The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-11
JURYMEN SENT IN
 WRITTEN PROTEST Complained of Their Treatment
 at Lodging Place o8JEc1EO ID THE BEDS Board of Revenue Investigates, How ever, and Says Accommodations
 Are All Rieht-Make Re-
 port to Judge Greene.
OBJECTED ID THE BEDS

The jury which was hearing the evil dence in the trial of Alex Morrisette yesterday in the criminal court before Judge D. A. Greene made lengthy com plaint that the sleeping quarters furnish ed for jurors of the county were not suitable. They used strong language Tn the letter which was read during the morning in open court. Judge Greene referred the communica- tion to the board of revenue and the board made a report which was hardly in conformity with the complaints of the jurors
 The letter of complaint of the jurors was drawn up in form and at the open ing of court one of the jurymen asked permission of Judge D. A. Greene to read it, which was granted. Among other things the letter setforth the fol- lowing grievances:
 The Complaint
 'The rooms in which we slept last night were not well lighted, there were no fires, the window glass was broken and the transom in one room as broken out and cold air streamed in, making 1t neces- sary to cover up one's head with quilt to keep from catching cold, and the beds, to expres it mildly, were filthy It was only because we were practically prisoners and could not help ourselves that we finally did go to bed.
 We have no doubt that the prisoner at the bar slept in a cleaner and bet ter bed last night than did the jury which is engaged in the trial of his case. Your honor it seems to us that the great county of Jefferson should ac- cord jurymen having under consideration questions involving the lives and liberty of it's citizens, better treatment than we have received, and we think 1t decidely in the interest of justice that jurymen should have at least comfortable rooms, clean beds and good food.
 Ut is necessary they should have this to be in the proper frame of mind to con- slider the weighty questions coming be- fore them
 Your honor, if it were only a question of personal discomfort for a limited time we would have nothing to say, but hav-
 
 a duty to call the matter to the atten- tion of this court, to the end that juries in the future may be spared the dis comfort we have suffered and be the bet ter able to perform their sworn duty to the county"
 Board of Revenues Report.
 The letter is signed by James H. Hord, n l.. A. McMahen, A. J. Gray, F. N. Houp- pert, J. A. Rollins, J. L. Buecock, A. w. Colgon, W. G. Wood and J. c. McWil- Hams.
 The matter was referred by Judge Green to the board of revenue which was in session yesterday, and the board made the following report to the court during the afternoon:
 To the Hon. Dan A. Greene, Judge of the Criminal Court:
 Honorable Sir:-The complaint of jur- ors made to you and referred by you to the board of revenue we. beg leave to state that on receipt of same the board went in a body and examined. the rooms complained of before there was any chance of having them made up, or changed from the condition they were
 
 jury. We found three rooms opening one into the other, one used for the bailiff and the other two with three beds in each, beds and bed clothing in very fair condition in regard to quantity of cloth ing and cleanliness of same. Each room contained fireplace and an incandescent light, also bowl, pitcher and plenty of towels. with two incandescent lights in the hall.
 
 When questioned the proprietor said he Is prepared and ready at all times to have fires made in the rooms at the re- quest of the jurors, but would not make fires unless requested to do so, because all people are not constituted alike. as, Tor instance, some men want to sleep with the top sash down and no fire in the eoldest weather, whilst others want a fire and every air-hole' stopped up. Now we recognize the great inconve- nience and lack of home comforts which jurors have to put up with, and we wish we could get each juror separate room, but you will readily see that such is im- possible without mourning a very heavy expense to the county, and we don't think that such place could be found in the city at any price. We have a contract with MT. Fred Wehage to keep those rooms for the use of jurors all the time, and they are not occupied except by ju- ries. At the better hotels here we could not be able to make those arrangements, because the law. as you are aware, re- quires the juries to be kept together, and sometimes a bailiff has no idea that jury will hold over all night, and at a late hour he is so notified; then 1t would be just impossible for him to get suite of rooms to accommodate his jury. Af- ter our interview with Mir. Wehage, he promised to give particular attention to the juries, and would try and supply every reasonable want of theirs. both as to table service and comfortable rooms. A. J. TARRANT. Pres.
 HUGH MGEEVER,
 H. w. CROOK.
 J. K. P. LAIRD,
 IT rslan