The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-05
GRAND JURY REPORT
 IS UNUSUALLY LONG
Few Indictments Fer Prohibi-
 ton Violations Possible
CRIME IS ON DECREASE
Toilets at Jail Are Unsanitary-Hill. man Hospital and Other lnstitu- tions Are Found To Be In
 Excellent Condition.

The January grand jury made its fna report to Judge s. L. Weaver yester 1 day afternoon on the term of its serv' i've extending from January 6 until yes 1 terday, with a recess of three weeks, dur 1 ing the early part of February. The re port was signed by w. D. Gum, waC acted as foreman of the January jury. The report is of considerable length and covers a number of interesting sub iects. There were 58 cases passed on ll92 witnesses examined, 270 true bills found and 4 cases passed to the next grand jury.
 The county jail, according to the re- port, was found to be in excellent con dition, with the exception of the toilets, which are considered insanitary and 2 menace to the health of the jail in- mates. The aims house and the Hill man hospital were found to be kept in splendid condition.
 Too Much Paid To BaiIiffs.
 Attention is also called to the fact that the county treasurer paid under protest for the months of November and De- cember, 1907 and January and February, 1908, too many bailiffs for the city courts, the total amount paid for such serv- ice being s2294 whereas according to the law, only s1SOo should have been paid.
 Certain justices of the peace were scored by the jury for putting the coun- ty to unnecessary expense, and it is stated that it was the belief of the body that certain costs should be assessed against the justices in question.
 A decrease of crime is reported. It is also reported that only in a few cases was the body justified in finding true bills for violations of the prohibition laws as the evidence offered was such as to preclude the possibility of convic- ton.
 Fault was found in the county con- vict system and recommendations were made to remedy certain conditions.
 Extracts From Report.
 The following extracts from the report cover the points of the most vital in terest:
 We have passed on 523 cases. found 270 true bills. examined 1192 witnesses, and passed to the next grand jury 47 cases. With all of this done the grand jury is not satisfied that all has been accomplished that may have been ex- pected of us, due to the large number of cases allowed to be docketed, de- manding the attention of the grand jury, that have no standing ors merit; also the acceptance of witnesses who know abso- lutely nothing of the case in which they have been summoned. This has not alone consumed valuable time but it is also apparent to the grand jury that many thousands of dollars are expended an nually because due care is not exercised in accepting cases for docket, and the securing of material witnesses.
 ''rhe grand jury regrets 10 inform the court that We were compelled to enter no bills and release the prisoners in five cases of forgery, although the evil dence of guilt was conclusive, in addi- ton to evidence of confessions of de- fendants, because the arresting officers and others interested failed to connect the defendants with the specific forged paper when arrested and confession ob- tained.
 Jail Toilets Unsantary.
 We found the jail in excellent condi- dition except as specifically mentioned hereafter, considering the large number of prisoners incarcerated. The food is ample in supply, we'll cooked and nutri- tous. The health of the prisoners is ex- ceptionaly good and evidently well cared for. We consider the present toilets very rnsanltary and a menace to the health ot jail inmates, and reeomm end that a new system of toilets with proper and suff- cient flushing arrangements be installed at once also that separate bath tubs be provided for white and colored pris- oners.
 We found the aims house and sur roundings kept in very satisfactory manner, The food furnished of the best the rooms, beds and bedding clean and comfortable, making the home of the poor a place of comfort The county aims house as now maintained is an honor tc the county and bespeaks for the super intendent, E. B. Sims. and matron, Miss LaPere, an efficiency that is commendablt in caring for the unfortunate ones giver in their charge