The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1916-09-07
A MODEL PRISONER GETS AMPLE
OPPORTUNITY TO CUT HIS
TIME DOWN FROM ONE FOURTH
TO A HALF.
THEY ARE FED AND
CLOTHED WELL
(ey PETER sTERLINe)

All DlS illHllluNlOlio silO AoAA ~
system. The Colorado State Peniten-
tiary is no exception. If anything, it
has, and has to have, a more strict
system than most other big institu-
tions.
There are forty-nine guards and
other people on duty down there in
the day time These are divided into
office help. inside and outside guards.
Two ladies are included in this num-
Der being, the day matron and the
warden's stenographer. AT night
thirteen guards and officers are on
duty, including night matron.
They do not patrol the outside so
much but are used mostly in the cell
houses, the boiler room and on the
gates, besides the night office.
The Warden is always in command
of the full situation. In the day time
the deputy warden, the day captain
and Lieutenant about the prison and
the chief clerk in the offices bear
the burden of seeing that everything
goes along in an orderly manner. The
night captain and the assistant cap
tain supervise the pen at night.
The prison day starts at $50 in
the morning when the pen whistle
blows and the rising bell rings. All
of the guards must be within the
walls at that time. They must be
prompt or they do not work that day.
They know that $50 is the hour to
start work and they must be there
ahead of that or else right on the
dot. They work until $50 in the
evening. None of their work is siren
uous but it is rather fatiguing be.
cause of the monotony. They have a
system of short weeks and long weeks
in which they quit little early one
week and the next they work the full
time.
All mail that comes to the prison
ers is read by the mail clerk before
it is given to them. All the mail that
they send out is read also. All OBJ.
jectionable mail is not delivered eth.
er going out or coming in. The pris.
oners are restricted to a certain ex.
tent in their letter writing, being al.
lowed to write only two letters every
month, and special permission If nee.
essary to write more.
The prisoners are counted three
times day. The first time is in the
morning at 6:10, the second time at
4:40 and the third at P. NJ. The
cell house keeper and one other man
go through the respective cell houses.
Each inmate therein puts his hand
on the bar to be counted. The keeper
goes one way about the cell house
and his companion goes the other
way. each counting. When they have
finished they check up. If they can
not check they make the count again.
All prisoners who have been assign
ed to certain stations are counted at
those stations. They are seen per-
sonally by the counter In each one OF
these stations. For instance, in the
front office there are supposed to be
six convicts. The Turnkey makes it
his duty to see that each of those
six are there at the time of each
count. So it is in the bake shop,
the blacksmith shop. etc. Some guard
is responsible for the count in each
of those places.
The prisoners are fed three times
a day. The men who are to wait on
table eat first Then later the men
are brought in from each cell house
and placed at the long benches which
make excellent tables for serving such
a large crowd. The guards come in
with the men and set along each side
of the dining room near their respec-
tive wards. 1t is in the dining room
that the only gun is used in the build
ings inside the prison walls.
A guard is placed in steel cage
which is mounted near the ceiling
in the back of the room. He is lock-
ed in and he carries a gun which can
be aimed to any section of the room.
The guard never ascends into this
cage until the men are all in the din
ing room. The gun is made useless by
taking apart before the men are re.
leased from the place. This precau-
tion is taken so as to command stu
alton which sometime might mean
trouble because OF the presence OF
all the men together at one time
without any cell walls between them.
When new prisoner is brought to
the penitentiary he is searched the