New-York tribune., 1912-03-07
JAIL WELCOMES SHERIFF
~, Hamburger InspeCts Ludlow
"ts ctrppt Prison and Is Pleased.
DIMES; PRAISES THE COOK
.,.nonv Club Members and 9th
ers Tell Him of Lives OF
Ease and Contentment.

tue -, ",,rorvison. 1t was an official visit OF
oiie.' .,,on and after his tour the Sheriff
'nsp's.'r a,ss we'll satisfied that the reputa-
eaiu u. w. ,ai, had been we'll earned.
"V.i "a fine place and in good hands, he said.
,,...ont for here and there the signs oil
-.,,,.,opsn4ss in the upkeep OF the jail,
I.,,h shows In the remnant OF mat that
~. a, the main door and the patches In
-. o.rnet of the warden's quarters, IT is
30 If the finest places in which an all
e..nar ever spent three or six months. The
.,,ssarv department maintains high
s,ardard. which Is saying much, consider
lao ,he small outlay by the county lor the
,eeding Of the prisoners
eh.riT Hamburger cOmplimented Mrs.
, rovlor. the cook. on the fine dinner he ate
- ,bs guest Of Warden Gene" Johnson
"a Mrs. Johnson. Mrs. Taylor, who is
e,s,v.sieht years old and has been cook in
~. isn for twenty-three years, modestly
received the praise saying:
@Tbevve come here with their stomachs
,ooIled by the rich food they ate at Del
,nor,cos and places Of the kind. and
,bev,ve gone out Of here cured and with
blessings for me.
What IMPRESSED the Sheriff most was the
o.ouendable camaraderie and spirit OF con-
,sntuent that he found among the prison
ave There was no peering Of sunken eyes
,hroueh bars Of iron or wailing or curses
that visitors see and hear in other prisons;
there was nothing but contentment and
light hearted resignation.
Among the prisoners are men who prefer
being IN jall TO paying alimony to their
wives. one or two members of the national
GUARD who have fallen behind in their
6r,lls one or two federal prisoners and a
few more who are there for contempt Of
court in failing to pay debts. But OF the
criminal element there are none in this jail.
There was time when desperate fed
,ral prisoners were sent to the county Jail.
and In the incumbency Of Sheriff Tamsen
three or four hurriedly left the place. which
brought forth the famous cry. Der chail
Is owidm But that is not likely 10 happen
again, for aside from the usual precautions
against a Jail delivery there is not man
confined there who would leave the place
unless he had TO.
Prisoners in a Happy Mood.
Sheriff Hamburger reached the jail just
after the dinner time for the prisoners and
the latter were in happy mood. The tail
used to be just fine place to spend few
months as a rest cure, especially for the
Alimony Club, but since Mr.. Johnson be-
came warden II has become pretty much
OF a conservatory of music. for music is
Mr.. Johnson's profession. So while the
Sheriff was at dinner yesterday the board
T1,,l
weather was too inclement for the board
ers TO be out on the handball court. 50
they spent their time in their respective
galleries. some singing and others play
ing solitaire or pinochlc.
one stout German sang a love song that
scanded something like this -"Du, du,
HsEst mir i'm Herzen du, du liegst
mir I'm Sin" An unofficial Interpretation
sad the English Of this was You, You,
lay on my heart you. you, lay on my
mind" Nobody asked the German prisoner
whom he had in mind when he sang those
words He was one Of the prisoners who
preferred Jail to alimony paying.
On an upper tier was an Italian. also
non-payer Of alimony, who softly sang an
Italian song the English Of which was:
This one or that" If he had devoted
enough thought 10 "this' his wife would
never have sued him for divorce. and he
would not be in tail. But several months
ago he decided IN favor of that and
there he Is.
in for Breach Of Promise.
There was young man in the jail be
cause he promised to marry girl and did
not She sued him for breach of promise
and got a Judgment, and then the Sheriff
got the young man who had promised He
too. was in a musical mood. and, encour-
aged by his environment, hummed the bars
Of wedding march However, song was
written to :he music Of that wedding march
and called NO Wedding Bells for Me- so
only he knew which he had in mind as he
hummed
After dinner Sheriff Hamburger, escorted
BY Warden Johnson, made round of the
jail The first man the Sheriff saw rec
ognized him and said:
How are you, Mr. Harburger? Don't you
remember me? I used TO be friend Of one
Of your sons, and several times l had din
ler al your home"
The Sheriff remembered him and asked
What are you here for?"
"Alimony," replied the prisoner. The
purt ordered me to pay, $50 a week, and,
course. / can't pay anything like that
% I'll Just stay here for six months, and
then won't have to pay anything" The
Sheriff asked
How do you like-I mean, how arc you
beng treated here?"
Never better" said the man.
After greeting few more in the inclosure
where the prisoners receive visitors, the
sherin and the warden climbed to the gal
lerS above. This gallery is a spacious
pace with high ceiling, and IS well
nghted and Well ventilated. The cells con-
tanning ful-sized beds-not cots-were
about the several tables that stood on the
gallery.
One Man on Fixed Post.
Lack of vigilance being tho cost Of a job.
OF course the Keepers stood near by and
ons had fixed post at the iron door.
spiritually the Sheriff is always with the
prisoners, but only few of them had ever
seen him. All Of Mr. Harburger's charges
greeted him cordially.
most every man Of them was smoking
eone cigarettes, others cigars and still
vnsrs pipes. At one table where a player
lou only 80 to meld to go out tho players
pu' aside the cards and Jumped up to shake
sanus with the Sheriff as they were intro
u'Veo by Warden Johnson. Laost of them
saa "alimony'' to the usual question as 10
thelr presence there.
now are we?' said one. "Why, II stay
n're much longer III hav, TO take a cure
70 reduce my weight"
~ might be said here, to show the effects
oi the life at the Ludlow street iar In,