, 1877-07-01
N1scARTHY.
IT, the Editor Of The Tribune.

Tu the Editor o} The Tribune.
! CHICAGO June 30.-Therc is no class Of men II
the world 80 independent OF critics All the man
agers Of prisons. Nooutste1 can Invade the Scent
OF their misdeeds, il they gully Of any. ex-
cept by thcr permission. The Grand Jury, it Il
| true, hts the right tn visit jnls, but It IL
! the easiest thing i'll the world to predict tei,
coming, and tc conceal uIl truccs of bad
management until they nre oul Of the way
! again. Tic prisoners may give Information, hui
thsy arc generally pcrkos vino will tot aud ought
not ta lie believed. So the prison tnunager may
safe1y defy the world to prove nnyta,in. on him.
And II any one Ia SO rash al to attack hia manage
mint, he comforts himself with The hope that his
critic will come day be an inmate Ut bis prlson,
I When he will show him whether anything goes
wrung there.
Ill w1mt am going to pay therefore, in this COM
nanleatfon. wish it to be distinctly understood
| that I derive all my information from tho com
plainIs Of the prisoners. Some Of my lntormants
are my clients, and have right-nay, it is my
sacred duty-to speak for them when they cannot
I speak for themselves. Some Of my inform
! ants arc persons who have been prison.
ut I'D liberty have x Il sfsn ny aSa
been prisoners On suspicion merely, and none of
them have been convicted OF crime mention
they are worth and nn more It IL. NOT to MY ill.,
terest nor to my TASTE to give oense to the public
officers On the North Side. And Is God ii my
Judge, have no personal feelings ngainst any of
them, and an moved simply by a lorc Of justice
and love ot my felow~mcn in misfortune and
even In guilt
Now, then whnt learn from tile sources ln-
dicated OF the condition OF people imprisoned in
the Cook County Jail TN suspicion OF crime II have
NJ time TO waste on convictsl III a. follows: am
and soup; that the soup Is sesptius and is gen
crally poured down the sink at once that tc meat
received nt meal IL about luryc a. ma,ls two
well advanced in decomposition. and often
smells 10 bal1y that no human being
could force it luwn his throat: and that tho
bread fw sometimes bat that it IL Offensive to the
stneii. No prisoner who can yet foss! from outside
ever touches tho Jail food. The prlsoncra say that
wheu.yer the Grund Jury visits the JUL they get i
departure is ~ revolving Az that served IL week
before lts visit know of norway TO either verify
or disproSe these representations. They Az,
appearance Of my clients goes yery5far
twarda a confirmation. II they are truc, theE
must nv that NO punishmen: saald b. too severe
for the responsible PARTIES. Thirty-1ve cent?
sday conld Lot BE- expended on such diet; md that
IL what tbs county pays the Sheriff for it.
/ alt informed that there il ~ater closet in
every cell in jail that these water-rlosetr aud
the sewers connected with them are oct Of order:
that on the. .ophoor the wuter has nut run in
ticse water. closets for ten weeks and that ccnse
qHently the stencil in the cells ir perfectly in
fernnl. botE- to tue nose and to the lunes One IT
my clients. raid it produced swelling of the
that be Kept the pillow from his bed etaded int:
his water closet nil the time to save himself from
the poisonous stencil; and prsones who WAS
lately acquitted told that in his eaSe it brought
on severe spell Of typhoid fever. | have il from
one who has never been into cell, but who H.
often in front nf them, that even thsre the atnos-
pheYe IL alnOst deadly.
am told that it is with the greatest difficulty
that prisoner can get cath. Une prisoner. who
has been III the Jail .hrec MONTHS told ms that in
all that time he able to get only one bath; and
another prisoner WHO was there for biz months,
and was Then acquitted, told me that in
all that TING he did not and con'd not
produces fever and other sickness and that in cou
sequence of shs enforced dl,hiucss the bedding in
the cells, a. might he expected, is horribly yer
am told that there is no; effort made
to give prisoners exercise; that some OF the
worst characters in tue jail art allowed to 90 ont
Of their cells and walk around freely; but
thst the rest OF the prisoners are only let ont for
few minutes on the two vsiting days Of tl,e week.
