Evening star., 1936-09-22
EXCESS PRISONERS
SLEEP ON FLOORS
AT DISTRICT JAIL
RepuIsive Conditions Neces-
sary as Population Sets
New Record.
POSSIBILITY OF DISEASE
EPIDEMIC is FEARED
Control Would Be Virtually I'm.
possible Due to Lack of
Facilities.
BY JAMES z. CHINN.

bl JAMES 4. CHlNN.
Population records at the District
Jail were shattered today as a result
of sudden increase of 1873 prisoners,
sentenced by the courts for law viola
tions over the last week end.
Overcrowded long before the in
crease, the Jail literally Is bulging un-
der the strain Of the latest influx.
The population now has reached an
unprecedented total of 812. Cells are
jammed far beyond capacity, the pris-
IN pen. One hundred and seventy
three of them slept on the floor last
night because there was no other
place to sleep.
Only once in recent years has the
jail population even approached its
present peak. That was two years
ago, when the total reached 778.
Relief from the present situation
is not Immediately in sight. Ordi-
narily the Jail population f1uctuates
from day to day and week to week as
prisoners are transferred either to the
u
house at Occoquan.
Other Places Overcrowded.
But the work house is overcrowded,
too. A similar situation exists at the
reformatory. Work house officials have
sent word to T. M. Rives, superintend-
ent of the Jail, that space will be
available there this week for not more
than 80 of his inmates. Nearly all Of
the 1873 new prisoners are tagged for
work house terms.
The most serious condition at pres
ent exists in the north cell block Of
the jail, where men committed for
such misdemeanors as intoxication
and disorderly conduct are quartered.
Conditions are nearly as bad in the
south cell block which houses the men
sentenced to death in the electric chair
and others who are charged with fell
onieS and are awaiting trial or action
on appeals from court verdicts, etc.
The women's dormitorieS at the jail
likewise are taxed beyond capacity.
There are 228 men packed into the
small cells in the south cell block,
which had designed capacity for
| 1872. Including the 1873 new arrivals.
there are nearly $50 in the north cell
block, which has accommodations for
1913. The women's dormitories, where
there are l04 prisoners, was con-
structed for a capacity Of "a. Until
recently 80 of these women we're
forced to sleep on the floor. Double
| deck instead of single cots were
pressed into use to remedy this
situation.
But in the cell blocks where the
men are locked behind barred cages,
there is little that can be done to
improve conditions. The cells are too
small to accommodate any more
| hunks or cots. AS result the surplus
| prisoners are given a straw mattress
and assigned to space on the floor.
| Repulsive conditions prevail in some
of these cells. In one of them are
nine men, all suffering from a social
disease, cramped in a space about the
size of modern apartment Kitchen
ette. Four sleep on the floor; the
others on hunks suspended from the
wall or cot in corner.
Epidemic Fear Present.
Serious disease epidemics have
broken out under conditions not as bad
as those now existing at the jail. So
far the institution has been fortunate.
In the event of a contagious disease
outbreak, however, it would be virtu-
ally impossible to isolate the victims
or cope with the situation. There
are only 16 rooms in the infirmary
for the treatment of isolation of
the sick.
The daily average population of the
jail has nearly doubled in the last
10 years, and penal officials look for
no decrease in the next decade, but
rather a substantial increase. No
accommodations, however, have been
added, except a wing on the east,
which was built in 1927 to house the
women prisoners.
The daily population Of the Jail,
of course, has grown with the increase
in commitments. A statistical table
prepared by Supt. Rives graphically
reveals the growth. In 1917 there
were 1902 commitments, with a daily
average population of 213. In 1927
the commitments totaled 1926 and
the daily average population 416. In
the last fiscal year there we're 1920
commitments. and a daily average
population of 586, which was exceeded
only once in that 19-year period, in
the 1885 fiscal year, when the COM
mitments reached 20,85l and the
daily average population 565.
Costs Rise.
| Similarly the cost of operating and
maintaining the jail has increased,
as we'll as the per capita cost. In
1927 the appropriations totaled
$53,250. The per capita cost was
$245.30 q year. For the last fiscal
year the appropriations amounted to
$l67,692 and the per capita cost
| $286.16.
Supt. Rives has asked the Com
missioners to approve an item in his
budget for the coming year of ST.
300, 900 to build a new and modern
Jail on site In the vicinity of the
present Home for the Aged and In
firm at Blue Plains, D. c. The build
| ing. he believes, should have accom-
modations for at least 1000 prisoners
to meet the anticipated population in
crease in future years.
For many reasons Supt. Rives Is
opposed to any more to modernize
and enlarge the present jail The
main part Of the present building. he
| Doif1ts out was erected in 1878 and
its modernization and enlargement
probably would cost more than a new
and up-to-date building. He also be-
lieves the jail should be located IN
an outlying section. The present jail
was, when it was built so years ago,
but in the meantime thickly settled
residential section has developed al
/ x,.nrI To ifc frnr.k dnnr