The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1890-05-07
oovER.s QUEER JAIL
a New Hampshire Towns ImpregnAble
EOrtreHa for Crimfnals.

OOvER'S QUEER JAIL.
A New Hampshire Towns Impregnable
Fortress for Criminals.
Dover jail, as this place of confine-
ment is termed, is situated on the sum-
NIT of a commanding hill about one and
| q quarter miles from the depot. There
are practically two brick buildings con-
nected by meek" The front building
is three stories in height, and is used IS
. residence for the sheriff and his fam
lily. The rear building is two-and-a-
half stories in height. and contains the
rotating cells. while the neck between
comprises the guard-room on the first
floor and four cells for female prisoners
on the second. The rotating cells in
the rear building form the patented por-
! ton of the Jail. There are twenty of
them, and there is only one entrance or
exit for the entire number. and that
passage is separated from the guard
room by four iron-barred gates and one
solid iron door. When An officer desires
to see prisoner he doesn't 60 to him,
he simply turns crank and brings the
man in confinement around to the guard
room.
The principle Of the Jail is simply
this: To have one entrance to the cells,
and to keep the prisoners away from the
entrance at all times, except when they
are wanted. The interior of the rear
building, or Jail proper, resembles a gi-
gantic cage. There is an immense cir
cular grating extending around the in
terror of the structure. and in this circle
revolve the two tiers of cells, there be-
ing on each tier ten compartments. The
front of each cell is almost open, except
for an iron plate running from the top
of the upper tier to the bottom of the
lower. This offers little more solidity
to prisoners residence than would be
afforded by the grating simply, which
shows, when the jailer wants man, an
astonishing prediction for slipping
away. The iron plating is also used to
hold up the ends of two hammOcks,
which are used by the prisoners to sleep
in.
The ten cells on each tier are arranged
in circle, and it is obvious that the
outer end is quite wide. while the inner
is very narrow. They don't quite go
down to point, however. for in the
center of this big squirrel cage" as
some of the prisoners delight to call it,
is big hollow pipe, which. besides be-
ing the pivot on which the cells turn,
answers for a big ventilator. and also
supply the prisoners.
The two circular floors Of the Jail are
hung from the roof of the rear building
so that the Jail swings very easily in
side the circular grating. Every thing
is ball bearing except the crank gearing,
and the tiers turn so easily that .
twelve-year-old boy can move the twen-
ty cells and their occupants without
much trouble. The interior of this
square brick building looks more like a
cheesebox monitor turret than any thing
else, except that. instead of the whole
| turret turning only the inside of 1.-THE
| cells-moves around. When the jailer
desires to see a man he first unlOcks the
door of the compartment containing the
crank and gearing by which the cells
are moved. This door is fastened by a
combination which is known only to the
sheriff himself. Then with a key he
unbolts the iron door which separates
the passageway to the revolving tiers
from the guard room. This done, he
unlocks paddock which holds the brake
of the moving tiers in place, and then
grinds away at the gearing which turns
the tiers. This is so perfectly adjusted
that it can be moved by the little fin
ger, and it can be turned when the pris-
oners are asleep without waking one of
them. When the cell containing the
prisoner desired is opposite the passage
way, the jailer unlocks three more iron
barred gateways, each lock taking a
different key, and then has his man at
hand
The same work is necessary upstairs
to get at prisoners in the upper cells,
the mechanism there being an exact
duplicate of that below.-Boston Her
aid.