The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1917-03-29
IN APPEAL TO THE
PEOPLE OF OREGON
From The Inmates of the Oregon
State Penitentiary-Your At
tention Requested.

The 29th Legislative Assembly in
troduced House Bill No. SIS for an
act to provide for the erection of a
new state penitentiary. This bill
goes before the Voters for their
adoption or rejection on June 4th,
1917. We, the prisoners confined in
the State Penitentiary, ask the voters
to act favorably on this measure.
March, 5th, 1917.
To the Editor:
Having been confined in the Ore
| gon State penitentiary for a period
of four years, and during that time
carefully studied this institution, l
| feel that the readers of this article
, will appreciate what | am about to
state, more than an article written
by prison reformer, and place more
credence in it, because l can back
the following by unquestionable
proof.
| When I read in the legislative pro-
gram House Bill No. SIS my interest
was Immediately aroused and l OBJ
tanned permission from the Warden
to have copies Of the bill printed, and
personally ask every prisoner con-
fined here to enclose one of the slips
in his weekly letter. OF the four
hundred and twenty-five prisoners
here, all but thirty-fve were more
than eager to be of help in making
our confinement more humanely hab-
4 table.
As the average visitor enters the
south wing cell house, he or she, sees
nothing specially depressing. The
corridor is light and airy and some
times the sun is shining in the win
dows, but many, many times | have
noticed visitors, as they walked down
the corridor, stop in front of cell
door, cup their hands at the sides
of their eyes and try to see the in
terror of the cell. 1t is not possible
to do so, with one or two exceptions
Think what it must be to be prison.
ers confined in that cell, l should say
two prisoners, for the cell houses two
men. They measure 5R 6k x 1
feet and one-third of that space i:
: taken up by two hunks, one above
the other. The cell | am sitting in
writing this article has never knowr
one single ray Of sunshine. 1t is nt
wonder that on the days the doc
tor visits the prison he finds from
35 to As men lined up waiting fol
him. Their ailments are comprised
.. mostly Of sick headaches, bad sto
; machs, insomonia, rheumatism, etc
Il There are no toilets in the cells
; only an iron bucket that does no
even boast of a lid that fits. Tha
bucket must be used, If the necessity
arises, by both men and then sits il
the cells until $50 in the morning
. You can understand the waiting lint
for the doctor The wings and CELL
. are kept as clean as possible, but al
the soap and water and bug juice il
! Christendom cannot make one of tn,
floor tier cells fit for one man, mucl
less two, to live in.
FL The big windows can only be rails
; ed a small way. The air is so fou
at night that two guards have beef
compelled to resign in the past si
! months on account of it. If BIZ
healthy, able-bodied, we'll nourishe
men can't stand it, then what of tn
proisoner.
The cells on the fourth tier, mort
wing, are even smaller, being, 4X7x
feet, and they get the benefit of al
the stencil and foul air from tn
three tiers under them.
The cell house in winter time
so cold that one is compelled to g
to bed during the day time to kee
warm. In the summer time, it
just the opposite. Men in the cell
I pour watre on the floor and the
lie naked on the bed trying to sleeI
The Chapel.
AS you step from the turnkey
Office into the chapel, which connect
the north and south wing cell hous
es, you will notice, if you are &C
quainted with the buildings, that yo
are looking at veitable fire trap.
The wood ceiling, wooden foo
and wood stairway, erected man
years ago, seasoned and dry as tin
der, need but a chance match O
coal from the big barrel stove in th
chapel to turn 1t into an inferno, tina
all the fire companies in the stat
could not subdue in time to save tn
lives of the prisoners confined in thei
cells because there are no outlet
from the cell houses except throug
the chapel. If such a catastroph
should occur, you, the people Of Ore
gon will individually and collectivel
be responsible. In the past fou
months a small fire occurred in the Il
brary at 3 q. m. Before 1t was e1
tinguished the men in the cells neal
est the library were nearly overcom
by the smoke, and 1t was only
small blaze.
III Above the chapel, the shoe shol