Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-07-19

If the walls were washed with car
bolic acid, or If the entire building
was maze anew. If 1t IS necessary
that the hosiery mill he abolished
because 1t is not sanitary, then every
building within the walls should be
torn down and the institution de-
stroyed Instead of tuberculosis be-
ing on the increase tho condition
with reference to this disease has
steadily improved. I:lis Is true as
to the deaths from this disease
among those employed in the hosiery
mill as we'll as in other departments
within the walls. From 1900 to
1905, inclusive, there were So deaths
from tuberculosis among the en-
! ployees OF the mill, while from 1906
to 1910, inclusive, after the >tubercu-
losis hospital had been established,
the fatality OF this disease was re-
duceds stoa totalsof 22: During this
period there have been from 900 to
$50 convicts employed regularly in
the mill. 1t must be remembered
tracted this disease before coming to
the penitentiary, and it Is q common
occurrence for the county chaingangs
to send in prisoners because they
have the disease. A great many also
come from the county jails.
"The tuberculosis hospital, which
was highly commended by the board
OF health, is as perfect as could be
| desired. The convicts suffering from
or threatened with tuberculosis are
Immediately placed in this hospital
and given the best treatment that
medical science can devise.
I'm their recent inspection of the
prisoners, the board Of health, in an
examination of 70 prisoners, found
| only one case in which a bac,erio-
logical examination confirmed tuber-
Gle bacilli. The great Improvement
to the health of the inmates Of this
institution has no doubt been largely
due to the new cell building and
sleeping quarters completed in 1902.
| The old building was damp and un-
heated, but even the board Of health
makes no complaint as to the new
| one, excepting to recommend certain
! changes, especially in the toilet ar
| rangement, which will be adopted
During the last year from the pris-
| oners employed in the hosiery mill,
which averaged from 500 to $50,
| there were three who died of tuber-
culosis. Of course, it is impossible
to say whether these unfortunates
contracted the disease while working
In the mill, or elsewhere, and it Is
equally unfair to charge their deaths
up against the condition existing in
the hosiery mill.
The only objections to the hos
iery mill offered by the board of
! health in their recent inspection was
| that the work Of the employees is
combining, outdoor work being pref
erable. The board did not find fault
with the sanitary or other arrange
ments in the mill, but merely con-
cluded that the work required Of the
convicts in the mill was too confin-
ing.
THE convicts employed in the hos
! icry mill work on an average of 10
| hours a day, and while the work Of
some of them requires a close atten-
| ton to the knitting machines it Is no
more confining and no more detri-
| mental to their health than is SINH
| lar work done by thousands Of free
white people in the numerous cotton
and knitting mills throughout this
State and in this section, and, in
fact, we are confident that the sani-
tary condition and the supervision
| of the health Of the convicts working
in this mill is much better than that
enjoyed by employees III private in
dustries of similar character, and
that the danger to their health is
correspondingly less. We therefore
respectfully submit that in nowise
can the hosiery mill be considered a
public nuisance, and in nowise can
1t be considered dangerous to the
health of its employees, other prison.
ers confined in the pententiary or
the public at large.
The contract with Mr.. Graham
was entered into by this board under
the express authorization Of the Gen
eral Assembly OF this State, and in
their last report to the General AS
sembly the legislative committee on
penal and charitable institutions ex-
pressly found that the price paid by