Sunday morning globe., 1901-11-10
A JAIL VISIT
Inspired by Mr.. MagilPs Recent
Publication of His Experiences.
WE FOUND THE JAIL
Clean and Free From tho Usual Prison Odor
Men Eal Like Dogs Through Fear Of
Authorities 10 Furnish Them KnlVss-Long
Jail Sentences Are Crime Against
Humanity

OuubI Jlt Inspiration Ol NlNlheu MD
gin's $50 days in the District Jail" The
Globe while taking in lhe fall beauties
Of Lincoln Park, insensibly wandered
in the direction of the Jail accompanied
by a friend. Divine services were be-
ing held in the Jail at the time, 1890
a. m. Ringing the door bell and Civ
ing our name to the guard, we were
ushered into the Office and cordially
greeted by the warden, a gentleman
past middle age, Of benign and sympa-
thetic temperament. The warden is an
ex-soldier, a natuve of Indiana, in the
legislature Of which, as chairman on
the committee on state institutions,
he acquired the experience which
qualify him for the position he oc-
cupies. Spending less than half an
hour with the warden in the Office dis
cussing prison matters, he invited us
to visit the interior of the Jail. From
a cursory inspection of the kitchen and
corridors, we could see no evidence
of the things complained of in Mr..
Magilrs book On the contrary every,
thing from the bright white washed
walls to the scrupulously swept and
scrubbed floors, was clean, and there
was conspicuously an entire absence Of
that indescrbable smell known as
prison odor'
The one thing condemnable and in
human observed relates to the man
ner in which the food is served and
over which, 1t appears the warden is
either helpless or has no control. In
deed he condemned the system him
self and regretted that no remedy was
! apparently poss- lie. The food is serv-
ed in semi.circular tin vessels and the
| prisoners are compelled to lap it up
like dogs, as neither knife, fork or
spoon is furnished them.
The reason assigned is that the vic
| iOusness among the inmates cannot be
/ trusted with these necessary articles
as they would use them on one an
other. The warden exhibited knives
as sharp as razors made from the steel
/ shanks taken from the soles of shoes,
and related incidents Of the deadly use
to which these weapons were put by
some of the prisoners. But for all this
some plan ought to be devised to pre-
vent the further imbruting of even the
vicious prisoners-tO say nothing of
the decent men among them-by COM
pelling them to lap their food or eat it
from their fingers. The writer has a
thousand times witnessed over $500
convicts at the tables in the large
| prison dining room Of the Ohio peni-
tentiary with less than fifty guards
in attendance. Yet every prisoner
was furnished with knife, fork and
spoon, besides plates and bowls Of
| earthenware. In eight years we have
] NJ lrnnfffr, a 40 NH n Fhnun
/ convicts cut his fellow, although he
would take sureptitiously a knife from
| the table to his cell. Indeed, we have
! seen hundreds Of these knives gathered
/ up in occasional searches Of the cells,
the prisoners using them for various
purposes, such as carving images and
other fancy work, the sale Of which to
visitors brought them a few dollars
| in revenue
There was nothing to prevent one
/ prisoner from cutting or assaulting
another, in dining room or workshop
In these latter the most dangerous
/ tools were being daily used by con-
vfcts with impunity, and but a single
| guard in each shop, who was at their
mercy at any time they desired to as.
sault him. The fear Of the conse
! quences, except in rare cases Of semi.
insane prisoners, prevented any sucn
assault or outbreak. If the jail auth
critics would adopt the same disciplin.
airy punishment and find employment
| for the inmates, knives, forks and even
| razors could be furnished them in per-
| feet safety 1t is the cellular confine-
ment, day after day. for long stretches,
which makes the Jail inmate so much
more dangerous to his fellows and his
/ guards than the inmate of the peni-
| tentiary where the prisoners mind is
occupied and his animal vitality kept
in even temperature by steady toll.
No prisoner ought to be sentenced
| to iail-where work cannot be provided
for him-for longer periods than thirty
days, yet we find by the record OF the
District Jail that men have been and
are sentenced to periods ranging from
three months to over one year, and in
several instances almost two years.
Such sentences are crimes against
the society supposed to be protected,
and are utterly and unqualitiedly in
human. Congress should step in and
prevent the serving Of jail sentences
in excess at least Of three months. IL
the crime merits longer term, let the
culprit be sentenced to the penitentiary
wnere both his mentality and physique
will be unimpared by the discipline
enforced. Labor Is as necessary as
food or sleep in prison, and when a
judge deprives human being OF either
one Of these necessities for any length
Of time he is guilty Of a greater crime
against society than the prisoner upon
whom such barbaric penalty is inflicted
We shall refer to this subject again
and pay the jail a more extended visit
in conformity with the warden's very
cordial invitation 10 spend half a day
here" Il is within the possibilities
that before we entirely rid Washington
Of frauds, libertines and dead beats, We
may have to spend more than half a
dag" with the genial warden OF the
nHuHg DOL