The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1910-03-16

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same as any mechanic, to do good
work. Surely no one can strain his
Imagination to the point where he can
confidently assert ;s:at the police Of
North Yakima have good tools to
work with.
City Jail Is Wretched Hole.
To the stranger entering for the
first time our city Jail ne wonders
whether he has not been misdirected
as the odor of livery stable greets
his olefactory nerve. If he is of
valient nature ne will pursue his way
along a dimly lighted corridor until
he comes to police headQuarters"
save the mark!
There, in room about the size Of
a piano box, he will find what to I'll
intents and purposes seems to ha
police headquarters of the city OF
North Yakima. In this box who's"
dimensions are exactly 6xS feet, there
are six lockers for the clothes of ten
patrolmen. Contained in this room
besides the lockers are q roll top desk
and two chairs. When a patrolman
desires to change his clothes he is
compelled to step into the corridor
to do so. Besides the other articles
of furniture mentioned, there are the
safety boxes" again save the mark
where personal belongings of the
prisoners are kept while they are in
custody. These boxes are simply
empty cigar boxes cut in fanciful
shapes with jack knife to tit
wherever room can be found for them.
Odor of Stable Always Present.
on one side of this little box four
horses of the fire department con.
stantly MUNICH hay day and night
while the stable odor on the other
side is anything but pleasant to the
man who is compelled to sit at dask
and endure it.
Now let us go to the city Jail Il am
glad it is in a fgurative sense) and
we shall see what accommodation il
provided for those who are unfortun-
ate enough to be the occupants. There
are two apartments, one for men and
the other for women. In the mems
side there is a dark, damp room un-
doubtedly in the filthiest condition
have ever seen a prison, outside of
the tropics, which is sort of loung-
ing room for those who are not quar-
relsome. Leading from this are three
cells where violent people are con.
fined. There is no ventilation to be
found anywhere except a small graft
ing about a foot square in the main
door. The floor is made of cement
with flush hole in the center lead
ing to q sewer.
Prefer Floor to Bunks.
Wen l visited the Jail last nigtt,
two men We're wrapped in the vilest
looking blankets l have ever SEEN
These men We're sleeping on tho ce
ment floor wrapped in the coverings
L was informed that they preferred
to occupy the floor rather than have
their slumbers disturbed by the YER
min that swarms the hunks.
Another feature of the inside ar
rangemen of our city prison is the
large grating that connects the
women's and mems cells. This graf
ing is made of iron bars and no
screen protects the female inmates
from the gaze of the male prisoners.
Summing up the jail-it is the dirtiest
vilest and most wretched hole that
have ever seen in fourteen years Of
newspaper work. l saw similar con-
ditions in some of the dungeons of
Moro castle in Cuba; but men cast
into those places were supposed to be
thrown in them to remain there until
dead.
When such conditions as these
have enumerated eNist in this city
it is not to be wondered at that our
police are not giving satisfaction
They are certainly doing the best they
can under the conditions which exist
at present.
Chief Is Hampered.
When a prisoner or suspect is ia
ken to the city bastile, there ~ no
place where the chief of police can
ply him with questions. When no
does it now there are usually a num-
Der of outsiders lis,ening and this
often proves disconcerting to an
officer who is aiming to get hold of
information that may be of value to
him. Prisoners sometimes will tell
things when confined alone with the
police that could not be dragged out
of them in the presence of othes'
with wild horses.
There is nothing chimerical in the
prophecy that conditions such as I
have stated will be remedied when
public attention is properly focused
on it.