| Show A VISIT toi TO THIS THE STATE PRISON salt lake city oct 11 1898 through the courtesy of the hon secretary of state with a party of friends from cache valley I 1 visited the utah state prison in former years I 1 had bad visited the pen in inthe the old ad adebie oble structure which was bug infested inconvenient and ugly fromang from any point of view it has fortunately been replaced with a modern prison ln in every sense of the word As one it he is at once struck with the neat appear acce to bo the place instead of a rough yard there Is a beautiful lawn our aur rounded with a substantial tence fence and everything on the outside onit side has ft a neat and clean appearance the warden and his efficient aids receive you with every kindness fund and spare no pains in showing you every nook and corner of the prison the inside ineide is 49 as clean and neat as the outside the cells were inspected and found in many instances adorned with pictures according to the taste of the occupant every cell on each corridor sw ono be locked at once and the neat and clean I 1 aa appearance of everything in and fund abound the new state prison was a wonder to our visitors from the country who had never seen the inside of a prison there are about one hundred and eighty persons imprisoned here and of a population of towo hundred a and d fifty thousand in the state of utah chislo 18 Is a very small per cent ind indeed eed and it must be remembered that a faise per cent of bf these crin criminals are aon residents of utah Ati another olther good feature of this prison life is seen in the appearance of the prisoners they all look healthy and have the appearance of being well fed there is no lounging around the yards to in large groups either smoking playing cords or idling away time aut the buz of map machinery blistery to is heard in every room antl and the clickoff click sot of the knit machines the sound of the shoe rii ft akers hammer the tallor tailor and other too numerous to mention boft a change not only for good in th the ian but also making the burden I 1 csc the e taxpayers much lighter I 1 the kitchen is a model of neatness and the bread would be welcome on any table in the land from the laundry to the library everything is well stocked the latter with good books and papers also popular magazines all go to show that every care is taken to improve not only the moral condition but the mental status of these unfortunate people many pieces of beautiful workmanship shown to us but the needle work quilt of a man who a few months ago hardly knew enough to sew a button on was very fine the prisoners axe are divided into three classes and their good behavior entitles them to many privileges and they are not slow to see the advantages in this matter the life of a prisoner in this in every feature of it is calculated to make him and honest and a better man and when compared with prison life in the old world I 1 have been an officer of the law for several years and h he have e seen their life bears no comparison in those institutions he is in every sense made to feel he is a felon and treated on this silent and brutal system but here in the utah state prison while the best of discipline is kept the criminal by care and kindness is led to feel the necessity of leading a better life when his term shall have expired I 1 am highly in favor of the system adopted here and the labor performed here while not hard is both beneficial to the state and the inmates the farm also is a model one and is also a source of revenue yes sir the new system and everything in and around the state prison has a reformatory objection object in view and the man who has served a term here and does mt come out a better man is because he has lost every instinct of true manhood thanking the warden and his officers we left the prison with nothing but words of commendation |
