The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1897-10-02
HI G~DENITBNTiARY.

The Carson News has the following
words of praise for one of Elko's eiti-
zens. who, from all accounts, has made
one of the best Wardcns the State has
ever had. The News says:
The State Prison Of Nevada as now
conducted may be properly called Il cor
receive institution. There are now in
the prison sixty-seven men and one
woman. The administration is con
Quoted by the Warden. two officers,
nine guards, an official physician and
chaplain. The religious services are
non-sectarian and the physic alophatic.
The Warden, Mr.. l.. O. Henderson,
has been in charge two and a half years.
| When he took charge the prison was
in a most dilapidated condition; not
withstanding that the appropriation
for the institution has been diminished
constantly, he has made valuable and
substantial improvements. The entire
plant was practically without roofs; it
is now thoroughly protected in that
particular.
A 9 hospital has been built and
furnished in Il comfortable manner, and
while it is very seldom that anyone
about the prison is sick, when that
added misfortune overtakes the unfort-
uate, they are provided with every COM
fort essential to their recovery.
A new engine house and modern ma
chinery have been provided, which are
presided yer by n of the unfortun-
ates, who is a thoroughly competent
engineer.
The dining room and tables present
an especially inviting appearance, the
tables having been covered with oil
cloth and the room Hastily decorated
by the custodian. New and modern
closets have been built and a new bath
room provided and furnished with
warm shower baths. This has been
adopted so that there should be no dan
ger of spreading any infection which
was liable to occur through the use of
the wooden bath tub. The present
plan is especially approved by the pris-
Oners, who are required to take a bath
every Saturday and change clothes.
The most noticeable and valuable i'm
provement is that made in the cell
room. All the world over the terror
and dread of prisoners is what is called
the prison odor, which cannot be de-
scribed unless Shakespeare puts a prop
or description in the mouth of Fal-
staff when he makes him say of the
odor of a basket of soiled linen that it
is ''the vilest compound of villianOus
smells that ere offened nostril." BY
adding new means of ventilation and a
scrupulous attention to cleanliness this
terror has been entirely removed from
the Nevada prison and prisoners say
they can sleep with perfect comfort.
The kitchen has been provided with
a new range which greatly economies
fuel, and the kitchen and bakery pre-
sent the appearance of fastidious neat
ness. There is not a spot about the
building or grounds in which there is
not the strictest attention paid to sani-
tary conditions.
AS to the discipline of the prison it
would be more difficult to find fault
than anything else. There is an entire
absence of hustle, fuss and feathers, and
friction so often incident to the care of
a lot of turbulent and restless spirits.
There is no garrulity or levity any,
where. Officers, guards and prisoners
alike seldom talk unless they have
something to talk about.
Mr.. Henderson is, as he should be,
distinctly the master spirit of the stu
alton. He holds in a marked degree
the respect and confidence of officers,
guards and prisoners. This may be
best illustrated by what an old life pris-
oner, a restless implacable and turbu-
lent spirit, who in the past has fire.
quently and bitterly complained of his
treatment, said to the News" reporter
when asked how he was getting along:
That in the wisdom and goodness of
Providence there were still IL few gen
tlemen left and that Warden Hender-
son was one of them"
AS now conducted the primal. object
Of Imprisonment, the reformation of
the prisoner. is never lost sight of.
Too many prisons are so conducted as
to crush out the last spark of self re-
spect and hope, and prepare the pris-
for new and more desperate acts
of violence. If there is any good trait
latent in Nevada's unfOrtunates it il
encouraged, and they have I'm oppor-
tunity to go forth as better men.