Evening star., 1939-03-07
AIcatraz Warden
Confers With Bennett
On Too|proof Bars
Hopes for Appropriation
To Check Attempts to
Escape Penitentiory

James A. Johnston, the banker
who became prison warden, ad-
mitted out of his wide experience
with bad men yesterday that there
is no way to keep prisoners from
trying to break out Of prison. So
he had come to Washington to con-
fer on adding new supposed tool
the American bad mems capital,
Alcatraz, of which Mr.. Johnston is
in charge.
Warden Johnston and James v.
Bennett, director of the Federal Bu-
reau of Prisons, are seeking 5000 900
from Congress to buy additional
window guards for the prison in
San Francisco Bay. The attempted
escape in January which resulted in
the death of Arthur doc" Barker
famous desperate, decided the pris-
on officials on their move.
Hoped" 1t Was Escape-Proof.
1--WE never did claim Alcatraz was
escape proof" Mr.. Johnston said at
a press conference. 1--WE only hoped
it was" Since the prison was
opened in 1884, only two prisoners
have left the island, and there is
some doubt whether they reached
the opposite shore.
But" Mr.. Johnston said, I'VE
know that anything the ingenuity
of man devises the ingenuity of
man will tear down. There's no last
word in prison construction. We are
going to put in more window guards
because in January the men got out
of their cells through the windows
Now if they get through one guard.
they will have another guard con-
fronting them
The guards are steel bars. How
the five men in the attempted jan
uary escape got through the bars,
Mr.. johnson said he had never dis
covered. Mr.. Bennett said that the
prisoners would hardly tell, because
they had nothing to gain from i'm
parting information to the officials
Other Sentences Awaiting.
They're all wanted somewhere
else" Mr.. Johnston said. When
one Of those fellows gets finished
serving his 99-year sentence with us
he's got couple of sentences in
other States to satisfy. There's no
reason for him to talk much about
the escape"
Mr.. Johnston began his adult life
as lawyer. In 1912 he became war
den of Folsom Prison, California
and in 1913 warden of San Guen-
tin, another California institution.
In 1925 he resigned to become vice
president of the American Trust Co
in San Francisco. In 1888 the De-
partment of Justice chose him to be
warden of Alcatraz.
When he was asked whether he
liked banks or prisons better, he
said: We'll, it's hard to say. You
learn to say no in both places"
He looks a good deal more like a
banker than warden.
Personnel First.
The steel bars are less important
than trained personnel Mr.. John.
ston said. Alcatraz, with a popula-
ton of from 300 to 400, is the place
where the most desperate of Fed
eral prisoners are sent It is a
prison of maximum custody and
minimum privileges, Mr.. Johnston
said. But he added:
1--WE try for fair dealing. We
permit no cruelties and no abuses
no vindictiveness. We don't have
anything extraordinary in the way
of dungeons and dark cells that you
won't find in any other prison."
The warden was unwilling to talk
about AL Capone, the most famous
alumnuS of Alcatraz, now that the
ex-Chicago gangster has been trans
ferred from that prison. He said
that since psychiatrists were uncer-
tain about Capone's mental state,
he would hesitate to discuss it him.
self. Mr.. Johnston is now on his
way back to San Francisco, having
left here last night.