IN THE PRISONERS’ AID FIELD
PRISONERS’ AID
WORK IN CALIFORNIA
The San Francisco Post reports that:
“A statement of the work of the California prison commission during the past year shows that a remarkable number of men and women, who have been released from prison, have been given employment by this organization through the good work that is being accomplished at Golden Rule Hall. At this place those who have been discharged from prison are provided for until suitable employment is found for them.
“During the past year 465 have been placed in positions, an average of nine a week. Of these 26 were over 60 years of age, and four over 80. Fourteen consumptives were placed either in positions of light employment or in homes or hospitals. More than 200 were sent direct from prison to employment; others, who were either invalids, cripples, or aged, were temporarily boarded at Golden Rule Hall. Another good office of the commission is to look after the wives and children of prisoners.
“All of this work has entailed a great deal of expense. The building and equipment of Golden Rule Hall, to take the place of the building that was destroyed by fire, has put the organization into debt. An appeal is being made to the public to lessen this difficulty, and to help along an institution that is doing much toward preventing a repetition of crimes by ex-convicts.”
As to the renovation of San Quentin prison, the Post says:
“Within a few months the new 800-room concrete and steel cellhouse now in course of construction at San Quentin prison will be completed.
“The building is a prison within a prison, and is a class A structure, 600 feet in length and 60 feet in height. The cells are built in the center of the structure and run its full length. There are four tiers with 200 cells on a tier. Four hundred of these cells are separated by steel bars and are so arranged that twenty-five may be bolted at the same time. Eight hundred prisoners may be locked up three minutes after they reach the inside of the prison.
“The walls and the cells of the new prison are built of reinforced concrete and in every foot of concrete steel bars are laid, running parallel and perpendicular, making it impossible for a prisoner to cut through at any point of his cell.
“All the steel and iron work was turned out by the prisoners. Every part of the new building was manufactured and erected by prison labor. The roof of the structure is of copper and slate and has been pronounced by experts to be of the finest workmanship. The inside is finished with plaster and so clever is the workmanship that it resembles enamel work.
“Work is now being done on a wall sixty feet high and six feet thick by the prisoners. This will surround the cellhouse. Upon completion an electric light plant and heating apparatus will be installed.
“Warden Hoyle plans when the new cellhouse is ready for occupancy to put his new grading system into execution. The new prison will house all the first termers and they will not mingle with second and third term convicts. Each grade will have a separate yard and under the first grade the prisoners will wear a uniform.
“The second termers will be together and wear a different kind of a uniform. The third grade will consist of life termers and hardened criminals. These will wear stripes.
“The first-grade prison will be known as the reformatory, and at any time a prisoner’s deportment is bad he will be sent into the second-grade prison.”
SUPPORTING A
GOOD WARDEN
The Prisoners’ Aid Society of Baltimore has recently taken up the cudgels for the retention in office of Charles A. Hook, warden of the Baltimore city jail. A letter to the mayor of Baltimore details some of the improvements effected by Warden Hook.
“The citizens of Baltimore have every reason to be proud of this their one definite penal institution. It has reached an excellence of administration and a physical condition that place it easily among the foremost institutions of similar nature throughout the country. The improvements have been very marked, and from simply a correctional and detentional institution it has been transformed into a place of real helpfulness and reformation.
“This state of efficiency is the direct result of the wise, practical and broad-spirited administration of its warden, Mr. Charles A. Hook. Warden Hook is a student of criminology. He has taken advantage of every opportunity to meet the wardens of other institutions and gathered from these conferences that which would be helpful to his own administration.
“It is becoming more and more evident that the administration of a penal institution should be as scientifically based as the administration of a medical infirmary, and no greater boon can be conferred for the welfare of the municipality than the removal of this office from political influence.
“To state concretely some of the very many improvements of this institution I would name the following:
“The addition of 328 new concrete cells for men and women, with all modern improvements for hygiene and sanitation.
“New hospital and operating room in the main building.
“A library for the prisoners.
“New hot water system for bathing purposes.
“New beds made especially in the institution for the purpose of extreme cleanliness.
“New sterilizing plant for infected clothing.
“New baths and clothes rooms for prisoners.
“New four-story workshop, of brick and cement.
“New jail workshop, where articles used by the prisoners are made.
“The substitution of machinery for the hands of the prisoners in the bakeshop.
“In the moral features of the institution:
“No official is now allowed to strike a prisoner except in self-defense.
“All cases of infringement of rules are settled by the warden himself.
“Dark cells and shower baths for punishment abolished.
“All prisoners have the ear of the warden and he gives every Sunday morning to visitation and the consideration of personal requests and grievances.
“Prisoners working in the shops with sentences of three months or over are allowed one-fourth of their earnings, one-half payable during confinement and the remainder on release.
“Through the personal interest of the warden and his assistants a large share of the amount earned by the prisoners during confinement is paid to their families.
“The definite result of these marked improvements in the physical condition and the moral and spiritual administration is very apparent in the number of inmates who are brought to realize the possibilities of a better life through reformation, and by this specific work the population of the jail is smaller than it has been in past years.
“Every co-operation and sympathy have been granted the work of the Prisoners’ Aid Association by Warden Hook and his assistants, and through this co-operation a splendidly large number of men and women are being returned to society law-abiding and self-respecting.”