The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1900-12-06
His genial, lovable disposition will always be
membered by those who in contact with him
and his departure is felt personal bereavement
A YEAR WITH WARDEN REEVE.

DECEMBER LIST marks an epoch in the history of
the Minnesota State Prison that has no parallel
and as several inmates expressed themselves, "It
should be made local holiday" I refer to the
niversary as warden, of Gen. c. McC. Reeve.
No one but an inmate of an institution fully
appreciate the merit demert of his wardens char
acter and actions. No individual will be so quick
to pick up and magnify the slightest fault Of
warden as he who is undergoing penal servitude
Nowhere does dissatisfaction assert itself in hasty
and evil utterance with a liberty-restricted
person The warden who go through this test
unscathed, unassaed, must certainly possess noble
character an honorable personality. To Warden
Reeve belongs the honor
When the General delivered his initial address
in the capacity of warden to men, he fascinated
the respect of every man by his sincerity. He is a
lover of humanity in the highest sense of the term
as is now amply proven Believing that there is
some good in every man. that because an individual
felon, it does not in consequence follow that he
is different from other men, he sought to develop
any spark of manhood by appealing to the better
nature of his wards in way in which he enforced
|strict discipline coupled with kindness and common
lsense.
Although Warden Reeve has from the outset
disclamed any particular knowledge Of the duties of
warden in the unanimous opinion of our men he is
acclaimed as ''the right in the right place. -
We said unanimous-the writer has a speaking &C.
quaintance Of over three hundred inmates, who, in
speaking for themselves and associates refer to the
warden with strongest praise. Never much a
hint of slur to his name have we heard.
Just previous to writing, in making regular
evening call on many Of the men, we again ap-
preached those could reach, by putting the ques-
tion-'in few words, what is your opinion of the
warden? The replies were of one tenor among
which we quote:
''He is perfect gentleman in every sense.
HE is lover of humanity"
GA white man. and that is nv highest type of
man.
"a gentleman from the sole of his shoe up
HE is the kind of man I would like to be-
We had almost said that we were actually sur
prised by the enthusiasm with which their interest
and respect towards warden vented itself. They
invariably added to the said compliment the request
and demand, make the write-up strong make it
strong! you cannot make it too strongr' words to
that effect
In the one year that Warden Reeve has been in
Office he has accomplished in furthering the
present and future welfare Of wards than another
warden would ever did in his entire term Of
WardenShlp lie recognized from the outset That
his first duty the welfare of his wards, to better
their conditions morally. Intellectually and physic-
ally for future battle with worldly affairs. His
keen Judgment was brought to bear on the mnutest
details Of prison routine will also be by the
accompanying memorandum Of changes in another
column.
The service made the object of
changes instanter. "a sane mind cannot exist in
insane body idle expression, and he soon
arranged the manner Of things which resulted in
our receiving an abundance of healthy variety of
we'll cooked food.
Where, formerly, flowers could only be seen in
the chapel holiday and while going and COM
ing from work in the summer months, we now also
find them in every available place in the cell room
and mess rooms the year round.
The improvement in discipline is beyond all
comparison, such could only be effected through
the fundamentally of impartial, kind-hearted,
broad minded humanitarian of unwavering judgment
and unfinching resolution. It has resulted in a
remarkable decrease in the number of men put I'M
der solitary confinement, causing drop from l2O
to 80 in this year; and the influence of
Warden Reeve his wards has become such that
the who loses his grade is Stunned and put to
blush in shame by his associates great factor in
causing the number of third grade to decrease
from IL dec l, 1899 to (Dec l, 1901.
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