The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-06-15

served at the school and said that the
| girls we're not satisfied with 1t. She
said that during the month of August
she went 10 point in South FORK
canyon in charge of vacation party
| OF girls. and stated that Superintend-
| ent Thomas was negligent inasmuch
! as he allowed the girls to roam about
at will while they were in the canyon.
Then came the real sensation OF the
meeting. Mrs. Halsted related that
/ during the vacation trip she was seat
| ed In front OF her tent one afternoon
and saw a girl rush up and whisper
| something TO another who was lying
In hammock, She said she felt eX-
citcment In the air, and asked the girl
! where the others were, and the girl
f, pointed up a hill She won't up and
! saw Ada Sorenson, one OF the inmates,
! being chased by Il man. and as she
F., came closer saw three other men run
ning away from four girls. namely:
Emma Mcknight, Ada Sorenson. Min
ME Wallace and Minnie Gordon. She
called the girls to her and by the
fumes of liquor discovered that two of
them Ada Sorenson and Emma Nc
knight. had been drinking, She re-
ported the matter to Superintendent
Thomas, who questioned the two girls
! who had not been drinking After his
questioning, he announced that the
party would break camp and return
IN the school the next morning She
said that she had had hard month of
IL and decided to resign. Superinten-
dent Thomas accepted her resignation,
..t~ Il 4 II. A.
she would return to be present when
he held court" az she termed 1t. To
the best of her recollection, she said,
it was several weeks before this
court WAS held, and she understood
that during this time all four girls had
been kept In cell on bread and wa
ler diet. When court day" arrived,
the girls were brought in one by one.
and in her presence Superintendent
Thomas asked them pointed questions
concerning their experience with the,
men in the canyon. Questions such
as | stated i'll my letter to the citizens
committee" said Mrs Halsted The
committee was not satisfied with this,
and required Mrs. Halsted TO again re-
peat them. They were of nature
which~causcd those present To hang
thci: heads in shame. and a sigh of
relief went up from all parts OF the
room when she finished. Mrs Halsted
said that the girls were deeply hu-
inflated by the questions, and she her-
self was forced TO blush with shame
She did not consider such questions
proper ones to be asked by a gentle
man in the presence of a lady. She
maze complaint TO Mrs Tracy at once.
she said and TO several other people
connected with the school
She was questioned as TO what other
complaints she had made. and said
that on one occasion Matte Malan, a
gl'l inmate of the school, was suspect
cd OF having some connection with the
disappearance OF a diamond ring be
lonSlnG 10 Mr.. kneaSS, and was put in
cell which, she said, was not more
than by feet, and was kept there
for several days on u bread and water
diet, AS TO the condition of the cell.
she said that ii was totally unfit to be
occupied by human being, being mar
row and having pools of stagnant wa
ter on the floor so deep that the girl
was forced TO walk on a thick plank
to sc TO and from her bunk. The cell
wss both unsanitary and filthy.
She said that butter was served but
. twice a week at the institution. and
that 1t was unfit TO eat, none OF the
inmates caring for it.
Rabbi Freund wanted to know if she
YVES in position TO know whether or
not, considering the surroundings of
the girls before they entered the
schools. the questions asked them by
Superintendent Thomas were OF such
a nature as TO humiliate them. Mrs
Halsted stated that in her opinion the
girls were very much humiliated by
the questions, as most OF them talked
with her about them and said they felt
the shame deeply
DR. Gowan then asked her if she
thought the food served was nutritious
and suitable for the physical needs of
the children She said she did not
think so.
Superintendent Nelson asked her il
the questions asked by Superintendent
Thomas were typical of those asked at
other court Investigations. and she an
swered that while she did not know
she had heard that they were.
Rabbi Freund asked her why she
had not told her story before. and She
said that she did not do so because
she thought the word Of one woman,
.uncnrroborated. would not be sufficient
TO have the desired effect.
Chairman JoseDh then took tba wit
ness in hand and asked her IL she did
not think that Superintendent Thomas
had done great deal for the better
ment of the girls at the institution; il
she had not read the newspapers
where il was stated that 500 had
been appropriated by the state for the
purpose of erecting a new girls cot.
tage and other questions OF like ma
ture,
Superintendent Nelson asked her
who was responsible for the menu
served at the school and she said she
thought that Superintendent Thomas
was, as all requisition papers had to
q TO him, and many OF them were
turned down by him.
Governor Spry entered the room at
this minute and took a seat.
Mrs Halsted said the food served
at the school was of a very poor or
der. that the syrup served at the morn
ing meal was often soured. and tho
| school was usually without hot water.
Regarding the beds in the rooms for
the inmates. she said they were very
poor-bad mattresses and bad comfort.
aoles; that the beds sagged, and YER