Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-09-11
A FOUL BLOT.

The Escutcheon of the Empire State Badly
Besmirched by the Gross Mismanage-
nent of the Dlackwell's Island Prison
A State of Affairs that Should stop the
Mouths of the Critics of Russian Meth-
DDS Until We Can Show Clean Hands
Ourselves.
NEW YORK Sept 3.-The Evening
Sun to-day, as result of its lnvestlGa-
ton, prints long expose OF the ''abuses
and mismanagement' in the Blackwelis
Island penitentiary, the conduct Of
which, it states is disgrace to civil
lied community. This statement, 1T
should be understood applies more par
ticularly to the sanitary management of
the institution. The general conduct of
the prison is fairly good. What the sam
itary state of affairs is, however, may
be judged from the fact that no longer
ago than last \ pril the prison was swept
by scourge of scurvy which nothing
short of almost criminal negligence
could have brought on. At one time
not less than between thirty and forty
convicts were down with the disease,
and this by no means represents the
number who were actually afflicted.
There is a dread among the prison con-
victs of going to the prison hospital,
which keeps many who are in need of
medical treatment from applying for it.
During the scurvy epidemic last spring
1t kept at least one man from revealing
his illness, and he suffered in ST.
lence and finally faced death itself
without telling any body that he was
sick man. He was found one morning
i'll his cell stone dead. and the disease
which caused his death was scurvY.
There are still some cases of scurvy
LETT, but they are mild and the disease
in its epidemic form has disappeared.
Tho Sun says that the hospital is
crowded and the air of the rooms foul.
III the mems ward the water-closet is
right out in the room in plain view of
all the sick, not ten feet away from
some of the beds, and with not even so
much as a screen around it. Further
than this the mattresses on the beds
are foul with dirt and the sheets and
pillows-cases grimy and unwholesome.
But it is in the hospital attendance that
the abuse and neglect are worst In this
respect state of affairs exists, which
is little short Of criminal. The attend
ants are all convicts. There is not a
single trained nurse or one who knows
any thing whatever about caring for
sick, unless by chance there happens to
be some criminal who has had little
experience that way. The worst feat
ure of this is that it falls to the lot of
one of those ignorant criminals to
handle all drugs and measure
out and deal out all the doses of
medicine which the doctors prescribe.
An instance of the working of this sys-
tenn occurred week ago last Sunday.
An old man named Hamilton was very
i'll of dysentery, and when Jockey Sui
liyan turned the wheel of fortune there
fell out for Hamilton dose of strong
cathartic. Poor Hamilton died on the
following Tuesday. The hospital doc
tor seemed to think his death was quite
a curious circumstance, for the
cut him up in the interest OF
matter with him. That all of
the doctors are not Indifferent to the
| obuses is evident, for DR.. Farwell, of
the staff of resident physicians, has
complained strongly to Warden Pills
bury, and has even gone so far as to
give formal notice that he positively
declines to take any responsibility for
the sick as long as the present system
| of management continues.
| The Immediate cause of DR.. Farwell's
| taking this vigorous stand was the out
rage in tie case of Hamilton. Be
| sides the outrage that is daily per-
| petrated in the administration of
medicines to sick prisoners, the sick
! do not get the food which the doctors
order for them and which their con6i
! tion demands. One reason for this is
| that the convict attendants calmly de-
YOUR the extra diet ordered for tho
sick, whom they keep from informing
| on them by various ways of terrorism,
which are easily within the hands of a
| we'll person who has charge of a person
who is helpless There are even
charges that food is diverted from per-
sons for whom it is ordered to persons
that are favored.
The Suns article concludes as fol-
| lows: Another branch of the subject
has not been touched upon: The charges
! made against the doctors-charges of
| neglect and carelessness, which, if true,
| put them in light which is far from
| agreeable. 1t is but justice, however,
| to say that these last named accusa-
| tions have not come in such specific
| form as to guide an inquiry to impor-
! .ant results.
A PRINCElY GIFT.