Arizona sentinel and Yuma weekly examiner., 1912-12-05
FIRST HAND IMPRESSIONS IF
 DETAINED IN YUMA BAST|LE
DESCRIBES SURROUNDINGS AND FELLoWPRisoNERs IN SUCH THE LAY MAN A FAIR
 FER SIDE OF HISTORY, THESE CARBOHYDRATES" WOULD SELLERS OF TODAY


 3 herewith gives his impressions, receiv- ? ed first hand, of Yuma county's beauti-
 | full residence for forcibly retaining those who trespass the laws of the l sovereign state of Arizona.
 - "A cement pen, decorated with green and white and the etchings and crude drawings of an element consigned to spend their hours in idleness upon the : wall steel stringers, supported by a central post; barred windows; ce- tress with a prone figure stretched upon it, in various postures-such
 was my first impression of an Arizona bull pen
 "The reasons for my being there do not need to be detailed here; but, as you may judge for yourself, 1 was in the same predicament as ninety per cent of all prisoners I met there through the fault of whiskey.
 
 wakeful. With the 'Kanagroo Court that had been held (the purpose of which is to see if you have any money to put into the general fund for tobac- co and such other luxuries as are dear to the smokers heart, and the !, introduction to our midst of various q rryho iuh 1sin rUif h their cries, was something that mere first-nighter, like myself, could not contend with; my sleep was not in any way restful. The way of the trans gressor is hard, as I have found since incarceration behind the prison walls.
 But to get back to the routine. In the morning light l discovered most motley crew-Indians in their bright bead clothes and long hair, Mexicans, Texans and Yankees, with an occa- sional half breed. After a wash in lavatory that was in fit state to give man the jaundice, breakfast was served This was meted out to us in tin plates, and consisted of some kind of meat, one potato, bread and a cup of coffee. The environment was not nice; neither were the dishes ] clean, but a man who has not had anything to eat for four days is not particular for service. The strong coffee and bread helped me to a more ration al and sane view of the whole matter.
 After breakfast I began to get ac- quainted, and found-as I have always found-that the poor are always kind to the poor. This has been a never failing fact through my travelling. began to get acquainted with my fel- low prisoners and, though they were behind the bars, they were all pretty good fellows and willing to cheer a fellow to their utmost. AS have said before, l was there through liquor as great many of my fellow prison CTS were-and found that they were all making resolutions to reform.
 Many impressions I had formed as an outsider, were lifted from my mind. l First, that all prisoners were crimin- nals; and, again, that because they were down, they were down for keeps; but l found that each man had that feeling of hope that springs eternal within the human mind-that the sun will shine tomorrow, and that they will make an effort to do better upon their release.
 Men of all ages and classes were in the pen-youths in their teens, i and men in middle age; old men whom ' you would think had gotten past the indiscretions of youth.
 One man, cripple, went insane and was taken away to the asylum. He had been on prolonged spree of for ty days and when he came to the jail was in a pitiable condition-in fact, more in shape for a hospital and nourfshing diet, than a prison cell and a heavy diet. On his arrival he was tried at the Kangaroo Court and, though he contributed nothing to that estimable body, he was ordered to take bath-which he did, after some inducements. Force, learned, would be used, if necessary.
 "In my estimation, this Kangaroo Court" is good thing to have in a jail, as it tends to order such things as no splitting on the floor lights out at regular hours,' and cleanliness in general-though they use their force sometimes, with more strength than discretion.
 "The fellow who was sleeping next to me was one of their victims. Con- ing in drunk, and being in the usual manner of drunken man-obstinate in regard to some order of the court and, in the melee that followed, he was made the recipient of two broken ribs.
 Going back to the cripple who went insane. After his bath he seemed to get better and, although he had the