Show t 5 S. S S e L Lee Jail Disgrace Says Reporter Posing as Tramp Inv Investigating Writer Spends Night 1 i On Cold Floor Without Covers Sees Filth Crowding Contagion Peril EdItors EdItor's note nofe To determine accuracy of charges made concerning concern concern- lag ing filthy conditions condition existing In the Salt Sail Lake City loll a all aa a Salt Sail Lake Telegram reporter was locked lacked up with other prisoners overnight By jy WINTHROP CADY r Those who branded the Salt Lake City jail as filthy and unfit for hogs were absolutely correct I f I I know for I spent Tuesday night and and Wednesday morning nth th 13 other prisoners in a cell block constructed to house only eight prisoners p i I spent the night lying on the theold told old damp concrete floor without i en en a a blanket t LAnd And at least two jailers and Perhaps a third knew I had no bunk rank no cot and not even a banket banket ban ban- ket et yet they made no move to offer even a few sheets of newspaper newspaper news- news paper aner to help keep out the cold t Heat was turned off about midnight midnight mid- mid night and on again about 6 a. a m m. I But I was not the only prisoner Who ho bo failed to get any sleep during I the he the night r I There was the drunk who beame became beta be- be ta came ame e violently ill regularly every ZO lO D minutes and spent the rest of the time lying on the filthy floor I sans covering of any kind but with the only pillow in the cell ceU block a a roll roU of toilet tissue And then there was Joe serving serving serving ing the second day of a weeks week's sentence sentence sentence sen sen- tence for drunkenness Joe too did not have a cot bunk or blanket and he was not as warmly dressed sed as s I. I He walked around a great part of the night in an effort to keep warm Of particular interest was the fellow who talked only when he wanted a match Some of my companions told me he had attempted to commit suicide suicide sui- sui cide a few days before that he Continued on Page Seven Column Two I Newsman Eyes Condition of Cell in Role of i r I k Y q t s 's tt tS t- t S I t W w I 4 h 1 I v- v 7 f 4 j j 2 4 4 i j t CITY JAIL PRISONERS ON WAY FROM FROn CELLS TO POLICE COURT Lieutenant Clayton Blank checks records with a prisoner At right rear is Winthrop Cady Telegram staff reporter who le Ie learned arned hand first of jail conditions Reporter Posing as Tramp as-Tramp Describes Condition Of Filth Cold Discomfort in n Sl S. S 1 Jail I Continued from p Page One just gave up the ship Twice duning during dur- dur ing ng the long night from the cell where the drunk was ill he said in n a loud voice Oh God I wish I were dead My night in jail came as a result of f the statement in city police court ourt Tuesday by a young prisoner that hat on our farm in South Dakota we treat hogs better than you treat human beings in jail in Salt Lake City I decided to see first hand just what the jail was like Dressed for Part Dressed in borrowed clothes clothes- clothes trousers too large sweater veater too small and an old ragged overcoat one of the fellows at the office used to throw over his automobile radiator radiator radiator ra ra- ra- ra on particularly cold nights I I accosted a plainclothes officer and was arrested and charged charge as a vagrant the specific charge being being being be be- be- be ing begging on the street The arresting officer and the jailer were courteous T The They h e y searched me took away two keys and a lighter which does not work and placed them in an envelope to be re returned returned returned re- re turned to me on my release from jail I carried those articles as props They permitted me to keep cig- cig matches two handkerchiefs and a letter Booked and Mugged Slugged Under a fictitious name I was b boo booked o o k ked e d fingerprinted a and n d mugged mugged had had my picture taken with a number under my chin The jailer led me downstairs to a small cellblock usually known to Inmates as the drunk tank unlocked the door gently pushed me in and then locked the door Here comes No 14 a voice rang out as I stepped Into my new home A few glances around the cell cen cellblock cellblock block showed it was about 25 to 30 feet long contained four small cells each with two bunks and with a hallway about four feet wide in front of the cells the full length of the block Most of the men stood along a 8 I narrow counter which ran full length of the block two or three of them toying with decks of cards several others reading and the rest talking and smoking There being no other place to sit I sat on the floor for a few minutes without speaking Then Joe came up asked why I was there and if I had a to spare During the course of our conversation conversation conversation con con- he declared the jail was horrible the food rotten and andone andone andone one of the jailers an tem evil louse After Joe dr drifted ft d away I found John R R. G Gorth rth 22 West Sixth South street the defendant in a drunken driving case who had touched off the jail story stony with his assertion of treatment ill-treatment in inthe inthe inthe the jail He had said he was without a spoon for three days that the first day he used his fingers to