| Number reported visits to the Eastern Penitentiary | 462 | ||
| Number reported interviews with the inmates | 7882 | ||
| Number reported interviews with inmates of the County Prison | 5110 |
These figures indicate activity, interest, sympathy, encouragement, and yet they are inconclusive. That some hearts have been touched, that some men and women have been reclaimed, we do not doubt. The seed has been sown, and often it seems like casting seed upon the waters. The men are here today and they are gone tomorrow. Many of the interviews are brief and are confined to a word of cheer or the ordinary greetings of the day; at other times way opens to point to a better way of life. Every year the efforts of some of the bearers of good tidings result in accessions to the Church.
Members of our Committee have also visited the prisons in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Doylestown, West Chester, Bellefonte, Media, Allentown and York. Some of these prisons receive regular visits and the reported results are gratifying.
Several Members of the Committee hold religious services at our prisons.
POLICE MATRONS.
Over thirty years ago, our Acting Committee began to urge that matrons should be employed at the Police Stations in order to care for the women and children who might be arrested or who might ask for assistance. A few matrons were at first appointed in some of the districts where there seemed to be especial need of such help, but at this time nearly every Station House in the city has secured the services of such an official.
Our Committee on Police Matrons constitute our delegation to the Associated Committee of Women on Police Matrons, an organization which meets in the offices of the Society on the second Wednesday of each month. The members of this Association make regular visits to the Matrons, and co-operate with them in their work. They endeavor to secure improved accommodations in the Stations and also to supply the immediate needs of the unfortunate ones who are brought to these Stations either for shelter or for trial. The following associations each send three delegates to compose this body.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
The Young Women’s Christian Association.
The Mother’s Club.
The Philomusean Club.
St. Paul’s Aid Society.
Married Women’s Sodality of Gesu Church.
Hathaway Shakespeare Club.
The Pennsylvania Prison Society.
MEETING OF WARDENS.
At the meeting of the Acting Committee, held September 20, 1917, the Secretary was authorized to issue invitations in co-operation with The Prison Reform League to the wardens and prison officials of the Eastern and Central counties of the Commonwealth to hold a conference on the Glen Mills Farms on the fourth and fifth of October. The consent of Supt. Nibecker, of the Boys’ Department, and of Martha P. Falconer, Superintendent of the Girls’ Department, had been previously obtained. The co-operation of these two officials contributed largely to the success of this meeting, which was the first of the kind held in the State. It was attended by forty persons, a number which exceeded our expectations. It was concluded to form a permanent organization to meet annually and to discuss and formulate methods of penal administration. A full account will be found in the Annual Journal. (See pages 26-37.)