Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1916-11-17
CURE DREAD T.B
IN'STATE PRISON
Tennessee Has Taken Steps to
Stop Consumption Spread
Behind the Bars.
BEST OF CARE FOR PATIENTS
Formerly PenitentIary Sentence Was
Death Sentence for Large Number
Of Men--some Gave Plague
to Those Outside.

of prison life tuberculosis has
been considered far from the least.
Convicts developed or contracted 1t
during their term, and when dis
charged carried 1t out into the world
with them.
1t Is the "hoary specter that haunts
and communicates the old-time cell
blocks common to many of our famous
penal institutions says the Joliet
Prison Post of Illinois, which presents
an example of the new order of things
In the model hospital of the state pris-
on of Tennessee. The Article is sum-
married. In the Literary Digest.
Since the first penitentiary was built
In the latter state, more than a CEN
fury ago, the writer informs us, thou
sands have died within the walls from
tuberculosis, or If they survived, have
transmitted the gerfiis to their fami-
lies and associates. Thus innocent
and guilty have suffered together, hav-
ing battled feebly and futilely In
their ignorance of the first principles
Of sanitation, and have died." Con-
ditions gradually became so menac-
Ing that in 1915 the state legislature
passed bill appropriating $1,000 for
the erection of tuberculosis prison
hospital, and by this act the old sys-
TEN was wiped out. for
Bad Times Past.
"The time was past when the sick
and healthy were placed together
within narrow cells. The time was
past when term of years In the state
prison carried with 1t sentence to
almost certain death, to fight against
overwhelming odds with the inhu-
mainly of n system that weakened the
most robust; system that prepared
In most subtle way the human body
for the tentacles of the prison octo-
pus-the great white plague. No
longer was the state prison to remain
n living death. Inmates of the state
prisons were to be treated as human
beings.
"Ten acres were staked out. Ten
acres adjoining the prison walls, but
as far as possible from the clang Of
the entrance gates. Ten acres as far
away as possible from the stone
tagged corridors of the main prison,
but yet to be part of 1t, Or along
the line of stakes another wan arose.
There were no factories within the
new Enclosure, there were no concrete
sidewalks that marked the path of the
I'm hot hn,
Ing quarters to the doors of the man
ufacturing plants or to the stone steps
of the dining halls.
"And in the middle of the lot arose
the hospital building, constructed
along the most approved lines of a
modern hospital structure. Erected
In the shape of high H. 1t was
planned to give the inmates maxi
mum OF fresh air. recognized as the
most important weapon in the fight
for the cure of the disease. There Is
nothing fancy or ornate about 1t. 1t
is n brown-stained building in which
everything Is sacrificed for the COM
fort and welfare of the patients"
everything very Sicdn.
Ones first impression of the place.
the writer relates, Is of the "spOtless-
ness Of everything" The walls are
white, the floors, stained and waxed,
are polished to the brilliancy of a mir
ror. There are separate quarters for
white and negro patients, but they are
exactly the same in appointment and
the same quality is observed in food,
treatment and attendance. Meals,
which are said to be plentiful and va
ried, are served by whlte-coated wait
ers In well-llghted dining room,
amid surroundings that suggest
well-appolnted cafe instead of mess
hall In u penal institution, all of
which, though, Is necessary under the
approved system of fighting the
plague" The article continues:
During the day, unless reduced to
the third grade, which necessitates
the wearing of prison stripes, the pa
tents are permitted to go anywhere
within the confines of the walls. only
being required 10 be back In the build
ing at roll call at the supper hour.
Their time is their own, and may be
used as they see fit, In reading or card
playing, or merely loafing.
cover on the negroes side of the in
closure background has been laid off,
and any morning or afternoon, when
the weather permits, a ball game may
be seen in progress. A guitar, n banjo
and many decks of well-worn playing
cards help in passing the time away
until patients are well enough to take
their turns ut work on the prison
farm.
THE 'T-B patients, as they are
called, are not permitted to remain
idle after their condition improves so
that they can work without injury.
AS the daily trips TO the scale show
Improvement In weight, as their appe-
titles return and as their general con-
dition improves, they are sent TO the
farm for light work or put ut some
task inside the inclosure."