The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-08
.k|LBY PRISON |s
 HIGHLY PRA|SED ]
South Carolina Prison Off, calls Get Ideas For New
 Penitentiary
STATE CAPITAL BUREAU l
 THE AGE-HEK.ALD ! Monteomery, Ata., Dee, .

Montgomery. Ata.. Dec.
 A. M. Scarborough, warden of the South Carolina state penitentiary at Columbia, and D. G. Ellison and A, II. Hawkins, members of the board of directors of the institution, were in Montgomery today for an inspec- ticn of kilby prison. which was the objective of their visit to Alabama
 We expected to find the last word in modern prison construction and equipment, and we found it." said Warden Scarborough, after a trip over the prison. "A layman, un- trained in such matters, would not unobserve the full difference, but as l went over Kilby prison I was con- tinually noting things which you have there, and which I should have" he added. "kilby prison de- serves to rank among the foremost institutions of its kind in America.
 A new penitentiary is contem- plated for South Carolina, to replace the present structure at Columbia, which is pronounced very old and dilapidated, and the South Carolina officials came to Alabama to bene- fit from what has been accomplished d here in prison construction. and also to look into the penal system.
 O O 2
 Works $50 Prisoners.
 At the South Carolina state peni- tentiary there are approximately $50 prisoners. part of whom are worked at a flber-craft furniture establish ment with very satisfactory results, the annual sales being around s40o-- 000 averaging about S1.70 gross in- come per convict, MT. Scarborough stated. These results are accom- plished under what appears to be very adverse conditions for a state warden, owing to provisions of the South Carolina penal system, as ex- plained by MT. Scarborough He stated that when a sentence is i'm posed in South Carolina, the ques- ton of what disposition is made of the convict is left with county off cials, who can either turn him over to the state or work him on the road gangs maintained by most of the counties.
 The result of this system is that the counties keep the prisoners wh , are in the best physical condition and of the best disposition and send to the state penitentiary the blind crippled and fEcorri gible individuals, '' he stated. The disposition of pris- oners is left with the counties, no matter what the sentence may be, the warden stated.
 Speaking of condition of prisoners in South Carolina, Warden Scar borough stated that the lease sys- tenn does not exist there, and that use of the lash is forbidden by the state. He mentioned, however, that the county convicts, which comprise the best of the lot, are still kept in iron cages and forced to sleep shackled to chain, amidst most un- sanitary surroundings, while the in corrtgible type of prisoner goes to the state pen.
 Business Conditions Good.
 In addition to the furniture fac tory. Warden Scarborough operates for the state two cotton farms, which produced between 200 and 250 bales of cotton this year. He remarked in passing that business conditions in South Carolina are good, with a fine cotton crop this year.
 In speaking of the new prison planned for South Carolina. Mr. Scarborough stated that he did not believe in going to an extreme in providing for prisoners. We do not want boarding school or hotel for Gilapidated criminals such as would encourage northern crooks to come south and rob our banks" he statel. He contrasted the favorable condi- tions enjoyed by some convicts to- day with the hard lot of their famf- lies back home, touching on this as one of the big problems of the gen eral convict situation. The South Carolinians were to leave Saturda V morning for Columbia.
 GOVERNOR GRANTS PAROLE l, Gov. W. w. Brandon today granted | parole to Joe J. Lewis, sentenced from Houston county for possessing. still September :. 1922, and who received sentence of two to four years. The records showed that the prisoner is Sl years of age and was wounded in the Confederate service. A full pardon was granted Edgar N. Quick who was sentenced from