page of bread sustenance, even for a day, for over one thousand one hundred men, is no trifling affair. We recommend the construction of another oven immediately. There are no roasting facilities whatever, and an improved rotary roasting apparatus could be put to good use. The boiling department consists of four large iron boilers set in mason-work, and capable of holding about two hundred and fifty gallons each. The kitchen and bakery is kept neat and clean. The meats are well cooked, and the bread is light and well baked. Vegetables are abundantly supplied and satisfactorily cooked and put upon the tables. There are one hundred and seven men employed in this department, of which half are Chinamen, who work from seven o'clock forty-five minutes in the morning until three o'clock and fifty minutes in the afternoon, with the exception of half an hour for dinner, from eleven o'clock and twenty minutes until eleven o'clock and fifty minutes. The space occupied by them is about sixty by two hundred and twenty feet, in which, if properly fixed up, double the number could be put to work, as there is now any quantity of space unoccupied in the shop. The amount of work manufactured is, on an average, fifty dozen boots, five dozen brogans, and twelve dozen ladies', misses, and children's shoes per week; also, six dozen prison brogans, for which the State pays one dollar and sixty cents per pair. There are also two first-class boot makers, who do the repairing and custom workwhich is a small income to the contractors. The work that is made is of second-class workmanship, but of very good material; the great fault is, that no prisoner knows the trade when he leaves this place, as he is only taught one or two branches of it. The different branches are: first laster, fitter, pegger, heeler, heel-shaver, edgemaker, bottom-finisher, and finisher, and the cutting and sewing departments. The ventilation in the shop is very good, and there is plenty of light, but it is very cold, and the rain coming through makes it both damp and chilly, there being no warming apparatus in the building. CALIFORNIA FURNITURE MANUFACTURING COMPANY. One of the principal industries at the prison now is the manufacture of furniture by the California Furniture Manufacturing Company. This company employs about two hundred men from the State, at the rate of fifty cents per day. Their different departments in the main working building are well supplied with the most improved machinery, and the character of work turned out embraces every description of furniture, from the plain house furniture to the most elaborate parlor and chamber sets. Directed by skillful mechanics, many of the State men become very skillful in the different branches of the business. Some of the Chinese employed are remarkably clever at fine work, such as delicate carving and polishing. The class of men employed are intelligent, and generally attentive to their duties. Many of the skilled workmen lay up money by working on their own account after the daily task assigned them has been finished. The departments assigned to this company need heating in winter, and we suggest that it be done by the introduction of pipes and worms, to be supplied with steam, of which there is an abundance to spare from the engine. THE LAUNDRY-ITS WORKINGS-PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS, ETC. The wash-house is built of brick, thirty-six feet front and thirtysix feet deep. It is two stories high, divided into four rooms, each thirty-two feet in length by fifteen and one-half feet in width. Room number one is used as a receiving and delivery room; number two, as boiler and wash-room; number three, as ironing-room, and number four, as a drying-room. The yard for drying purposes is (inclusive of the thirty-six feet the wash-house stands upon), one hundred and sixteen by seventy-three feet. There are employed in receiving room (number one), four white men who receive, mark, and distribute all clothing brought by the prisoners employed in the work-shops and other departments inside of the prison walls. Receiving days are Sunday (morning and afternoon), Monday and Tuesday mornings. Delivering days are Saturday (afternoon), Sunday (morningand afternoon), Monday and Tuesday mornings. In boiler and wash-room (number two), one white man is employed to attend boiler. In the yard two white men are employed as hangers-up, who take general charge of the yard and clothing hung up. In ironing-room (number three), one white man is employed to receive and distribute the clothing of the guards and other free per sons. Drying-room (number four), is also used in dry weather as an additional ironing-room. For washing and ironing purposes, only Chinese are employed. Total number in all departments twenty-seven; some assigned to ironing, others to washing, wringing, etc. Number of white men employed, eight; number of Chinese employed, twenty-seven; making a grand total of thirty-five. The wash-house washes for the Captain of the Yard, the Surgeon and his assistant, forty-five guards with and without families, eight families of free men who are employed as foremen in shops, or reside on the Point. This washing must be done in such a manner as to be on a par with washing done in city wash-houses, or complaints are the order of the day. The charges are very liberal, as the following order, issued by the Governor, when Warden, will show: One half dozen bottles indelible ink. One bottle mucilage. One half dozen blotters_ May June July August September October November.. December Total. $33 08 24 56 33 48 Total 25 60 36 72 29 85 Total amount expended for material. Total amount expended for sundries. 