and 9sksd in their c'lls The rs1t o. the tu'e:
clos.s eonanei hat hi. lees wonid hardly support
Ms Il prisoner, lost esh s sna tes as
heart md hope daily ami visitly a.
ta,s d.eaatal 10, one ry
month. he was neser let cut OF his cell moment
j mn tolu thut men who are in this Jail merely on
suspicion are put to menial and degrading labor:
and compelled to scrub the Aoors Of tn. cells. I
x,u told that this is ono OF = number Ut reg
u1atous which are enforced in. tue jul.
to the prisoners, and which they learn Of only bV
being punished for tnfractious. One Ut ny. in
foEmanis, not consiet was Tucked up in dun
t.cor for twenty Tour hours until he would scrub
mis- cell. Aud am told that other PRISONERS. for
breaking these prison rules. have been locked in
the dungeon, aud dueted with the water-h h,sc ard
had their thumbs tied to the eellin. Gould ctn-
yicts At Joliet br treated more inhumanly:
And, WORT Of all: have heard ruinors from re-
fcmale department Of the jail, which cannot
urove to re true, anG therefore w:l not repeat III
detail bur which do nut hesitate to say Gail for
faithful and scarchiny inquiry. II they are true,
then there is indeed great need OF thorough re-
form in the Cuox County jail.
One thing know from, actual observation and !
In our Jatl disDbigng, insulting, and lazy. |
Their duties, II we'll performed must be !aboriuus
and iflssone, and theT have great deal to annoy
If they do not like the position, there are |
IL plenty Of people who would 1t is Il common !
hing 10 zee son.e of them sitting around picking
10 whom they have eitrustets he keys OF the In
stitution nstead Of Keeping him in bis cell, does
polite, efficient and accom- oaatIn* 7urnkty in
who earrcs the keys and loras it ver the lunoecnt
men lin IN the cells with the clerk and dldoorkreper
II now Ills account VI the Cook. County jail be
rue, think every humpne man in The com
hat il the saiSorities vii n not ~ or ppo" ean,
,ot reform IT. IT. tc' sen te citizens should
,low it up, or pull It down. For i: il indnit:ly
,et1er TINT crime sheuld 20 entirely ,nnrunished
han that innocent men wu1nen, and children should
'e shut mp and tortured IN such hell-hule. with.
,ut hope OF relief Mrs. MeGowan wants chapel
,uilt in it. In my opinion it >is ! satire on
and mockery Of The prisoners to utter
he name Of God OF religion to them in such place.
( the Christians Of Chicago cannot create nubl:c
that will protect the prisoner, WHOM |
esus Christ committed especially to their protec-
ion, then rhey hs,i better burn their Bibles and
,rofcas alohanfnledanism.
On last Sunday Visited the Btidcwcll. I had I
,eara it highly praised, but the half had not been
old n,c. Mr. EharIcs E. FELTON, il the superin-
ensleut, and when saw his work felt Ike en-
,facnS him, for the devoted Chrietien pusios
n this city is useless vagnhund compared with
lin. II any one wishes to my idea Of lions,
II Detcutt0n let lsra visit the Bride wcl1. II my
nc wishes to get tho right 0pinion OF onr
,ounsy-.IaiI, let him, rjs.t the Drilcwcll..
iou might 90 oyer It, kitchen and ai with lady's
and mt sod the handkerchief. The
,cds are as clean any In the Palner llnlsc. The
prisoners mnsr buthe every week, and may hathc
very day. sat down aud ate bowl Of their
oap, and it was splendid. They hnvca large
hazel with cabinet organ, flowers on the stGrtl,
lowers In the winlowa, flowers hung in bask-
ts from the ceiling; and / saw
100 OF them there at worship.
n tho wouens in6rmary there was the same pro- t.
uson Of flowers, with canary birds thrown in |
tf,Ntr ct,