The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-08-04
ESCAMBIA COUNTY'S
NEW JAIL BUILDING

some the whole interior win be when
completed according to the plans The
| walls are a light brown. This ia one
Of the finest Offices in the building.
with large windows opening on two
sides
On the third floor at the west end.
Is the set of Offices intended for the
district attorney. He, however, has
private offices elsewhere, and the
rooms are occupied by Justice of the
Peace Nicholson, for office and court
room. Adjoining him Is the office of
Probation Off1cer Paulsen, who saws
he has the best Office in the building.
-Four other rooms lie along the corri-
DOR on this floor, but are not at pres
emit occupied, with the exception Of the
large room at the east end, planned as
court room for the justice Of the
peace. but which is now used by the
family of the jailor.
Marble stairs lead from the first to
the second floors of the court wing,
and concrete stairs to thu third floor.
Throughout the entire court wing a
unified system OF locks Is Installed, one
master key opening any door In this
Part Of the building.
The Jail Wing.
ACROSS the light well from the court
wing lies the most interesting, II not
the most attractive, part Of the county
building. It Is the jail wing-where
the jangle of discordant voices, com
FLAMING always, rings continuously
down the long corridors; where In
stead Of the soft thud of hand
some mahogany doors the clang of
steel resources; where men and women
may not come and go at their own
sweet will, but where those who have
no business within are shut out by
impossible barriers. and where those
who are within can only come out at
the beck and cali Of other people.
The interior of the jail wing is not
beautiful. Marble halls and oaken
doors would make a Jail beautiful and
certainly bare concrete walls and
cells of thick steel bars cannot The
jail wing has, however, a quality
which is prominently desirable in
such a structure. It is substantial. It
Looks almost like the "immovable
body Of the famous foolish question.
with it's twelve inch reinforced con-
crete walls and its thousands of tons
Of steel work
People who have wondered why the
county building cost so much will
find much Of the answer in the Jail
wing. The steel cells cost something
like $4,000, and this was not an ex-
travagant expenditure For century
to come Escambia county will need,
let all good people hope, no enlarge
ment Of its Jail facilities; and for a
hundred years to come the county IS
protected against any possibility that
there will be any blot on its scutcheon
caused by Illegal executions of pris-
oners.
A detailed account of the Jail wing
would be boresonne. 1t is sufficient to
give a few brief facts. Provision is
made for caring for white men, white
women, colored men and colored
women, in different blocks of the cell
system. In the block for white men
are seventy-tw hunks, in thirty-six
cells. These are arranged in three
tiers, one above the other. From the
halls leading into the building from
the southwest corner entrance is had
to the main corridor of the cell blocks
through great steel doors. The corri-
doris on which the cells are located are
shut or from this corridor by other
heavy doors. The cells are locked and
unlocked by a system of levers located
in the main corridor, the levers being
in 4 steel cabinet which can only be
opened Ey a combination lock, which
opens a blind key-hole. From this
cabinet tie cells, one or more at a
time, may be opened, allowing the
prisoner to enter the small corridor
He IS still shut away from liberty by
three sets of double steel doors, made
of steel so hard that the average
hack-saw makes absolutely no i'm
preston on it This set of cells is
typical Of the other blocks.
In addition to these cells is a large
doubly protected death cell for con-
demned murderers, two padded cells
for the insane. four hospital wards, a
kitchen, dining room, and sheriff
offices. For protection against fires
and mobs, there are nine standpipes
throughout this part of the building,
from which a two-tnch stream, nozzled
down to three-fourts of an inch, may
be thrown. To avoid the possibility
Of workmen passing tools to the prts-
oners, all the mechanism of the toilet
fixtures and lavatorieS in the cells is
located in the blind utility Corridors
absolutely preventing any access to
the prisoners by workmen engaged in
repair work. The building is equipped
with a complete heating system.
Not a Cheerful Place.
The cells themselves are we'll
lighted and well-ventilated. jail at
best Is not a cheerful place. This jail
Is as cheerful as one can be, and as
comfOrta ble-
At best, however, there is no spirit
of hope or of gladness about it Such
laughter as is heard is tinctured with
bitterness. The involuntary inmates
are for the most part battered human
wrecks, washed up on the shores of
time, stripped Of all beauty and
sweetness of life They have lost the
balance wheel, self-control, and have
become dangerous to their fellow men.
They are here, not because society has
aught against them, not because So
ciety wants them to live in. this sordid
way, but because society must protect
itself and in no way can this protec-
ton be secured without making 1t
bitterly hard for those from whom the
protection is being sought. Since there
must be tails Escambia county has
shown its wisdom in making the jail
as strong and forbidding as possible,
and II may be safely stated that this
Jail has been built, not for temporary
use, but for the years to come. and
will stand as a warning to men and
women who have an impulse to
crime. The county building, with the
exception of its few incomplete de-
tails which will doubtless be later
worked out, is a credit 10 the county.
It would. in fact, be a credit to a