The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-02-14
Our Jail.

! The following letter presents the views of
lady, who has devoted years to prison
work, on the condition of the Jail of this
county:
Mr.. EDIroR:-Belieying in the old adage
"one good deed deserves another" and being
grateful for the courtesy / received from
yourself and estimable wife, during my short
visit in your pleasant village, l venture to
send you the following, trusting ii may find
q place in some column of the NoRrHERNER.
Truly you have pleasant and fourishing
village, with its churches, its press, its stores,
it's comfortable, homelike hotel, where the
best of dinners is served for fifty cents, its
court house, and county buildings, its suffi-
cient number of ministers, lawyers, physi-
clans, county officers and, in fact, all the red
| tape appendages that are needed to regulate
and govern dozen counties.
| With all these, your churches, ministers,
press, and intelligent editors, stores, and
business men, hotels and good dinners pleas
ant homes and genial people, and with all
the surroundings that make up good COM
munty, you have still more to boast of, a
magnificent union school building of which
any city might justly be proud.
As | passed by this beautiful building,
the sidewalks were crowded with children,
youths and maidens, innocent and happy,
returning from their Rotations. And just
within bow shot OF this beautiful building, |
took a walk that led to your county jail"
where i witnessed a far different and more
impressive tableau, in contrast to the out
side to which / have referred, and all under
the auspices of the same enlightened COM
niunity.
A low, wooden building, condemned as not
fit place to herd swine, here | found to my
utter establishment, that the deputy sheriff
and his family lived-existed-in this little,
low, miserable building with its eight or nine
rooms, and two or three rooms were called
| the county jail" This Jail is Just 11xl2
feet SQUARE has one window which is well
iron-barred and grated, long pine table at
one end of this commodious room, with
wooden benches and stools for its prisoners.
There were fifteen men in this 11x12 room.
was told by the officer on duty that there
had been nineteen persons confined, for
weeks at time, in this same 11x12 room.
But this miserable place was as clean and
neat as scrubbing brooms, water and white
wash could make it. A large cast-iron stove
and good fire kept it warm, and this, with
its extreme cleanliness and good order, was
all could commend.
Yet when l looked into the sleeping
apartments, three cells, each 7x9 feet, and
observed that each cell had its five beds
these too were clean-aud could boast of
straw mattress, two sheets, double wooden
blanket, straw pillow and pillow case,
these things told that this room had reached
point in civilization. Still the air was bad,
dreadfully bad, obnoxious and l looked a
little doubtful when they said there had
been no sickness in that Jail during the
winter" for surely had any of your good
farmers driven their pet pigs, or cows to
town and placed them in your county Jail for
safe keeping, they would have snuffed quite
enough gas into their lungs TO have caused
distemper, and all sorts of diseases.
Have Justice and humanity closed their
eyes and ears, and settled themselves to rest,
until some dreadful disease or misfortune
shall come upon the community, that will
open both ears and eyes to that command
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do
TO you, do you even so TO them?"
There is still another little 7x9 room.
This is on the second floor and off the
deputys apartments, cell for women, for
witnesses and where the insane are confined.
| This cell has its entrance from the family
sitting room and next their sleeping room.
Who would not enjoy the rawlings of a poor
insane man or woman, and feel that few
all the inconvenience and annoyance that
one must endure if he would enjoy the
confidence OF the good people of Van Buren,
county? There must be some compensation
| for one who lives in such poor, miserable,
may l say-disgraceful building as is that
| county Jail, in which, at the present time,
| there can be found one insane old man, l3
male prisoners, and one female. Some
| writer said, more than fifty years ago, that
"American iails were the worst prisons he
had ever seen. BY some unexplained neg
lect they have, with few exceptions, escaped
REFORM Indeed there was never more need
of reform than in Van Buren, county Jail,
with its young and old offenders crowded
into one corridor. l1x12 feet. its cell for
water closet, amid stenches that are too vile
TO be intensified with an imposed idleness.
in moral atmosphere that is made shocking
beyond any description. Here the towns and
villages in all your county, send and herd
together the young criminals and the old
hardened offenders, the bowling, cursing
drunkard, and the wailing, insane lunatic.
Pardon me, if l have said too much, but
this is the condition of the Van Buren, county
JAIL and were it not for the kind and hui
name treatment that prisoners receive from
the hands of sheriff VanAuken and his
deputy, McCabe, could have told a sadder
story. cannot understand how the citizens
of Paw Paw can walk to and fro, pass by
and near this building, and not feel that il
Is not only disgrace to town and county,
but shameful neglect of their personal
duty, that they do not speak, act, and vote,
and build a respectable Jail of which they
need not be ashamed.
Respectfully Yours,
| AGNES l.. a ARCAMBAI.