Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

Men and women are sent to prison to work. The sentence is generally so many years in state prison at hard labor. It is right and proper that they should work and should be made to work faithfully. It is not supposed that they receive a sentence to enter a paradise for so many years. In the different prisons the work is quite different. There are prisons where the prisoners are required to spend almost their entire time of working hours from 600 to 800 feet under ground digging coal. At some places the veins of coal are so shallow that the prisoners are compelled to lie down and stretch themselves out or be in a half-way sitting posture while at their work. Such prisoners often contract colds, rheumatism, and other diseases which rapidly shorten their lives. In other prisons they are taken out in gangs to work on the public highways and crush stone. However, some prisons furnish the prisoners work within the prison walls. Much of this labor is let out to contractors who have a business of making clothing, harness, whips, brooms, etc. In such cases the contractors pay the state a small amount each day for the labor of the prisoners. Many complaints have been made, and many of them justly, because of the unfair requirements and treatment of the prisoners. This should be more carefully looked after by the prison inspectors of the state, and we are glad to know that in many places it is receiving attention.

The time for working ranges from ten to fourteen hours per day. In the United States prison at Leavenworth, Kans. they rise at six o’clock, and when the men are ready to go to their work, three hundred of them march two miles and one-half to their work, a hundred more go two miles in another direction to work on a farm, while others are otherwise occupied till six o’clock in the evening. As a general thing, if the prisoner is careful to obey the rules and work well, he is not likely to have much trouble with the officials. However, in some prisons very few escape extra punishments of some kind.

THE STOCKADES.

The stockade is an enclosure, or pen, made with posts or sticks stuck in the ground. It is generally a temporary affair. These are to be found in the South and Southwest mostly. Here is where the worst treatment is to be found among the prisoners. Some of the southern states are providing better for their prisoners, but others are far behind what they should be. A stockade is sometimes made on the top of a mountain or in some suitable place for working mines. In these southern states not only mining is carried on by the prisoners, but building of roads, railroads, and such like. For instance, where a railroad is being built, large cars are roughly and strongly built in which the prisoners are locked when not at their work. Women in some of these places are required to clear the land, roll logs, do drudgery, and in many instances are so shamefully used and treated that it is a disgrace to a civilized nation. But while such is the case there are noble men and women who are not connected with the prison, as well as many of the more noble prison officers who have been working faithfully for years to bring about a prison reform, and much has been done and is being done on that line. However, could the veil be drawn aside that all might fully realize the situation, the reformation would be more rapid and effective. The stockades do not have literary privileges as a general thing as do our older and well-established prisons. We have received communications from officers in these stockades who are very anxious to have good literature placed at their disposal, assuring us that the same would be highly appreciated and used to the advantage of the prisoners.

THE CHAIN GANG.

It is not an uncommon thing to see a chain gang of prisoners, especially about the stockades. Sometimes they are marched to and from their work shackled with handcuffs, while others are fastened with clanking chains. There are also men to be found with iron bands or rings welded around their necks, to which a chain is fastened with the other end of the chain attached to a ball to prevent their escape. These are generally the most desperate characters.

To those who are acquainted with such scenes it is shocking indeed, and creates a feeling of pity and sympathy which calls for a more humane treatment in behalf of the poor unfortunates. There are men who serve almost an entire term of sentence in stocks or irons, or go to their work in the chain gang, because of a lack of proper provision of accommodations on the part of the state or government, or by unjust, inhumane treatment.

Few men have fallen so low in sin and degradation, or have been so hardened by crime, but yet have at least a spark of humanity or manhood which can be kindled to a flame by proper humane and reformative treatment; where, on the other hand, an undue amount of the imposition of irons and chains causes them to grind with revenge, and seemingly the little spark of manhood is seared over with a more hardened conscience, leaving him still a criminal almost beyond redemption.

THE FELON’S CELL.

