Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1905-1906, 1906-02-21
FINE SHOES ar
HIGHLY PRICED
MANY REFoRMAToRY CON-
vIcTs HAVE PECULIAR
IDEA OF FOOTWEAR.
BAR PATENT and TAN LEATHER
Indiana Prison o@cials Tell How
Men Save Moaey To Buy Best ,
In the Market.
BAR PATENT AND TAN LEATHER

! Jeffersonville, Feb. ,s 90 Those.
not conversant with life in the Indi-5
ana reformatory would not, believe
that some of the inmates have ,dudish
ideas, but it is fact, and of all
things the average convict is partic-
ular about, it is his shoes. Those
who can afford it are allowed to sat-
isfy their whims to a limited extent.
Some of the men wear fine shoes,
which relatives on the outside send
is, or they buy out of their own.
funds. The line, however, is drawn
at patent lea4No and. tans, the rea-
soi being that en- that they are too
conspicuous. Recently a pair of So
patent leather shoes arrived at the
reformatory from Cleveland, Ohio,
for one of the inmates, but he never
saw them, neither was he isformed
that they were there. They were
sent back and an explanation was
made that the rules, prevented their
delivery, and few days later a pair
of IS box calf shoes arrived to- take
their place. ,,
Another whim that is tabooed is
chewing gum, tobacco, of course, be-
ing on the outlawed list. A few
days ago an elegantly attired woman
from indianapolis called at the re-.
formatory to see as unfortunate rela-
tive and during the interview in such
cases, j. H. MADEIRA, mail clerk, acts
as listener and sees that the men are
not given presents that are forbid
den.i During the talk the woman
J drew from an expensive shopping
| bag small package which she asked
leave to give to the convict she had
come to see. On it being explained
that the package contained chewing,
gum the woman was told that she
would have to retain the gift, ..--.
| The incident was. soon. forgotten
and when M. NJ. Barnard, assistant
superintendent, received 1. a, ~ notice
from Indianapolis that package Of
first class mail matter on which six
cents was due was being held subject
to his order. he lost no time in for
warding the Short postage. 'Yester-
day. he received neat little package
| wrapped in deficately' scented paper,
! which had been addressed to him per
sonal1y.n When this was opened it
was found the same Mr.. MADEIRA had
| said could not be delivered. A note
from the woman was enclosed beg
ging that the gum be given to her
relative, but the request was not
granted by Mr.. Barnard.
Among the few things the men are
allowed to have are Bibles, and there
are many fine ones IN the institution.
The inmates not only enjoy receiving
them, but apparently take a delight
in reading them, some of the con-
victs being we'll posted on scripture.
Above all things the closet watch is
kept on is tobacco, and it is not al
lowed in the institution in any form,
] although it formerly was and weekly
rations of chewing tobacco were dis
tributed. Many Of the men did net
have the habit and what they receiv-
ed was traded for some other article.
At the state prison at Michigan City
Tobacco is given out and instances
have beep found where men have per-
iured themselves in swearing to- their
ages so they would be sent to that in
stitution instead of coming to Jeffer-
sonviile to be al prived of their
Chewing ,1+-1