Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-12-26
stone wells do not a prison make,
Nnr. irnr, hars q Cage

stone wells do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage
A trip through the Dauphin county
prison at Yuletide almost gives the lie
to the forbidding appearance of the
walls and fortifcations of 22S Walnut
street as viewed from the outside. The
| impression left after a study of the
spirit displayed by the prison inmates
ten women and about 15O men
who were visited and talked to yester-
day morning certainly did not mar
monize with the expectations of the
visitor.
| The anticipation of meeting so many
bearing the brand of the law upon
them, and cut off from intercourse
with the world. was not so pleasant as
are most Christmas surprises. But
among all the men and women spoken
to, black or white, there was only one
unpleasant voice in response to a
Merry Christmas" and inquiries as
to conditions. and that one answer was
from a man judged to be partly in
sane and incapable of understanding
what is said to him.
No Bones In This Turkey!
The number of hearty replies and
smiles returned, the jokes passed, the
happy thoughts of special dinners to
be brought to the Jail by friends and
relatives, and the general spry-
ness OF practically all the inmates
reused the wonder as TO whether
prison life is so bad after all. And
when 1t was learned that sauerkraut
was to be served as the main item of
the Christmas dinner, the desire to be
one of this fortunate crowd grew
strong: for who Is there so dull that he
would not risk his putation TO have
real sauerkraut dinner cooked with fat
pork. Yes, even if 1t came only once
a year?
Perfect Ventilation
The first entrance TO the jail gives a
pleasant surprise of perfect ventilation
which is a relief after the stuffy atmos-
office buildings of Harrisburg. 1t is
one of the few perfectly ventilated
places in the country. and creates the
impression of temperate summer
breeze. The air is warmed to the prop
er temperature and circulated through
the entire building by fans.
And this first impression is confirm
ed by the manners of the prisoners;
they do not appear dopey or listless.
and although every one of them, of
course, dislikes to be penned up with
out his liberty. not one complained of
anything in the jail. They said they
have enough to eat, perfect cleanliness
most of the prisoners desire is some
thing to do, job of any kind-scrub-
bing floors. cleaning iron work or
washing windows.
Hates Lack of Work
There are three white women, one
OF whom has Just begun a ten months
sentence. She said it was the most
unhappy Christmas of her life,
and then went on to say that some of
her friends were to bring her a turkey
dinner. And have a job here
too, they let me do washing and
cleaning several hours a day. and l
wish IT would last all day. All l hate
is nothing to do. Now there is Mag
gle" she said. pointing to girl dress
anything, she is lazy and she doesn't
like il here. If she would only get
busy it would not be so bad"
NO l won't do anything" said Mag
gle. smiling. and | never did like
work. ] wish more people would come
to see me, II gets awfulv lonely. Yes.
/ guess some people will be happy on
Christmas. but not me-
Would sooner BE at North Pole
There is little Alaska Esquimo girl
with long shiny hair who belonged to
travelling carnival troup that passed
through Harrisburg some time ago.
She laughed roguishly as she told in
perfect English how she would rather
spend Christmas in her freezing native
no matter how much of their nasty
sauerkraut' they gave her. There's
no one to bring me a turkey dinner"
she said soberly.
a strongly built colored woman
looked suspiciously at the visitor, and
said, What you want here, mistah
You looks like detective. / don't
see what for you come in here askin'
us bout Merry Christmas We don't
have no Merry Christmas. We get
nothin' but sauerkraut, pork and mo-
lasses here"
They've just Got to Wash
The women are kept in small
double-decked ward. the colored on
one floor and the whites on another.
There is an open court where all can
meet and play tag If they like. Each
floor has a bathroom which every in
mate is obliged to use at least once a
week whether willing or not.
DO you have anything to read?"
was asked.
daily papers, and soon after that one
of the prisoners came in with bum
die of about twenty-five papers
which had been ordered by the
inmates. And we all have money,
too" she said as she pulled pocket
book from her cot and paid a penny
for the newspaper. I've had nine
dollars sent to me every week since l
came in and l can't spend much of 1t,
she continued rather regretfully.
All Want to Re Runners
Some of the men are not so happy
because they are locked in their cells
all the time except for an exercise
period every morning. Two or three
of the best-behaved long term men in
each ward are given the duties of
runners They attend to passing the
food through the bars to the confined
prisoners, run errands and distribute
matches to light pipes and cigarets
The ambition of every man Is TO be
appointed "A runner.
Robert Scott the Harrisburg po-