When one is taken to serve a term in prison, has exchanged his citizen’s clothes for a suit of stripes, is measured, and a full description is written in the prison books, he is taken to a cell which is to be his future abode during his confinement, except what time he is at work, at his meals, or is otherwise stationed by the prison officers. We can here only give a description of what is commonly found to be a prison cell. It is a small iron room with a stone floor, and when two convicts are to occupy the same cell, there are two bunks or beds in the cell. The bed-rack is made of iron or wood slats, and the bed-tick is generally filled with corn-husks or some similar material, likewise the pillow. When the beds are not in use they are fastened to the side of the wall with a chain. When down and in use they take up nearly the entire space of the cell, so that it is impossible for the two occupants to pass each other in walking to and fro. The other furniture generally consists of a small tinbucket holding about two quarts of water, and a washbasin. A short-handled broom is also found in one corner of the cell with which the convict brushes it every morning. The walls are either iron or stone, decorated with a small looking-glass and a towel. Each cell contains one chair, as there is not room for two; so that when one sits on the chair the other stands or occupies a seat on the stone floor. The door is made of half-inch iron bars crossing each other at right angles, leaving spaces about two by six inches. Through these spaces come the air, light, and heat.

To give the reader an idea of how one would naturally feel on the first introduction to such a place, we will give it in the language of a prisoner, who says: “After examination I was shown to my cell. It was now about two o’clock in the afternoon of my first day in prison. I remained in the chair during the entire afternoon. Of all the dark hours of an eventful history none have been filled with more gloom and sadness than those of my first day in prison. All my life I moved in the highest circles of society, surrounded by the best and purest of both sexes, and now I was in the deplorable condition of having been hurled from that high social condition down to the low, degraded plane of a convict. As I sat there in that desolate abode of the disgraced I tried to look out down the future. All was dark. For a time it seemed as if that sweet angel we call Hope had spread her wings and taken her departure from me forever. The black cloud of despair somewhat settled down upon me. But very few prisoners possess the ability to make anything of themselves after having served a term in the penitentiary. I sat brooding over these things for an hour or more and my manhood asserted itself and hope returned. I reasoned thus: I am a young man, I enjoy good health, there will be only a few months of imprisonment, and then I will be free. I thought of my loving wife, little children, my aged mother, my kind friends, and for their sake I would not yield to despair. Soliciting aid of a kind heavenly Father I resolved to do the best I could toward regaining what I had lost. I was aware of the fact that when I got out of the penitentiary all the money I would have with which to make another start in life would be five dollars. The United States presents her prisoners upon discharge with a suit of citizens’ clothes and five dollars. This was my capital.”

Truly such a sad condition would be deplorable, but the prisoner can only assert his manhood, lay his plans for the future, and determine to rise above it all, which is not impossible. Many have risen to a good standing in life. What has been done can be done again.

Prisoners who are sentenced to be hanged are generally taken to a cell in the execution house separate from the other prisoners. The convict thus doomed spends the time in this prison and is not required to work. A few months ago I visited a prison, and in the execution building I found two prisoners in solitary cells. One seemed to have made his peace with God, but the other was in deep trouble over his soul, was not ready to meet God, and had only a few more days to live. It seemed he could not pray. He had been reading his Bible and other religious books, but hope had almost fled. After talking with him for a time, I said, “Young man, your time is short unless God in some way intervenes. If you have been guilty of crime and are trying to hide it from your fellow men or denying the charge, you can not hide it from God. Acknowledge before him the facts as they are and call upon him for help.” After praying with him for a while he gave vent to his feelings in most earnest pleas to God, crying out, “I am a murderer.” He continued his earnest pleas until the Lord did forgive him. A week or two later when the death sentence was read to him in his cell, he was ready, and made the remark that they could only take away his breath, for his soul would be forever landed in peace. I saw him march up to the gallows, and as his legs and arms were being strapped and a rope tied about his neck he glanced heavenward as if breathing a silent prayer, and when the electric signal was given, he dropped into eternity.

THE LIBRARY.

