The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-12-06
THE wORRnOuSE.


Den Of Filth Ahd NeFilbu'
A reporter Of this paper while In SoTth
Wheeling day or two ago, dropped in at
the wotIkouse to take In what changes,
IL any, had been made under the new adj
miniSuatioA. From the situation Of this
reiotmatory, and ils peculiar construction
one would hardly suppose that change
Tor the better could be wrought unless 1t
would DO total, one, that is, \ new silia'
tIon, new building and new everything.
Ilthe Council Of the city Of Wheeling
had All Insulation Ia view that would be
terror 10 all Migrants, city bnnmers anu
Ife1uenters Of warehouses generally when
they projected this one they certainly sue
rI,eded III their ideal Tor more loathBomer
dls,tuWllng aud revolving prison cannot
Le "a md In the Union. On the side OF the
Kin Al the head OF Eighth street, a place
wide @, ,ough TO build house upon,
LSS bee,, excaValed aud upon II
Ina been erected 4 building something
after lie Sty 10 Of country Blacksmith
shon. only a II Tile more 10. This building
il dipniiied by the title Of WOrkhOHse,
but upon what prJGensioh we ere ., u lo \.
TO conjecture. Therb Ia Eo1hinR uona ~
II In theshape Of work except that done
by bugs, with which II Sbounds "ESe uhio
the flies In Egypt The exterior Of nus
building 10 most uuinvltiHg, having been
az one time whitCwashel, which long Gx'
posed 10 the elements has turned to q
Sickly yellow. Near It Is 4 water.boiler
sunk in the ground, In which the inmates
wash their clothing, II they have any, and
| further south Is o rlckety shed IN which
lime stones are broken by the prisoners
when the weather preCludes the possibil.
ity Of street working. East Of tho main
building Is the stone quarry, u really val
liable one, by the way, from which lime
and tagging stones are obtained. This Is
Col. Put Wier's realm, and here he rules
absolutely, bOsSing the quarry slaves and
getting out stones. Large quantities Of
lime stones are taken out yearly and dis
tfibuted In the various wards. The flags
arc used for street crossings. This will
suffice for the surroundings Of this iRstitu.
tions. We enter and we at once
wish we hadn't. Smells no mortal
ever Smelled before greet our outraged
OliaCtOries befotewe are lairly inside, pro.
duced by various causes. On our right Is
the cuisine. This Is not prGtentious
Kitchen. tits beautiful In its simplicity.
stove, some stove furniture, a great
many quart tin cups to eat soup from, aud
few other indispensable articles, and you
have Il. A pot tu,l Of odds and ends OF
beef that had Just been cooked stands on u
chair In the room and Is exhAling odors
that smell to heaven" The room is ~
clean as Il possibly can be under the cir.
CumstRuces, and bore marks Of recent at.
tention-as MIR. Maloney said, ~ have
been trying to get this room little clean.
er than II has been" Across the hall is the
office OF the Supt. This room is nearly
filled by n lounge, upon which he sleeps,
and chair or two 1t also showed the
results OF recent and thorough cleaning,
and 1t still looked about as comfortable As
an average piE.stye.
We were next shown into the room that
serves for a prison, sleeping rOom hospi.
tai and general utility room, and what q
place! AndersOnvile would lose half its
horrors to one who could see this pen.
Dark, dreary, cherries, gloomy and 70.
pugnunt In every particular, II is the most
'nAthBolnO thing one could imagine, and
laddo,' 70 all the above the iuctid atmOs.
uLaro ,ho, OeryudGs the whole room Is
enopvb to breed s'Gkness and death in the
stoutest man, In the extreme northern,
end Of this room several crIlS ate ppatuea
up for the confinement and punisI'"e
OF those refractory untDrtunates who may
have violated some Of the TuiGs oI the In
stituion, as II the mere fact Of imprlson.
ment In that filthy place we're not punish.
meAt. We attempted 10 look in one OF
these cells, but the air coming out was
laden with smellssuCh as no nostrils could
tolerate. Verlnin filed each chink and
Granny OF the room and lined the beds
and bed-Clothing.
There are about tor,y-lve lprisOnerS at
the Workhouse at present, large mum
Der Of which are tramps. Twenty or
twenty-five OF these are able 10 work
either in the gang or around the building.
The others, either on account OF sickness
OF want Of clothing, are unable to work,
and are always inside. Some OF these lat.
4 ter are indeed in wrethed condition
ragged, dirty, sick, and one ortwo OF
them have nothing but mouldy rags TO
cover themselves with, one OF them IN
particular, was sitting on bench,
with a part Of an old blanket wrap.
ped around him TO cover his naked.
ness. The Superintendent said he had been
exerting himself 10 the uttermost to pro-
cure clothing for some Of the most desti-
tute, and In one or two instances had fur.
niShed 1t himself ut his own expense.
A movement originated in the Second
/ Branch Of Council at its last meeting to
ClOthe or rather purchase suit to be worn
by prisoners. This the First Branch "sat
, down on, but It would do well, under the
circumstances, to reconsider It's action,
and do something toward relieving the sui.
ferings Of these unfortunates.
The Workhouse from its construction is
intended to accommodate about fifty per.
sons comfortably, above that number
makes things decidedly uncomfortable.
, The hunks are arranged alongside the
walls one above the other, and are very
simple In construction and are poorly sup
Z ply with clothing and bedding. Under the
recent act Of Council persons may now be
sent for one year for repeated OlTenses.
, Toby Vance, We believe, is the only one
year man now there. A small, bright
looking lad, about s or ten years OF age
attracted our attention and upon inquiry
I We learned that he was the son OF q widow
! woman In East Wheeling, and had re.
ceiyed a six months sentence for steal.
ing the enormous amount OF 70 cents.
-Four months Of the sentence has already
been "done,n and the child, for he Is moth.
ing else, has yet two months to serve for
the oiEense, OF which he is hardly old
enough to realize the criminality.
We do not wish 10 be understood us ~.
fecting on the management OF Mr..
NIaloney in our reference to tho condition
Of the Work House, as he is trying to get
1t cleaned out and renovated US fast as he
can, and next week will take down the
hunks in the prison and wash the whole
building out with street hose; but some
thing should be done Immediately by the
proper authorities to put the building in a
better sanitary and more comfortable con-
dition, for rs 1t Is, 1t is disgrace to the
/, city,