The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1915-11-19
SECRETARY TOMBSTONE
VISITS COUNTY JAIL
Makes Review OF His Inspection and
Several Recommendations

mer and Secretary Albert S. John
stone OF the state board Of charities
and corrections, together with the en-
tire Newberry county delegation and
Foreman Haskell Wright OF the grand
jury, inspected the county jail last
Friday.
The party found nineteen prisoners
in jail, of whom eighteen were negroes
two women, TWO boys. fourteen men.
The white prisoner is from the federal
court and is being we'll cared for, hav-
Ing a comfortable room to himself and
eating at the sherif's own table. The
negro women and boys occupy wooden
cells at the front on the third floor,
while the negro men stay in steel
cage consisting of four cells at the
rear.
The wooden cells have one opening
each, two by four feet, heavily barred
looking out upon a narrow corridor
between the cells and the walls OF the
jail. Entrance to each cell is by solid
wooden door. Ordinarily this is kept
open, but when safety or overcrowding
demands, the door is shut, thus max
ing circulation of air practically i'm
possible. In fact, during the day OF
inspection there was strong breeze
blowing in the open windows Of the
jail. but little or NO circulation was
felt inside the cells.
This was especially true of the steel
cells occupied by the fourteen negroes,
though each cell has grated opening
on an exterior corridor which opening
measures two by seven feet. One OF
these cells contains the bath tub and
flush toilet; the other three contain
four hunks each. At night three OF
the prisoners are removed to wooden
cells so as to decrease the overcrowd-
ing of the steel cells. There are four
teen negroes in those cells" said
Sheriff Blease, shut there ought not ID
be over six.
There is only one entrance to the
prisoners quarters, wooden stair
way leading from the front porch. The
flooring, ceiling, partitions and cells,
except the four steel cells named
above, are all of wood. The heating
is by open CRATES in the sherif's resi-
dence, and by stoves in the prisoners
quarters Long pipes running from
these stoves further increase the fire
hazard. In several places attempts
have been made to set fire to this jail
by prisoners within. 1t was strongly
emphasized by those making the in
spection that if the Jail ever catchss
FIRE so that the stairway at the front
is cut off, it will be practically impos
sible for the prisoners to be saved.
AS result of the inspection Secre-
star Johnstone mas written every
member of the party resume of his
recommendations. These include
thorough cleaning and whitewashing
of all the cells and repainting of the
steel cells, which have so badly rusted
that in one or two places new metal
has had to be used; putting all the
flush toilets in good condition; the
erection of closed exterior stairway
with barred doors at the ground en-
trance and at the second and third
floor levels; the putting in of steam
heating system, if this be possible, so
as to still further decrease the fire
risk; enlarging the windows in the
wooden cells and putting in grated
doors instead of the solid front doors
now used; barring the windows and
constructing doors at different points
in the corridors so as to allow more
room for those prisoners it is safe to
let out of the cells and thus decrease
the oVercr0Wdlng; the erectlOn OF
partition on the second floor between
the two rows of wooden cells, using
one for white men and the other for
negro women, thus releasing all the
wooden cells on the third floor for the
negro men prisoners.
zone serious thing about practical
ly all the jails we have inspected thus
far" said the secretary, lis the lack
of adequate medical supervision. In
fact, taking the jails of the state as
whole, sick prisoners are treated by
physicians for the most part only Oh
complaint of the individual prisoner,
and about all the physician summoned
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