While many prisons are not yet supplied with a library, there are efforts being made on this line for the education and elevation of the minds of the prisoners. For those who have already received an education there are many valuable books in the library to furnish them something to occupy their minds at such times as they may have to read. Some states furnish so many thousand books and an appropriation of $500 a year for library purposes. Among the books furnished are scientific works, history, biography, and others of a religious and moral nature, together with many novels and works of fiction. The Christian people of our land should see to it that a greater number of books of a real spiritual cast are placed at the disposal of prisoners.

About two years ago, after receiving some earnest letters of appreciation and thankfulness from prisoners who had received books and papers, a deeper sympathy was awakened in their behalf. For some days I became greatly burdened in behalf of a certain prison, concerning supplying the prisoners with a library of good books. Not knowing whether they had a library or whether the prison officials would receive the books and put them into the hands of the prisoners, I hesitated. As the burden for this matter could not be so easily thrown off, my next step was to visit the prison and make investigations through the prison officials, and was not a little surprised to find they were without a library, though at that time were preparing a large library room, intending to make a plea to the people for a donation of books. As soon as the room was finished it was my pleasure to see that $1000 worth of well-bound books were placed in the library for the prisoners, being donated by those who have an interest in the men behind the bars. It has also been a source of gratitude to know that these books have been appreciated and enjoyed by the many prisoners who read them in their cells and in the library.

In some prisons about twenty per cent. or more of the prisoners are unable to read or write. For this reason schools are being formed where such, especially those who desire to do so, can have a chance to receive an education. These schools are generally held in the library room and taught by one of the prisoners.

THE CHAPEL.

The chapel is the place where prisoners get most of their public instruction aside from what is obtained in the library. It is not often that they have the privilege of attending educational lectures as if they were attending a college or public school; however, in our better prisons steps are being taken to give the well-behaved prisoners advantages on this line occasionally. The general meetings on Sunday are held in the chapel, to which the prisoners are marched in regular order, where several hundred are in weekly attendance. The chaplain generally conducts the regular services or has ministers from the city to take their turns in preaching to them. Prison evangelists are often given the privilege of talking to the prisoners or visiting them at their cells for the welfare of their souls. There are prisons where all visitors and gospel workers are admitted free, while other prisons charge twenty-five cents admission fee. Aside from what is known as the regular chapel services, the prisoners who desire to meet before that hour or remain after, in a social religious prayer-service or Bible class, can have the privilege of doing so. All prisoners are allowed to sing at the general services, although they generally have a select choir. One man in giving a report of the prison choir said: “At one time we had two horse thieves, two rapists—one with a sentence of forty years—three murderers, two hog thieves, and several others with equally villainous records.” It would be difficult at such a place to select a choir that had a clean past record. While these men were criminals when incarcerated, some of them will doubtless always remain criminals, while others have so reformed as to be worthy of a better name.

Many prisoners during their confinement actually get a real experience of salvation, and those desiring to be baptized by immersion go from the chapel to the laundry, and there in a well-filled tank or long troughlike tub receive the ordinance of baptism. The chapel does not have stained-glass windows nor the finery of many modern church buildings; nevertheless the place is supposed to have everything neat and in order, and the men are to observe the strictest decorum and reverence while in attendance.

SCALING THE PRISON WALL.

There are in almost every prison those who are called “trusties”—prisoners who are given the privilege of doing work outside of the prison, going on errands, etc., without the presence of a guard. Others have unusual liberties within the prison walls. Life prisoners and those who have received a sentence for a number of years and have not yet made up their minds to reform, often give the officials considerable trouble in trying to make their escape; although, as a general thing, life prisoners are well-behaved persons. There have been some noted and desperate efforts made to escape prison. Desperate characters have used all their ingenuity in devising plans for an escape and watch an opportunity to raise an insurrection at a critical time. There have been times when the insurrection was so great as to defy the prison officials, and the disturbance could only be quelled by the daring boldness and wisdom of the warden or general officer in charge. When a number of desperate prisoners get such an advantage they will fearlessly face death rather than yield. A few such noted instances are on record. It is, however, very difficult for a prisoner to make good his escape. If successful he must go under an assumed name and always be a fugitive from justice. If a failure is made he is apt to have to serve his full sentence instead of having advantage of the commutation of “short time.”

