The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1915-10-27
CONDEMNS LAURFNS
COUNTY JAIL
Member Board of Charities
and Corrections Here.
UNFIT COUNTY JAIL
DUE TO BUILDING

MIR. A. ID. Oliphant, Member of the Re-
Gently Inaugurated Board Spent
Monday and Tuesday Visiting Coun-
ty Jail, Home For The Poor and the
County Convict Camps. Makes
Strong Plea for the Correction Of
Many Evils.
Mr.. A. d. Oliphant, an agent Of tho
State Board of Charities and Correc-
tionS, spent Monday and Tuesday here
inspecting the local county jail the
county home for the poor and the sew
! cral chain gangs over the county. In
speaking to representative Of Tho
Advertiser, Mr.. C!iphant spoke in an
inspiring manner Of the work Of his
board and gave many instances Of
and Of the plans they have for con-
tinuing the commendablc work in
which they are engaged.
M Oliphant was most unfavorably
impressed with the local jail, con-
demning it as one OF the worst that he
has yet visited. He found, however,
much to his satisfaction, that a move
ment has been on foot for some time
to remedy the evil and learned with
pleasure that Supervisor Humbcrt,
Sheriff Owings and the foreman OF the
grand jury are making every effort to
remedy the condit rs. The visitor
stated that the trou..e was not with
the keeping of the building but in the
building self
During the last three months. L
have visited the jails in Is counties in
South Carolina" said Mr.. OuDnant.
"in common with two or three other
counties in which have been, l4au-
rcns has a Jail which is a monument
to mans inhumanity TO man, because
/ it jeopardizes tho health of Persons
committed to it by violating cardinal
laws of sanitation. will not say that
laurens has the worst county Jail |
have visited. The jaifs in some OF the
other counties | have visited are bad
enough, so bad that dislike to COM
pare them with the Laurens jail.
Let me make it clear al the outset"
continued the agent OF tho State Board
Of Charities and Corrections, that
Sheriff Owings Is noa 10 be blamed for
the fact that the IaSArcns county jail
approaches the Black Hole Of Calcut-
ia in frightfulness. The miserable
conditions in the jaB are due to struc-
tural defects in the Aailling for which
the county, and not the officer the
county has placed In charge Of it, is
responsible. Had ! found undesirable
conditions in the Laurcns Jail which
your sheriff could have romodicd [
would have gone directly to him and
asked him to make the changes, tell
ing him why thought they should be
made and how thought thcy should
be made. AS it is, 7 believe Sheriff
OWin%S is doing a.bout everything he
can to make the county Jail habtablc.
1T is of fundamental Importance in
sanitation to provide fresh air and
sunlight" said Mr.. Oliphant THAT
has not been dono tB the l4aurons
county Jail, especially in the quarters
or tho negro mon In the room in
which tho negro mon await trial sOmc-
times for weeks, there are five Win
doWs, which are three feet wide by
i've feet high. Last Saturday there
were seven negro male prisoners
in your jail, two % them convicts
from one of the chaingangs Under
goin% treatment by the county physi-
clan for q loathcsomc disease az thc
blood. These two sick convicts shared
the four cells in the negro men's quar-
tcrS with the other five ncgHoo8, one
of which had whooping cough. The
Two windows opening on the North
/ carolina street side Or the iEii had
been Slated with wooden boards and
the one window on the south side OF
OF the jail shuttcrcd with boa IDS. The
officers had found il nGcos#"rv to
close these windows because ;hy pris-
OncrS persisted in calling ont TO per-
sons passing along the street, When
! ] was in the negro mons quarters at
the Jail last Saturday the sun was
! shining brightly outdoors, but in there
it was dark even in the corridors
around the cell block, and inside the