The Washington herald., 1918-08-25

from nowhere" the fellow with am
bition to soar high who was handi-
capped by the weakness of the flesh,
the plain everyday tramp. the topper
and the dipsomaniac. and the vicious
idle have worn the zebra-striped
uniform of the institution and form
ed a hard-luck fraternity. In the
dim candlelight of evening before
the big tin horn sounded lights
out" the members of the frater-
les through the bars and occasional
ly sing the ledge Smell" song or
recount their lawbreaking expert
ences.
Cosmopolitan Institution.
The Washington workhouse has en-
joyed the distinction of being perhaps
the most cosmopolitan institution Of
its kind. It is situated on E street
northeast, a thoroughfare that was
rechristened by. Happy Jack" Har-
rity about thhty-five years ago.
Happy Jack" had Just completed
his thirty days of servitude and dis
carded his striped uniform. which he
described as his lawn tennis suit. !"
Before leaving the building he turned
to the doorkeeper and asked:
What street is this Washington
hotel de luxe located on?"
''It il on E street." was the reply.
You're wrong again." Jack re-
Joined. with q graveyard on Its
south end. the workhouse next. then
the poorhouse, city hospital and Jail,
and Just east potters field, the small
pox hospital and the gallows in the
jail. You're dead wrong. pardner.
This amt E street. its Calamity ave-
nue."
And to this day. among those who
institutions mentioned. Happy
Jacks" designation holds. To them it
is still Calamity avenue.
In those days there was an annex
to the workhouse known as the
glad room" When the then supt.
Stoutenburgh was asked the reason
said:
'T reckon it is called the glad
room because the fellows who get
in are darned glad to get out"
The glad room" was employed
as a means of making recalcitrant
prisoners consent to obey orders.
Some refused to go out on the
streets and labor in the chain gang.
These were first confined in the
''glad room on a bread and water
diet. After 4S hours If the prisoner
still refused to obey orders he was
placed in the dark dungeon be-
meath the workhouse and given a
crust Of bread and q pint of water
every "a hours. To the inmates the
dungeon was known as 'the den
Of holy horrors" and 1t is a matter
Of record that treatment there in
variably brought the desired re-
suits.
Put I'm Chains.
Prisoners when recaptured after at
tempting to escape were compelled to
wear chains about their ankles with
a longer chain and a big iron ball at
tached thereto. The chain gangs were
employed In grading new streets and
on other public work, the prisoners
being attired in striped prison cloth
ing. About thirty years ago, after a
large detail Of these unfortunates had
been compelled to shovel snow and
ice from in front OF the Capitol, two
of the Washington newspapers at
tackled the chaingang system and de-
clared such an exhibition as the
zebra-striped lawbreakers with clank-
ing chains working about the great
American Capitol was both demoraliz-
ing and disgusting. Thereafter the ef-
forts Of the chaingang were confined
to outlaying sections of the District.
The workhouse Is now a thing of
the past In its place is the District
reformatory at Occoquan, Va. But
few of the former regular boarders
at the Hotel Stoutenburgh," as It
was termed many years ago, are liv-
ing, The "Big fWedeI" s.Cryfng John"