Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1895-05-18
THE STATE PEN.
Some Account of Life at the West Viz
ginia Boarding House.


that model institution, the State
penitentiary at Moundsyille, and it is
a subject they are all interested in
from a purely disinterested stand
point, of course. The reporter, yes
terdsy, had a talk with Mr.. Dan
Cunningham, who had just returned
from Moundsville, where he took
Sherrard George. the forger. The
following are few of the interest
ing facts CLEANED:
The courtesies of the place we're
shown Mr.. Cunningham by the po-
lite Superintendent and two of the
officials, old acquaintance, Messrs.
j. NJ. Williams and 7. M. Rice.
"Mr. Van Pelt,n said Mr.. Cunning
ham, sis man of few words, but
they mean lot; he has surplus of
determination. What struck me
most forcibly was the remarkable
cleanliness Of the place. | have
never been in parlor that was kept
more scrupulously neat; it's like
new pin. Everything is as orderly
as court and more So"
There are twenty-one guards,
sixteen on day duty and FIVE on at
night. These keep watch over five
hundred and ninety convicts, thirty
seven of whom are in for life. Of
these latter, twenty.three are white,
and fourteen are black. The oldest
male inmate is John Marley, the
Richie county wife-murderer. He
has been in for twenty years and
seems quite at home. The young
est male convict is George Rice, a
Taylor county forger, who was four
teen when admitted. The young.
est woman is May Martin, from
Ohio county, in for grand larceny
at the age of sixteen; the oldest
female PRESIDENT" is Jane Oldaker.
recently sent up from Putnam
county as an accessory to the MUIR
der Of her husband.
Seventy-nine men are at work in
the broom factory, eighty in the net
shops, hundred and thirty in the
whip shops, and seventy-fve in the
tailor shops. The women are near
ly all employed in the knitting de-
partment.
To feed these five hundred and
ninety prisoners it takes per day p
barrels of -four, 275 pounds of meal,
275 pounds of bacon, 400 pounds of
beef, three times week, dinner and
supper, 40 pounds of rice and hon.
my every day, IL pounds of coffee,
IL gallons of Orleans molasses, IL
bushels of potatoes, twice a week,
and 210 pounds of beans, which are
served at every meal. This food is
all of the most wholesome kline,
cooked in the most thorough man.
ner and served in the cleanest way.
1t is splendid fare when you come
to think of it, and is ahead, in many
respects, of that served up by some
of the Charleston boarding houses,
Mr.. Cunningham remarks, (by way
of parenthesis). The convicts march
in in regular order and are seated by
the tap of a gong, at three long
tables. Another tap starts them to
eating, which operation is allowed to
continue fifteen minutes. Ifany one
finishes before the time is up, he is
required to turn away from the table,
still keeping his seat, however, until
the fifteen minutes are passed, then
they are marched away again.
'Tn spite of the superior fare and
other advantages connected with the
institution, you may believe that the
convicts are all wildly anxious for
liberty" said Mr.. Cunningham.
zone of the saddest sights l ever
saw was G. McDaniels the man who
killed Stole at Jarret's ford, several
years ago and was sent up for eight
years. He is completely broken in
spirits and looks about as life bur
dened as anyone could imagine"
The loss Of liberty makes the love
of it burn with abnormal strength
and the convict will do most any
thing to attain it. An incident Of
this occurred the day Mr.. Cunning
ham left. DR.. P. d. Nye was at one
time one of the foremost physicians
in his section of North Carolina.
just after the war he killed a man, a
Congressman, for some cause NOT
now known. He was tried, convict
ed and sentenced to life imprison-
ment. He made bis escape, how
ever, and after career of crime in
the mountains of his own State,
drifted to Greenbrier county, where
he stole horse and again got within
the tolls of the law. He was sent to
the penitentiary at Moundsville, for
term of four years, which expired
Friday. While in confinement, Nye
revealed to one of the guards the
fact that he had killed man and
when be was ushered into the
Warden's office, just preparatory TO
being let out, be found awaiting him
the sheriff of Davidson county, n. C..
ready 10 take him back.
But there was hitch in the pro-
ceedings. 1t seems that the requl-