The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-06
THE WETUlNPKA WALLS,
 STATES MODEL PRISON.

strlpes or lnfamy.
 Is Great Hospital.
 It IS to The Walls that the conyicts are brought who have been worn down |, by arduous labor in the convict camps
 hs here they .. are taken care oi d nrrsSe So, physically fit to again resume the work to which their wrongdoing nas condemned them. Sun and air. good prescriptions which are administered here, and-sick men are made well ana weak men strong. This is the tune tion which the Wetumpka prison plays plsyss hospital nothing more nor less ,,.. That the function is successfully carried out. cannot be doubted. Dur ing the day your correspondent was withing the walls. he had ample op- portunity of passing among the men and of securing from them at first hand information as to the nature or the treatment received, and of the value of the prison to tho system. Tn every instance, the men spoke feelingly of the place and of it's administration. we have 6 good warden and a good doctor.' was the general testimony borne by the prisoners. black and white. and every one of them seemed to regard 1t as q Godsend that they had a place like The Walls. to go to when worn down by sickness or the hard work of the convict camps.
 Entrance to the inclosure is had through heavy barred door. As the heavy wooden barrier swings back, the visitor passes into the courtyard, where the prisoners are kept He steps over a stone worn inches deep by the feet of men who have passed before during the long years of the prison history, men who have entered never to return, and men whose sorroWins feet have gladdened again when, alter years,s they were again permitted to 20 forth into the open and liberty. The ward includes all the space | within the walls. Here are located | the buildings in which the men are I uuartered, the kitchen, the little wooo- | en church where services are held on | Sundays, the eating rooms and last
 and most important. the hospitai TOT TOT | those afflicted With tuberculosis.
 l It is a startling fact, but one which 1 is youched for by Warden Bunkly ana 1 by the Prison Physician, pr. C. N. | Lacey, that of the l67 men at present | in the prison, nearly everyone IS to ' some degree afflicted with disease oL | a tubercuiar nature. This IS not the | result of life within the walls. Here | every precaution is taken to prevent l inc spread of tubercutar germs. The l consuInptives are Kept separated 1EoIn ! the other sick, ana except m rare l cases. are benefited at least tempo |
 | Cause Is of Race.
 The cause of the almost uniyersal- l ty of the disease is one of race, ana l one which cannot be prevented or I guarded against in any form tha, nas vet been devised 1t is known fact that tuberculosis is one or the
 scourges which is wasting away at
 the negro race. When 1t oeVeiops in l the convict camps that man IS ar flicted with the pest, he is sent to the | walls for treatment. But before the I discovery of his malady, others have l been exposed, and the result is ineVl- table. That the germ does not spread l wirhin the walls, where proper care l can De taken to prevent is@snown by l the splendid physical condition m | which many men are turned out there | annually, and by the health of those | whose lot 1t is to come in contact With | the sick daily. The cook for the nospi- | tal for instance, a negro, has served | in his present capacity Tor years, ana
 the prison physician declares nln as l perfect a speciman of physical hu- | manity as can be found m the conglct
 body. The guards and physicians
 never suffered from the contagion, nor has any person who has ever been l connected with the place.
 When u prisoner reaches the Walls | he is placed in one of the three classes He is either well man. tone who is not seriously i'll ana whom a little
 care will soon place on his rect again) l a sick man wno needs special treat | ment, but who is not seriously ill; | and a tubercular patient, whom 1t IS | necessary to place in the hospital and
 give the best treatment known for | the disease.
 The well" ward is located in one | end of the prison, in the original peni- | tentiary building. It is a long room, | and will accommodate in the neigh | borhood of sixty or seventy prisoners. Mattresses, of corn husks and straw | are placed on wooden frames which
 are suspended by rods from the ceil- | ing, and which may be taken from | their supports and cleaned. Every | few weeks these frames are boiled in l a large copper kette made for the purpose, the object being to kill any | vermin. The floors of the ward are | stant scrubbing, and at every bed
 side are placed cuspidors filled with
 chloride of lime and. other disinfec-
 tant.
 Warden After CIeanliness.
 In the sick" ward, which is located
 on the second floor of a building in the middle of the yard, the same ef- l forts are made to Insure cleanliness
 Here the dbts are of iron. In this
 building, the white prisoners, number
 ing twenty-six, are kept, their quar-
 ters being on the ground floor.
 The tubercular hospital, however, is the pride of the prison officials. Here
 the greatest precautions are taken tc Eprevent the spread of tubercular germs
 and the success of the treatment given by Dr. c. N. Lacey and his assistant pr. J. N. Guy, is matter of which everyone connected with the convict system is proud. Through the cour- tesy of Warden Bunkly and Dr. Lacey your correspondent was permitted to inspect the interior of the prison.
 It is a generally condeded fact among physicians that the germs of tuber- | culosIs rise. For this reason patients
 suffering with the disease are all | placed on the second floor of the hos
 pital, which Itself is located at the \ greatest possible distance from the oth-
 CT buildings. Here the prescription of
 sun and air is applied most vigorously As soon as patients received in bad
 condition are able to be moved, they
 are taken on the upper porch of the | building and placed where they can
 get the ozone of the open. A long line l of cots and easy chairs are stretched the entire length of tue balcony. and
 here the sick lie. drinking in the air
 which gives them strength and brings
 them back to health.
 Inside. the greatest pains are taken l to insure prevention of contagion. The