The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-27
H|GDON REPORTS ON REVENUE OF OFFICE Expenses S6000 Greater Than
 Income So Far S457 MONTHLY FROM JAIL Accounts Improvements at Jail and De- fends Policy of Raidine "crap
 Games" and the Using of
 Bloodhounds.
S457 MONTHLY FROM JAIL

Sheriff E. L. Hlgdon filed with the
 terday, statement containing the official
 statistics of the operations of the sher frs office of Jefferson county under the portion of the term which has already
 been served by him. Colonel Higdon gives in the letter the costs of the maintenance
 of the office and enumerate some of the receipts.
 The report as filed with the grand jury yesterday morning follows:
 September 26, 1907.
 To the Honorable Grand Jury, Criminal
 Court, Jefferson County, September
 Terms, 1907:
 Fundamentally attorney, MT. Hinds
 Peevey, during the session of the 1907 June
 grand jury of the criminal court of Jef-
 ferson county prepared a resolution call
 ing on the officers of Jefferson county to
 disclose the fees and emoluments of their
 respective offices This resolution MT.
 Peevey handed to MT. John W. ONeill, the foreman of said grand jury, with the
 request, if he approved of the resolution, to obtain its adoption. Under the con
 ditions under which 1 was elected, l ap-
 prove of this matter. because I believe it to be my legal and moral duty to
 keep the people of Jefferson county in-
 formed as to their public business and
 how it Is conducted and l think this
 should be furnished after request from
 the grand jury. In accordance, therefore,
 with that resolution, I herewith make the following report to your honorable body,
 not only touching the amount of money received with reference to the office of
 sheriff of Jefferson county, but also such
 other matters that I believe to be of pub
 lie interest and of which you should be informed.
 Prisoners.
 The exact number of prisoners, so far
 as Jefferson county and the state of Ala bama are concerned, that has passed
 through my hands has ben approximate
 ly twelve prisoners per day. For the first eight months of my administration l
 have Teen paid for 5S,104 feed days at 20 cents per day. This amounts to S17 431 20.
 Against this my account for feed and
 keep of the jail shows a charge of $1S- ii3. .S6. This statement shows a difference of s365S. 34 or an average profit above the feed expenses of $457.17 per month. This
 does not include the incidental expenses
 of the jail, which have averaged s2OO pc month. The feed of prisoners, there fore, has averaged approximately "A cents per day. The lowest number of
 prisoners that has ben in jail at one
 time is 156, the highest on any one day,
 S25
 Crimes.
 | As before stated the average number of prisoners Is approximately twelve per day. Of these, an estimate based on the | first three months shows that 70 per cent
 are felonies and 20 per cent misdemeanors. Deputies.
 l have on my pay roll thirty-one reg | ular deputies. Their gross salaries now | average $2104 per month. l also have | fifty special deputies.
 Revenue.
 During the first six months of this year | the revenue of the office has amounted | to $344.35: the expenses have amounted to l $$l1. .667. 69. This apart from the jail ex- | penses. | have had to borrow money to | pay the running expenses of the office | What the last six months work will pay me 1 cannot say. l can only report | amounts collected from time to time if | requested by your future grand juries. County Jail.
 have sought to work my greatest re- | form as sheriff in connection with the l county jail. Touching this subject I | wish to say that the board of revenue
 has done everything which I have sug- | gested. Upon my recommendation the | following are some of the Improvements | flldue. lDt Jdll ldS Dttfl TeWlItu tuIOuBI- | out, and an electric light Is in each cell. | We can thus see the prisoners and they | have the benefit of a light to eat and | read by. Electric fans have been in
 stalled for ventilation. The hospital has been vastly improved. The pris- oners are required to bathe once a week, | and this Is compulsory. Heretofore white | prisoners have had to use the same bath tubs with diseased negro prisoners. Show CT baths have been put in leaving the bath tubs for such as care to use them. A patching of the sewerage system of the jail has helped In the sanitation of the jail but a complete renovation is neces- sary for the health and lives of the epris- oners. Even with the Improvements made
 the conditions are hardly bearable at
 night. for safekeeping the outer doors
 of the jail building have to be closed.
 safekeeping of JaII. The safekeeping of the jail has been increased by several changes made on the inside walls with reference to the
 gateways through which supplies and the trash of the jail have to pass Probably the most important addition
 made to the safekeeping of the prisoners however is the check system which I have inaugurated. whereby the day
 watchman of the jail check over the pris- oners to the night shift. In this way. each day, every prisoners in the jail
 must be in his certain. place at a given time. So far as I am informed this has never been done in Jefferson county before. Also I have under advisement the proposition of installing signal sta tions at the jail in connection with the watchman's system of the Western Union Telegraph company. l am also seeking
 an arrangement with the city of Birmng
 ham whereby we may have direct
 electric gong call at the police headquar-
 ters, which. in any event of disturbance
 or attempted jail delivery. would bring
 the reserve force of the police department
 of the city of Birmingham to the county jail instantly.
 New Jail Officers. On the question of a new county jail. I beg to say, that l have never favored same exceDt that it is necessity from