San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-11-02
GRAND JURY REPORT.
COUNTY JAIL AND POOR HOUSE IN
EXCELLENT CONDITION.
The City Jail Inspected and Report
ed to be in Filthy Condition
Work of the Grand Jury.

The grand jury reported seven
bills Of indictment today and adj
journed for the term. The follow
ing report, signed by John @. Craw-
ford, foreman; Thos. Kiolbassa,
Geo. Dullnig, A. P. Rivas, A. d.
Jones, j. E. Trainer, Louis M.
Welton, r. E. Kehoe, John G. Beck,
Adolph Wagner, Aug. Brian, Jr.,
j. L. NORM, was handed to Judge
Green:
"In compliance with your special
charge to report upon the admissa-
bility of stablishing convict
camp, we have made as thorough
an investigation as was possible in
the time allotted; have heard the
story of past experiments from the
county judge, county clerk, county
treasurer, and the sheriff; have
seen the treasurer's report for the
last four months of the con-
Wet camp system, and are
forced to the conclusion that
the benefits to the county
from a convict camp service, either
in the value of work performed by
the convicts, or its correctional
force, are not commensurate with
the cost in dollars and cents, and
that it would be burden upon tax
payers already heavily laden, and
we, therefore, advise against the
re-establish ment of convict camp.
"We further represent we have
inspected the county Jail, the poor
house and the city jail. The county
Jail is clean and well-kept, and we
noticed particularly the cleanliness
in and about the kitchen, and can
say the food furnished the prison
ers, both in quality and in the
way it is cooked, is most excellent,
and that, all in all, the condition
Of the county Jail is deserving of
praise. Members OF this jury who
have visited the poorhouse while
on other juries commented upon
the marked improvement in the
condition of the poorhouse, and we
are pleased to report favorably Of
the present management.
"The city Jail is fairly clean in
some respects, though vermin
were noticed on the floor of the
cells and the bedding of the
prisoners. We noticed that the
prisoners slept on the cement floors
with a blanket for bedding. The
great Objectionable features Of the
city jail are not due to the negli-
gence of the officials in charge, but
are ascribable- to the fact that this
so-called jail, where human beings
are imprisoned from single night
to fifteen or twenty days, is the
cellar Of the city hall, many feet
beneath the level OF the street, and
as far as the cells part is con-
cerned, is absolutely without sew
erage. Prisoners punched in
cells have to deposit their excre-
ment and their urine in large cans
standing In the corner of the cells,
and the noxious odors or gases pro-
duced by the decomposing eXcre-
ment and urine are not only often
sive, but must necessarily be inju-
rious to those forced to breathe the
air. During the prevalence of any
epidemical disease such sanitary
condition of a city building would
be a menace to the public health.
ave found in the county jail and
poorhouse a number OF insane,
which the asylum officers refuse
to receive on the grounds of their
cases being incursble, and as the
citizens of BeXar and other coun-
ties are taxed by the state to sus-
tain the state insane asylum, we
believe some steps should be taken
to free the county of this burden.
a"During the twenty-four days
we have been impanelled we
have examined 1S6 cases. ex-
amined $50 witnesses, found 12I
true bills and dismissed 65 bills,
and we have not been able to find
time to investigate the social evil,
as charged by Your Honor. We are
indebted to the district attorney,
the sheriff and his bailiffs for
courtesies extended
Laid to Rest.