The morning times., 1896-08-24
CELL NO. 5.'1'HOOl0OEb'
In It Many Persons Have
Taken Their Lives.
LIST OF THE FATALITIES
Known All Through the Police De-
partment as the BloOdiesr Strong
Room of AIl-CurtOus Sounds Issue
From 1t in the Dead Of Night-Is
In Station No One

Cell No. at police station No. -
the bloodiest cell in the Lo!icc department,
that is, 1t has the reputation of being the
bloodiest. 1t is not called q bloody cell,
because Of the bloo11 That has actually been
shed there, but because Of the lives that
have been extingaisiied there, and because
Of the number Of prisoners who have sought
self-destruction there. r-a--;-t~p IS
Some OF the more superstitious men on
the police force believe that this Cell is
haunted, and very few policemen there
are who do not believe that some strange
hoodoo hangs over it. Some OF the Of
..,.,..s eApress themselves III ,elsgapI Eng
lish and say that ''sone strange fatality
surrounds this CELL" but the average police
man says Its hoodOoed." rs.
CURIOUS SOUNDS COME.
II is said that in the silence OF the small
hours curious sounds come from the cell,
though some OF the sturdy men on the
force say that il an unusual sound echoes
through the station at night, the nervous
men will swear that ii comes out OF cell
No. 8.
Many of the ghostly sounds accredited
TO this cell are caused, it is thought, by
or pris oners in other cells. ft.,s t..-
The building styled station No. 1" had
rot been long erected when q man was
brought in drunk. He was too full to
give his name. and there was no mark
about him which revealed his Identity.
The charge drunk was entered on the
biotter. and the unknown was incarcerated
in cell No. ). In those days it was Desk
sergt. Rollins who ruled the station by
night. He made hourly rounds TO see
how the prisoners were resting. About
an hour after the unknown drunk" had
been locked in. Rollins visited him. The
unknown was dead
His blacke3ed face was pressed close
against the iron grating and his tongue
protruded. He had strangied himself with
his suspeDders. He had tied one end OF the
elastcs around the grating at the top
OF the cell door and the other end he tied
around his neck Then he drew his feet
from the stone floor and strangied him
self. No sound was heard. The body was
taken to the morgue and later identified
as that of Abraham c. Wilson. whohad dis
appea red from his home in baltimore.
Not long after this occurrence Desk Sergt-
Rollins was called TO that cell by loud
cries and an uncanny humping sound.
Moses Grant, a drunken negro. was try
ing to beat out his brains against the
stone wall, and iron bars Of Cell No, 8.
ANOTHER woULD-BE SUICIDE.
The next night a man thought TO be
suffering from demeutia was found wander
ing on the streets. He was provided with
lodgings in cell No. :. Hesk Sergeant
Rollins gave the man a blanket and whenthe
officer made his rounds an Eour later, he
found the prisoner hanging By the neck
with a rope which he had made from the
blanket. The would-be suicide was cut
down, dragged out and resusc:tated. He
was sent TO the Government Hospita lfor the
I insane
In December last two men were locked
together in this cell. Sam Cook was on
duty in the outer office. Curses and yells
came from the little prison at the
rear OF the station. Sam unlocked the
eOor of cell No. > and dragged the two men
out. one had secured a small pocket knife
and was numbering his cell mate
Last Thursday night, vagabond who
gave his name as John IIillston, was found
with n suspender around his neck hanging
to cell bars.
Cell No > is the first cell to the right,
after turning into the cell room from the
front office of the station 1t is a small,
gloomy place, and its record in the matter
II ATTEMPTED suicides is longer than that
Of any other cell in the department.