Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1903-08-28
THE VILLAGE Lookup.
official Investigation by Board Of
SeIectmen.
The Village Lookup.
AS Clean as It Is Possible to Keep
it," They Say--ls Cleaned Out After
BEING Occupied.

it," They Say--ls Cleaned Out After
Being Occupied.
The village lookup has had a good
many hard things said about it the
past few weeks, principally by per-
sons who have had no knowledge of
the actual facts and have relied upon
others who knew as little about the
existing conditions for their informa-
ton. The lookup is under the control
of the board of sclectmen. but they
seldom visit it, 1t is in charge of r.
II. Thayer janitOr of the town hall
building. The selectmen meet every
Saturday morning On the occasion
of their last meeting, having heard
so much about the alleged filthy con
dition of the lookup, they made an
official inspection of that institution,
giving it close scrutiny from top to
bottom. Here is their finding: The
lookup is in as good condition with
respect to cleanliness as it can be
kept"
The selectmen had very little to
say when first they went inside the
door. But as they looked into the
hooks and corners they expressed
themselves on the subject. one after
f dUUlUtI. iotitltutGu mum. email
man of the board. said: Well I'm
surprised at the cleanliness of the
place after hearing so much against
/ it," Sclectman Putnam's opinion
was as follows: expected to find
things nasty and filthy after what /
had heard. but don't see but that the
place is clean enough. except the bed
ding. and YOU can't help that getting
I a = tf.tro I,l4QGnn'G
was: As for the terrible odor that
/ has been reported | think this room
smells as good as the other rooms in
: the building"
TO Phoenix representative Chair
man Vinton made this statement:
The truth of the matter is, the lock
up is kept just as clean as it is posi-
/ Bile TO keep it. The bedding is old
and Of course it is worn and soiled.
/ We have told Mr.. Thayer TO get new
bedding and have the walls white
washed to make them a little lighter
cGlorcd. but aside from that there is
nothing We can do to make the lock-
up any cleaner than il il. We found
no bugs. no vermin of any kind Mr..
Thaycr said: After the lookup has
been occupied ! always clean it out.
\ little while ago We had l3 prisoners
+ in there over Sunday and on Monday
the place naturally was not very
sweet That was the time when all
this talk started"
At this point Chicf-of-Polce Han
happened along. The three went
down into the lookup. 1t was occu-
pied by one prisoner. Two others
had just been taken out. They had
( been IN over Sunday but the trace Of
4 od0r was very faint, not "A circum-
/ stance to what one might expect un-
der the conditions. 1t was gloomy as
all prisons are. but there was no
filth. Chief Hall said: think this
lookup is fully as good as the aver
age" and then he told about giving
lodging there to a man who came to
/ town late one night within the past
fortnight. The man Went to the
Brooks House. but the beds all We're
full. He met Chief Han and asked
him what to do. Chief Hall said the
only accommodation he could give him
was in the lookup. The man said he
was not used to that kind of quarters,
/ but would go there for want of bet
ter place. After inspecting his room
/ he expressed his approval Of the con
d!tion in which the place was kept.