Evening star., 1915-02-27
BEGINS monday ON
D. c. REFORMATORY
Supt. Whitaker of the Work.
house will Direct the Z,
Construction.
is TO OCCUPY 1,30O-ACRE
TRACT NEAR OCCOQUAN
Prisoners Are to Be Utilized to Fur
nish the Bulk Of the Labor.
Electric Line in Plans.

Work on the construction Of the Dis
trict Of Columbia reformatory. which Is
to occupy a 1.300-acre tract adjoining
the District workhouse at Occoquan,
Va, will begin Monday, according to
announcement today by Commissioner
Newman, chairman of the reformatory
commission.
William H Whitaker. superintend-
ent of the workhouse. an institution
which has attracted the attention OF
prison reform advocates in this coun-
try and abroad. will direct the con-
struction of the reformatory, It also
was announced Plans submitted by
Mr.. Whitaker are now being con-
sidered by the commission, the mem
bers OF which. In addition to Commits
sioner Newman. are Justice Stafford
OF the District Supreme Court and John
Joy Edison, president of the board OF
charities.
Authority has been given MIR. Whit
taher TO install a saw LnlIi and convert
lmoer winch coveis the site into buiid-
Jug material A. IL proposed to con-
struct nrst temporary pullainks, sew
etai OF which VIA be colnp.eted and
leaoy Tor receiving prisoner within
siA or eight months, II is stated. Iha
work wiii be oone oy worknouse labor
Home for Long-rerm Prisoners.
The reformatory IL to be the home OF
the District lons-term prisoners, VINO
are now sent to the feae.al puniten-
tiaries In Fort Leavenworth. han, and
Atlanta, Ga. IL Is Designed. 70 aysv..-
mouate about 6Ou PRISONERS, WINCH =
the average daily numDer OF sac l.
term prisoners cafeu foT al the work
house.
while IN its temporary stals the iH-
sttution Will consist mainly ot itasls
buildings, the pan Contemplate las
bulidlng within two or tnree y.aIs "
permanent one-story brick uorIu.to.-
ries.
Before erecting the peranent sti uc.
lures the commission will prosiu- ,or
the building and equipplng o. an ei.c-
tric line extending from the wnar, -s
at the foot of the worknouse property
through the workhouse tract TO tae
site selected tor the reIormatory
buildings, distance of apout tour
miles. 1t is estimated that the line
cannot be built and placed In opera
ton under two years, but once con-
structed it will be a big factor In
facilitating the construction of the 70.
formatory along permanent lines, -
well as leading to other economies. IL
is stated.
After July 1 the commission. accord.
ing to the present outlook, will nave
available about $4,000 for building
purposes. The current Appropriation
act provides $4,000 for getting the
work started and the bill for 1916 pro.
vides a similar amount. A Big portion
of this fund will be spent on the rail.
road.
Little Help From Outside.
A. was the case with the workhouse.
which was built under direction Of
Supt Whitaker. the reformatory will
spring out OF the wilderness and the
outside world will be called on but Lit.
tie to assist in it's construction. Brick
crushed stone and sand will be fur
nished by the workhouse plants. suf-
hcient timber will be obtained from
the reformatory tract. while prisoners
will be called upon to furnish the bulk
of the labor.
In one respect the task facing Mr..
Whitaker will not be as great as tho
one confronting him when he started
the building of the workhOuse. AT
that time he was forced to quarter in
tents the prisoners who were supply
ing the labor. Now that the work
house prisoners are provided with sat
their labor in connection with the
building of the retormatory will be
less difficult problem to solve.
One Management for Both.
While no intimation has been given
by the commission as to its plans tor
the administration of the new institd-
ton, the impression in local govern
ment circles is that both the wo- X
house and reformatory will be placed
under one management The fact that
Mr. Whitaker has been asked to sup-
erintend the building of the reforfIa-
90 tSaa rfG
After inspecting penal institu.io In
number of cities, members OF the
commission are convinced that the
Districts workhouse Is model which
other municipalities would do well to
follow.
The workhouse. built almost entirely
by prison labor, has been in operation
four years. During that time Congress
has made appropriations for it amount
ing to $S50.O00. A conseI vative inven-
tory places the value OF the plant at
100000. During the four years main
tenance has been furnished an average
of 500 prisoners day, representing .
cost of $125,000 a year or 100000 for
the four years. The value OF the plant
prisoners gives a total Of s1.300.090.
which amount, less the $850.000 of ap.
propriations by Congress. represents-1
saving of $45o.0oo for the District
Prison Labor Accomplishment
During the four years prison labor at
the workhouse has made possible the
construction of buildings to care for
TOO inmates and sixty employees: the
clearing of 700 acres and cultivation Of
2G0 acres: the building of a brick plant
capable of turning out $4,000 bricks .
day; the construction of a stone-crush-
ing plant capable of turning out 200
yards of crushed stone day: the con-
struction of administration and service
buildings for furnishing Of water, cleo
trio light, heat, ETC.. and the building
and equipping of a valuable floating
plant for transporting products and
supplies to and from Washington, not
to mention many other improvements.
Municipal authorities OF Pittsburgh.
Pa. have requested Dir. Whitaker to
make a survey of the Pittsburgh jail
and workhouse with a view to making
for improvement OF
the institutions. The District Commis-
sioners have given their consent for
Mr. Whitaker to make the survey. He
will leave the first of the week for
ttsburgh to take up the work. wh.cn
is expected to last only a few days.
No Bisley Shoot This Year.