GENERAL AGENT’S REPORT 1911.
To the Acting Committee of The Pennsylvania Prison Society:
With the close of another year, your General Agent takes pleasure in making the following report:
Regular visits have been made to the Eastern Penitentiary and all the prisoners received at the institution during the year were visited, and with the consent of the officials I have written letters to relatives of many of the prisoners, some of whom had not written home for years.
Regular visits have been made to Moyamensing Prison and to Philadelphia County Prison at Holmesburg. Over 6,000 prisoners have been visited and more than 600 assisted with room rent, board and lodging, railroad tickets, tools, car-fare and employment, etc.
Your General Agent has made daily visits to the Central Police Courts and to the cells at City Hall. During the year, 1911, 1,238 letters were written by him to relatives and friends of those under arrest, by whose assistance or advice, bail was secured in many cases, and in other cases a discharge was obtained. During the month of December, 181 letters were written at City Hall, as follows:
| Letters | sent | to | prisoner’s | mother | 44 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | father | 17 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | sister | 32 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | brother | 24 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | wife | 26 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | aunt | 8 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | uncle | 2 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | husband | 2 |
| “ | “ | “ | “ | friend | 26 |
| “ | written during December, 1911 | 181 | |||
I will mention a few of the cases to show the importance of the work of the Agent at City Hall.
No. 1.—A young man from Martinsburg, W. Va., arrested for being on the streets without a home; the Magistrate held him for ten days to give me an opportunity to look into the case. I learned that he had been from home eighteen months. I wrote to his family and obtained his discharge. He wrote on his arrival home:—