Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-10-06

these prisoners were returned to the
Ohio Penitentiary as sane men. 1t
strikes US as being, to say the least
strange that men such as the
thirty-one that were returned could
pass from saneness into insanity and
from insanity into saneness during
period of seven months. These men
were suggested as insane by the de-
putty warden and the penitentiary
physician, and after ample oppor-
tunity was given to produce the certi-
ficates of the penitentiary physician.
which the law requires, to begin the
removal to the Lima State Hospital,
no such certificates were produced. 1t
is a serious thing to declare man
insane, both as it affects the indivi-
dual and the State, and should be
carefully followed by the penitentiary
physician with the exact and proper
records in ever case in which a trans
fer is considered.
Bell, No. 38426, was assaulted by
guards on June 5, 1916, and the
Force Report" concerning this affair
was not filed with the Warden until
July Is, 1916. This delay destroys the
usefulness of the report and becomes
only a formal matter whereas, the
transmission Immediately of re-
port, and a careful investigation at
the time would reveal the true state
of affairs upon which proper action
could be based, thus bringing home
to the guards the fact that the exces-
sive use of force was not permitted
and the prisoner, in case of an unWar-
] ranted attack, would be more apt to
conform to the rules of the prison
without resentment and hatred in his
: soul
The healthfulness@o prisoners GER
tainly requires the use of more thar
: one clean handkerchief each week
which Warden Thomas says is al
that is given each prisoner. Surely
with a prison laundry equipment such
as we have and with labor sitting IL
r the idle house begging for work, the
necessity for a prisoner not getting
clean handkerchief oftner than once
f week must be apparent withou
f further comment
= The most deplorable condition
: within the prison walls is the so
= called idle house, a place where from
e 300 to 800 prisoners are required t.
e sit the greater part of the day will
s nothing to do but for the slow, tedi
r Gus hours to pass away. Some O
s these men are skilled artisans and
u permitted, would gladly procure tn
e necessary implements and material
t with which to work and occupy thei
e time. However, this is denied. TIL
: Warden insists that there is no
enough work to engage all these me-
d within the Penitentiary, for whic
r reason they are turned into the idl
s house. However, institutions hav
Y sought men to work thereabouts, bu
s the Warden standing on his rights
y refuses to assist along that line, an
j. confines the men in the idle house, in
# stead of sending them to work at sue
5, institutions. DR.. Chas. H. Clark, ST.
n perintendent of the Lima State Hos
IS pital, in April, 1916, stated to tn
IS Warden that he could use prisoner
s as TRUSTEES, at Lima, but the Warde
n refused to send the men even afte
IT an authorization by the Board of Ac
l. ministration. The Warden stated tha
= he had one hundred Christian men i
IS the knitting mill within the prise
e and we do not understand why thes
Is men could not be placed on outsid
i, work and at least that number of me
n reduced from confinement in the idl
l. house, if the men in the idle hous
j. are in the opinion of the Wardel
s. unfit to be placed on honor jot
t. outside the confines of the Peniter
lie tiary.
al One of the complaints of the pr
le soners themselves, which may seel
)" trivial to the average man and "
,e to the minds of prisoners is of ser
I'd Gus nature, is the fact that the off
5y GERS and employees of the prison r,
n fer to certain prisoners and certai
n companies in derision and conteml
Us as "Red Shirts" anarchists
ed Trouble Makers" "Agitators
ne "Shame Gang" and Rough Riders
y, These words, in turn, are taken up /
as prisoners and quite naturally resu
of in quarrels, agitation and troub
an among the prisoners. One way
n gain respect is to gender respect, al
ed we recommend that all prison officia
'e, and employees shall at all tim
en- speak respectfully and by the pr
o. per designated prison title to E
prisoners, or when reference is ma,
ne to prisoner or companies of priso
n ers.
Il The evidence adduced by the Wa
We den, disclose that the actions al
X conversations of the prisoners are
he termined and controlled largely
n reports made to the Warden or D
,r- putty Warden from other prisoner
be the exact language of the Warden b
rd ing that this council composed
n.y. prisoners "have the opportunity to
IN, on these ranges and in these C
blocks and to talk with the men, a
I'm that they have been helpful to me
as that certain prisoners, namely, Ef
ng Pander, No. 4O2O7, and Joseph Crol
ed well, No. 43747 are members of t
Use so-called prison council permitted
ng pass along the celIsswherein the re
ny of the prisoners are confined and CO
m verse with themgfor the. stated pl
Is pose of bettering conditions for t
prisoners. These two prisoners me-
lat bers of council admit, under oa
20 having approached other prisoners a
'us+ deliberately falsifying, wormed II
Oh the confidence of the prisoners in
of Continued on page 81