The Saint Paul globe., 1902-03-30
Ekov Gloman Prisoners
N Fare at the Central
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Womans inhumanity toward her de-
Sraded sister has been much commented
upon, yet to the credit of good women
must be placed the appointment of police
matrons to look after the woman prison
ers who are brought to the police sta
/ tlohs OF large cities. Time was when
the unfortunate woman who was arrest
ed Tor drunkenness, larceny, or diSOrd-
erly conduct, caught no glimpse of her
+. own sex from the moment that she enter
ed the police station until she was taken
out to serve her sentence in the work
house Or the county Jail Her clothes
were searched by men, her food was
serVeC her by the jailor, or his assistant
and II taken i'll the only attention she
received was from the Jail physician.
But once the women living in the big cit
les We're aroused to the evils Of such a
| cohdltlon OF affairs, the matter was agi-
tated, with the result that the police
matron became one of the officials at
police headquarters.
A visit to the police station is not ex-
actly a cheerful adventure, but there is
nothing repulsive about the woman's de-
partment of the police headquarters Of
ST. Paul Mrs. Bridget Cummings, the
matron in charge, showed a G L a
man over her little domain the other day
! and incidentally threw much light on the
attitude and treatment of the woman
prisoners who are brought to the sta
! ton and placed in her care. The room
set apart for women in St. Pauls CEN
trail police station is on the second floor
! 1t is a long room and very well lighted
/ by goOd-sized window that looks out on
| Third street and gives one, between it's
iron bars, a fair view Of the river. The
floor is of soft wood, painted a dark
I brown. To the right of the room, as
one enters, is a long bench with straight
back. Besides this rather uncomforta-
bic article of furniture there are one
or two straight-backed chairs in the
room and desk. On the left are the
cells, four in number These cells are
whitewashed, and are about as large
as a gOod-sized closet. Fastened into the
PARTON at enc side of each cell is a cot
which is simply strong iron frame fit
ted with springs and an excelsior mat
tress, and covered with blanket and d
pillow.
No Sheets Allowed Prisoners.
No sheets are allowed the prisoners,
for should the suicidal mania seize the
unfortunate wretch behind the bars it
would not take long for her to tear tho
sheets into Il rope and use it to hang
herself with. Not always are the blan-
ket and pillow left in a cell, either, for
these articles have often been torn into
shreds by prisoners when in a drunken
frenzy. The cots, when not in use, can
be fastened up against the side Of the
cell thus giving the prisoner more room
But it is seldom that [ have to lock
a prisoner up in the cell" said Mrs.
Cummings to I Clio b e. 1.-The door
leading to the room is always kept locked
and You see there ere strong bars on
the windows, so l give the poor creatures
the freedom of the room. Of course
when they are brought UP drunk It night
they are placed on the cot in the cell,
but in the morning l always let them Que
and give them, the freedom of the room
as long as they behave themselves They
all seem to have a horror OF the cells,
and beg me not to put them in there
When woman is brought to the sta
tion the matron searches her. All money
and valuables are taken from her and
placed in the. safe belonging 10 the jail
until the prisoner is ready to leave, when
they are restored to her Of course. if
the prisoner has been arrested for steal
ing and the money or article is found on
her, it IS restored to the owner. The pris-
oners are not allowed to smoke, and
cigarettes and, often morphine are taken
from them, Occasionally morphine
tiend is brought to the Jail, ana has to be
given the drug, but this is administered
by the police physician.
They All Feel Hungry.
'There are two things a woman prisoner
never fails to Go when she is bought to
the station and is sober enough to know
what she is saying" said the matron
'One of these things is to assert her in
nCcence and the other is to ask for some
thing to eat. The minute they get in
side TIE Jail they seem to feel hungry"
All the food that the woman prisoners
apartments of her own next the Jail. She
is allowed fourteen G. nts for each meal
Which consists, as a rule, of coffee and
bread and butterA The} coffee us5d is the
best and the bread and butter are always
fresi.
Although the men and women's DEPART
ments in the jail are son the same floor.
the women are entirely separate from the
men. When an arrest is made and y
prisoner is brought to the woman's de-
partment an electric button is pushed
down stairs and the bel in the matron's
room rings. She imme diately takes down
her ring of large keys and goes out to
receive the prisoner who is taken 10 by
an officer. If the prisoner is violent he
often places hCr in the cell himself If
not she is simply turred over to the kind
ly custodian. The arrests Of women
hardly average one day in St Paul.
The day arrests are mostly for shop
lifting, stealing and disorderly conduct.
At night the arrests are generally for
street strOlling and disorderly conduct.
The dispositions of the prisoners are
varied. Some are reticent and morose and
sit in silence, saying absolutely nothfng.
about themselves or regarding what they
are accused of. But the majority of them
unburden their minds to the matron and
talk freely about their arrests incidental
ly telling her all their troubles. Never
has one of them been known to admit her
guilt.
The women are curiously jealous of anv
little privilege that may be accorded one
of them for good behavior. For this
reason the matron does not dare allow
herself the privilege of having a rocking
chair in the room for her own comfort
although she occasionally has to pass the
entire night there. IF there should he
two woman prisoners in at the same time
and one occupied the chair while I was
absent from the room the other would be
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