Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-05
CRIME Is AT The MINIMUM
Omaha Has Remarkably Small Percentage
Of Jail Population,
COMPARATIVE FIGURES ARE INTERESTING
Only Forty-One Local Prisoners Now
In the Douglas County JniI-somc
Facts About the Jail and
Its Inmates.

| omaha has smaller percentage OF iai
inmates than any other large city in tn,
| united states, so far as the records hayi
! been Investigated. Out Of the 15O, 900 inhab
itants the Douglas county Jail has, at tn,
| present time, sixty-on prisoners. Twent,
| OF these cannot be charged to Omaha OF
Douglas county, for they are government
charges sent here from other count, es
| Subtracting these there are forty one lccl1
| inmates.
Recognized authorities on prisons declars
! this record is without parallel in a,v
! other city CT Omahas general Importance
| 1t is doubtful il even the college towns o.
| the enete east can make a better show
| ing.
The most apparent solution for this an sn
ally is that crime has been reduced to the
minimum. for it cannot be charged that
Offenders are given more latitude here th,n
elsewhere or that LEGAL officers are lax in
the discharge Of duty.
Figures from other JniIs.
statistics show that the Jail at st. Joseph,
MO-, town just half the size of Omaha,
usually confines from fifty to seventy-f five
prisoners. The Kansas City Jail runs from
100 to $50, and there Is but slight differ
p.
KY, has about 200. The St. Louis iai sell
dom houses less than $50 inmates, while
the number is more likely to run up to 500,
Springfield, Mo-. with population of only
10000, frequently has Jail population
equal to that of Omaha, and that jai has
sheltered ninety men, women and boys
They are not all, however residents CT the
town, for many government prisoners are
sent there from surrounding counties.
Evangelists have branded Omaha as a
wicked town and the general presumption
is that wickedness eventually leads to iail.
Thus there is discrepancy somewhere, for
the official Jail statistics are not in har-
mony with the theory advanced by the
evangelists who have from time to time
within the last few months made pulpit
talks on Omahas alleged sin. LEGAL pas
tors, however, have not said that Omaha is
a bad town. Such statements usually come
from travelling ministers, who have had but
little il any opportunity to acquaint them
selves with actual conditions.
George Shand Is jailer. His assistants
are John Lind, George Jones and George
Horn. Separate quarters are kept for the
sexes. Women are under direction of the
matron, Mrs. Mcpherson. She also looks
after small boys.
Noted Government Prisoner.
There is now but one prisoner classed as
desperate. He Is Frank Lee, brought here
by federal authorities from Broken Bow,
where he Is accused OF postoffice robbery
He escaped from the Broken Bow JAIL but
was captured in the southern part of the
state In resisting arrest he received a
gunshot wound which has given him much
trouble. He is n or in bo obo
bastile. having been there a few years ago
on the charge of making counterfeit money.
He was convicted and sent to prison for
fourteen months. After he was released, the
Broken Bow postofice robbery occurred and
was charged to Lee. He appears to have
a grudge against the world and prison keep |
ers. court officials and arresting officers
Ono of the most unique characters ever |
confined in the Omaha Jail was Jack Welsh, |
an aged mendicant known as the king OF |
vagrants Many years Of old Jacks life |
have been spent in various jails. He was
removed few days ago to the county hos
pital, where he will probably die within |
short while from an aggravated stomach |
trouble. He doesn't feel right except when !
in Jail and he did not take kindly to the
hospital proposition.
1t Is related that in wintry weather he
has many times pressed his grimy face
against the bars while talking to visitors,
and when they would express sympathy for
him on account of his Imprisonment, he
would slyly ask: "Hows the weather out
side?" The answer would be, Gold" Then
Did Jack would remark: Its nice and
warm in here" and he meant what he said.
In cold weather he was never more happy
han when assured of a lengthy Jail SEN
ence. His worst disappointment 1t is said,
was when he could not make case against
himself. The authorities say there was
never anything particularly vicious about
Jack Welsh. Nearly all of his Jail SEN
ences were for vagrancy, and that Is how
le acquired the title, king of vagrants"
Another motel old-timer now behind the
oars is John Jay, serving a term for drunk
,nness. He is a familiar figure around the
county building, having been committed
many times.
Brt Few Serious Charges.
or the forty one local prisoners, sixteen
are serving short sentences for mis-
iemeanors, twenty ythree are waiting trial
n the district court on more serious Of
burglary and robbery,
With a few assault cases. Two insane per-
IONS VINO VIII pTODaDly soou pe committed
o an asylum, complete the list of forty one
prisoners. OF the twenty government prison
,rs, none is of special note except Lee, the
alleged postofice robber.
Jailer Sham and his force keep the jail
clean. The floors are scrubbed
Until they shine like a New England
sitchen, and no untidiness IS permitted
about the cells. In the aggregate, this is
,ne OF the best kept jails to be found any
where.
II left to a popular vote, Omahas jail
population would probably not go to church
IN Sunday, unless it might be with the
rope OF escaping custody en- route. But
he prisoners cannot evade divine service.
or missionaries hold lengthy worship there
very Sunday afternoon Prominent in this
work are Mesdames Jardne and Shinrock,
md they are frequently assisted by others.
Young Montague, who is alleged to have
lilled his former friend and fellow work.
nan in a South Omaha packing house
ew weeks ago, Is the only prisoner at
his time charged with murder, He is of
retiring disposition and doesn't look like :
KILLER" or bad man" of any descrip-
ion. The casual observer at the Jail would
lever point out Montague as a murderer {
few other murder cases are on the !
ourt doCkes but the defendants arc out |