A Jail Catechism.—The following recommendations, made by Commissioner Frank Wade, of the New York Commission on Prisons, after an inspection of the Orleans County jail, may have a general applicability to the jails of the county:
“That more beds and mattresses be placed in the lockup; that tramps and loafers, not under arrest, be not allowed to mingle with the prisoners detained for trial; that a jail yard be provided at the county jail, and that work be provided for time prisoners; that all the beds in the jail be equipped with new mattresses; that the walls of the corridors and cells be repainted and that the corridors and cells be kept clean; that the bed clothing be regularly washed and kept clean, in which event sheets and pillow cases should be washed; that a steel ceiling be placed over the wooden joists in the kitchen; that there be light in every cell and that there be a new lock on every floor which cannot be reached or tampered with by the prisoners.”
A Court On Prison Architecture.—In the course of a decision denying an injunction brought to hold up the contract for a new state prison, Justice Betts of the New York Supreme Court, recently uttered the following dictum dealing with the psychological aspects of prison architecture:
“It appears that a substantial change in plans was made, increasing the cost of the new prison from $2,000,000 to $2,200,000. This was solely in an attempt to beautify and adorn the exterior of the building. The commission, with the sanction of the legislature, is to spend $200,000 in seeking the unattainable. A prison known to be such is hideous and ugly. It can be viewed by two classes of people only, those who are inmates and those who are out. The inmates are not proud of their environments, however ornate, and no amount of embellishment can make it attractive to outsiders.”
A state training school for boys under 18 has just been opened at Monroe, Alabama. It has been in preparation for several years.
Federal Prisoners Paroled Without Publicity.—In accordance with the decision of the attorney general of the United States and the chairman of the federal board, prisoners who have won their paroles from federal prisons will hereafter be released without publicity. Thus they can go back into society unburdened with the disadvantage of readvertised notoriety. Commenting editorially on this change, the Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer says: