge Of it, has at last, we ar
glad to see, aroused the Grand Jury to
sense Of its duties. As two examinations @
the building have now been made,-the frs
BY committee Of architects and the secon
BY committee Of tho Grand Jury itse1f, w
may expect their joint labors will result in
practical and suggestive report The view.
Of Mr. BoYHeros, OF the Committee O
Architects, hnve already been printed, ant
confirm the prevalent suspicious that the Jni
is not secure. In fact, his discoveries max,
| it seem as if the Jail was constructed express
II to afford prisoners the means Of escape
The outer door Of the guard-room is Of wood
! and should have been heavily iron-grated
| The iron-wo1k Of the doors is much too light.
The gratings can be easily pried open. The
locks are not secure. Access to the roof is
easy by means Of q souttle in wooden frame
work, and 1adder is temptingly placed
against the wall to enable the prisoner to
reach the ground The roof is Of tiles, which
can be easily removed, and the ceiling
plaster, which can be easily bored
through. Now, add to these defects Of con-
struction the fact that there are not enough
guards, md that tha prisoners have no diff
Guilty in communicating with the outer world,
and the reasons for these constant escapades
are clear enough. Whatever may be the
cause, it is palpable fact that the prisoners
are constantly escaping, and that they have
apparently but little difficulty in doing it,
and such d fact is disgrace to the county.
The Grand Jury should not adjourn until it
has thoroughly investigated the condition Of
the Jail and the discipline and conduct Of
those who have charge Of it, as we'll IS the
charges which have been publicly made
against the Sheriff and the administration Of
his Office. Tha criminal and vicious popula-
ton of the city has largely Increased under
the sympathetic protection Of the Peoples
purity. Thieves, gamblers, blacklegs, bur-
glars, bu11ies, and prostitutes have 1ocked to
the city in swarms since that party took COZ
trol, and it is therefore certain that out of
this large crowd Of vico and sin there must
be pretty constant current Set
ing into the County Jail This being
he fact, the real people have the
light to demand that, if the Peoples party is
going to keep the Jail full Of its constituents,
t shall keep them safely. They have the
light to demand, furthermore, that the pris-
'ners shall be carefully guarded from CON-
with the outer world that the
'uartls and other employees shall be sober and
men and that the Sheriff shall
reform the duties Of his Office impartially
nd completely; and that thera shall be IN
nd Of the rioting, drunkenness, and corrup-
ion, alleged by Mr. HHHa to take place
7ithin its walls. Having done this, then it
7ould be well for the Grand Jury, if they
nd TINT the Jail is insecure, to discover who
uilt it VINO awarded the contracts the
haracter of those contracts; and whether
be contracts have been carried out In GOOD
nth. In other words, it is plainly part Of
1e duty Of the Jury to ventilate this Jail
:anaal rs completely as possible, that it may
g known whether there was Job" in its
If there WAS job, who was
, it and how much was made?