The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1885-08-26
Aprr,os. Pa. Are. "A. iss5.

AppEsoS. Pa. Aue. "a. iss5.
Editor !Somesd HEnALD The question
of new Jail. the repair of the old one, or
neither. seems now to be agitating the minds
OF many persons. and among those is one
who fills certain positien-not at Somer-
set-who. were the possession of brains an
ostcnse at criminal law would he declared
innocent by any jury on earth even a
Fayette county jury would fail to convict.
What is jail9 Webster says, a prison
building or place for the confinement OF
persons arrested for debt or for crime, and
held in custody The presumption of Law
is that every person accused of crime S in
nocent until he is proven to be guilty.
Then. if a person be presumed innocent,
| wbv infIict on him needless tortures whilst
he il awaiting trial? Persons confined in
| iail belong to two classes-those awaiting
trial, and those under sentence for minor
crimes or mi.demeanors. They may still
further be classified as those who are charg-
ed with the commission Of bailable ofIenses,
bat Who have failed to obtain hail, or Sc.
curity and those charged with offenses so
grave in their character as to exclude the
possibility of bail for one so charged But
| let II be borne in mind that the unbailabie
character of the offense has nothing what
ever to do with the guilt or innocence of the
l x-nrfiz tI..,x Mi ~,
of innocence lies for all crimes whatever,
from the lowest to the gravest, in the calen-
dar, until guilt is proven. Another classif-
cation may be male and female. or old and
young prisoners
What kind of Jail has Somerset county ?
| presume this jail is the worst in the state.
1t is q brick buiIdipg-the pen" for pris-
oners and the home of the sheriff are all
ON the same floor Whatever passes in the
kpen can ordinarily be heard in the sheriff S
house. and rice refsa. There is no security,
because escapes are numerous. One man is
in confinement in the Jail to-day, unless he
has been released very recently, who has es-
caped three times; had he not loved his
wife. he would have been free man long
ago. only mention this to show that there
can be no security in such Jail as that at
Somerset. Some persons think, at least they
say and try to convince the people Of the
county, that the building of a new Jail will
be a great thing for Somerset borough, and
that the people of that borough want the
new Jail. Certainly they want it, and they
want 1t because they know the defects of the
present apology for PRISON better than any
one else in the county The commissioners
of Somerset county should be indicted for
| maintaining nuisance if they do not take
steps to change the prison management. and
that soon-
| Irecently visited this so-called jail, on one
ofm periodical visits to Somerset. and here
| is what saw The pen for the confinement
Of prisoners is on the same floor as the sher-
IFS dwelling, and is entered by q door lead
| ing into said dwelling, by means of door
in which is cut a square opening, about a
foot square. which opening, by the way
was tried as a means of escape during Sher-.
iff Spanglers term, and almost successfully
Inside is merely large, dreary room, Insult
ficiently lighted, and peryaded by smell
like that of the Valley of Hinnom or
vorse-and in this stencil prisoners are ex-
pected TO live, and to eat, and to be cheerful
/ THERE'S no separate apartment Tor women.
! This alone would have condemned this pris-
on pen anywhere in the civilized world,
other than in Somerset county. IL Is con-
demred by everyone except few hide
bound individuals who, while they pay no
taxes, are yet ever bowling about the bur-
dens OF taxation, and very few Others who
howl about the desires of Somerset people,
when but for the kindness of Somerset peo-
ple some of them would have been IN their
graves. in the penitentiary or in an asylum
for the insane, long years ago. There Is no
means of separating prisoners awaiting tri-
al from those under sentence, AL writers
on the subject Of Prison Economy condemn
such. an arrangement Mere children may
be locked up in the same room with mar
dened old criminals whose day OF grace was
long since sinned away, and VINO now look
forward to nothing on earth. or after II, men
with damnarion written all over them. No
writer on Prison Economy fails to denounee
such course
There is sing le closet which does duty
for all the prisoners there is no seeh thing.
as privacy in such an internal pen as this
The soil-pipe is inefficient; becomes clogged,
| fills up, and the Sheriff mnst work for hours
10 open it. Imagine water closet IN bad
coudition placed in one corner OF your
/ iiniug-room, and you have the situation
exactly. so tar as know. no Efforts made
to disinfect these soil-pipes- No disinfect-
ants are used. Germs of disease are scatter
ed abroad. Sheriff Winters family have
been sick-some of them ever since his entry
upon the duties of his office-diphtheria,
scarlet fever, etc, having prevailed all the
time in his family. It may not seem DELI
%ate to make such illusions, bat they must
be made. to give folks who have never seen
this pen a fair understanding oil the horrors
of the Somerset Jail. There is no means OF
taking exercise by the prisoners Strong
men, used to a life in the open air, are lock
ed up in this pen, and come into court pale
shadows of what they were sixty days be-
fore. The cells are mere apology for cells.
An inner partition has been built ; plat
form. not more than three feet wide placed
along il, at the height of about ten, or per
hans of fifteen feet from the floor, doors
have been put in, other partitions pui
i through. and a series of little, hot, sitting
rooms have been formed. one OF these rooms
being next TO the water closet mentioned
above in fact. the water closet is merely a
cell specially fitted. The condition Of the
air in this cell msy be imagined A narrow
slit cut in til wall is the sole means of ven
tilaiion in each of the cells and If the pris-
ouer wishes the window closed he may be
able to close it by stuffing his clothes. his
bedciothes. or straw from his bedtick, with
it. recently talked wilh man who spent
about four days in the month of July, year
-. in this cell next the closet. and he
said, III knew that had to spend week
in that cell in Somerset Jail, and could have
my choice between that and hell for the
same time, I'd take the latter"
This Jail is nuisance. Certain offices OF
county officials are almost untenaole,
through stencil. Persons who live near the
Jail are annoyed at all hours of the Jay and
niyht from the same cause. Hon. VIM. III