Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1905-10-06
MARY ROGERS LOCKED IN.
Supt. Lowell Denies the "UnIocked
Wooden Door" Story.

Supt. w. S. Lowell of the state pris-
on at Windsor has written as follows
to the ST. Adams Messenger in reply
to the statements made Sept. Is, by
that paper to the effect that Mrs. Rog-
ers. the Bennington murderess, was
at liberty in the prison kitchen with
nothing but an unlocked wooden door
between her and out doors: Il feel
it my duty to myself and to the state
to write you this letter. as so many
papers have commented on your re-
port pertaining to the prison and plac-
ling much stress on Mrs. Rogers's quar-
tiers and the unlocked wooden door"
/ feel that injustice to me is being done
and / do not understand how YOU got
the idea that the door in question Is
not kept locked. and that nothing pre-
vented Mrs. Rogers from walking out.
| This is all untrue. Not only is she
| behind barred windows and locked
doors, but constantly under guard.
The same condition exists now as
| in the past, and | have had in mind
for some time the need of further pre-
caution in the way of an iron door
| in connection with the wooden one
now used. but the thousand and one
things that have claimed my attention
since l first took the office, and for
the fact that in all the years past this
particular place having had no iron
door have net until recently placed an
order for one, to correspond with those
used to the entrance to the wings.
wish to say here that none of the
women convicts are left alone in the
kitchen to work, for they are constant
ly under guard.
Il trust that you will accept this
letter as perfectly friendly, and make
this correction through your paper
that the people of Vermont will feel
that their penal institution is being
managed by one who is trying his best
to bring it UP to the standard beyond
reproach'
The Messenger adds to this letter the
statement that if it is in error. it be-
lieves it is so only in point of detail and
not of general conclusion. 1t explains
that its knowledge of the conditions
mentioned came from a prison d. |
rector who. standing in the vestibule |
referred to. with Superintendent Low |
ell and the Messenger representative, |
opened an unlocked wooden door and |
instructed the superintendent to take
some further precaution. He then
said to the newspaper man. Mary |
Rogers is right down there and / tell
Lowell that something ought to be done
about it; that 1t is a little shaky to
leave things this way There ought
to be an iron door here" The Messen-
ger representative then carefully ques-
toned the two in order to understand
the situation exactly and in response
to several detailed inquiries came
away with the understanding that the
wooden door which the prison director
had that moment opened by merely
turning the knob was the only door
leading in that direction that stood be-
tween Mary Rogers and the vestibule.
The Messenger then explains that
he point of its story was meant to
De that after all the humiliating and
notoriety the state has suf-
'ered through this shameless woman,
absolutely no risk whatever should be ,
in the further safe keeping
Vt her. but all the precautions of bars {
md locks that a prison had in its re- l
should be employed to Sc {
'ure her. $