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Show NOTED PRISON REFORMER DIES James C. Sanders Originator Origina-tor of Many Policies Followed Today DES MOINES. Iowa, July 18. James C. Sanders, who died In an Omaha hospital Wednesday, formerly was warden of the Iowa state penitentiary, peni-tentiary, at Ft. Madison and vp. recognized re-cognized throughout the world as a leading prison reformer "While warden ward-en nt the IOWa DPnltontLlrv frrm 1Qfl! to 1913 he put into practice may of the prison policies that are being followed fol-lowed now In state prisons In many cither states Mr. Sanders la said tn have been the first warden in the country to ip-lievo ip-lievo in and tako advantage of individuality indi-viduality In state prisoners Mr. Sanders was born In Vinton Iowa His first occupation upon graduating grad-uating from the puhlic schools thern wo-s teaching school. From that profession he tnoi up harherlng and tailoring. Among other thlngs he did work on printing, professional pro-fessional ball player, western league umpire, band director, soloist in circus band, and prison warden. RESUMES TEACHING After serving as warden of the state prison. Mr. Sanders resumed leachiiiK Recently he bad been superintentend-ent superintentend-ent of schools at Avoca, Iowa. He was appointed warden of th Fort Madison prison In 1908. ne of his first rulings was that the old striped uniforms wan to be dls-raided dls-raided onlv to be worn when dlcl-pline dlcl-pline could not he enforced otherwise The warden insisted on jbetter food prepared in i more sanitary manner and urged that variety be added to the menu The old striped blankets and "bed clothes were replaced, new iwinnow curtains pre proviaeu-, a no individual drinking cups gien to each of the prisoners. Electric lights wr-il Installed, a barber shop placed in the ! basement of the main building, and jwater facilities made available fr bathing. 1 1 COMFORT OF MEN Not only were the physical comforts com-forts of the' men lmproc,i but also the mental development encouraged. ! After overcoming opposition of state, authorities, the warden Installed a school, with a capable corps of in-1 structors. Much of the Instruction was individual and when the plan was first put In operation, Mr. ganders spent much or his time in the school room I A library of 10,000 volumes stands; as a tribute to his efforts Tho Iowa state prison Is the onlyl one In the country that has a chau-J tauqua of- Its own. Talent travelling through the covintry was engaged by prison authorities to supplement the uaiiy cnupei rxm-iscs. An orchestra, glee club, prison pub-llcatlon, pub-llcatlon, base ball teams, basket ball! (teams and an athletic association wer-.among wer-.among the other things Instituted. The prison farm of 210 acres was purchased pur-chased through tho Insistence of Mr Sanders; now it furnishes much of the food that is eaten. |
