The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-06

restored to health and sent out again to convict camps, came to the hospital, a sufferer from the disease of his race. After being there but short time he wasted to the point where he hovered between life and death,
 "Jinn,' said Warden Bunkiy. one day while visiting the sick ward, IT you will get well I never shall send you back to the camps again" Jim smiled wanIy. turned over. and in few months was well. It was not a case of shamming. But Jim was life prisoner. Phe future held iittle for him. The prospect of a life at the Walls. however, was ' better. He is still there, and one of the best work men on the place
 The dining room of the prison, where all but the tuberculosis pa tients eat,S is situated at one en dof the grounds, removed from the quar- ters. Here the men sit at long tables on wooden benches. the white prison CTS sitting at separate tables from the negroes. The diet consists of meat and vegetables, soup and stew
 The food is cooked by an experten- ced chief who, for his sins, has been incarcerated in the prison. The meat is ladled out In even portions. There is no limit to the amount of vege- tables a man may eat. There is al WAYS B euUfCiGfiCys 0tt0 0o e%ANJ raised on the prison farm, the cost is purely nominal. One thing noticed at the table is that none of the prisoners are allowed to talk while eating.
 The confusion of a hundred men talking at one time would make it tm- possible for the walters to attend to their wants. When man wants 9 piece of bread. he raised his Fork, apo it is brought to him. The waiter passes along the backs of the men freouently with soup or with vege- tables, refilling the plates of those who have not had enough.
 It is a surprising fact to the gen. eral pubic, but one easily explained by visit to the Walls. that every bit of vegetables consumed at the prison is supplied from the State farm. which is cultivated by convict labor.
 q can say" stated Warden Bunk1y to your correspondent, turning to Col: M. W. Camper, Associate Inspector or the State Convict Board. who was visitor at the prison at the same time, sthat we have not, during the five years have been in charge here, paid a cent for vegetables" The in- spector bore him out in this state l ment.
 A trip through the State Convict Farm furnishes a full explanation -of the warden's assertion. The state pronerty includes some TOO acres, of 1 which forty acres are devoted to gar dening, 300 acres to the raising of crops. while the remainder is used principally as pasture land, and for | the prison buildings and the incios- ure.
 Tn the garden is grown every kind of vegetable which can be cultivated
 in Alabama. The farm. however. is source of special delight to Warden Bunkly, who Is above all things else, a practical agriculturist. Corn. grains tomatoes, fruit trees, all are grown we'll
 Two crops of corn are grown and roasting ears and tomatoes are fur nished< for the convict table until late in the fall This year an experiment has been tried in the raising of to- bacco with marked success thus far. and the crop bids fair to be of as high quality as that raised in Vir- glnia. Another portion of the farm which the Warden Is deeply interest ed in his peach orchard. He raises annually a number of seedlings which are disposed of at profit to the state.
 Milk for the inmates of the prison Is supplied r o6g 6y srasS hsTd Se T5 dsy y model of cleanliness. Stalls are clean ed daily. The animals are rendered by a crippled life prisoner. a white man. who takes pride In his work. Rising every morning before the dawn, he has them milked and turned out in the pasture while the dew is on the grass and the result is evident In the rich. yellow cream on top of the milk bowls in the refrigerator of the pris- on.
 Expense to State Small. Under these circumstances, it is not So surprising that the records of the Convict Department bhould show a small expense attached to the food supply at wetumpka. This expense, according to the last report made by Warden Bunk1y, shows cost per capita per day of only nine and one- half cents. and. the authorities state, fl would be even less, if 1t were not that special diet must be prescribed for so many of the inmates of the pris- on.
 Of the total number of convicts at the prison, about 60 are physically able to do light work. These men do all the gardening and farming, and under guard, are taken from the pris- on early in the day and kept in the open practically until sundowf1 al- though a period of several hours dur ing the hotter months is allowed for the noon rest.
 The water for the prison Is supplied from some seven or eight small springs about half a mile from The walls. A large reservoir. lined with cement, has been built for the prison supply, and from this comes the water | for all purposes. Fire plugs in the yard furnish the means for the bucket brigade and the 1losemen to fight con- | flagrations A drill is held at stated | intervals, and a gravity stream can be turned on which will reach the tops ot | the highest buildings about the place An automatic sanitary apparatus has been placed in the prison, by which the closets of the place are flushed every ten minutes during the day. Too much cannot be said in approoa- ton of the management and discipline maintained by Warden Bunkly in The Walls. The prisoners. as has already been stated. regard him as fair man They know him as a friend, and ire auently approach him when anythins has occurred which they think IS wrong. The discipline plainly evident in the days program, is ofNthe best and there are few attempts on the part of the inmates of the prison to rebel. Rise at Daylight
 The morning bell. according to tbe requirements of the Convict Depart