eat his food and after that fashioned a makeshift spoon from the lid of a tobacco can I asked Gorth what he thought of the jail and told him it Was my first experience in one Its awful he said But here this will wm tell you all about it Let In on Secret I He then proceeded to show me methe methe methe the story on jail conditions I had written in the Tuesday evening Telegram I took him aside and explained who I was and asked concerning other jail conditions He showed me a tobacco can with a few nail holes in the top our salt shaker shaken We have no pepper he said The only toilet in the cell block was right in one of the cells he said where anyone who used it at night would waken cell pants The toilet was dirty The floor was littered with a full days day's accumulation of burned matches ashes and stubs That he said is where we sleep if we can sleep One Had Blanket et But John was luckier than I for someone had given him a blanket blanket blanket blan blan- ket and he managed to get about two hours' hours sleep during the night During the night there were 94 persons lodged in the jail which was constructed to house 68 persons per per- sons They included 66 men serving ing sentences 40 for fon intoxication 14 for vagrancy seven for ton petty larceny two for drunken driving and one each for failing to have an operators operator's license being a disorderly disorderly disorderly dis dis- dis- dis orderly person and for tor escaping from the jail There were 19 being held for investigation two of them for attempted suicide two for car theft two for forgery three being held for other states two for ton larceny lar ceny two for car can one for burglary and a mental case I Several women and juveniles also were held Other things I observed during the night included That lights were left on all night shining directly into eyes of those of us who slept in the hallway in front of the cells Nauseating smell sufficient to induce a headache Cockroaches crawling about A wash basin with h only one kind of water water cold cold and I could find I Ionly only three towels to serve 14 of us A cup for each of us but that prisoners exchanged cups and there was no way of really washIng washing washing wash wash- ing them I was told by a styled self-styled old timer tinner in the cell that one of our companions had suffered from syphilis for many years that jailers jailers jail jail- ers ens know of his condition and that prisoners previously petitioned unsuccessfully unsuccessfully unsuccessfully un un- un- un successfully to have him isolated Used Same Facilities He used the same cups toilet and towels as other prisoners After a night spent alternately trying to sleep and reading detective detective detective de de- de- de magazines I found in the cell block heat was turned on and andall andall andall all prisoners not lucky enough to have bunks and blankets huddled at the end of the block closest to the heating pipes An hour or so later came break break- fast It consisted of coffee that term is rank flattery to the cook a acup acup acup cup of hot mush with considerable considerable considerable consider consider- able milk but apparently no sugar and three slices of bread Later we were offered more of the so- so called coffee Gives Up Share The mush was fairly good the timer old told me so I gave him my cup Ive been here several days now and I feel as if I am starving starving the food ing he said explaining was enough to keep prisoners alive but that there was little variety and that many vegetables lettuce and fruits were unknown on the jail menu A few hours after breakfast I Iwas Iwas Iwas was taken to police court to face faceS face the vagrancy charge I told Judge Reva Beck Bosone J I was not guilty guilty guilty guil guil- ty and she set trial for March 4 I left the overcoat in the cell figuring my companions had more need of it than the automobile radiator It might result in Joe or someone else's getting a few hours sleep Wednesday night Asks Opinions Just before I left the jail for forthe forthe forthe the court room I asked one of the prisoners what he thought of the story stony about jail conditions in Tuesdays Tuesday's Telegram He answered It looks to me as if Mayor Ab Jenkins the chief of police Reed E. E and Falkenrath Captain Captain Cap Cap- tain thin Sherman Falkenrath head of the police department uniform detail detail detail de de- de- de tail which includes the jail are trying to use conditions here to start a crusade for a new jail Sure he said we need a new jail This one isn't large enough It is so constructed it is hard to keep clean and toilet and bathing facilities are terrible Should Be Clean Just the same while they have this jail they could do a lot more to make it livable The city this year has a budget of almost two million dollars yet it does not even afford blankets for ton some prison prison- ers This place could be made livable if they would put in a few cots and a few blankets for their overflow prisoners and would segregate segregate seg seg- seg- seg regate negate the bothersome drunks and the prisoners with contagious diseases diseases dis dis- diseases dis- dis eases from the rest of us I couldn't help but agree |