Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-06-09


been and am chock full of I'M
pressions to unload"
''TN be accommodating; just call me the
Listener and let me hear what you saw
Mrs. L. r. B. smiled appreciatively at
her audience of one and commenced with
her favorite, well. you know. my IDEA
of a prison has always been OF high ana
gloomy walls barred windows and things
dismal and dingy in every way. But now
1 have gained new point of view, ana
next to the army and the navy the tederal
prison. or rather this one. would be my
choice.
THE building is handsome and complete
in all respects, and the system ana or
der the perfect clockwork regularity ana
the prevailing cleanliness reminds me
more Of a revenue cutter than anything
else The walls of the corridor are OF
brick with porcelain-like finish, each
separate brick costing cents. so the
guard informed us, and the floors are
marble
, but to begin at the beginning. The
car stops right at the gate and you Walk
a hundred yards or more to the wide stone
steps. Eight or ten convicts were clearing
IN the grounds and already had laid OH
q flower bed on either side the walk WIN
a lonely banana tree in the center OF each
ana petunias and nasturtiums along the
border guard with a very good inquire
!
barred doors and invited US into sunny
ONCE, a lovely winter room. opposite that
Of the warden Here is a desk with
visitors book on It, and in the middle OF
the room stands a larger desk lttereu
with the USUAL appurtenances ana some
thing else that / had never seen be1ore-
a little board with holes all over II In reg
ular lines; on the left of 1t paper was
pasted covered with numbers and opposite
them a row of pegs. 1t was bulletin OF
the whereabouts of the prisoners and
the guard had only to glance at 1t to tell
where each man is. These men were, OF
course, the ones that are allowed GER
tain freedom The desk had small mir
ror on II, one of the kind that had two
little legs like some photograph cases, but
quite large enough to see whether your
hat is on straight.
AFTER waiting here about five minutes,
a nice looking young fellow in light
| blue suit--some ernploye, l suppose-ln-
| formed us the guard was ready to show us
over the building. This particular guard
was delightful having the most anus
ing. dime museum way Of pointing out.
and explaining things. If he hadn't been
| so kind and so generous in giving infor-
nation, one might almost accuse him OF
talking through his nose, but then 1t was
q very nice looking nose and perhaps, as
/ ne had to do so much talking II rested his
/ mouth. .--
Just follow me, ladies and gentlemen,
and l will show you every thing there
| is to see in the prison and he did, very
| nearly First we went through the wide
| corridor, passed the blocks of cells on
either side the cages in which these lu-
| man animals are locked after the days
/ monotonous routine. To me, these tiers of
| cells and the striped suits were the only
| painful sights. just, to thing that two
/ hundred and thirty-nine of those steel
/ rooms held man whose name has been
changed to a number, whose identity and
personality, his likes and dislikes, are
/ merged into a machine-like existence. and
for some there is no hope of change un-
III death Brings it, No doubt many of
/ them have been useful citizens. Perhaps
/ the cause of their being in this place was
i the temptation Of moment that they
would give their life TO undo. Perhaps
they have hopes of the future and long for
the opportunity of retrieving the past
There was something very like tears In
| Mrs. L. r. BIS eyes. and a shaky little
smile on her lips II know I'm very sill
~ OF course they all deserve TO be just
| where they are, but I think It is so pitt
full to be a number instead Of a man."
The Listener looked doubtful and stroked
hts moustache, II dent doubt. II the war
| den was a woman. escapes would be Of
| frequent occurrence.
declared Mrs. L. r. E. emphatically.
They have too much sensiblllty while
men are merely sensible" said the Lis
/ tener.
Mrs. L. r. B. thought for moment,
| but preferring narrative to argument,
hurried on. This corridor leads to the
| mess hall. or in civilian terms. the din
ing room. If It were not for the enamel
| plate and bowl. the salt and pepper cruets
\ distributed at intervals 81 would look like
| a large school room. The seats let down
1 like the chairs at a. theaters and the men
are marched to their places with guard
at the head of each squad Those that
finish first wait with folded arms until all
are through. The time for eating isn't
limited. After each meal, the place is
| scrupulously cleaned and consequently
there is never any dirt. t
| . Next we went to the Kitchen q room
that viii make an enthusiastic housewife
| green with envy. There are four pots for
/ boiling soups. stewing, meats, etc, and
two large copper boilers for coffee. in the
cooking of which steam IS used exclu-
sively. There are escape tubes for odors
and the neighbors will never know when
the prison inmates have cabbage for din
ner. In the.center of the room is an inn
mense range for baking and tan racks for
the utensils, one for the heavy. ware and
one for the lighter. Convenient to the
kitchen is the cold storage room. The
prison has its own ice plant, and bakery.
Before coming to the bakery, we passed
| the pantry. or rather the bread room.
Several men were slicing bread for the
evening meal The slicing was done with
a machine for the purpose and there was
no loss of temper over dull knives-but
then don't suppose convicts are allowed
tempers or knives either. I'm crazy for
one of those slicers.
They have two ovens, one they are us
ing at present and newer larger one,
with a revolving bread shelf Of soapstone
operated entirely by electricity. they will
use later.
There were two men in the room, a
pleasant looking negro and a white man
with one Of those light suits on. One OF
the ladies inquired in whisper II they
were prisoners cone Is and the other is
not, answered the guard in a lady OF
the tiger" manner.
'"'When men keep house, ladies and gen.
tlemen,' he continued. they have con.
veniences. 1t is not like the good woman
who has to. put her hand in the oven to
see II 1t is hot enough; here we have the
temperature registered on the outside and
know just when to put the bread in and
when to take It out The men in the
party laughed and the women kept dis
creetly quiet.
Next we went to they commissary de.
partment. Behind the counter stood q
man neatly folding red handkerchiefs, and
on the counter was pile OF light blue