Birmingham age-herald., 1895-08-01
REPORT OF DR. PARKES
ON THE DEATH RATE AT coALBORG
The Result of His Investigations Set Out in FuII-Conditons Under Which They
 Were Conducted.

 ing members of the Jefferson County Medical society. DTS. Sholl, George Brown, Cunningham. Wilson. Ledbetter and W. H. Johnston, the county health officer, Dr. Thomas D. Parloe. has made an investigation of the death rate and causes of mortality at Coalburg prison. His report is given below.
 A copy was sent this afternoon to Governor Oates and another copy to the state board of convict inspectors.
 The Report.
 pr. Parl1e's report reads:
 Having been commissioned in March last to investigate and report on the con ditions that have caused the high nor tality and sick rates at Coalburg prison, I desire to submit the following as my report. Recognizing at the hrSt Vlsit the difficulty of the task, the complexlty of the problem presented, have natur- ally made no haste to submit this re- port-the more so as one line or lnVesti- gation has suggested others, until now more than four months have elapsed since beginning it, and six visits or ln- spection have been made to Coalburg. !,
 It was easily seen at the first vlslt thau no intelligent conclusions could be drawn from a mere inspection of the premises, and as a result comprehensive hsts ol questions were submitted to the oloSs company officials. l..
  answering some of these questions. and I desire to bear witness to the Wiling ness and readiness of the Sloss coHhpahy officials to give any and all informatloh at their command, however great the Ia bor involved. e, The first list Of questions W"9 "S IVY lows: .,, .,,,,,ha,. of times in hospital, physical condition on entrance to prison, length or time m III prison and county from which receiNea of each prisoner that has died Tn Coal- burg prison between February l, 1855, and February l, 1S95
 2 The whole number of prisoners, without names, received in hospltai aur- ing the two years designated, with aver age stay in hospital
 8. The average daily time or prlsohelS under ground.
 f. The whole number of prisoners re- ceived in Coalburg prison during cited two years by counties and average length of sentence.
 D. The whole number of prisoners re- leased during that time on account ot poor physical condition, and the counties from which those released men came; also, time they were in prison. Other questions were submitted subse- quently in order to determine from hos pital records, how imprisonment for 300 days and under 300, and how inn
  feet the health of prisoners, but these hospital records had not been kept in a | way that would render possible any | trustworthy deductions.
 Want Better Records | Great improvement can be and should 1 be made in the hospital records of this | prison. Records are kept of the names and temperature of all the men in the | hospitals each day, but this is unavailable | in making any study of the prison ques- | tion. besides requiring an immense | amount of clerical labor to furnish the | little information desired.
 | This lack of adequate and full hospital records is probably due to the fact that l in the past no statistics have been called | for
 Questions were submitted asking for | condition of men on discharge, but no | record is kept and could not be furnished. | If records were kept showing condition | of men on entrance to prison. condition on discharge and full hospital records, including postmortems in all cases of death. then useful and accurate deduc- | tions could easily be made. The Situation
 The prison is built at the base of a | high hill and within 100 or 150 feet of the stream-Five Mile creek-which flows | past it. Adjoining the prison enclosure | is a number of coke ovens. The vegeta- tion on the hillsides above these ovens | has been killed by them and it has been | debated by many whether the gases from these ovens did not contribute to | the sickness of prisoners. I have been led l to conclude that these ovens do not in- l junously affect the prisoners for the req l sons that the men and animals who work around them constantly are not affected that the guards over the prisoners are not affected-that the prisoners do not | breathe the gases except when the wind | is favorable and they are not in mines l and that Birmingham, the vicinity of | coke ovens, has never been reputed un- | healthy.
 The drinking water is furnished by an artesian well, 40 feet deep. out of which l it is pumped to a reservoir on the hill- side and from there distributed to the l different portions of the prisons and grounds after passing en route through a filter.
 Their Food.
 The food is plain, but sufficient in quan- | tity and fresh vegetables are furnished | regularly
 The prison is built in the shape of a | rectangle, with one row of cells con- structed across the court of the rectangle | It is built of logs, the spaces between the logs being covered by hinged boards fo1 | purposes of ventilation. By opening ol | shutting these boards the ventilation is | facilitated or obstructed as the case may be. Connected with each large room ol | which are automa tically flushed The | faucet from which the prisoners get theil | drinking water is in this closet in tux. Imposition to the bowls, which arrange. ment might be improved upon Heat is | furnished by stoves, which is found ore. ferable to the steam heat formerly fur. nished.
 The Beds
 The beds are swung from the ceiling by iron rods and are provided with com. fortable mattresses. Cuspidors with sawdust or sand are distributed over the rooms. The beds, floors and walls were in clean orderly condition at every visit
 One room is devoted to bathing pur. poses, and is provided with series oj large, square zinc lined tubs, where the men are required to bathe in warm water each time they come from work. Stalls are provided where working clothes arc left and from which clean prison dress is taken.
 The Ventilation.
 One room, 100 feet long by 30 feet wide by 10 feet high, which contained bed. for sixty men. had only eight windows 5 by feet. for light Ventilation wa. furnished through the spaces between