National Republican., 1877-09-14
A REPORTER IN JAIL.
PILGRIHAGE YESTERDAY TO TIE
GREAT DISTRICT CAGE.

NNb btsN hIPTlDNS Of SOME VI 1HE fhOM
INEST PRISONERS.
Unlike in many other parts of the world our
jail Is not located In the midst Of civilization so
that people rush into 1t readily, torly to see
their friends OF cour'oI but Is on the confines Of
the nations capital,wherc the surrounding scenery,
which the prisoners cannot readily see, is
charming. and the bracing atmosphere OF which
they have an abundance Is onnprcscnt; and fur
thermorc. to add to the inconvenience of visiting
the interior OF the great grd.ironcd institution 1t
is far beyond the pale of where the street run,
50 that one has to travel thence In some other sort
ofconveyance or pciesrisnate to the best of his or
her (or iii was DR.. Mary W., ny ability.
A NATIONAL RErrBficlS reporter who was sent
there yesterday experienced
NO DIFFICULTY IN GETTING INTO JAIL.
Indeed, he was cordially received, crsn as those
whose formal paper OF introla Is not quite
ChestcrneldAn as that which the newspaper rep.
rcsentative presented The fact that life Is short
lrcportere' lives generally Nrethc good die young
II is only the hardy bad who will not be persuaded
70 leave u.s. mp%ed him 10 pr9eeSa at az ohSs s 70
takes the form OF an Interview when he gains &c.
cess TO a good na,urei orici,ls presence.
you want to pump me- And then he addcdwlth
| look OF great misfortune depicted In his counc.
| nance, DO you know am very dry =
so am l." said the reporter supT3sirg he was
about to receive aschooncr Of lemonade.
However, will give you all car" said tho OH
clOl apparently not noticing the reporters iLd's.
| Greet remark, but do moi want You to put my
name IN the paper am modest man you must
remember
The reporter stared long and earnestly; colld it
be possible SIch was the tact right here At the h1b
Of the nation and yet II I'D not sem so strange
amer all when is taken into consideration he was
| In Jail There are Away. agrcat many retiring
| men Of regular habitS-sieAiy men there
FACTS.
1--WE have" said the Official, two hundred and
| seventy fOur single and eight iarg, cells. We
generally put only two prisoners In each OF the
Your present number Of inmates"
| us two hundred and hty.ninc, two thirds Of
females, the youngest OF whom has just come in,
| and Is only mere child of thirlenn. A few OF the
women have kids With them The y"unss,t ma male
should Judge Uf about sixty The highest crime
tor which any female is here i larceny, while on
| the side Of III" macs II is murder
showing that the male, are lar wickcdcr than
the icmhlc'. as always supposed they wcrc,' said
"D5nt interrupt me" said the oficia the sen.
temccS prisoners ~, sent h4re to serve Out range
from thirty to ninety aud one hundred and eighty
days. Tho most prevalent crime Committed has
Be en- the larceny Of clothci OF dry goods"
| You have some murder cases -
| Il think We have some six or seven In connec,
ton with this crime awaiting trial. or something OF
will you oblige mo with their names, nativity,
etc"
| L prefer not to do so at present as to their
names for reasons which deem sufficient and
which you could sec are quite proper II you under.
matter; and as to their nativity can only say: We
keep no record Of that Al We have. in the form
Ofa record, is in tins small book here
DAILY ROUTINE, DIET, ETC.
"Oh all can say rs to the daily routine Is that
we get the PRISONERS UP at 8 o'clock n the morning
when they perform variety of healthful, cleanly
and necessary duties Al a IN. they attack the
first regular ration ofthe day"
with the filll bill of fare
Certainly. Morning fish. warm bread and
coffee, Noon, soup, meat, potatoes aai warm corn
There was pause.
And for suppGrr'
"i.n working between meals that impAirs their
20, mall; They read great deal"
Most assuredly. There are some Y. NJ. c. A
members who como here regularly, including
ladies, who bring with them some highly edifyini
What becomes OF the prisoners between mcN
tines"
"They remain locked In their cells"
, Winch is nearly equal to solitary conhne
ment'
"Thore Is no regular employment for the prison
NO, but we keep them employed as we as We
can doing such things as must be done. We worl
as many OF them. serving out sentence as we pos
sibly can. Its proposed to put up workshops her,
some day or other. and then we can have them al
al work"
When was this building first occupicd?'
"ln December, 1873.
BIJoU AND FRIENDS.
, THAT commanding officer who has Just come II
with the new prisoners! That Is Mr.. Barton, whom
You scapegraces of tho pres will insist Is the Bjol
, Of our local Police Court
He is certainly very fine man.
And fine officer, too"
Mr. Bi- Dlrion removed the hNndcufr
from several graceless looking men and boys win
had been his guests in the van and retired with al
the gracef,,lnos' for which the Bi- the Barton
are so conspcuOusly remarkable.
"DoS'T PUT MY NAME IN THE PAPER"
At this juncturc the reporter was turned over L
i another officer, who had previously been directed
1 10 show him along the corridors. More unlocking
of doors and the locking OF them carefully behin,
him. and the reporter could pass so as TO be us ri
with the prisoners, but only while their cell door
were between him and them.
The officer rcqu csteh as he ushered the reporte
= INTO the first corridor, that his name might not Al
i pear In the paper -.
o The first Interesting case reached was that of
5 GEORGE BALTIMORE,
0 colored held in connection with the murder G
L MrGrath. George was almost naked, ard yer
5 anxious TO obtain new shirt. He certainly neede
+ How long have you been hersi' the reporter In
six months to-day" he repllcl.
h LEE FiTzHUGH,
!, white had been In durance vile three months fu
absent mladcl!y wandering on WIN street nos
His sentence is Six months, He employs his tim
c manufacturing mats, which are quite pretty: scvC
rnl of them are in front Of the doors in dilurcI
parts OF the jail. lie did not want his name in III
paper aud II 1t Is inserted In this report It must
" In consequence of the chronic forsctiulness of III
Soon we came to quite little boy Colorel, VIII
S did not appear TO be over eleven years Of age. II
l. said his name was
IS HENRY JACKSON,
n and seemed entirely oblvIous to the fact II migl
Ia be published in the newspaper.
i "lIow long were you sentenced for"
" sixty days
d "IOw long have you been herc?"
. Forty two
lc You didn't DO anything"
?" "Oh yes did! l stole some junk
p, wARRICK,
10 white charged with the shooting Of Coombs NI
e awaiting iiew tIlal, mLnta'icd n desire 10 be
re t.CCit,
ie wM. STAMP,
in white charged with the murder OF Sam Morr
10 had b2ca ~ Jail seven months
r DIsHMlN,
colOrcd, George BatimOres partner had be
sc where he was six months
a. AN INTERESTING CASE
- Is that OF J. H. Whitney charged with frapaIlen
drawing pay as n second lieutenant in the arm
9r, has bppu inCarcgratpl since the 9th of Ju