Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1919-06-18
Report on EdgeHeld County
Chaingang.

Report on EdgeEsld SouLiiy
Changing.
Mr.. T. C. Broadwater, foreman.
Visited May 16, 1919, by Assistant
Secretary Broyles, after conference
with the Supervisor. IS negroes on
the gang, of whom 9 were TRUSTEES.
Camped ~ miles from Edgefield, just
off the new Dixie Highway construc-
ton.
Since our 1918 inspection the Su-
pervisor and Commissioners have i'm
proved conditions at the camp very
greatly by acting upon our recon-
mendation regarding the cooking ar
rangements. A good stove has been
bought, and placed upder new tent
of ample size to shelter it and the eX-
ira stores of food. This has raised the
county's score materially. In addition,
the Supervisor has furnished paint
and had convict work over the steel
cage on the outside to protect it
from weather. We commend the au-
thorities for these improvements.
This is one of the very few gangs
in South Carolina on which the score
earned my the Commissioners for
equipment provided is higher than
the score earned by the foreman for
active management. The general
average of all gangs-5S of them
in 1918 shower the foreman scoring
nearly 80 points higher than the
Commissioners, principally because
the foreman can adopt most of our
suggestions for the betterment of
conditions at no expense while the
Commissioners cannot. In Edgefeld
the Commissioners score 345 points
out of possible 500, while the fore
mans score is sos. In this report we
are not making any specific recon-
mendations to the Commissioners, be-
cause of the expense they went to
last year in meeting our suggestions,
but we offer below suggestions OF
needed charges to the foreman, in
hope that he will adopt them and
raise his score for next year as the
Commissioners did theirs for this
year.
The first weakness in active man.
agement is of the disposal of waste
of various forms. To care for the
contents of the tub which should be
placed upder the cage each night for
the comfort and health of the men
pit should be dug at least $50 yards
from camp, into which pit the tub
should be emptied early each morn
ing, the waste being Immediately
covered about three inches with
earth, and the pit being burned out
weekly with straw and oil. Three or
four inches of water, with a little
kerosene oil on top of it, should be
put into the tub when it is put under
the cage, to prevent flies laying their
eggs there. The slop barrel should be
required kept tightly covered always,
and the stable should be raked out
daily, the manure piled until the end
of the week, and then hauled away
and scattered, to prevent flies breed
ing in the compost, as they do by the
thousands in the present lot and sta
BILE. The second point needing correc-
tion is the matter of personal hy-
giene among the men themselves.
Two men should never be allowed to
battle in the same water, but each
should be required to get separate
water for his weekly bath. Each new
prisoner should be given clean blan-
kets, which could be done very easily
by having a rule that each convict
finishing his sentence must wash his
blankets thoroughly before being dis
charged from the camp. All blankets
in use should be washed regularly at