The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-19
JENNIE IN PRISON.
How the Murderer of Charles
Pepper Pays the Penalty
of Her Crime.
ROUTINE OF THE WOMEN's WING
They Do All the Sewing Of The
Trenton Prison and Are Much
Better Off Than the Men.
Soseial to the Jerscp Citu Nsus.

and odd u~rifortunates who, behind the
big brown stone walls of the Trenton
State Prison, pay the penalties Of their
crimes, twenty-seven are women. They
are confined BY themselves in what is
known as the east wing of the prison
and which il reality is a separate struc-
ture. Like all the other buildings of the
New jersey State Prison 1t is of brown
stone and were it not for the iron bars
at its windows and its situation with
in the walls and adjoined to the other
prison building it could easily be mis-
taken for the home of some thrifty
farmer ON either side of the Delaware
River
How these women live and work out
their sentences is little known to the
outside world Those who visit the
prison are cordially received by Keeper
Patterson and polite attendants conduct
them through the institution, showing
them the cells, the workshops, the hos
pital and every thing else of interest
about the Institution and explaining
their workings But when they come
to the little brown structure, with its
barred windows, which look out upon
the keepers private yard and garden,
the attendant politely tells them thai
that is all. If the visitor looks curiously
at the building and asks what it is, he
is told that it is the woman's prison, in
a tone which plainly means to put an
end to the conversation. Should the visitor
insist upon discussing the subject fur
ther and ask if he can go in. he is told
that it is against the rules and he soon
finds himself breathing the free air on
the outside of the prison 1t is seldom
that any one, except those strictly hav-
ing business there, is permitted to enter
the weman's wing During the term of
Eva Mann Hamilton, Mr.. Patterson
was besreged at all hours of the day by
a curious throng of men and women.
who. on all sorts of pretexts, sought
to gain admittanee to the woman's
prison and get a look at this notorious
prisoner. All these applications he stead
lily refused and in so doing he ran foul
of the late James Murphy, of this city,
who passed over the Legislative sky like
a comet in the session of 1890. Mr.. Muir
ply had an idea that an Assemblyman
was the biggest thing on earth in New
Jersey. and had a perfect right to go
into anything which belonged to the
State. AS soon as he found himself
seated in his chair and a Legislator
de jure as we'll as de facto, he Thought
he would go down to the prison and see
Mrs. Hamilton, Of whom everybody was
talking then He rang the bell and when
the big iron door was swung open he
stalked in. He announced himself and
was soon met by Keeper Patterson, who
volunteered to show him over the prison.
Mr.. Murphy did not care about plain,
ordinary convicts. They were nothing
to him and he did no beating around
the bush. but coming directly to the
point asked to be shown Mrs. Hamilton.
Mr.. Patterson kindly but positively re-
fused the request, saying that Mrs.
Hamilton did not like to be stared at
and that no one was permitted in the
woinan's prison unless he had
some business there. In vain Mr..
Murphy explained that he was a
member of the Legislature and repre-
scented a constituency of the great and
only Hudson County. The greatness of
Mr.. Murphy did not in any way awe
the principal keeper and he persisted
in his refusal to admit Mr.. Murphy to
the prison. Mr.. Murphy FASTENED back
to the State House as fast as one of
Trenton's twenty-five cent cabs would
permit. AS soon as he could recover
his breath he was on his feet with a
resolution calling for an investigation
into the management of the State Prison.
When the members learned the cause
of Mr.. Murphy's resolution it was
promptly laid on the Shelf. where it is
yet.
There are few prisoners out OF the or
binary in the woman's wing just new.
The most interesting, perhaps, is LIB
bic Garrabrant, who is serving a life
sentence for numbering a man in Pater-
son so long ago tina she would be for
gotten were it not for the attempts
which are made at regular intervals to
nn11ro har N dnn
Jersey City is interested more In Car
RE Robertson, who recently came here
t. bng serys e ch sohg 1 Peppe FOR a sPP 0ilman e ear
porter. The routine of the women's
prison differs .eonisiderably from that
brought here, her pedigree,o as they
cam It in prison, was K This con-
g 9 Is Of entering aaIoI in S,ra hugs book erim her
when to be released and her physical
She was turned over to Mrs. Pat
m raeSsH' prison rs { She was then dressed
a black and white checked gown. with
white collar and cuffs, and q white
apron spa he Then h;g , ahs was was a tnrgad ,, to a b osll
She had been in Jail. some time before
and the feeling of being behind an iron
her. she looked around her and saw
that she was in a large reony cell.
With plenty OF room Tor furniture, IL
she could get any. but all She found was
a bed. a stool or two and a small shelf
which swung from the wall and could
be made into a table. There were also
III the cell a tin plate. pan, spoon and
cum.
She soon fen asleep and was aroused
by the sharp cdang of a big gong. which
echoed through the prison. She. hurri-
iedly put IN her gown and looking out
Of the small window in her cell door
and unlocking the cen doors These:
she afterwards learned, We're what are
called the laundry women, and their du-
ties are to wash the linen clothes and
other articles of the prison and clean
up the corridors. Soon afterward other
women brought to her celIher breakfast.
After sae. had eaten this and cleaned
and Jennie stepped out Of her cell into
the corridor. She looked around and
saw another woman, clad like herself.
standing at the door of each Of the
twenty-six, other cells. She hastily
glanced about her and saw that the
prison looked like one big room, with
two tiers of cells, one above the other.
and having. as near as she could see,
She had hardly completed this survey,
when a signal was givens and with the
others she marched to the end of the
oorr<do rc vvbeen she go " tWD Ia rye