Year: 1876

Tho Highland County Jail.


Five times in succession, the grand


iuries of the county, upon the inspection


which it is their official duty to make, have


reported against the two iron lined cells in


the county jail. In four of their reports


they have said that the confinement of pris-


oners in these cells was inhuman.


The last grand jury that sat in the coun-
ty, in their Jail report say:-''Find an in


sufficient amount of bedding therein; find


the pipe leading to the sewer from the up


per iron cell out of order, creating a very


disagreeable and unhealthy condition"


This makes in the aggregate ninety men,


supposed to be selected because they were


discreet men" who haye thus, upon


actual inspeetisa,s coudenarsed these cells.
They we're not men likely to be troubled
with what some people call ''sickly senti-
mentality, " or with any fanciful sympa-
thies. They were, for the most part, hard
headed, practical men.


Very little seems to be known, even by
persons who pass and repass it every day,
of the interior of this JAIL perhaps from the
natural repugnance that most have to 60
ing about such places. The writer has
thought that it might be, or that at least it
ought to be, of some interest to the people
of the county to know something about


these cells, that have been thus officially
stigmatized, and that they might perhaps
take the information, if they could get it
without the trouble of going to Jail, or to
the jail He has, therefore, made with
some care the measurements necessary for
the following


DESCRIPTION


The jail proper consists of three rooms,
or cells. There were formerly four, but
one was taken by Col. Pope for a cellar,
and is said by him to have answered that
purpose well.


The first cell approached upon going in
to the jail is on the first floor, to the right,
as The hall is entered. To get into the cell
you first open an iron-clad door, which
swings outwardly. There are no apertures
in this door, except the key-hole. You
next open door of heavy iron grating,
which swings inwardly This grating has
an aperture in the upper part, about
eight inches square, through which food is
given to the prisoners. The doorway in
which these doors is fixed is five feet high,
and two feet six inches wide Passing
through this door way, you are in a room
fourteen feet and eight inches long, twelve
feet and six inches wide, and nine feet six
inches high. This cell is completely cased
with iron, except the ceiling and door.
The only window is fourteen inches high
by three feet two inches wide.


The iron which incases the cell is pierced
with holes where it covers the window
These holes are just one inch in diameter
The writer can see to read by bright
But at near mid day, and
when tae sun was brightly .,shisin4, he
could not see to read in this eAl when both
doors were closed, even after the eyes were
used to the imperfect light, unless when
holding the paper very close to the holes
IN the iron over the window.


There is a. sink in. this cell, which con-
nects in some way with a sewer below, and
he conduit from the sink in the cell above
1ou, ac fhroy,sb fb;S oaII ;nto tLo civil =, :.
The coverings to the openings into this
sink are not very tightly fitted. Dampness
md an unwholesome odor pervade the
cell. There is no ventilation excep
through the holes over the window, and the
loor described, and what may result from
,he hole through which the stove-pipe pass
IS in the ceiling. The head of person of
average height, standing upon the iron
aoor, would be above the top of the window,
IS well as the door,


The cell Immediately north of the one
described, on the same floor, is the one
now used as a cellar


Going up the stairs in the hall, and pass
ing to the front of the building in the hall
above, the front cell on the upper floor is
reached. This cell is entered through a |
a doorway of the same dimensions as the |
One below, and has two doors, con-
structed and hung like those of the lower
cell. 1t is also lined with iron throughout, |
except the floor; the ceiling being of iron.
1t is about the same size and general ar
rangement as the one described, except the |
window This window is covered with iron
like the other, pierced with holes of the |
same size. The window, however, is high
er, being three feet high. This furnishes
more light than can reach the cell beneath,
although there is little enough. 1t would
seem that as the window is higher, the ven
tilation would be better than in the lower
cell. But this is not the case, this cell
being worse than the other in this respect !
The cause is probably found in the fact
that the ceiling is of iron, and about air
tight; as well as in the imperfect covering
of the sink.


The third cell is just back of the one
last described, and as to the door, size and
is like the front one, except
that it is not lined with iron. The grating
over the window does not materially cL-
struct the light, and the air in this cell is
much better.


By the law of the land, every person i'm
prisoned, no matter of what crime convict
ed, has right to three things-enough
wholesome food to comfortably sustain
life, and as pure air, and as much sunlight
as can be given, consistent with the secure