The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-23
IN CALANITY'S SHADOW
Types of Human Misery in tie
Washington Workhouse.
Not All Beyond the Hope of BecIa-
m:t:ion to Hettcr Existence
Quecr Characters Among the In
n:ates-A Mysterious Old Mnn-The
Descent OF Western Judge.

The Washington Workhouse is pernap.
the most cosmopolitan penal institution ii
, the United States, if not. indeed, in thu
world. The unfortunates confined within
its grim grey walls represent nearly ever!
nationality and many phases OF humanity
The have beens'' who have done time
in the workhouse embrace judges, physi-
clans, lawyers, and even preachers, and
thence down the scale to pharmacists
clerks, mechanics, iaborers. the lowest
notch being the types of human kind va
riously known as tramps, hoboes, Weary
Willies," and "roadsters' or turnpike
tourists"
Not ali the prisoners are debased be-
yond reclamation. There are men clad in
the striped prison uniform of the Washing
ton workhouse who still have ambition
hope. and desire to lead new and better
life. Generosity and kindheaTtedness have
not been entirely extinguished by the CO..
pious drafts CT intoxicating liquor they
have drank during long years of debauch-
cry, with its attendant misery. Many OF
these unfortunate victims OF strong drink
are men OF noble impulses, which finds IL
lustration il their every day life behind
prison bars.
For instance, there is one prisoner-a
fine fellow Of splendid physque-who is
noted among the sojourners at the prison
for his endeayors during all of his spare
hours, TO assist his unfortunate compap-
ions. He gives them good advice when
they are going out" after serving their
time; mends rents in their street gar
ments; supplies this one with a clean col
I lar, another with a shave or a freshly
! Numbered handkerchief. while to those
| who still have time TO serve he supplies
] tobacco and other things. This man, rear
I ed by good parents in respeetability is re-
garded as veritable angel OF mercy, al
I though he is clad in the zebra-Soriped garb
Of penalty. Owing to the fact that men
| from all sections Of the country find tenn
poraIy homes in the workhouse this man s
reputation for generosity and humanity has
been heralded from Maine TO California
/ and down to the southernmost coast OF
| Florida.
/ There is another prisoner who is as ten.
der hearted as q woman, and his mind is
| the home of the most kindly impulses.
Last Sunday, while the Christian workers
were holding service in the main cor
ridor Of the workhouse. this man stood at
the head of the iron stairs on the second
floor. As the organ peaied forth its solemn
strains and the chorus of holy song reach,
ed his ears he reverently bowed his head
and moment later burst into tears ana
his sun Drowned face was bathed in a
food Of repentance. He would not go
downstairs TO attend the service because,
as he explained it, he did not want re-
spectacle people 10 see him in prison
suit. These two men, a keeper was heard
to remark, had perhaps been more sinned
against than SHINING
There are others of the same type in
the grey District house OF detention. and
many who present pictures of the other
side. None Of the prisoners there is
charged with crime. Those who commit
criminal offences are incsrcerated In Jail.
The workhouse is strictly District in
stitution. and the prisoners are men and
women who have committed misdemean-
Civilizations CT District ordinances.
The charges on which they were commit
ted embrace drunkenness. vagrancy.
drunk and disorderly. profanity, and SINH
lar offences. Releases can be secured in
nearly all the cases By the payment of a
fine or furnishing real estate bonds in
sums ranging from $40 TO $500.
The workhouse is situated on Nine
teenth Street southeast but the name ap-
piled to that byway by local newspaper
man several years ago still clings TO it.
He dubbed it Calamity Avenue" owing
to its grim associations There are the
home for aged negro paupers. female and
street; the poorhouse hospital with pot
ters field in the rear; next the aims
house. with the smallpox hospital in its
rear and the contagious disease detention
camp in front. and last, on the north the
great brownstone District jail Surely, |
said the newspaper man, such an aggre-
CATION of horrors entitled the street TO |
the cognomen Calamity Avenue"
Among the queerest characters of re-
cent Incarceration IN the workhouse was a |
little Englishman, formerly clown in a t
London circus. He is typical Johnny I
Bull. and therefore was cordially dis
liked by the prisoners OF Irish extraction, \
who constantly reminded him that the /
brave Beers. begorra, were batin' the I
divil out" OF his countrymen in South |
Africa. This Britisher was known among
his fellow-prisoners as Johnny" He /
said he once had the honor of serving as
a private in the Coldstream Guards.
Johnny's greatest delight was to relate
his prison experiences in England Can
ada. and the United States. He said by
actual count he had served thirty-nine
sentences in various penal Institutions
In English prisons he had walked the
-readmill' and had been triced up to the
vail of his cell. The food, he added, was
in both quality and quantity
why begosh." he said, with show of
enthusiasm. the chuck you get at this
ere Washington workhouse is deucedly
great. This ere place is a first-class 'otel
compared with the other abiding places
We been into
The little Englishman has kept a rec
'rd of the menus at the many prison
Houses in which he has done time" He
an tell you in an instant just what is
erved as food to the prisoners In the
Maryland House OF Correction, at Jessup's
tut: on Blackwell's Island New York
Iarbor: in the Pittsburg jail, Chicago
the Atlanta jail, and other
imilar places throughout the length and
readth of the land. In the Baltimore
all. he declared. the bread was made
rom common bran while the soup or
ruel was so weak and watery that you ,
ould read a newspaper through it. The
old. substantial food furnished at the
Washington workhouse was a revelation ! (
0 him as compared with the scanty diet ,
royided at other places. The English ,
Town claims that he was converted by I
hristlau woman in Troy with hypnotic /
yes and a heart as big as an OK" AS
result Of his alleged conversion he I
asses several hours every night on his
nees in his cell, saying mute prayers. I
Another quaint inmate of the workhouse
comical little Irishman, who was a
audeville actor OF days long gone by. He
an do any turn, from a song and dance or !
g, TO turning back summersault. He I
small and wiry and furnishes much =
fer his brothers in hard luck :
he besettinS sin OF this little son OF Erin ;
his fondnejs for liquor. When sober \
nd after the faint of alcohol has dsap- {
cared from his system, he is as happy Q