Arizona republican., 1890-08-31


 at, but to reform
 | that they may become
 IS on their release. This
 Inirequently realized. The
 tage of men who return to the
 "a is very small, as com ared with the reports of other penitentiaries.
 THERE is library of about 2000 volumes, which is liberally patronized by the prisoners, who show their in- terest in the books by the care which they bestow on them. This library was collected mainly through the efforts of Mrs. Ingalls,, in 1884. Mir. Gates, who succeeded Capt. Ingalls,, also showed a lively interest in the library, but since then little attention appears to have been paid to it. Mrs. Ingalls, made direct appeals to publishers and in this way gathered the 2000 volumes almost one by one. The Wells, Fargo X Co. express carried the books free of charge, through the intercessions of A. N, Towne, Gen Nial Oi NlAN bpUNAiNih 1tiAN Company, and by so doing contributed largely to this feature of the prison. Mrs. Ingalls, has again taken personal direction of the work of replenishing the shelves and adding later publica tions. The Legislature should make small annual appropriation for this pur- pose. Even $500 or $400 would help the work and no one would object to the setting aside of such sum of money to so excellent a purpose. The law does not provide for a chapel for the peniten- tiary, but local clergymen, both Protest ant and Roman Catholic, frequently hold services in the prison. Beyond this, there is DO religious training in the institution, though Bibles are freely supplied and much read by the convicts. They do not show much interest in fic- tion, the records of the library showing works of travel and histories to be the favorites.
 TIE main prison wall is 2SO by 300 feet, being built due north and south and east and west. The wal is sixteen feet high and eight feet thick at the base and five feet at the top. The foundation walls are of granite and the superstruct- ure of adobe. There are guard stations on each corner, that on the southwest cor ner containing the Gattling gun and commanding a control of both the Colo rado and Gila rivers. The adobe answers very well for the wall, as no escapes could be effected by digging through, it being constantly under the eyes of the guards, and a granite wall could be as readily scaled. The main building is T-shaped. There are three tiers of cells, each seven feet by nine by eleven feet in the clear, and intended for six persons, though there are rarely more than four convicts in a cell. There are thirty-four cells. They are built of iron and rock, laid in cement and mor- tar. The doors are of grated iron, most substantially ;. built and each is secured by separate pad lock. The cells are provided with station ary wooden hunks. The main wall is pierced by three gates, the principal one being approached through sally-port on the north side. The other two are smaller and are located in the east and west sides respectively.
  LIE kltCilcH, ulillHe anu DdtH rOOlls occupy the whole of the transverse building, the prison proper being con fined to the north and south portion, | representing the stem of the letter T. | The western corridor is now used as a | hospital there being at present no other | provision for the sick Captain Ingalls, will, however, soon remedy this. As | soon as cooler weather sets in he will | begin the erection of eight additional cells, making room for them by tearing down a portion of the main building | now in bad condition. These cells will | be so constructed that four of them may be thrown into one room, the eight | cells thus furnishing two very com modious hospital wards. Dr. J. II. Tag gart is the surgeon in charge of the peni- tentiary. He reports the health of the convicts to be excellent. There has never been an epidemic in the institution, excepting la grippe, last winter, and there were no deaths from that. Complaints are mainly confined to those of a chronic character, rheumatism, gas tric disturbances and other diseases which the convicts bring with them to the prison. The cells are kept scrupu- lously clean, the drainage is splendid and the sanitary conditions are first-class.
 
 TIE convicts are constantly kept at work, though there is no manufacture to bring the prison into competition with free labor. At present all the labor of the prisoners is utilized in i'm proving the institution and the grounds surrounding it. No labor whatever is employed in the penitentiary, skilled or unskilled, outside the convicts. They literally forge the chains that letter them. They build their cells, the walls that hem them in and manufacture the unsightly clothing which marks them as wards of the Territory. The prison fur nishes skilled engineers, tailors, shoe makers, baroers, tinsmiths, chair makers, masons, bakers, etc. Just now the Superintendent rather regrets that the institution does not contain black