Bloodhounds are kept at the present time for the purpose of capturing those who try to make their escape, and there are men behind the prison walls who carry ugly scars made from deep flesh wounds by the bloodhounds during the time of their capture. There are times when a fire breaks out in a prison which must receive immediate attention of all available help. It is at such times that desperate characters undertake to raise an insurrection and make their escape. Many prisoners have been known at such times to show their manhood, and offer their services and manifest their loyalty by aiding the officers in keeping the prisoners in subjection and in extinguishing the flames. Such prisoners should be highly rewarded, and many of them shortly afterward receive their pardon in honor of their loyalty and good principles shown. The prisoner who desires to have favors shown him in prison should, upon first entering, decide to obey the prison rules to the best of his ability. Anything to the contrary will bring the ill favor of the prison officials upon him. An attempt to escape will not be forgotten and he will be very closely watched and denied many privileges which he could have otherwise enjoyed, and is not apt to be made a “trustie.” It is therefore a wise plan to decide upon perfect submission from the beginning of the confinement.

A PRISON REFORM.

The highest ideal of prison life is not simply punishment for evil doing, but should be a reformation in the lives of those who are thus incarcerated. We are glad to know that there is really a reformation being brought about in the rules and government of the prisons in our land.

It is said of one of the kings in a country in Europe that, being desirous of knowing how the common people lived, he dressed himself as a peasant or tramp and went about from place to place among the poorer class of people, and while thus lounging about the city he was met by a policeman who demanded him to give an account of himself. Not giving the proper satisfaction, the policeman hurried him off to a dungeon-like cell. The prisons under that king’s domain were in a sad condition—dirty, filthy, alive with vermin, and were most degrading places. Thus the king was obliged to spend the night in such horrible quarters, which was in great contrast to the royal palace. However, it was a night well spent, though but little enjoyed by the king. He was touched as never before by a sympathetic feeling for the poor unfortunate human beings who were cast into such places. He at once ordered a renovation of all the prisons throughout his kingdom.

Aside from our penitentiaries, there are jails, work-houses, and places of imprisonment, many of which are allowed to become filthy, with lice and other vermin in almost every crevice, making the place not only extremely unpleasant but unhealthful to every inmate. No doubt if many of our lawmakers and other influential people of our country were compelled to spend a few days or nights in such prisons there would speedily be a great reformation in the prisons of our own land.

Aside from cleanliness and government of prisons and jails there is a reformation in which we can all have a part, and help to point the unfortunate ones to Him who is able “to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.”—Isa. 42:7. A number of our penitentiaries have comparatively good libraries furnished by the state; some have not yet been supplied with libraries; and even among those that are supplied there are more novels than good, wholesome religious works. However, in some prisons each prisoner is supplied with a Bible of small print, and there has been an earnest plea from the prisoners for good, wholesome religious literature by way of books, tracts, papers, etc. Our jails have as a general thing been sadly neglected on this line.

A few months ago we made an effort through the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company, of Moundsville, W. Va., to supply jails and prisons with small libraries of good unsectarian religious books, such as would be a benefit to the prisoners and tend to lead them to a higher aim in life. We were soon greatly surprised to realize the demand from prisoners for such literature. A few hundred jails were thus supplied with libraries and religious papers. It was almost astonishing to learn in reply by their letters of appreciation that in many places they had never been thus remembered before. Some prisoners had been in for a number of months without any religious reading matter and scarcely any one to visit them.

Being thus reminded of a lack of duty brought to mind the words of Jesus, as mentioned in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, wherein he was speaking of the end of time when the nations should gather before him and he would separate the good from the bad. And we read where he says, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was _in prison_, and ye came unto me.... Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

My dear reader, how will it be with us when we appear before the King in all his glory in that day? Can he say of us that he was in prison, and we came unto him? Or shall he be compelled to utter these words: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: sick, and _in prison_, and ye visited me not. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me”?

