, 1876-07-02
TIE GRAND JURY.
,ts Report on the Food Furnished
Jai! Prisoners.
Sheriff Agnew Called On by the Court
for an Explanation.
Aa Interesting Document Concerning the
Insane Asylum.

Aa Interesting Document Concerning the
Insane Asylum.
The Grand Jury rcasseH,blcd yesterday morn
IN, and nut The finishing toucAcs to its labors.
1tncfusel to hear any further complaints, and
deroted its time principally to framing "1nora1
in5;ctr,cnt,': whichis given below. It came into
corrt about noon, and, beside the moral iniict-
,n,nt. returned thirty-one others, I'LL for petty
o}Tenses The t'moral Indictment it will be
noticed, is particularly severe on the manage
snt OF the jail, and, In view Of the language Ut
thc statues providing that the dieting Of prison.
c,s shall not be Of pccuniary profit to the Sheriff.
esn reflects somewhat upon the conduct OF the
County Board in fixing the allowance for dieting
st q cents per day, while the cost Is demonstrate
ID to not exceed 1U cents per day for each prison-
er The report is Is follows aud is its own conl-
mentary:
The Grand Jur5 respectfully report that they have
investigated all matters brought before them by the
hr nnlins indictments Or by ignoring the same. IN
many cases We found that the Grand Jury was at
tempted 10 he used for the collection OF debts and
for TIC qualification os personal ennittes In many
;nstsnces such ca-es are those Of persons who have
heru botnl over to court BY the examining magis-
tra,es, who hcyc either been parties to these at-
fAY1ES 10 uSc I4aCu14EI$ "a AiA
benefit OF have bound over defendants notwitl1.
Standing the case one more properly in civil
than in 4 criminal tribunal.
SALOON LICENSES.
We comnencoi several Investigations which, On
account OF the difficulty OF obtaining the tubpguas
and the attendance Of witnesses we have been IN
able to finish during the session. No official who
has been investigated should be prcjuaiccd thereby
in The public mind except where the jury haye
found al Indictment Or In some other way made
formal charges -- --.--...-... ,........
acement in regard to the issuing Of permits in the
matter Of sa!oon, pcdd1cr, billiard, and other
licenses by the city authorities, such u, in our
judgment, should be guarded agnfnst, but found
uo1hing which led us to conclude there ltAd been
arr ycFy palpable intentional omission OF duty
On the part of any particular officer. We found In
lice term mock auction store has been permitted
to run for three months on permit by paying Soo
phe license being 5000 per year,, and the character
Of The plsce was such that It became necessary to
keep 3 policeman (whosc salary is 81, 600 per an
nun) during the entire day III front Of the place TO
rarn people OF the fact that 1t was mock
being swindlcd It did not. however, appear that
the Mayor Of the city cognizant OF tue cnarac-
ter Of the aucionecEs In the PLACE Kept eS him.
It would seem to be better to abolish such tfssttti-
tions, and thus relieve any and al policemen from
special duty of this character. We would suggest
that an order of court be issued requiring that
statement be furnished by the Sheriff containing
list OF the prisonC n, the date OF their incarccra
lion where no indictments hRye been found, and
sesT x such snd haze @ been s S 4
THE COUNTY 1AIL,
and examined into thc condition and treatment OF
the prisoners. The Jail WAS found to be in d
ceanly and hcalthful condition But the food fur
nished the prisoners was not found to be whole
was discovered that the breakfast supplied to each
prisoner consisted only OF what was called d
half pound loaf OF bread made from cheap Hour, in
connection with an insipid cup Of coffee. The din
ner for each person was composed Of what was en-
titled dish OF soup, and the same quantity Of
hrcad as that supplied for breakfast The soup
meat perhaps tablespoonful Of each dish, and q
small potato, or half OF lnrsc one.
The potatoes we're boiled apparently without be-
ing washed or pared OF without having the decayed
The supper yns said to be only onc-hak pound
Of bread, tto- same as served for breakfast and ;
food OF any kind. Agrcat many OF the prisoners
complained Of actually suffering from hunger.
There were no conveniences for eating the food
nsany cases. ana tie Isi-oaers ~ers fhns forced to
1~h trl. pieces OF scat from their soup with their
dnEers, or picls it TO pieces as brst they could-
Ne arc of tic opinion that wooden or metal =
spoons, and also wooden knives aud forks, could
be furnished prisoners with perfect safety, nnd
1hat 1t should be done. u is believed TINT the
could not possibly exceed the sum of 10 ccnta.
In view Of the fact that the amount paid by the
county for the feeding Of each prisoner j. IS cents
prrpet-ated upon the unfortunate prisoners the
tc1rrt Of some officer or contractor who is attempt
isg to profit by this cruel treatment
We heard
SEVERAL COMPLAINTS
from prisoners as to tt. length OF time they had
been lncarccrated without having been indicted
or we'll founded, hut suggest that the Court as
certain from its officers whether there is any good
caHse ta,r Of complaint at n The he, premises @
been in jail since the 10th Of May last upon
charge Of ragrancy. The warrant of commitment
is invalid on its face, inasnuch no time for
the Court interposcs and discharges this boy, the
Sheriff Gun Keep him confined as long as he may
deem proper. This case was not reported by the
Sheriff to this Grand Jury nor hns the Sheriff re-
ported the cases OF prisoners no have been COM
i:ted during the term rs required by Sec, g. Chap.
is, Revised Statutes.
report tho cases OF persons committed dRring the
cEm unless On special request OF the States Aftor
acy. We think that every person Is entitled to |
speedy trial and that the Cont slon1d require this
,usso OF violating the etotute to be discontinued
committee OF the Jury visited the Insane Axy-
um and County roor>H House, and found cscrysAaag |
A committee also visited the County Hospital. |
nd made report, which we attach hereto, aud /
make it a part Of our report.
GEolaaE SHERWOOD, Foreman
THE COUNTY HOSPITAL !
Accompanying the report Was the report Of |
special committee, which is produced YER |
.atiin ltcratinl, to convey to the public Hi |
lea Of the average intelligence Of jurors Sc
ected by the County Board. It is the out
,rowth Of visit to the County Hospital. aud !
.s some richness in it. Its author is unknown.
was as follows:
Mr.. FOREMAN; Yonr eommitte appointed to visit
be county hospital visited the same and WIS po-
tcly shown through the building by the secretary
nd Housctceper the building US is well il poore |
elapidatcd old building your committee found the
ame comparatively cleane with the exception OF
be store room and milk room. very littel COM
laint was mnde BY the Inmates thei, answcs M gcn.
r. furnished st cents }cE ID quality was fair for
Es price paid Potatoes at oo cts per bush which
double tho price since - tue last
rop was harvested. The Housckce2er.
'as the daughter Of the warden II years. old
our CONT Goes not consider 80 young pcrscn
ompitcnt for Housekeeper of such IN institution;
sample OF breed was shown to the Jury and
our committee would ndgisc Improvement in the
4 ame. The ,lonsckeeper receives all the supplies:
he scales on which the supplies arc wad are out
I order ind your committee would advise i1nmc-
late Eeparc four CONT found the roof OF build.
1s in very bad condition and would recommend
Immediate repair and painring. ]. n: ADsi1,