The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-23
OPENING TIE WORK-HOUSE.
The Dreaded Place to Which the City's
Petty Miscreants Will Be Sent.
How the Clothing of Lateral Stripes, with
the Horrors of the Bath and the Stone
Pile, Affected the First Arrivals.

Yesterday was the opening day of the County
Work house, though few prisoners were re-
ceiyed on Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon a
journal reporter arrived at the work house in
time to see wagon come up with eleven pris-
oners from the Jail, chained together and accom-
panied by guards. They were brought into the
building from the west side, and stood IN the
hallway at the prison door, in the rear of the of
fee, rafting their chains, while superintendent
Thompson looked the commitment papers
ant proved the number complete.
As they stood there three four prisoners in
the black and gray striped jeans suits, who were
at work about the place, passed and repassed.
These suits of aernal stripes. if designed to en-
nance the appearance of their occupants, can
hardly be called an entire success. Sixty -seven
snits jackets and trousers have thus far been
received. The manufacturer made four sizes,
and made little calculation for small
sized criminals. Nearly all of the new arrivals
as they saw these specimen suits, plainly exhib-
ited their extreme dislike of them. One of them
o middle aged German. made pathetic appeal,
in badly broken English, to one of the guards
A'Mein Gott, you don't mean to hat me in such
Clothes like dotl"
After each of the eleven had responded to his
name, they were told to fall in, and with the
prison lock -step-each with the right hand on
the shoulder of the man in front-headed by the
griefstricken German, they were marched to
the basement Here they were given good
bath, thing that number of them apparently
had not enjoyed before in years, and as they
emerged, bright as Venus rising from the
waves, each man was encased in of the
sixty seven striped suits. AS they marched
np, lock-step from the basement to be placed
In the dollhouse, their countenances were a
study, because of the variety of expression
One or two seemed defantly proud of the igno-
minious stripes, and carried their badge OF
shame with air of bravado. Some had hard
and cruel look upon their faces. as If meditating
revenge for the indignity, while others looked
degraded beyond the power of words to express
The lock clicked the grated door swung open,
and the shameful procession passed into the cell
house.
Superintendent Thompson new to such sights,
was evidently touched, as were the guards who
accompanied the prisoners Yesterday morn
ing" said Mr.. Thompson. 1.-The first instament
arrved-ive men and three women. The men
were mm ediately taken to the bath room, as these
you have just seen, bathed and put into the
prison suits. The three women were handed
over to the female attendants and furnished
with baths. The women are also to have
prison unitorm-a gingham dress of small blue
check pattern. This morning eight prisoners
were received from the mayors court, six men
and two women. Later on nine prisoners, all
women, were received from the Jail. This load
that has just come up numbers eleven. They
are from the JAIL and another load will be here
from the jail before night with six more men.
The Black Maria, which is being made to convey
prisoners from the city to this place. is not quite
finished. II is regular prisoners van and will
carry dozen prisoners with the necessary
number of guards"
The reporter was shown the two cell-houses
That for the men has four rows. one above the
other. Of twenty cells each, eighty each side,
making 160 cells the two sides. The cell
room for the women contains forty-eigh cells.
The first candidate for a dark cell or dungeon
was furnished while the reporter was looking
through the buildings A woman with her face
at q window looking out upon the road, burst
into torrent Of blasphemy and promptly
carried away into the oblivion of a distant dun
geon.
One of the male prisoners, negro about
twenty four years old, had sooner got com
fortably settled into his zebraic garment than
he was seized with an epileptic fit. Following
this he had four more. Appealing to the
porter, he asked what he was in for. A guard
informed him that vagraDcy was the charge
upon which he had been committed "Well"
he said, IF you'll only let me out of this III prom
Use to leave this town, go home and never come
back here more" Unfortunately, the poor
fellows request could not be complied with
Thompson is matron of the place-vwill occupy
rooms the second and third floors. at the
northwest corner of the building, most remote
from the prison cells. These will make exceed
ingly comfortable living rooms.
In answer to the question as to what work the
prisoners will be put upon, Superintendent
Thompson said: "You can see by looking around
that there is several weeks work for the men
here in cleaning up and whitewashing, besides
which there are walks of broken stone and roads
TO be made. There will be stone breaking here
for two months more. In the meantime,
the County Commissioners will deter
mine what Is to be done next OF
broken stone, that branch of the business will
continue the year round. The female prisoners
there are fourteen here now-will be employed
for the present in scrubbing, keeping the build
ing clean and n laundry work. If you noticed
the basement under the mems dollhouse you saw
that, when required. it can readily be turned into
forty additional cells"