The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-05-23
THE KANGAR00COURT
JUDGE JACOBS WILL TAKE 70 As-
TIox on IT'S MEsoHfAL-.
He Do~. Not Regard the Matter I'm q
serSon. Light. and Iphofd. sheriff
Meyer I'm the Restrictions Ira
po.ea ON prfsoners-Th~ sheriff
Pats I'm a Plea for the Very fssti-
fafioa which Charge. Him with
Harshn~~s. and shows How u Has
served . Isefai Purpose I'm the
jail.

what action Do you expect 10 take.
Judge Jacobs, on the memorial addressed
90 you by the prisoners IN the north tank
Of the county Jail last Sunday asked q
Fost-intelligeneer reporter yesterday.
WHY. None whatever replied J8dgs
Jacobs. with smile. II regarded that
production tssf aboas as IL was estimated
In the Po~t-intelligencer. II the light %
serto-cosnic address. canning - 4 did
from a kangaroo court The fact Is. I
carried 10 about in my pocket for a couple
OF days without even smspeciing that 1
was the recipient Of - wefghty docu-
rslenf "a Il WAS affervard n3sde out 10 be.
II was not handed 80 me BY any one %
the prisoners. nor b any representative
OF theirs. nor - anybody connected ~
all with the county iaii. but by gentle
man on the outside whose name I Do
not care 20 have mentioned. He frst
showed 10 To ne IN manuscript IL Was
written with a pencil. As you know.
seldom object 20 harmless jest. no mat
ter from what source IL comes. and tod
him IL Il we're copied IN iegible form
would read II. Ho IL vas mho had Il put
into fypesr!tten form.
He then gave It 70 me. and. as have
said ] carried ~ about with me for a
couple of days before reading II. The
newspapers then got hold OF Il. and Sheriff
Meyer came 10 me somewhat annoyed by
the prominence that had been given the
charges contained IN a. ! told him az
once that so far from blaming him on &C
count OF the restrictions Imposed on the
prisoners. 1 thought the practice Of allow
iDx indscriminate yisiting~to the prison
ers was extremely dangerous. ! thought
this was particularly the case with refer
snee To female visitors. because we all
know how sympathetic and tendcr-hea-t-
Cd women are and how some of them
have been drawn 20 aid noted criminals.
TO convince myself that the memorial
was no serious appeal on the part of the
prisoners for their personal rights. | had
only to glance AZ the signatures attached
10 IL. Here IL the original document. you
see." and the Judge took from his desk the
paper which closed 1itB the fnock-he.Oic
words. Done at the King coasty Jail.
Wash. BY the order of the Kangaroo
court, this 18th dag Of May. isss. y. D.. !"
ard bore among its signatures. III. Ester
brook. Judge" n. Dolan. Sheriff" and
"R. A. V. HirshfeIt Clerk"
sheriff Meyer. while denying the Justice
OF the charges preferred against him in
this document. Il by no means inclined TO
undefvaiue fhe usefulness Of the kangaroo
court as an institution Of the county Jail.
When ] first came into Office" he said
TO reporter yesterday. II had heard Of
this Kangaroo court. and had pretty we'll
aftiINN W phHt atlF Nff9fr Aktik4k UDN1kt ana
break II up. Dick Rurkman was the first
TO open my eyes and give me different
impression. He advised me TO pursue an
entirely different course.
Don't try 10 break II up. said he. Go
In and let them kangaroo you. and watch
the working OF the thing. and think you
viii be satisfied 10 let IL stay
II took him al his word. Pretty soon
after came np 10 the jail ] went IN to
see the court Well. they kangarooed me
and fined me 81. Then took note OF their
doings. ] saw thar they had certain rules
Of cleanliness which We're rigidly enforc-
ell. II a newcomer was ailths. tfes made
him wash and pat himself In decent trim
They allowed no splitting an the floor. and
they allowed no other hifhy practices
about the Jail As a result OF that you
can see the conditions OF things for your
self. and the sheriff pointed with pardon
able pride to the clean floors AS long
az ] am sheriff. he added. II think the
kangaroo court viii not be moies,ed."