While we enjoy our beautiful homes and the pleasures of life and freedom, the question comes directly, Have we done our duty toward the prisoner? Have we visited Jesus in the prison? We may not be able to go there in person, but we can visit them by providing them with silent messengers by way of good books, tracts, papers, etc. There are doubtless thousands of professing Christians who never gave a dollar to help a prisoner, who never visited a prison in person or in any other way. There are those who could spend hundreds of dollars in supplying prisons and would not feel the weight of it financially, but we should make an effort on this line by giving to the extent that we may feel the weight of the sacrifice, and thereby God will be greatly glorified and many prisoners led to seek the Lord and live a pure and holy life.

Some of the most intelligent and highly educated men are found behind the prison-bars and fill felons’ cells. It is not always the man of low type, ignorant and uneducated, that thus meets his doom. There are men and women from every class of society. There are men who are hardened in crime, whose consciences seem seared, yet none so hard-hearted, none so low down in the depths of sin that they have not a spark of manhood to which there is an appeal. Brutal treatment will not reach such specimens of manhood; however, they must be brought under strict discipline of the requirements of servitude and given to understand that perfect obedience is required; yet with all that, when they are told in a kind, gentle, loving manner and given to understand that they are entitled to the best privileges of the prison as they deserve it, that little spark of manhood will soon be kindled into a flame. There are prisons where a small per cent. of the monthly earnings are placed to their credit, which in a few years amounts to a large enough sum to give them a fair start at the time of their release. If they are disobedient, so much is taken from their credit. But aside from the kind moral treatment there must be something more effective. The hearts of these hardened criminals must be changed by the power of God. The prison officials who fail to realize or recognize this necessity have to a great extent failed in their reformative efforts. Every effort possible should be extended in behalf of the spiritual welfare of the prisoners.

There is an evil existing in our jails and work-houses that is startling and alarming, nevertheless it continues throughout the breadth of our land. A young man or wayward boy is arrested for some trivial offense; it is probably the first time he has been guilty of thus breaking the law. He is placed behind the prison-bars to await a preliminary hearing before a justice of the peace. He is then liable to be sentenced for from thirty to ninety days in jail, or bound over to court, which is to be in session a few weeks or months later. In the meantime he is confined in the jail to await his arraignment before the court.

Let us now take a look at the jail itself and its inmates. It is well secured with solid walls, iron doors, and prison-bars. There are a few private cells, a broad hallway, and large room into which from five to fifty persons are confined. Sometimes even a greater number are thus imprisoned without grade or discrimination of crime. The tender youth must intermingle with those who are steeped in sin and hardened in crime. He is here taught to play cards, read novels, use vulgar and profane language, practice the most vile habits, plan for burglaries, and comes forth a rogue at heart, and a hardened criminal. Otherwise, had there been the proper discrimination, separating those who are just starting on the downward course from the hardened criminals, there would be a reformation in their lives instead of a degeneration. These are facts that can not be denied—facts that stare us in the face, and are sad truths that will continue to hover over us, as it were, until the good people rise up and protest against it for a proper reformation on this line. The good people of our land would be surprised, yea, stricken with consternation, were they to visit most jails and work-houses and make a thorough investigation, to behold the filth and general sanitary condition of the place, which is infested with lice and other vermin.

It is right and proper to send people to jail or prison who will not behave themselves. They need both punishment and reformation. This can be done effectually and with good results if the proper course is pursued.

_HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY._

WRITTEN BY A PRISONER.

