The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-10-26
FEDERAL PRISONERS.
Are Regularly Looked After By
Prison Inspectors Employed
by the Governments

The department of justice, by rea-
son of the fact that it has control of
! all the prisoners of the United States,
has on its rolls number Of prison in
spectors. These officers. says the
Washington Star. make regular visits
to all prisons where prisoners of the
federal government are confined.
They Investigate the treatment of the
federal prisoners. the food they re-
ceiye, their clothing, etc An in
formal understanding the department
has is that its prisoners shall not be
subjected to corporal punishment.
This fact led to a discussion recently
of the management of the Elmira re-
formatory of New York, so long IN
der the management of Superintend-
emit Brockway. Mr.. Brockway had
been using the lash In trying to in
duee better behavior and the depart
ment had q long correspondence with
him
-Brockway was one of the great
est prison managers in the United
States" said one of the prison inspec-
tors. -and make the prediction that
the Elmira reformatory VIII never be
the same thing again it was under
him He knew more about conyiets
, than any man in the world, and could
manage them better, despite the at
taeks made on him Brockway used
to have three classes of prisoners IN
his institution The classes were
made for the reward or punishment
of prisoners The first class consist
ed of welI-behaved prisoners. They
did not reach that class until their
records warranted It When they did
so they were entitled TO wear blue
suits, much resembling the uniform
of naval officer. The uniforms were
really pretty. The men were also en-
titled TO many privileges They ate
at a table of their own, had nice
plates and tableware, with white
| linen. and many things TO make their
surroundings attractive The second
class consisted Of prisoners who
might be termed probaIloners- They
wore a gray uniform of not as good
material as the first class men. and
had a portion OF the privileges and
/
/ ord class was made up of the main
body of the prison The third class
was made up of bad felIows-those Of
/ bad behavior, / mean They had TO
dress IN a scarlet uniform, the cloth
being red enough to be seen a long
/ distance. They ate out of plates
that had been cracked and misused
/ by the first class men, and On cheap
tables, to themselves. There was no
linen on their tables. and they were
/ known TO other prisoners as the lob
STEERS on account of their bright uni
forms They were generally called
/ Holsters BY all the others. and the
/ punishment was severe. It was a fre-
1 quent occurrence for federal prisoners
10 come to me and ask 10 be taken
out of this class Broekway had many
other methods that showed him TO be
great prison manager
I have found that the best man
aged prisons in the United States are
those where the prisoners are well
fed 1t Is the old story of a mans
stomach. Satisfy that and the man
Is satisfied. This is especially the
case with eonvicts. Their mental de-
velopment is not such as TO give them
mental worry, and so the physical are
the greatest troubles they have. The
West Virginia penitentiary at
Moundsvi--e Is the best in the country
| In this respect When / go there and
call upon the United States prisoners
they have no complaints to make
Almost without exception there Is no
fault to find The food Is carefully
prepared. and is abundant, they say.
But many other prisons are not that
way. The food is such as TO cause
dissatisfaction and the men are al
WAYS complaining of III treatment and
lack of proper food Some prisons
really give the men scarcely enough
to i've on, and then punish them Sc
verely wnen they complain
ssThe warden of the Fort Learen-
worth penitentiary, formerly the war
den of Joliet, never uses a whip on
convicts He is an advocate of soil
tary confinement as a last resort In
punishment. A bad man VIII be put
in room removed from other rooms,
where there is nothing or nobody TO
be seen or talked with His food VIII
be bread and water. He generally
gets the worst of the bargain IN a few
days, and is then conquered"