Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer., 1922-07-07
COLLEGE GRAD GETS
INSIDE STORY OF.
COUNTY JAIL LIFE.
GOES BEHIND THE BARS TO
LEARN OF LIFE IN COOK
COUNTY PRISoN-FlNDS THAT
MEN WILL SHARE THEIR LAS-
CIGARETTES.

Chicago, July Inmates OF the
Cook county jail will share a last
cigarette, and "a man can share
smoke and eats II he Is liked, even
IL he has no omney,' according Ia
Nels Anderson. a graduate student at
the University OF Chicago. Mr., An.
derson declared in report to Dean
George w. Kirchway OF New York,
director of the Cook county Jail sur.
vey. that while a voluntary prisoner
at the Jail he found cells six by eight
feet in area. and, with provision for
three men, occupied by four or five,
and without much room for two men
10 sleep on the floor"
In polite terms" said Mr.. Anderson
in his reporte, "the medical exami.
nation might be called farce, or else
the doctor was a very efficient man.
He examined thirty or more Of Us In
less than five minutes.
"The old lart of the jail. in which
| spent most of my stay, was very
crowded. Each cell is equipped to
accommodate three men, but there
were four men and sometimes five in
some cells. | was told they were
even more crowded during the win
ter The cells are about six feet by
eight. and after room is taken for a
toilet. a wash bowl and space for a
threedeck bed there Is not mucn
room for two men TO sleep on the
floor EachgprisOner is entitled TO a
mattress aud pillow, which are tHed
with corn husks. About once a mont1
the ticks are emptied and cleaned. a
blanket, towel, sheet and pillow case
are issned TO each man.
Il noted that self-respect with many
men In iaD is very pronounced, an
even in jail there is struggle for
status Offenses against property are
regarded with tolerance. and even
considered praist worthy, but social
offenses are seldom condoned.
The inmates will share a last ciga :
ette. and a man can share smokes
and eats II he is liked, even If hs
has no money. A mans rap seldom
stands In the way OF his efforts to
make friends His rap Is society's ex
cuse for OBTAINING him, but society
means very little to man on the in
side. He isn't concerned with IN
past but with the present and future.
He shapes his altitude by his imiile-
djate contacts with society. He has
no desire to think why the bars ar
placed between him and the street,
"a store is opera ed in connection
with the fail by someone who has that
concession. The prices are not pro
hibitiye. but II seems to me In view
OF the fact that the prisoners do all
the work that roll could be sold for
sass than ) cents and pie for less than
10 cents cut
Had Mr.. Anderson's fellow inmates
known that he was in Jail voluntarily
and that "on the outside" he was q
graduate student of the University OF
Chicago, they would have misinte,-
preted his motives and set upon him
as stool pigeon, he said,
"I1ad they decided ] was q spottef.'
said Mr.. Anderson, "one Of them
wonld have. stepped on my toes, AMI
my resentment would have been the
signal for fight For that reason !
kent my purposes q secret was
forced to thing fast and Invent an ac-
eeptahle story when ON one occasion
/ received special visit in Jail
You see. any kind OF variation
from the old groove arouses discus
sion. One man, while in a. drunken
frenzy, had shot his daughter. He