The Arizona sentinel., 1898-02-19
MR. BARKER TALKS.
The CitIzen Member of the Board of
 Control Talks Ab0ut the Prison.

!, 1 can pay to the officers ofthe Yum s penitentiary is the genuine pleasul e the convicts show when they see a
 officer approaching" said Citize Member of the Board of Contre f Barker yesterday to Repu5Jica reporter. MT Barker returned yes terday morning after two day: visit to the territorial prison wit' Governor McCord and Terri .oria
 Auditor V1ckers He was ap
 preached by the reporter anu asket
 to give his impressions Of the prisoI
 under it's present management.
 Their faces light up with pridc
 when the officers are around, ant it is easy o see that there is bone
 of human affection between them
 which one does not expect to find
 inside prison walls. Superintend-
 ent Dorrington is man with a
 nature as gentle as child's, and
 he has won the love and respect c1
 the prisoners. But he Is at the
 same time man of the strictest
 discipline. The prisoners under
 stand what is expected of them and
 they would not do anything to rob
 them of the kindly regard of the
 superintendent
 This is what impressed me most,
 and I am free to say I was charmed
 with ths scene behind the bars,
 where expected to find the prisoners
 handled with an iron hand and an iron heart. It was my first visit to the prison; in fact, 1t was my first
 visit to any prison to investigate
 and realize fully the life of the inmates. Next to this delightful spirit of humanity-the regrad of officers for the prisoners, and the res pesE the prisoners show the of.cers-was the thorough disei- pline and order throughout the in- stitution It IS an ideal scene, and 1t is really hard to realize that there are heayy Uar6 hoId,ng gh9 Dl,u Il within the confines of the prison walls. In the different departments the men take as much interest in their work -a-day world. Each one will explain his work to you in an interesting manner, and when you come to g9 you actually wonder that it is necessary to keep such peaceabie, interesting men under lock and key. The evident con
 tentment of the prisoners in their daily duties is remarkable. They find enjoyment in their work and there is more sunshine in their lives than one would believe. You find yourself envying them in their supreme contentment and sympathy is forgotten for the time. This condition is due to the spirit of humanity which the officers show to the inmates, and to fully ap- preclate the good management of Superintendent Darlington and As sistsnt Superintendent Aspinwall you should get a glimpse of the scene l have described to you.
 "The prisoners are well taken care of, and their comforts, recrea- tion Ind enioyments are looked after in way that leaves them no cause for complaint. While we were there the wood camp, winch was located about five miles from the prison, was broken and the men were bnsy getting the logs ont of the boom near the prison and hauling them 10 the woodward, where they are cut and split for fuel inc camp contained forty prisoners and 1,800 cords of wood were cut. There is an abundance of fine cottonwood anu willow trees on the Gila river and every winter camp crew is organized among the prisoners to cut the years sup ply of fuel for the prison and the residences of the officers. These camps are not always successfully held intact, and it Is not infrequent that a prisoner escapes. But thls year the officers were unusually successful. Only one prisoner at tempted to escape during the life of the camp, bat he was apprehended almost immediately without any trouble. Assistant Superintendent Aspinwall had ci arge of the crew of men, and being all exnerienced