West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1901-06-06
STATE PESlrESTlARY.
An Interesting Article From the New
Warden.

Q -
as the new Superintendent Of our
State Sanitarium for the treatment
Of evil doors. Mr.. Haddox says:
Il took charge on the first and
at once went TO active work and
and have had plenty to think OF
ever since. The Warden has sole
control, practically. of the entire
machinery of the Institution, and
as result if he wants TO conduct /,
wisely, he must know all the details.
To come in stranger and under
take a task of that kind is quite
difficult There are eight hundred
and six prisoners, besides the Off
GERS who number forty one and to
get small army like that to move
tremendously in space of five
acres, to feed them all, clothe them
maintain proper discipline and keep
them all employed, requires think
ing. l have been getting along
fairly well. What the future will
bring me l do not know.
About five hundred and seventy
five of the men are working in the
shops. There is a broom shop, a
whip shop, a skirt shop and pants
factory. In the broom shop they
make twelve hundred brooms a day.
In the pants factory they turn out
one hundred and twenty. five dozen
pairs daily. They make pants from
eight dollars a dozen to thirty. three
dollars a dozen and all this product
is sold to wholesalers, none going
to the retail trade. c. b. Rouss
and the Baltimore Bargain House
are big buyers in the skirt and
pants shops.
We have our own water works
and our own electric light plant.
All the buildings and the cells are
lighted by electricity and all the
buildings are heated by steam.
Coal is used to fire the boilers, the
mine being less than a half mile a
way. We also have a drug store
and a hospital. We have a night
school and aim to teach all litter
ate convicts TO read and write and
they are given lessons on all i'm
portant topics. The prison also
has an immense library filed with
choice books, papers and magazines
and all prisoners who are on their
good behavior can have them under
certain regulations.
The men go to breakfast at 6:Io
o'clock in the morning and are at
work by 6;3o. They work until
1890 and have dinner and are at
work again by noon. They work
until four O'Clock and then have
supper. Alter supper they march
on the yards for exercise until about
five o'clock when nearly all of them
go 20 their cells and are locked up.
A few men, generally about sixty
are permitted to stay out until
about nine O'Clock to do the work
in the kitchen, bakery and other
places. At nine O'Clock, a bugler
sounds the call, the lockout gang
comes in, all the lights go out in
the cells and perfect silence is main
tanned until six O'Clock in the morn
ing. The discipline is perfect, as,
in fact it must be, or it could not
be managed.
Chapel services are held every
Sunday at nine o'clock and last an
hour. The services consist of sing
ing by the leaders and the convicts,
after which they have a short ser
mon by one of the town pastors,
who is paid for it by the State. The
prisoners are perfectly orderly and
services are we'll worth hearing.
After the services, the men are
marched on the yard until dinner
time. After dinner they go to their
cells and the second and the fourth
Sundays they are permitted to write
one letter. These letters are all
sent out 20 a certain guard who
must read them to sec that they
contain nothing Objectionable. Last
Sunday, the guard had six hundred
and twenty-five letters to read and
you may be sure, it was no small
task. The letters are then sent in
TO my Office and are addressed by a
convict clerk. The State pays the
postage one day in the month, and
the prisoners must pay the other
day.
In addition TO our own prisoners,
we get a great many United State,
! prisoners from Virginia and Wash
ington City The government pay.
as for maintaining them and W,
work part OF them in the shops and
thus make a profit out Of them. w,
get forty-two cents per day for tn,
! prisoners work in the shops. W,