The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-19

Mobile. Dec. 1s.-(SpeciaD-The full text Of the report of Physician Inspector shir- ley Bragg on the condition of the jails of the State. which appeared in Tuesdays Advertiser and which was read here with great interest by many readers of the paper has caused much comment, fa- vorable in the extreme to the sugges- tions of that physician. Dr. Bragg speaks of the Jefferson County pastile, but, were he to come to Mobile he would find a jail which to properly describe. would require considerably more space than did his entire report.
 Time after time has the several grand juries of Mobile County called attentioh' through their reports, to the )aii WHICH by all of them, has been pronounced ap solutely unfit for the purposes intended at the same time urging and recommend ing either a new one in its entirety or complete remodeling and rehabilitatins oi the present one. While 1t is true no 1aui' has been found with the sanitation, ss far as the conditions will allow, ana each of the juries have commended the Sher ifs and jailors as to the condition of the inmates, yet they invariably decry the structure from every standpoint as 10 se- curity. size, conveniences. etc.
 For many months, even years, the iocal press has urged the necessity for 1ali commensurate with the needs of the couh ty. one of modern construction and fitted with modern applicances for the well-be- ing of the unfortunates confined there, but the usual result followed. The Board of Revenue and Road Commissioners, handicapped at every turn, have compiled with the reports of the grand juries, but they have not, as yet, succeeded In erect ing a jail such as Mobile County requires and should have. This each and every member of the Board comedies. In fact they have purchased a splendid site d. rectly to the rear of the county court house, declaring 1t their purpose to erect thereon a jail such as Is to be found In all first class cities or counties, not only in Alabama, but in the other States.
 It was once declared that the new jail would be built, but the Commissioners were throttled by an enactment In the General Assembly. brought about by prop erty owners in the neighborhood of the proposed site, their objection being so in- pressed upon the law makers who did not know the conditions, evidently, that they granted the law and blocked the needed move. No reflection has ever been cast upon the Sheriffs duriE5 the years of urging of a new jail. because they have one and all used every endeavor to keep the jail in perfect sanitary condi- tion. so far as possible in their power. but the need for the jail has been urged in so many phases, all of which stand unrefuted that it has been the hope Of all citizens that the structure would be erected.
 Dr. Bragg, in his report, states that many of the jails ''beggar description" he giving reasons therefor. If alone the statement of the crowded condition of the jails is sufficient warrant for the as- sertion that disease is the result, or if the statement of absence of necessary provisions for proper sanitation is good ground and the opinion of those discuss ing the subject so assert. Mobile should have the new jail at once.