The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-06
ny Frank c. Burrows.

l wetumpka, August 5.--(Special cor respondence)-One can not get bet | ter idea of the thoroughness of or | ganization of the convict system as enforced in the State of Alabama. nor a clearer conception of the humanity of that same system, than by making visit or -four of inspection to the old State Penitentiary at this place. | The discipline, the care exercised Tor | the health and comfort of the prison CTS, the complete government of the prison organization is here shown | in perhaps a more pronounced degree than at any other prison in the State. and, according to the statement of one noted authority In criminoiogy and criminal prisons, as pronounced as in any State of the Union.
 l The Walls" the great hospital pris- on of Alabama, into which the sick and ailing of the twenty-one com vict camps of the State are sent. pre- sents in a big degree the best points in the convict system, its humanity and It's fairness to the creature whose lot was formerly so filled with hardness and abuse. and 20 devoid of that sym- pathy which takes from man the hope of living
 l The first glimpse of the old prison makes apparent the origin of the name | ''The Walls" By this term it is known | tnTOuHHOAt the 0ullfG StdtC pAASVA oJ S- tenn. Built on little rise at the I very foot of the Appalachian chain, it's heavy forbidding brick masonry rises | to height of thirty feet, difficult i barrier to the man within who wish es to gain his liberty.
 | At the various convict camps through out the State, there are always bar riers, but in most instances. these are merely stockades. None other than the l penitentiary at wetumpka has the | heavy palisade of brickwork which surround the prison here
 l The first impression of the person l seeing the place for the first time is not of the prison walls. Those form but a part of the landscape From the comfortable home of the warden, F. K. Bunkly, a quarter mile away from ''The Walls" one gets q view seldom surpassed in Alabama Directly in front rises steep wooded hill. the southern extremity of Atht Appalachian chain. Stretching ava, to the northwest the chain ranges lnorthward toward it's bigger brothers ghanies of Pennsylvania. and the Cats kills of New York. Across little valley to the left. rises the hill on thu top of which is located the prison Beyond, another eminence, higher smiles in the sun, covered with th' waving grain, or rows of corn or dot ted with beds of vegetables all th' work of the convict gardeners.
 Environment Is Pretty.
 I It is pretty environment, this o' i the prison. Except for the walls ant their significance. 1t would be as pret ty as any piece vista in Alabama. Tn' fiea of crime does not associate witi the impression of simple beauty thu place gives, and if it were not fol the dull red brick of the walls, th' thought of lawlessness, blood ana worse would Ill accord with the sen sation of the beholder.
 The Walls is the oldest, penitentiar, in the State. Built in 1889 1t stil stands as a monument to the builder! l who worked in a time when building were erected to stay and to defy th' attacks of time. Nor was the though of beauty wholly out of the minds o the builders More like a colonia castle than a prison" said satfolt Berney when he first visited the place some years ago, and the tmpressloni of other visitors but echo his words.
 The original prison building stil . stands substantial. rugged looking barred. It is still good for the rain
 of many winters and the heat of th' sun of years to come. A century iron now, and it will be as firm as 1t Il
 
 ond story of the front to which broat wooden stairways lead. Beneath Is | shaded. cool retreat, stone-flagged an( inviting. Broad,leaved trees, flowei beds and fountains protect the Iron of the building. The whole effect O the place is so park-like, so impres sive. that its first appearance is more like that of a college for the educa tion of young women than that of { hprison for some of the worst criminals Fin the history of the State.
 An atmosphere of the historic sur rounds the old structure. The lacl 1 of a detailed system of records in tn
 early years of the institution nave made many of the matters of histor teal import legendary. There may b. records of the penitentiary- kept some where in the vaults of the Capitol Montgomery, but If there are, few men know where to find them. Tn
 history of The Walls is told as le gends, handed down by the oldes attache of the prison to his suecesso or to his son. and passed on by hin perhaps, to other memories.
 Donated By Howell Rose.
 It Is known. however. that the lam
 on which the prison is built was give to the state by a Howell Rose. wealthy planter In the early part o
 the century. This man had in mind
 when he gave the ground for the us
 of the State. a State Capitol at We
 tumpka He offered land for the pur
 pcse of erecting the building there
 and it is a matter little known. tha
 when the Legislature moved from Ca
 haba, the narrow margin of one vot
 prevented 1t from establishing tn
 political center of the State in Wetump
 ka. The land on which the prison nov stands, however. was given to the Stat through his generosity-but 1t had
 string attached. If. at any time. tn State abandoned the old prison. tn
 property, by the terms of the gif deed, will revert to the heirs of Howel Rose. and the State will lose it's righ of possession.
 It is interesting to note in connee ton with The Walls. too. that 1t wa here, two of the most prominent politi cal figures in Alabama secured thei firest political preference. Col. Johl .H. Bankhead was years ago wardei of the prison, and Lieutenant-GoVer \ ner and candidate for gubernatoria nomination. R. NJ. Cunningham wa II his prison physician.
 II The status of The Walls in the Stat Il Convict organization is uniaue. It | II the great hospital of the system. Her the unwell. the ailing. the unfit ar Il brought from the convict camp | fS ha y1hVziQa