Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-06-30
BOWEN CORRECTS
JAIL STATEMENTS
Secretary % State Charities Commits
sion QsStss Records 20 Establish
Ms Position
HIs ADVICE Is ENTIRELY IGNORED
Letter, In which 0nseial Gives Local
AsthSriti-s BeHsht Of Expert
sne~ Unanswered

spriasasia. IA. June ss.-Editor
Argos. on = number % occasions -
sss sesa STATED - tss nevspaPerH OF
Rex isizad and Moline tha; !. a. ex-
seatvs secretary % the za,e chart
siss eomrrissior. JAILED 80 or refused
60 give yuzr supervisors any advice
apoa the Interior plans o; che proposed
nsu sali. unsn aflsF the architect had
. b~~a selected and his plans accepted.
~ arss treated the statsmsn, as a
slip % che pen. bat a has been repeat
FL. ana am Informed has been made
oreiaiiy before the supervisors. ]
must beE 20 set myself right before
your people.
Thls charge o. absolutely false. as
the records % our office all prove a.
60 BE-
The first news that Rock Island
county proposed 20 erect a new jail
came % me through q newspaper clip
ping iu January % this year.
F~b Z. 1915 1 wrote % sheriff Rich
m0nd asking him TO use his influence
for the adoption % plans that are mod
rTn and up 90 date"
urged him % oppose the old style
jaii. and added 4 think the greatest
thinE % get away from Is the idea Of
cells being erected in the center OF
the cell house" Briefly I summarized
some % the ncw ideas. Mr.. Richmond
never even acknowledged the receipt
% this letter.
Feb. ]. 1915. I wrote 20 J. c. Bur
Eoyns a. Andaiusia. In this letter.
among other things. was the follow
lnE = hope you are getting away
from the oid-fashioned steel cell idea
Cells should not b. erected Ia the cen
ter % the coll house. but along the
walls. 90 that each cell can have a d
window through which some light and 7
cir can reach the prisoner This IS
some more Mr. Burgoyue dii not ac- /
kuoNlsdEe receipt % this letter.
Did Not Urge Concrete.
The first letter 10 me from one in
authority was written Feb. .. 1915. by
Charles Kerus. in which he saws that
a Chicago architect had told the iail
committee that ala modern. up %
date fails are getting away from the
CId-6tyir steel construction cells and
were using concrete Instead and re
ferrei fo ron Ia this particular"
answered promptly iu a tao and
haif page typewrif'en letter. / told
Mr Errus hs could yet few object
lessons in Illinois because no new
fails had been erected In popuious
certers. thereupon I emphasized as
strongly az possible thc modern ideas /.
on iau plans.
/ mentioned cells along the outer
walls. segregation % sexes and separa-
ti0n % classes % offenders. veutiia-
ticn and sanitation and provision FOR
contagious and Infectious diseases. /
did not urge a concrete cell. hut said.
-such a cell would be very satisfac-
tory A number % other subjects
we're treated ln this letter.
Tao DAYS later I wrote Mr kerns
again. calling his attention 10 the
plans which this state had adopted Tor
the uew prison az Joliet. printed cop
les az which. Wlfh elaborate descrip-
tigr. sent him. also enclosed in I
this letter q copy % an article written .
bT Or p. ~. wines a few months be-
fore hls death. pr Wines vas Tor 90
years secretary % the Illinois state
board % charities. Hc WAS interna-
tioaaiiy known as a prison authority. .