Evening star., 1925-08-02
Worlds Best Penal Institution Will Soon Serve Washing

AAShbiCAls uuTlHB the winter is pro
duced in this manner. None of the
meat Is smoked or cured
For the last six years the reforrna.
tory has provided all the other Dis
trfct penal institutions with $500
pounds OF fresh pork for Christmas
and Thanksgiving dinners. A flock
of 1000 White Leghorn and Plymouth
Rock hens and pullets is the source
of the egg supply. The inmates
feed and care for these and master
the complexities of this branch Of
agriculture. More than 70 horses
and mules are worked on the two
prison farms. These animals are all
pensioners which We're sent from the
District fire department stations and
otherIransportation stables in pave
ment-Sore condition.
All the animals have resDonded
kindly to work on the soft soil under
farm conditions. They now possess
average good market value, whereas
when they first came TO the farms.
they were so crippled in most cases
that they would have sold for ONLY
a few dollars apiece.
More than 800 acres of green ve1e
tables are raised annually and eaten
IN either fresh or canned condi-
ton at the two prison farms. The
leading crops are Irish potatoes
sweet potatoes. onions. radishes. TO-
matoes. beans, beets and sweet corn
About every second season a bumper
yield OF watermelons and canteIoupes
also is harvested.
A livestock addition of the future
VIII be flock Of sheep. which will
provide mutton and WOOL and also aid
In cleaning up the land.
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THERE is small and efficient
printing plant at the District
pen" which is run by the inmates
1t does all the printing for the two
institutions and would also be quail
ned to handle much additional work
II some such We're available. New ma
chinery shortly will be installed. so
that all the overalls. shirts, blouses
and underwear used in the District
penal establishments can be made
there. In the years &c come this gar
ment factory will probably provide
everyday clothing for all the Federal
prisons throughout the United States
This goal Will be reached when the
establishment has been organized so
as TO accommodate a permanent and
transient population of 900 inmates
The parole system in operation at
all OF Uncle Sans prisons is also in
force AT the District refornla tory II
simply means that any prisoner who
has made model record for good be
havior during the first one-third of
his sentence may be summoned before
special board and liberated as
parole man" for the remainder of his
term. In the case Of q 20-year man.
this period of probationary release
may begin when he has served six
and two-thirds years. The man is out
fitted with a good suit of clothes
given - in cash, and d position is
secured for him. He has to report
once a month TO Supt Tawse. He
tells how much money he is making.
how he spends it and how he occupies
his spare time. A visiting officer is
liable to call upon him at any time to
check up on the veracity of his month
ly reports.
Usually there are in the neighbor-
mood or 0h To 30 parole men from the
Lorton feformatoi'y working in Wash
ington. Practically all of them are
engaged in trades which they learned
while they lived in the prison. which
has neither walls, fences nor barred
windows and doors. Many of these
men are beginning life anew in the
capacity Of bricklayers. plumbers.
carpenters, gardeners, tailors. BARRIERS
and walters. One of Washington's
leading florists tells about the best
gardener in his employ-a colored
man who served five years al the re-
formatory and while there mastered
the secrets of plant and flower raising.
A half-dozen of the best bakers in
the District served their apprentice
ship in the District bakeshop down
Lorton way. Not one of these men
knew anything about the baking busi-
ness when sentenced to the District
pen They served their terms and
were liberated better able-so far as
a specialized education was concerned
to earn their living than before
their Incarceration.
The bake shop is an outstanding
feature. 1t has one OF the finest ovens
in this country and is capacitated to
turn out 600 pounds of bread to a
charge. The furnace for this huge
oven is in the next room, so that all
chances of dust and dirt penetrating
to the bakery are minimized The in
sulation is so perfect that a fire can
be kindled on Monday to heat the
oven; the fire can then be ouenched:
notwithstanding. a batch of bread
can be baked in the oven the following
Thursday. without the need for start
ing another fire.
A large electric mixer. which han
dies three barrels of flour at a time is
another feature of the culinary depart
ment. Ginger bread, hot biscuits and
johnny cake are served to the inmates
about once a week.
X x =
THE prisoners daily eat $50 eggs,
from 75 to 125 pounds of salt
or fresh meat, three bushels of pota-
toes, 100 pounds of navy beans, so
pounds of macaroni, % pounds Of
cheese, an allowance of vegetable or
bean soup, and bread ad libitum. You
can gain good idea of the fare by
the following menus. which were serv-
ed during the week ending July %:
Breakfast-Rice. fried eggs, bread,
gravy and coffee.
Dinner-Boiled shoulder. potatoeS-
corn bread, green beans. gravy and
coffee.
Supper-Bean soup. bread sirup.
tea and stewed apples
the men now. eat in a temporary
building, the dining room being quite
similar to the mess hall in an army
cantonment during the war Each
man has a cot, mattress. sheets
blankets, pillow and a locker in the
well ventilated dormitory. The health
records of the inmates are most as
tonishing. 1t is indeed rare to find
two men in the hospital at the same
time. During the last nine years four
men have died, one from dropsy, an
other fell off an exercising bar and
broke his neck, while the two others
died from ordinary diseases.
About one-haf of the new buildings
are under construction and will be
completed this Summer. They include
a dozen new dormitories as we'll as a
commodious dining hall. wEicf VIZ.
accommodate 1000 inmates. A quar-
tet. of new shops is also almost fin
iShed.
Four disciplinary dormitories are
also hefnp, con STR ted Thav are sub.