The Sunday globe., 1901-05-05

into the lives OF these petty Offenders.
1t is left to the Imagination Of the read.
crs o. the Sunday Globe to conceive the
bcstial practices which occur among the
more vicious of these prisoners locked up
to the number of fifteen or twenty in an
III ventilated room, reeking with foul
odo,s II humanity cries out against
such herding of petty malehctors what
emotions must be aroused in the breasts
Of the sympathetic at the hapless fate OF
the untoriuuates finding shelter in the
almshouse, when it is recalled that the
same inleudant has charge Of both insti-
tutions
From an eye witness who visited the
almshouse we quote the following:
Crowded in some instances, to the
number of seven or eight and even more
/ In a single room, reeking with the sicken-
ing odO.s which is inevitable under such
conditions they were not allowed to leave
these deadly dungeons and seek more
comfortable condition under the cooler
shade in the yard fronting the I'D r0okery
during the torrid heat of the past summer,
and were only permitted to seek relief
among the old traps, barrels and boxes
with chicken COOps Ia the back yard
Upon inquiry il was developed that this
order emenated from the intendant. Mr..
Stoutcnburgh, and was enforced by a man,
assisted by "a female, who appers to WELD
the authority with which they are invest
Cd by the intendant StOutcnburgh without
tear Of consequences, especially TO those
over whom they wave the wand OF au-
thorily. IL was suggested that notwith-
SANDING the d'sc0mtOrts OF their qu trters
they were well supplied with the best Of
provisions and delicaces in fresh sweet
milk, TO which one of the number replied
that the only milk they were allowed TO
take was the milk Of human kindness
and that Of the Stoutenburgh kind, which
they did not appreciate
From a leuhet recently printed and
circulated by It's author, Mr. T. /. Fisher
the Sunday Globe makes these extracts.
"The prisoners have been taken out to
work when the fingers and toes of the
poor fellows have been frozen. The
prisoners feet have often been frosted to
such an extent that they could not walk.
They were indeed piidhle sights, yet the
attendants were obliged to work these
men when they were often tit subjects for
hospital treatment. OF course the at.
tendants were Obliged to watch over them
however bad the weather, or however
bad The condition Of the prisoners These
attendants are the hardest worked men
in the District employment and the most
miserly compensated considering the in.
clement weather through which they
labor and the terrible scenes of suffering
and cruelty Of which they are the un
willing witnesses. Is there any necessity
or humanity in such acts on the part Of
the Asylum authorities, and acts which
are countcnanced by the highest officials
of the dislrictE'
The eight hour law under which all
employees of the Workhouse or more
politely speaking, the Asylum, are sup
posed to labor is grossly violated by the
intendant with the approval of course,
of his supcfiors the District Commission.
eTs, This has resulted in claims being
filed for the overtime, which the Govern
ment viii be bound to pay. To give our
readers an idea Of the temper and dspo.
silion with which the overworked guards
must rega,d the prisoners it is only neces-
sary to quote the following
The guards report for duty at 7 o'clock
\ NJ, and are at work all day either in
the house or on the street, till 8 p. NJ.
PEELED 10 stay there all night, and 20 on
next day at A. NJ. and are on watch
constantly un il D 30 or 6 p. NJ Then
ma hama
ing they report for duty at : A. NJ, being
off duty only ten hours, and that is nearly
all used fJr sleeping"
For this continuous service Of "a hours
on duty and ten hours rest, the guards
receive as compensation $50 per month
and board Here is the kind OF board
they enjoy as described by one who has
eaten il;
"The board of which the intendant
speaks as being worth $3.50 year is often
too bad for person to eat. AT times the
meat and fish are Rotten, the meat costing
two and three cents a pound. Tainted
meat and fish are bought because such
stuff can be purchased cheap. Fine
steak roasts, and other meats are brought
to the almshouse addressed to w. II.
StOutenburgh), and paid for out of the
public funds, but the guards never see
any meat OF this kind on their tables. So,
when Mr.. Stoutenburgh says the board
the guards have is worth $3.50 the state
ment is absolutely false. Most of the
meu buy milk and lunches, u wagon serv-
ing the guards every day. The prisoners
do most OF the cooking for the officers
and besides the vegetables being half
cooked, and other food being bad before
cooking, the filthy manner in which il is
prepared by the prisoners, makes the fare
sickning to ordinary stOmacha."
If the board for the officers is of this
character let the reader imagine the quail
ty and quantity Of the kind given the
prisoners and paupers II seems there
are five policemen on duty at the work
house or Asylum Here is another ex
tract:
THE five pllicemen go home every
night; they are on duty only eight hours
and receive niaety dollars a month and
their board, the employees at the work
house receive only Sl.50 and 81 .6j per
day. Perry Talbert, at the female work.
house receives sl.7 per day, with board,
and works eight hours; Mr.. Marten re-
celves s2OO per day. works eight hours
and does not have to guard the prisoners
1t is suggested that four men take charge
of the prisoners at night when they are
turned In, and the men who guard them
during the day be off duty until the next
mOrning. and the men who have charge
Of them at night be of duty during the
day. The police get 500 and $1,000 "a
month and have a day of every week,
The firemen get $4,000 month with a
day of, and they do not have to guard
prisoners and 60 out in all kinds Of
weather, and the police are not out more