Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-02-06
Montgomery County Jail Found
Clean, Apparently Well Kept
Commissioner Shaw and Sheriff Former
Defend 1t as Best in MARYLAND
BY FRANCIS P. DOUGLAS.

OeTenO III as DeSt IN
BY FRANCIS p. DOUGLAS.
Following recent report by Fed
eral prison inspectors that the con-
dition Of the Montgomery County
Jail is poor" and that the institu-
ton ranks sixth among % similar
jails In the State, a reporter for The
Star made firsthand survey OF
the alleged conditions. He found
that the jail is clean and shows nc
indication of neglect, although some
Of the inspectors observations are
borne out.
Explanations given the reporter by
Jail officials for some of the criticism
leveled at the institution seem to be
logical.
The chief points in the inspectors
report concerned the feeding of the
prisoners, the number of juveniles
held In the Jail, the visiting wickets
which are unscreened, bed in the
kitchen where the inspectors be-
lieved 1t likely "the night Waterman
spends most Of his time" lack OF
privacy for women prisoners, good
but neglected equipment, and find
ing that the warden apparently
stands in awe Of the prisoners.
After he had completed his in
quiry the reporter sought a state
ment from Lacy Shaw, member OF
the Board of Commissioners, for
an omcial reaction to the report
MIR. Shaw said:
We've got the best jail in the
State Of Maryland, don't care what
anybody says. It's run In first-class
shape. I invite the inspection Of
anybody"
Invites Reporters Inspection.
Sheriff Robert w. Farmer, with
whom the inquiry started, made q
somewhat similar statement with an
offer to take the reporter to the jail
and show it to him. The offer was
accepted.
The jail is on the fourth, or top
floor of the County Courthouse at
Rockville. 1t was completed in 1881
Sheriff Farmer has charge of the
Jail, and under him. and in direct
supervision, is the warden, Joseph
e. Monkey, who has been warden
since 1929. Mr.. Monkeys employ
ment dates from the days of the old
jail, before the new county structure
was built. There is a Waterman,
Hugh Walker. who has been en-
Iployed eight years.
Both Mr.. Monkey and Mr.. Walker
retained their jobs when Mr.. Farmer
became sheriff two years ago. Be-
fore his election, Mr.. Farmer, whose
home is in Redland, had been a
commissioner with responsibility for
county buildings, which included the
jail.
Concerning the feeding Of pris-
oners, the inspectors found it signi-
ficant enough to mention that the
food bill for a year was $3,491, or
about half the total cost Of opera
ton, which was $7,014. The inspec-
tors figured that on basis Of 10,93e
prisoner-days, the average daily
food cost per prisoner was 31.9 cents
Mr.. Monkey said at one time he
was restricted to SO cents a day per
prisoner for food, but If the cost
had been increased he did not know
of 1t One of the sheriff's deputies
said the figure formerly had been
1913 cents a day, but that in recent
years the commissioners had bud
geted an amount deemed sufficient
to cover the food costs without set
ting any limit.
Cost Is Regarded Favorable.
A cost of 31.9 cents day is re-
gard in a favorable light by COM
parison with the much higher feed
ing costs in Prince Georges County
Formerly the food was purchased
on bids obtained by County Pur-
chasing Agent Frank I. Davis. Mr.
Davis said the contract was award
ed then on the. basis Of discounts
from list prices. When rationine
rules were instituted, he said, II
was impossible to get bids, and
food was purchased from a chain
store. When this was found to be
unsatisfactory, the purchasing wa.
switched to William Smith, who has
. general store about 3 miles from
Gaithersburg.
+ Mr.. Moxley telephones orders to
the Smith store and deliveries are
made once week. Mr.. Smith ex-
hibited the order tickets for De-
cember, which totaled $307.5O
Vouchers for the same AMOUNTS
were found later In the ONCE d
County Auditor Alexander x Han
cock.
The reporter asked Mr.. Smith
whether he took part In politics
He replied he had not done SO for
about 10 years" since the Fusion
party and, he added, "They have
. hard time getting me to vote. :
Prisoners Meals Described.
Mr.. Walker, the watchman, de-
scribed these meals given the pris-
oners: Saturday breakfast, eggs, q
half loaf Of bread per man, coffee;
Sunday breakfast, hot dogs, bread,
syrup and coffee; Saturday supper,
beef stew and bread. Each prisoner
gets . half Loaf Of bread ct each
meal. Mr.. Monkey said two pint