The inspectors refer with satisfaction to the new building of concrete construction containing one hundred and twenty cells “now rapidly nearing completion,” and say “the plumbing, steam fitting and electrical work needed is under the care of experts, and furnishing the opportunity of training many of our inmates for future positions of usefulness and trust.”
Report is made that the library now contains 12,057 bound volumes, 852 of them in foreign languages, and that 66,887 books were taken out by the prisoners in the course of the year. A bookbinding and printing room affords employment to several prisoners; 1,419 books were bound and 743,248 pages of matter were printed for the various purposes of the penitentiary.
A school has been maintained for those classed as “illiterates,” and instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic given to 346 prisoners. The inspectors acknowledge the honor done them “by the visits of distinguished representatives of the prison systems and state departments of the nations of Europe, Asia and South America, with others of Canada and our own country, who were in attendance at the recent International Prison Congress in Washington.”
Grateful recognition is also made of “the valuable services of the visitors of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, the American Society for Visiting Catholic Prisoners, the Protestant Episcopal City Mission and the Prisoners’ Guild of the King’s Daughters, contributing to the comfort, encouragement and upbuilding of the prisoners,” and especial mention is made of the services of the Pennsylvania Prison Society in providing clothing for those prisoners in need at the time of their discharge.
The cost of maintenance for the year 1910 is reported as $99,296.70, and the following is presented as “Account With Convicts for 1910”:
| Dr. | Cr. | |
| Balance to credit of convicts January 1, 1910 | $11,644 96 | |
| Sent in by relatives and friends | 20,798 33 | |
| Brought in by convicts on reception | 1,013 81 | |
| Earned by over work | 13,084 88 | |
| Allowance | 426 00 | |
| Profit and loss | 1 39 | |
| Paid to convicts on discharge | $5,939 61 | |
| Sundry goods, shoes, etc. | 3,564 09 | |
| Paid relatives and friends | 19,249 22 | |
| Paid for tobacco, tooth brushes, soap, etc. | 6,554 32 | |
| Balance due convicts January 1, 1911 | 11,662 13 | |
| $46,969 37 | $46,969 37 |
REVIEW OF THE BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE INSPECTORS OF THE STATE PENITENTIARY FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR THE YEARS 1910-1911.
This report is contained in a pamphlet of one hundred and sixteen pages, of which about twenty pages are devoted to a historical account of the institution.
It appears that the first buildings were completed November 22, 1827, and on the supposition that very soon after prisoners were received at the institution, its penal history covers more than eighty-three years.