Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-09-12

checked clothing. write once In two
weeks. and draw 5 cents in tobacco
each week; third-grade men wear.
stripes, get no tobacco, nor are they
allowed to write letters or receive IL
brary books.
punishments vary. II a man COM
mtts an ordinary offense, such as
speaking to another prisoner without
permission from his guard, the guard
writes out a report to the deputy war
den on a slip provided for that purpose.
Promptly at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
the yard officer makes the rounds Of
the various departments and lines up
the men who are slated for punish
ment and leads them to the deputy,
warden's office. They stand there with
folded arms awaiting their turns. They
are called into the private room one,
at a time, the charge against them Isl
read. and they are permitted to make
whatever defense they see fit. Should
they be guilty they are either degraded.
receive marks-twO marks relegating
them to the second grade and three to
h third-or they are put in the ''hole."
absolutely dark cells, and the man
doomed therein Is placed in a union
suit Of stripes, his hands handcuffed
between the bars of a cell. He is kept
In this position all night and may lie
down On q plank in the daytime. 1
$500 WI AA0S AlkOAk al O0l VI
n hole after 10 or Is days with their
feet swollen into shapeless masses.
They are then taken to the hospital
until they. recover. and, if they persist
IN being obstinate, return to receive the
same treatment. It's a great cure-for
h twentieth century.
Taking the Cure.
The hospital is in a separate build
Ing from the prison proper and is di-
rectly over the insane wards. The
prison physician ia one OF the best doc.
tors in the state. and an excellent sur.
geon. The nurses are men inmates,
some of them being fairly competent,
but usually they are more of q menace
than a help to their patients. The hose
pital steward at the time the writer
was there was an ignorant guard who
could scarcely write his NAME.
Every morning after breakfast, those
prisoners Who feel sick, or who think
they feel i'll. raise their hands to the
yard officer. leave their respective COM
pital gang" They are then marched
to the ~dispensary. where they tell their
symptoms to the doctor. His work is
onerous and must De quick. He weeds
them out fast. One has q weak heart,
the doctor listens, back to your shop"
One has a bad stomach. back to your
work" Sometimes. if the doctor thinks
q a is "stalling," he sends him to
the hospital, but instead Of putting him
in a bed in the ward, he is placed in
one OF the hospital cells and fed ON
n glass of milk per day. IL he is
not sick this soon gets the malingerer's
goat and he begs to return to work.
Once every three months. the board
OF parole meets. and then there is ex-
element in he prison. Every man,
even the lifers. have probably been seek
Ing clemency, and they are all keyed
to a high pitch. After the regular
cases are considered by the board,
those who wish interviews are called.
Then for several weeks afterward q
uspens falls over the expectant ones
which is only dispelled by letters from
the board informing them that they
are to be paroled or that their cases
have been set over for two or three
years.
However. the in~determinate sentence
law has seemed to work we'll In Iowa.
The majority of prisoners released on
parole have made good. and the menu
bers of the board OF parole are to be
congratulated and praised for the con-
scientious manner in which they have
handled 1owa's erring sons and daugh-
ters. bringing many into a new light,
n redeeming many so-called incor-
rigibles into good. upright, useful cit
liens.