Evening star., 1933-07-12
Police Superintendent Visits
Justice Department on
Penitentiary Change.
|SEEK DEFICIENCY FUNDS
FOR CONSTRUCTING WALL
Public Welfare Board Officials Plan
to Obtain Money From
Congress.

Maj. Ernest w. Brown. superintendent
Of police, visited the Department Of
Justice today to rush preparations for
shipping to Federal prisons approx
mately IS Of the rlalcontents at Lorton
Reformatory now locked in cells there.
Maj. Brown said the police would
assist guards at the reformatory in
transferring the men from the reserva-
ton and that he expected arrange
ments would be complete in time TO
send out the first batch tomorrow.
He said most of those to be sent
away would go to the Federal Peni-
tentiary at Atlanta, Ga, and that some
of them would go 10 the new peni-
tentiary at Lewisburg, Pa.
Plans for removing the prisoners
from Lorton were discussed at a con-
ference earlier in the day between Mai
Brown, Commissioner Reichelderfer and
officials of the Board of Public We'll
fare
Six members of the metropolitan
police force will augment the guards
who will accompany the group of pris-
oners to be transferred to the Atlanta
Federal Penitentiary
Maj. Brown announced he would keep
his special detail of policemen on duty
at Lorton until all of the ringleaders
OF the recent disturbances had been re-
moved to either Atlanta or LeWisburg.
The detail consists of II officers 10 of
whom constitute the Police Departments
gas squad These officers have been on
duty continuously at the reformatory
since Saturday
Seek Deficiency Funds.
The Board Of Public Welfare is pre-
pairing to go to Congress at its next
session for deficiency appropriation
for completing construction of a wall
around small section of the District
Reformatory at Lorton, Va.
We do not anticipate any trouble
getting the money We need" said Judge
Michael M. Doyle. chairman of the
boards Penal Committee. An emer-
gency like that We recently passed
lutte need for the rapid construction of
the wall"
According to Judge Doyle. work on
the wall will start Immediately. 1t will
be financed with approximately $4,000
, from last years appropriation, which
remains uneXpended. and with approxi-
mately $4,000 diverted from other
construction work which the beard con-
tempIated at Lorton this year.
Dormitories Sheived.
The diversion will mean the shelving
OF proposed construction of two dor
mltorles, barn and a fruit cellar
The committee is not willing to pass
up the dormitory construction because
| of crowded conditions at the dormito-
ries now, but it considers construction
OF the wall an emergency affair which
cannot be delayed any longer
Congress had been asked for S10O 900
for continuing construction Of the
walled group" set up for prisoners
not amenable to the comparatively un-
restricted atmosphere at Lorton. but
this was EN- nated OF the grounds OF
/ economy. There was cCnie talk Of ask
ing tor az allotment from the public
works administration fer construction
OF the wall, but the public works Sec
ton of the national recovery act pro-
hlbits the use of convict labor and
prison authorities do not like the idea
of assembling a large number of free
workers for labor at the institution
Under present plans all of the work,
with the possible exception of construct
ing the electrically equipped gate, will
be done by prison labor The bricks
to go in the wall are made at the kilns
at Occoquan, short distance south Of
Lorton.
To Occupy 10 Acres.
Judge Doyle emphasized that the
walled section, which has been under
construction for the past two years. will
occupy only 10 acres of the 1000 acres
on the Lorton reservation 1t will be
used exclusively for those prisoners who
will not behave according to the simple
rules prevailing under the honor sys-
tenn" on the rest of the reservation.
Two of the cell blocks in what will
eventually be the walled group now
hold LOG such prisoners rounded up
when rebellion threatened at Lorton
last week over the resignation of its
superintendent, A. c. Tawse.