In 1863 the state was admitted as one of the constellation of states of the union. Virginia had seceded from the union by a majority vote. The strong and indomitable minority citizens of the Old Dominion residing in the western part of it, many of whom were Scotch and Irish descendants and natives of the adjoining states, who had taken up their homes in the valleys and on the hillsides, were loyal to the Union, loved well the flag, and reverenced with an undying affection the builders of the union of states for the greater blessing of the people, and stood firm and unyielding for an indivisible united country. By their hands and brave hearts they built a state stretching from the Potomac to the Ohio river, carved out of the Old Dominion. The war-born daughter of the historical commonwealth proved, in the subsequent years, to be rich in the production of materials in active demand in the marts of commerce, and she now outstrips her mother state in the race for greatness, prosperity, and happiness.

Many regions of the state are mountainous, and the principal industries are lumbering, mining, and oil production. Many of the white people are typical mountaineers and somewhat rough and uncouth in manner, while the negroes, many of them, have drifted from North and South Carolina, Alabama, and other southern states to be employed in the development of these industries.

There are very many respectable farmers, professional and business men, and cultured ladies residing in these almost inaccessible parts; but the rough element in many places predominates, and the order of the day and night is drinking and brawling, ending as a rule in desperate encounters and murder. Most of the white and black inmates of the penitentiary have been and are now composed of the lawless men from these regions, from the time it was only a stockade of ten acres in 1866, when Hon. J. W. McWhorter of the Tenth Judicial District was appointed warden by Governor Boreman. He resigned the position after viewing it. In a letter to Warden Hawk he states it was for the reason that there was not so much as a building erected for the shelter of the inmates, and he thought he could not work the convicts to advantage under the circumstances. The penitentiary has been improved from time to time to the present, by additions, until it is a massive structure of stone and iron, with a high stone surrounding wall. It has 695 inmates at the present writing.

The center, or main building, is built after the old baronial castellated style of architecture, and with its several stories height, it makes an imposing appearance. It is flanked on the north and south by the stone and strongly-barred buildings, wherein the old and first built stone cells and the modern steel ones—900 in all—are placed. Entrance is to be had into the prison proper by means of a round turning iron-barred cage in the main hallway of the central building.

The cell-building halls are kept in a neat and clean condition; the cells are in good sanitary condition and are kept in good order by the inmates, many of whom are artistic in taste and paint and make many fanciful designs as adornments of their small sleeping quarters. The yard, limited in area by the shop, dining-hall, engine and hospital buildings, is artistically laid out in grass-grown plats and flower beds in season. Around the area of space on brick-laid pavements the prisoners are permitted to walk in columns of two according to grade for exercise during the afternoon after working hours, and Sabbath forenoon prior to and after chapel services. At the four corners of the penitentiary walls are stone turrets where armed guards are placed from four o’clock a. m. to 9 p. m.

Upon West Virginia establishing a state government, Wheeling was selected as the capital where the legislature met in session in 1863, with Hon. Arthur I. Boreman as chief executive. The prison was located in 1866 at Moundsville, Marshall Co., then a beautiful village a few miles from the seat of government. The location, for drainage and sanitary conditions, might have been better selected from one of the many surroundings hills than in the midst of the village in the valley on the banks of the Ohio river.

Moundsville has since the location of the penitentiary there, grown into the eighth city in population of the state, and is now a manufacturing and resident town possessing daily and weekly newspapers. Modern improvements prevail, with water and electric light systems and street-car lines connecting with Wheeling and adjoining suburbs. The magnificent mound erected by the Mound Builders many years gone by for the burial of their dead, to be seen near the penitentiary, is one of the attractions to the thousands of persons who visit the locality.

Hon. G. S. McFadden, of Moundsville, was the first active and practical warden of the penitentiary. With the means at hand he made many praiseworthy improvements for the amelioration of the inmates during his incumbency. The condition of the prisoners during the four years past and now, is a vast improvement over the old system. Skilled and humane prison managers for many years were wanting. The condition of the inmates was at times deplorable in the extreme. The methods of punishment in vogue were extremely severe, the work laborious, the clothing of the zebra kind, the lock-step exacting, the supply and kind of food indifferent and bad. The employment of the prisoners on the state account or under contract was unprofitable, and expenses for the prison’s maintenance piling upon the taxpayers, who made just complaint. Loud demands were made by the people of Moundsville and throughout the state, conversant with the deplorable condition of the affairs of their penal institution, for a change.