26 12 30 76 Grand total____. $240 17 $10 69 15 09 13 97 8 81 15 71 6 78 11.57 14 46 $97 08 $240 17 97 08 Washing is done for at least one thousand (1,000) prisoners, whose clothes are not ironed or starched. Their washing consists of one prison-shirt, and one pair of pants; these are generally (the woolen shirt always), received and delivered at least once a week. About three hundred of the mentioned one thousand have under-clothing, which averages about three pieces to the man. Some have, in one wash, pants, woolen shirt, undershirt, drawers, socks, towel, pillowslip, and occasionally sheets, but, as a general thing, the pieces consist of undershirt, drawers, and towel. They wash for about one hundred prisoners who work outside the walls, in offices, etc., whose clothing is starched and ironed; this includes the female prisoners, at present two in number. Besides the weekly washing for those mentioned, they wash the guards' sheets and pillow-slips once a week, the officer's towels and table-cloths once a day, also wash every Thursday (weather permitting), State blankets and bed-ticks returned by prisoners on their discharge, and likewise wash prisoners' blankets every Friday. Fifty blankets only can be washed at a time, owing to lack of sufficient yard-room for hanging more. At a rough estimate the wash-house is made to do duty for about one thousand one hundred and fifty souls, free and bond, which is more than this department can well perform. The wash-house was originally built to perform work for about seven hundred (700) men, and, in our opinion, the building should be enlarged, and more yard-room allowed. A larger boiler should be put in; the washing-room should be at least twice as large; more wash-vats put in, and a drying-room built. At present they do the work in spurts, having to wait until clothes are dry before they can hang out others; for this reason the Chinamen are idle from twelve o'clock of each day till four o'clock-lock-up time. With enlarged facilities, more work could be done with one-third less men, for then the Chinamen could be kept constantly busy, instead of being idle half the time. FEMALE DEPARTMENT, The story over the offices of the Turnkey and Captain of the Yard is devoted to the female inmates of the penitentiary and is divided into wards of comfortable size, and is quite conveniently arranged, Total received from guards.. Total received from free men. generally, for the present number of occupants, there being, just now, only two. In the rear is a snug little flower-garden, which affords room for exercise, entirely separated from other portions of the yard by a board fence. Everything about the department is tidily kept. The building, however, presents a sorry appearance, and, like many others on the premises, needs extensive repairs, if not entire reconstruction. HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT. The hospital building is situate in the northwest corner of the upper yard and is, in every respect, inadequate for the purposes of the medical department. It is a two-story brick building, the upper portion being divided into two wards, and in the center is a small and inconvenient room which is used for a dispensary. Upon the entrance of the committee, they were greeted by a large pool of water in the center of the room, which came down through the leaky roof over-head. A larger and better appointed hospital and drug department is absolutely necessary. CONTRACT LABOR. It is very important to the interest of the State, and to that of the prisoner, that a character for good discipline and a fair day's lábor by a convict should be well established, to enable the prison authorities to let convict labor to contractors at remunerative rates. Some States have availed themselves of the benefits of such a reputation, and the consequences have been as beneficial as they could desire, and much better for the moral development of the convict than a loose discipline. Aside from this, the safety of the officers and the institution itself depends in a great degree upon it. ་ The State has contracts let, at present, as follows: One with the California Furniture Manufacturing Company, for two hundred convicts; one with Stone & Haydon, tanners and harness manufacturers, for one hundred and twenty-five convicts; one with Porter & Baldwin, shoe manufacturers, for one hundred men. The following is from the report of the Board of Directors of last year: These contracts are all for fifty cents a day, per man, and were for two years from the first of September, eighteen hundred and seventy-four. They consequently have a little over one year to run yet. It is stipulated, however, that the contractor may terminate his contract at any time before the expiration of the two years, by giving notice in writing to the Directors, of his intention, six months prior to the date fixed for carrying his purpose into execution. These contracts aggregate but four hundred and twenty-five men, while the whole number in the prison on the last day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, was one thousand and eighty-eight. A greater number, however, have been employed by the contractors than their contracts stipulate for, they having the privilege of employing a greater number if they desire them, though the State cannot compel them to employ more than their contracts call for, In this connection, it is proper to state that E. Soule & Co., wagon makers, had under contract about thirty men, up to the first of May last, when they gave up their contract. Since that date, the only parties having contracts for convict labor are those mentioned above. Although these parties have had in their employ a greater number of convicts than stipulated for in their contracts, the report of the Turnkey shows that the daily average number of men