The Washington herald., 1917-10-29
BY HILDA BLUMBORG.

/
Have you ever been in a mena gerie
and lions? Were you not glad that
the beasts were barred? They were
dangerous to society.
OF course, it would be absurd TO
consider for a moment in what man
ner man is endangering lives.
A Jail consists of 4 long row OF an
imal cages three stories high. These
cages are just about nine feet long,
five feet wide, and about eight and a
half feet high. Each is the size of a
small bathroom. The three walls are
built of metal; the fourth consists of
iron bars from which the confined
look out to the stone wall of the
room. There are two vertical win
dows and one circular ventilator near
the roof. Everything is painted a
yellowish dirty white. The floors are
Of stone. Within the cell are two
iron beds. one over the other. an open
toilet, and q basin with running water.
And that is all. You can pace your
cell with four steps if you keep your
arms at your side.
A Horrible Experience.
To the first offender Jail is a hor.
rible experience. enough to drive
sensitive nature insane. The bars
take humanity away and class one
with beasts.
I ask you, will this environment
induce a person to stop drinking oil
committing petty crimes? And II
some people do commit unlawful
acts. whose Is the authority to in
flict the punishment? The churches
preach. Judge not, lest ye bt
judged"
The spirit is crushed-and the
mind concentrates upon such things
as food. sleep. warmth. Prison die-
encourages this line of thought. Ir
accordance with that old folk
Game-ycu receive literally a piece
of bread and a lump of fat. A
sample Jail breakfast consists of q
slice of meat or salt pork. three
slices oil bread. a bowl of black cof-
fee. and a bowl of coarse hominy
with gravy-all of which Is otter
cold and is served in tin or earth
enwarc dishes. with rusty spoons
You must tear your meat with your
tcett. for lack of a knife and fork
This typical meal is sometime,
served for days and days with little
variation The monotony of the
menu is nauseating.
Food Is Uppermost.
Because of the struggle to live, the
wasting of the body and the usage OF
the reserve vitality. the hopelessness
Of the spirit. and the mental stagna-
ton, the whole organisms tends to
concentrate upon food. And where
does one secure nourishing food in
jail
Persons are sent to Jail with the
prospect of being sentenced to some
other institution. They are, therefore
allowed to wear their own clothes
Since the cells are small, they car
only come with the clothing they wore
when arrested. This, with time anc
the change Of seasons, means insult
ficient clothing. The prisoners are
forced, through necessity, to veal
prison clothes. What does it mean tc
| wear prison clothes?
1t means a loss of Individuality be.
cause they are all exactly alike. II
means a loss of responsibility, because
it is a symbol for telling people when
they are outside humanity. What
crime or offense can place a human
being out of touch with his fellows:
1t is also a sign of classification, OF
disgrace. and criminality. Is this the
method to decrease the numbers OF
society's offenders?
And the women who drink, and the
women who steal or murder, and the
women who petition the President for
the vote are placed side by side. dress
ed alike. barred in. Who shall judge
and conhider the lines off demarca.
ton?
Made to Work, Too.
The prisoners in Jail, except those
waiting for trial. are made to work.
The work consists of sewing prison
garments, cleaning the prison, and
other household tasks. Consequently
the Jail Is not cleaned properly or
in a sanitary way. Any prisoner
capable or incapable, trained or un.
trained. sick or well. may be called
upon to clean the jail.
Therefore it Is customary to see
prisoners throwing the dust down
from story to story. filling the cells
with germ-laden air. The windows
are not opened sufficiently. Only an
old broom is used. Moreover, what
interest has a prisoner in doing work
well with all the other terrible con-
ditions? Not one of them is fed prop
erly. Every one in Jail lives on re-
serve energy and that goes all too
quickly. To live locked in a cell with