The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-06-03
Model Institution According to One
Who Has Been There.
Prisoners Well Treated and Efforts
Made to Reform Conyicts.
Warden Wolfer Held in High Respect
BY All Of the Inmates.
Deputy J. S. GIennon Comes in for a
Word in High Praise.
From Fridays DSily.

From Fridays Dsily.
Henry Nelson of North Mankato is an
ardent admirer of the system on which
Warden Wolfer runs the Minnesota state
prison. Mr.. Nelson himself served lit
tie more than year and four months
there, having been convicted of appropri-
ating to his own use funds belonging to
the Standard Brewing company. He
was touched by the kindness with which
the prisoners are uniformly treated.
The more he learned of the plans by
which the warden and those who assist
him endeavor to turn every man from
the way of evil and make a righteous
and useful citizen of him, the greater
became Mr.. Nelson's admiration of Mr..
Wolfer as a man and as an official.
1t was on June 81, 1902 that Mr.. Nell
son was taken by the sheriff to Still
water. The eX-convict's recollection of
the details of his experience at the pris-
on from the first to the last is surpris-
ingly vivid.
A prisoner is first brought by the sher-
iff or deputy to the office of the deputy
warden. Here this official takes charge
of the prisoner The convict's name, adj
dress, crime and other data are here re-
corded.
The prisoner is Immediately taken to
the bath house, one story brick build
ing, fitted up with shower baths baths
enough to accommodate 80 at once.
Here he takes a thorough bath and is
given a new suit of underwear. Clad
only in this Undertaking he is next
conducted to the store room. Here is a
stock of ready made clothing in the
charge of guard, whose chief duty it
is to fit out the prisoners in new clothes.
A dark brown eheckered suit is given to
the prisoner. This means that he be-
longs to the second class OF convicts,
in which class all new convicts are en-
tered. If the suit is a good fit he keeps
it. If the fit is not so good as it might be,
the tailor takes the prisoners measure
ments, and suit is made that will fit
him.
If the prisoners old clothes are
dirty and ragged they are simply burned
up. If they are worth keeping and he
desires to have them kept, they are
cleaned and properly stored away.
Having been equipped with new suit
of clothes and other necessary articles
of dress, the convict is next taken by the
deputy warden to the barber shop. This
shop is in the hall of a large building
known as the cell house, where the
prisoners sleep. There are two barber
chairs and other tonsorial parapher-
MALTA. The BARRIERS are themselves con-
victs. The outsider may wonder that
convicts in prison are trusted with raz-
ors. An armed guard would soon lay
low any one of them, who dared to make
a weapon of any of the instruments
of the barber shop.
The prisoners face is shaver clean
and his hair clipped close to his head.
1t is necessary to have all the hair re-
moved from the face and head in order
that the measurements af the prisoner
may be taken, and all his physical pc
.culiarities noted, according to the Bertil-
lion system.
After the barber is through with the
convict, he is conducted to the deputy
warden's office in the hospital building.
Here the prisoner is Invested of all his
clothing and the measurements and OBJ
servations of the famous Bertillion sys-
TEN taken by the deputy warden and
noted down by clerk. A full descrip-
ton of the man is filed away. Every
mark or scar, every bump or popularity
of the head or any part of the body is
noted down and made a matter of per-
manent record.
1t is now time to take the new pris-
oner to his work. He is carefully ques-
toned as to what he can do, and what
his former occupations have been. If
the prison needs no help for the present
in his own particular line of work, he is
set to work in the Irvine factory. Here
he is to be kept at work until needed
somewhere in the prison to work, if
this should be necessary.
The prisoner is instructed in the work
he is to do, by guard, who is also a
foreman. He is not allowed to con-
verse If he wishes to speak to his
guard, he must give the military salute
and get permission to speak.
BY and by the whistle blows for din
ner time. The men stop work and each
goes to his own bucket of warm water,
towel and piece of soap. These articles
have been placed in long line on each
floor, where the men work, by other con-
victs. When the guard raps with his
cane, the prisoners obey the signal, wash
their faces and hands and fall into line.
At the command of their guard they
march to the dining room. Each guard
has command of 25 to so men.
Arriving in the dining room they take
their seats, side by side at the long
tables, fold their arms and wait for the
gong to sound to begin eating
The dining room is situated directly
over the kitchen and is large enough to
accommodate all the convicts at once if
necessary. There are about 800 of