working for contractors since the abandonment of their contract by Soule & Co., has been under four hundred and twenty-five, the number contracted for. This is accounted for by the fact that of the whole number assigned to contractors, there will be on an average, perhaps, ten per cent. excused from labor for sickness. But as the report of the Turnkey shows that there are ten hundred and eighty-eight prisoners in the prison, and as per statement above there are but four hundred and twenty-five under contract, the question naturally arises, what disposition is made of the remaining six hundred and sixty-three. As stated above, a portion of these work for the contractors, though not included in their contracts. We may put down those thus employed at sixty-three, thus leaving six hundred to be accounted for in other ways. We would recommend that the proper authorities take steps to secure a higher compensation for its prison labor. An advance over present rates being paid by contractors ought to be made. OFFICERS' AND GUARDS' QUARTERS-NEW BUILDINGS BADLY NEEDED. The quarters occupied by the officers of the prison and guards are in every respect inadequate to their accommodation, so far as those are concerned who occupy the main building at the front entrance. The capacity of the guards' dining-room is only sufficient to accommodate a portion of the men. The officers' dining-room is also too small. The culinary department, likewise, is too cramped up for the purposes of cooking and dish-washing. The sleeping-room occupied by the night guards, who are compelled to get their rest during the day, is situated adjoining the kitchen, where a perpetual noise is kept up by the rattling of culinary utensils, making it almost impossible for them to rest in quiet. To make any satisfactory change for the better, in this respect, is out of the question, unless a new edifice is erected, and this we advise to be done at as early a day as possible. STABLE BELONGING TO PRISON. The number of horses now in the stable are sixteen head, and out of this number are only four serviceable ones. The stable needs considerable repairing, particularly the stall floors. They ought to be planked immediately. SLAUGHTER-HOUSE AND BUTCHER-SHOP. The slaughter-house is well arranged, and is well appointed with everything necessary for the business. The butcher-shop is under the Commissary's office, and is handily fitted up with every convenience necessary for the delivery of meat to the various departments. SUPPLY OF WATER AND FIRE CONVENIENCES. Belonging to the prison property are two fresh-water reservoirs, one holding three hundred and twenty thousand and the other one hundred thousand gallons; also, a salt-water reservoir with a capacity of one hundred and twenty thousand gallons. Attached to these are pipes and fittings so that, in case of fire, the water can quickly be turned on and conducted to the place of conflagration. THE OLD BRICK-YARD AND BRICK-MAKING. The deposit of clay in the old brick-yard has been very nearly worked out, but an inexhaustible supply of the very best character of clay for bricks can be easily got at on the elevation in the rear of the Warden's residence. Last season the prison authorities burnt a kiln of about eight hundred thousand, which are still in the yard. All the facilities are at hand for making whatever brick may be required in any improvements that may be projected by the Board of Directors. DAMAGING EFFECTS OF PROMISCUOUS ASSOCIATION OF PRISONERS. The habit of putting the old and the young prisoners in close association, the good with the bad, the life-long hardened thief and the novice in crime, shrewd burglar and the man who has only given an unlucky blow, the penitent and impenitent, promiscuously together, with no mark even to distinguish the well-behaved from the bad, is an evil that needs correction. CAPTAIN OF THE YARD AND TURNKEY. The offices of Captain of the Yard and Turnkey are in a two-story brick building, forty by twenty feet in size. These positions are the most responsible in the yard, and we find that the duties of these offices are being discharged in an eminently satisfactory manner, and with marked ability. GUN-POSTS AND GUARD-HOUSES. The yards are protected by four gun-posts, upon which are stationed six-pound pieces. During working hours the guns are trained on the prisoners, and so as to cover the main entrances. There are five outside posts, one man stationed in each; six wall-posts, one man in each, armed with Henry rifles and six-shooters. DISCHARGED PRISONERS. A very important matter in connection with the discharge of prisoners from the penitentiary is that of their general impecuniosity when turned out upon the world. Under the present regulation, a discharged convict is the recipient of nothing but a suit of citizen's clothing, costing only four dollars, and three dollars in money. To any reflecting mind this is entirely too small an amount to enable him to even reach his friends-if he is fortunate enough to have any --and sustain himself until occupation may be obtained whereby an honest livelihood can be made. The history of the prison shows that a large number of the discharged convicts, on reaching San Francisco-who possess only this pittance-are, by comparative necessity, thrown back into their old vices. To correct this condition of affairs, the following extract from, Governor Irwin's message is worthy of careful consideration: The Board of Prison Directors have, I think, all the power necessary for the purposes discipline, except in one particular. I would advise that the power be given to the Board to, set apart a portion of the earnings of the prisoner-say ten per cent., or less-to be given to him, the one-half of it from time to time, if he should so desire, for the purchase of articles of necessity and comfort; the other half at the time of his discharge from prison. His receiving any part of his earnings should, of course, be made dependent on his meriting it by honest, faithful labor, and general good conduct. Clothed with this power, the Board could establish a system of rewards for faithful labor and skillful workmanship, coupled with general good con duct, which could hardly fail to exert a most salutary influence in the maintenance of disci pline, while it would prove a powerful incentive to the prisoner to try to make his labor valuable as possible to the contractor. 