Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1910-09-28
Ward Cummings Describes Famous
Penitentiary i'm Letter to
Parents,
Unique Description of Rules Govern
ing Prisoners, Their Work and
Their Play, and How They
Are Fed and Clothed.
Richmond, Cal,
Sept. IL, 1910.

where is situated the state peni-
Tertiary of California Here is the
| trip:
We started from here on the
9:07 motor car and got into Oak
land in time to get the Key Route
train to the bay. We then got
aboard one of the Southern Pacific
| beats and reached Frisco at 1O:45.
We here changed boats and went
across the bay to Sanseleto and
from there we took a Northern Pa
citic train to San Quentin station.
We then took a stage to the peni-
Tertiary.
A guard met us at the gate and
We were searched and obliged to
register. Phil had his camera with
| him. A guard then took us in.
There are 1900 prisoners in t.is
| pen. In May there were over
| 1000. Every prisoner wears the
stripes, not matter what crime he
has committed. The stripes run
lengthwise of the suits. In this
prison there are no fersonal guards
The convicts are allowed to wander
around at leisure or play ball as
soon as their work is completed
Their work consists of either work
ing in the jute mill or else in the
quarry or gardens. They never
walk in lock step and never are
shackled, but when they are march
ing they always have their arms
folded. After entering we went to
the room where the convicts are
measured and photographed. They
first measure their height, then
their thumb, their index and little
finger of the left hand, then the
left foot and the left ear. Then
they take their finger points. To
demonstrate this the convict who
was explaining it told one of us to
just lay our hand (either One) on
piece of perfectly white paper af-
ter he had stepped outside of the
building. | did so and he was call
! ed. He then put some lamp black
on the paper and shook it around
and it of course adhered to the pa
per where the moisture of my
! fingers was left. He examined this
closely and said that it was a left
hand. He then began an examina-
ton of our left hands. When he
got to mine he said Here's the
ran" and he was right. He told
us that out of 100000 left hands
that were examined, no two were
found alike.
The convicts' heads are all shaw
ed when they are first taken in but
never shaved again. | asked him
about Cinnamon and Hindoos, and
he said, Everything goes here"
The Cinnamon are always allowed
to walk Jahea: when going to mess
as the other convicts would be
tickling them or pinching them.
The next place we passed was the
consumptives' pen. They are kept
by themselves and not allowed sut-
side of their pen. We went around
corner and came into large
court, where game of ball was be-
ing played. They have some very
gocd games and have some awful
scraps, too. We went into another
court and here they were playing
hand ball and another game of base
ball. Those who were not playing
were all lined up along the walls
smoking cigarettes or corn-cOb
pipes.
From here we went to the jute
mill, where over a thousand Een
work. Each man is given so much
to do and when he has finished he
can rest. Some of them win work
steadily for month and then have
enough ahead so that they can lay
idle for a week. We then went
to the dining room, which seats
5000 convicts. They use 5000 lbs.
# -four per day and bake 500 pies
at cnce. They cook 1000 gallons
of coffee per day and 1,50O quarts
of beans. From here we went to
the chapel and library, where SER
vices are held by the convicts and
where all kinds of reading matter
is to be had. The day we were TAX
en- there was visiting day for the
convicts and I'll never forget one
case that ! saw. ! asked the guard
about it and he said that it was a
mother visiting her twin sons, who
had killed a policeman in Frisco.
They are sentenced for life. 1t is
very sad, but still in this prison the
convicts have many privileges that
are SIdHled III HO OJutI pIlSOh' w g
then went to the execution room
changing in this state). A boy
convict, 16 years old, explained it
to us, how the trap is set and how
the moose is placed upon the crimi-
nails neck, with the knot under the
left ear. He said that when a ma:
was hanged his neck was stretched
until it was about 8 inches in cir
conference and all men were the
same, whether they weighed one
hundred or two hundred pounds
They are left hanging from five to
eight minutes. He showed us how
the trap was sprung and we walked
up the fatal 3 steps where so far
60 men have met their fate. / ask
ed him how long it was since they
had had an execution and he said,
30, quite a long time and i said,
How longs that?" and he answer
ed, About a month and a half"
and that there was going to be an
other on the 18th of Sept. In the
room where the trap is set there are
three cords, two of which are dunn
mics, and one of them the fatal
hall Inst before the execution