Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-04-18
THE P~ENlTENTIARY,
A Model Penal Institution Its Growth
and Improvements.
BRICK MAKING PLANT.

Six brilliant white electric arc lights
pierce the darkness every night in the
southwestern part of Santa Fe. They
are the eyes of the p~enitentiary, New
Mexico's great penal institution. that
Keep watch during the silent hours of
the night. They are also symbols of
progress and humanity of this insti-
Triton h a only a few weeks & won
words OF the highest enconium from
General Francis Torrance, the chair
man OF the board of charities and pen
al institutions of the great state of
pennsylvania, a student ana authority
on what penal institutions ought to be
n what they very often are not. 1t
has not always been thus, but since
Hon. II. o. Bursum, with quiet, unas
Stunning air, with a corps of efficient as
sistants took charge of the peniten-
tiary 1t has entered upon a new life, a
life that knows no standstill, a life
that has been a steady growth and i'm
provement. There are NJ dark corners,
no filthy spots, at New Mexico's peni-
Tertiary.
1dleness and darkness have been
banished from the ~penitentiary since
he took charge. Work, good wholesome
work, for the convicts has been the
ideal that Mr.. Bursum has pursued and
as a consequence there has sprung
into life one of the most complete in
dustrial plants in New Mexico at
which improvements are constantly
being made and to which additions are
still under course of construction. That
is the modern and model brick making
plant with its ~stupendous up to date
machinery that turns out 10000 of the
best brick made in the west every day.
Ii necessary, it can turn out 1000
brick every ten hours or 10000 every
twenty-four hours, or sufficient to fill
one of the large drying kilns which
have been lately built in addition to
the old kiln of $4,000 brick capacity.
1t is a bit of education to make a thor
ough inspection and investigation of
the manufacture of brick by machin-
cry from the time that the clay
brought from clay banks near Santa
Fe is fed into the machine that grinds
it until the finished brick of fine color
and a like that of a bell
leaves the drying kiln. Between the
beginning and the end the clay is fed
into the brick making machine proper
which discharges the stiffened clay
" 10 bibSi III I'll SitASoo wv
the width and depth of a brick, and
which is cut the required thickness by
a knife of many blades. The brick are
then carried in TRUCKS on a tramway
to the steaming kilns from which they
go forth to the drying kilns. Several
kinds of brick, from the common brick
to the glazed fire brick, and more than
one kind of tiles, are manufactured
and find a ready market when not
used for construction work at the pen.
Tertiary itself.
Construction work is constantly go
ing on at the ~penitent!ary. Since the
central wing of the main building was
constructed, every brick m every
stone of the great institution has been
laid by the convicts themselves. What
this means, may be CLEANED from the
fact that the solid wall and moat which
surround the yard contain $500, 600
bricks. Then there is almost a score of
substantial buildings, including shops,
boiler and engine house, hospital, hot
house, livery barn, lime house, brick
kilns and other structures. At present
many men are employed in rearing a
much needed massive second wing to
the main building to be used as a cell
house. 1t is being built of stone and
the heavy, high, three story outside
walls are almost completed, the stones
having all been laid by one convict who
has become an expert stone mason.
The placing of the brilliant electric
lights along the real wall is another
Improvement which has been made by
Superintendent H. o. Bursum and
helps to make escape from the prison
well nigh impossible. In fact, since
Superintendent Bursum has taken
charge there has not been one escape
from the ~penitentiary itself. The few
scape that have occurred were either
from the stone quarry or clay banks
on the other side of the city or by trus'
ties when they were away from the
prison.
There is no serious illness at present