13 The opinion is too prevalent that they who commit crimes, and thereby subject themselves to punishment in a prison, are beyond the reach of improvement, if not beyond all claim upon the sympathies of a respectable community. This is a sad error, an uncharitable, if not wicked, conclusion; for it is a well ascertained fact that many of the convicts discharged from our prison repent of the crimes they have done, return to a course of virtuous industry, and, despite all obstacles, persevere in an honest way of living. The fact is, that the discharged convict is an unfortunate fellow-being, needing our pity and friendly commiseration. The loathsome practices of many of the prisoners confined in large numbers in rooms, can only be abated by separating them into single cells, and this cannot be done until more cell room is provided by additional buildings. ers. A BEAUTIFUL SPOT WITHIN THE WALLS. In the center of the yard is a charming little flower-garden, handsomely laid out, and rich with delicate and fragrant plants and flowHere all nature seems gay, and the little feathered tribe that flit about from bush to bush, gathering sweets and singing merrily, contrasts strangely with the iron bars and towering prison walls. The serpentine walks are fringed with lovely geranium hedges, while the lily and the violet laugh as the warm sun-light foretells the dawn of spring. DEPARTMENT OF MORAL INSTRUCTOR-PRISON LIBRARY, EDUCATION, ETC. The duties devolving upon the Moral Instructor of the institution are satisfactorily discharged by the present incumbent, Prof. Miguel Smith, who has had the advantage of many years' experience in the education of prisoners. Under his charge comes the library and school. The school is open on Sundays from one to two hours, and on weekdays all day. The number generally in attendance on Sunday will average about two hundred. During week-days only about thirty attend. THE LIBRARY. The collection of works in the library embraces quite a large number of historical, moral, and miscellaneous literature. All prisoners have access to the library, subject to certain rules and regulations. They are furnished with all the necessary stationery for writing letters to friends, and the only restriction upon their correspondence is that it is subject to the surveillance of an officer. Many who attend school, as well as those who attend church, go merely as a pleasant relief from the monotony of prison life. A few, however, appear to take a real interest in their own improvement, and deeply impressed with religious truths. The following statistics from Prof. Smith's report to the Board of Directors for last year, will give a more definite idea of the usefulness of this department: Number of books in library, June 30th, 1874. Condemned.... Now in library, July 1st, 1875. 26 Negroes. 5 The different branches of study are thus distributed: Reading and writing Arithmetic Of this number, the larger portion is made up of standard works, chiefly historical, books of travel, and biographies. Those treating of the Christian religion are also well represented. That the library is popular with such of the prisoners as can read, is shown by the following statement: Number of prisoners who have drawn books from library, June 30th, 1874, to July 1st, 1875. Average number of books read by each man. Total number of books issued and reissued.. The books issued bear the following classification : Romances Poetry. Science "While our library is far from perfect, yet I have reason to believe that its influence has been beneficial. The necessity for some mental occupation has driven many to the library; others have sought it simply for the purpose of mental entertainment; and a few have come to it with the better motive of self-improvement through study. Whatever may have been the motive, the end has not been withou value. A taste for reading has been developed in many of the pris oners, thus improving and benefiting themselves. The moral effect English grammar. Miscellaneous studies. The progress made by the large majority of the pupils is satisfactory. În addition to the school on Sundays, the room is kept open during the week, with an average attendance of about thirty-five pupils. The necessity for a rule compelling the convicts, or at least such as are without the rudiments of an education, to attend school, is to me quite apparent. Other things being equal, the community which is the best educated is the freest from crime. Our prison statistics show that our criminal population is generally illiterate. Many of the convicts can neither read nor write. If the State Prison be a reformatory institution, as well as a place of punishment, all reasonable measures should be taken to prepare the convict for a better life when his term of incarceration shall have expired; and surely to instruct him in the simpler branches of study will be a benefit to him, and indirectly to the community. However, to be able to accomplish this, as well as a proper classification, and other measures of reform, proper building improvements are of absolute necessity. |