The Columbus journal., 1910-04-27

kuSON III
In case you are ever invited to lee.
ture at the new Federal prison at
Leavenworth, accept, for you are sure
to have q good audience; over . thous-
and. And it is apt to be IN apprecia-
tive audience, too, since the prisoners
are always glad to get out Of their
cells, and 60 to the chapel. The
chapel will interest you; it will remind
YOU of the Auditorium theatre in Chi.
cago. 1t is trimmed in white marble.
and the seats are of the best modern
make. There is an enormous stage,
with many dressing rooms. In the
rear Of the stage is Catholic chapel,
where the two hundred or more Cath.
olic prisoners attend services. All
sorts of dramatic and musical enter.
tainments are given in the chapel,
particularly on holidays, and occas-
ionally there is a minstrel show given
by the prisoners and officers. There
is an excellent orchestra of twelve
men. All the players, except one.
were prisoners, and the one exception,
who played . first violin, was IN officer.
The leader of the orchestra WAS .
banker, there being thirty.eight men
of that profession in the institution.
One of them, John r. Walsh, of
Chicago, at one time worth twenty mil
lion dollars, and is still . rich man.
He is in for five years, which time may
be reduced to three years and . half
by good behavior. And it is safe to
assume that he will be we'll behaved,
and getcredit for q year and . half.
l once visited the state penitentiary at
Lansing, aid was much impressed BY
the prisoners marching into the hall,
to the strains of brass band in the
rear end of the hall. But ut the Fed.
eral prison recently, the men. marched
into a modern theatre. and Occupied
comfortable theatre seats, and the
scene was not 60 impressive. The
prisoners in the state penitentiary
looked superior to those at the Federal
prison, where I saw many vicious look.
ing men. AtLansing, it seemed to me
that the prisoners looked q we'll -
any audience composed of twelve or
fourteen hundred men might look. At
the Federal prison, you are impressed
with the great number of negroes.
Recently, seventy.five prisoners were
received from Washington, d. G. All
of them were negroes, except six. The
bass player in the orchestra is . negro;
in the kitchen, I saw . negro without
legs. This man was sent up fer bur-
glary! Imagine the impudenoe of .
man without legs to use in running,
adopting the profession of . burglar!
One out of every three prisoners at the
Federal prison At Leavenworth is .
negro. The men sat in rows of six.
In one row in front Of me, al we're
negroes. In the next row, four of six
were negroes. In addition to the 3l8
negroes in the institution, there are IS
Indians, 2 Japs, l Chinaman, and 8
Mexicans. The total number Of pris-
oners is l,O44. Prisoners are coming
and going all the time; every year,
from four to five hundred are discharg-
ed. But the population is steadily
increasing.
The Federal penitentiary at Leav-
enworth is the finest of its kind in the
world. A prison is building at Sing
Sing, New York, that will be Is fine,
but it will not be completed for many
years.
The outer walls of the Federal
prison at Leavenworth are thirty.
three feet high, and when . visitor
arrives one iron gate Is closed behind
him before another is opened. Invent
down in an automobile. When We
stopped in front Of the east gate, a|
guard, with a gun on his shoulder,
lsked: Mr.. Hover" l acknowledged
ny name, and he motioned to four men
Who were in charge Of the outer gate,
IN enormous iron affair, to open it.
We moved into q court, and the great
ron gate was closed behind us. Then
he other gate was opened, and vel
passed into the prison, yard, with |
'rmed men looking down into it from |
overs on top of the wall.
After the chapel exercises, I walked
lbout with the warden. While in one
# the great cell houses, the prisoners
we're coming in from the chapel. The