After Governor Atkinson’s inauguration, March 4, 1897, he appointed Colonel S. A. Hawk as warden of the penitentiary. He was at the time of his appointment a well-known business man of Huntington, Cabell Co. For a number of years he was also known as a popular employee of an Ohio river steamboat running out of Huntington. He was at one time a successful merchant, hotel-keeper, contractor, and during President Harrison’s administration as President he was an official of the Interior Department in charge of the public domain in Arizona Territory.

Prior to the incumbency of Warden Hawk the West Virginia penitentiary had for years been running behind the legislative appropriation many thousand dollars annually, and not much, if any, success was made in the reformation of the prisoners. Altogether the prison was in bad order when he took hold as warden, he not only introduced reformatory treatment with respect to the prisoners, but he has made the institution bring to the state an actual profit over and above all expenses for maintenance. Warden Hawk took hold of the penitentiary management May 1, 1897. He discovered that his predecessor’s method of punishment was principally solitary confinement. Twenty-seven or more prisoners were undergoing the punishment on bread and water, and they presented a pitiable condition. Their labor was lost to the state; their mental, moral, and physical health undermined; hope seemingly was blasted, and they were strangers to God. The warden turned the key and liberated these men and put them to work, which they gladly expressed a willingness to do.

He adopted the new and advanced method of prison management in line with up-to-date penalogists; viz., The grade system, plain clothing in lieu of stripes, more and better food, first-class medical attendance, every prisoner at work, more personal liberty and exercise granted; he made himself approachable to those prisoners having a grievance, and in so far as he could within the bounds of true discipline, rectified them. Religious worship was fostered and encouraged; punishment for willful infractions of the rules and regulations governing the prison, sure and certain, by black-listing from special privileges, for a period of thirty days or more; the lock-step, by carrying on the yard an iron weight during working hours, and in extreme cases of fighting and other reprehensible misconduct, corporal punishment with a leather strap was inflicted, or by buck-and-gag. Other changes of a minor but not less ameliorative nature were made conducive to the moral welfare of the inmates.

To bring about these humane changes many and substantial improvements were made in the way of buildings and additions without cost to the taxpayers, for the prison was more than self-sustaining, and a handsome sum of money was on hand for this purpose.

PRISON LIBRARY.

January 1, 1900, Warden S. A. Hawk completed the erection of a two-story brick addition to the prison dining-hall. The second story room, 40×40 feet, was dedicated by him to the use of a library and school. The fixtures were placed in the room but there were only a few mutilated books at hand to begin with. E. E. Byrum, President of the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company of Moundsville, hearing of the situation, offered his gratuitous service to the warden to aid him to build up the library to a respectable proportion. Upon the assurance given him that there was no available appropriation to purchase books for the library, Mr. Byrum called the attention of the members of his company to this state of affairs, and upon their advice and with their consent, a splendid lot of artistically bound religious and other suitable books valued at $1,000 was placed at the disposal of the warden for the use of the prison inmates. So grateful were the prisoners, the warden, and prison employees at the generous gift that it was

_Resolved_, That the prisoners of the West Virginia penitentiary, through Warden S. A. Hawk, tender their grateful thanks to E. E. Byrum and to the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company, Moundsville, W. Va., for the very welcome gift of books placed in the prison library for their use.

This fine gift of standard literature, including 500 song-books, was a nucleus for the building up of an excellent library, few equaling it in the state.

Thousands of circular letters were mailed by the warden to the leading citizens of West Virginia and leading publishing houses of the country asking for donations of literature. The responses were generous—donors sending from one book to cases containing hundreds of books. One year after the opening of the library twelve thousand standard religious and secular books and magazines were donated. It is true many of them were second-hand and worn, except those received from the publishing firms—such as the people of the state could afford to give.

The library represents to every inmate the warden’s desire that every one of them should feel that an opportunity for newness of life to them is open, and in such opportunity may be found an ample encouragement of good purposes and well-meant efforts. Better life, better men, hence a hope for the prevalence of improvement.

A night school from 5.30 to 7.30 p. m., for two hundred and more illiterate white and colored inmates, ranging from seventeen to seventy-two years of age, was begun in the library at its opening, without intermission during every week-day of the year. The good result has been more satisfactory in the teaching of spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, and writing than the most sanguine could have anticipated. Every one of the illiterate prisoners at the end of the year can read. The attendance of the pupils, thirty-two white and forty colored, being voluntary on their part, alternate nights. The prisoners are visited at their cells every Saturday evening by assistant librarians (who are employed in shops during the day), with slips in hand, and their order taken for whatever book or magazine they may ask for. The magazines are securely bound, three in one volume, minus the advertisements. The number of the cell is taken down with the prisoner’s serial number. The literature is carefully selected by the librarian and made ready for his assistants to place in the inmates’ cells, and each book is charged to the prisoner by his serial number, to be kept for one week. If, however, the book is one that can not be read during the regular period of time, upon application, a further period of a week is allowed. The books issued the previous week are collected and returned to the library, there to be carefully examined, for intentional mutilation the culprit being black-listed and deprived of the use of books, at the pleasure of the warden. At the first and several issues thereafter illiterate and mischievous prisoners marked their books, but by judicious use of the black-list and reprimand the practice on the part of these culprits ceased, and they cheerfully refrained from committing themselves again, and they are now most careful of their literary treasures. For a period of seven months of the year no reports for mutilation of books have been made.

The following are most in demand: Mothers’ Counsel to Their Sons, Pilgrim’s Progress, Fox’s Book of Martyrs, The Kingdom of God, Divine Healing of Soul and Body, Grace of Healing, Boy’s Companion, and Letters for Our Girls—the last being in demand by the female inmates, there being twenty-seven white and colored of them. Many books on tobacco and its effects were also issued to the inmates above named. The books are a part of the Gospel Trumpet Publishing Company’s donation. From close observation of the readers of all this admirable literature the good results are carefully and conscientiously given as follows: Mothers’ Counsel to Their Sons is in constant and steady demand from young men to the “manor-born” of West Virginia. They are a unique, original, and reverent body of criminals. Far too many are illiterate, possessed of high, lofty, and impulsive dispositions, their very souls throbbing with vitality, their eyes beaming with inspiration, doubtless inspired with the magnificent scenery of their native and well-beloved state. Their hearts and minds seem to expand with the thought ever present with them, “Mountaineers will ever be free.” While restraint is irksome to them, they are, however, sensitively susceptible to kind treatment. They love their mountain homes and hearth-stones and cherish with fond remembrance the parents at home, and they are keen to read literature that brings these close to their prison home.

Pilgrim’s Progress is called for by older inmates from other states, white and colored alike, and also those from foreign lands, some of whom have enjoyed the benefit of early home religious training or have been picked up during their wanderings around the world and about the country. They seem to get much good from their reading of John Bunyan, his temptations, trials, and triumphs. All of these men continue in their demand for Gospel Trumpet literature until they have read all of the different volumes of the donation. A marked and decided improvement is noted in the good discipline and the attendance at religious services of all of the readers of good literature and the warden and guards are pleased with their exemplary behavior. The warden has found it convenient to stop altogether the issue of tobacco to the inmates, doubtless accounted for by readers of “Tobacco and Its Effects,” who are now non-users of the weed. It is to be hoped that the contractors do not issue to their employees as much tobacco as heretofore. May the use of it grow less until in as well as out of prison its use may be entirely eliminated.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED BY PRISONERS WHEN USING THE LIBRARY.

Rule 1st. Upon entering the library prisoners must promptly remove their caps and go to their seats in a quiet manner.

Rule 2d. Chewing tobacco, smoking, or spitting on the floor is strictly forbidden.

Rule 3d. Books, papers, or stationery required by any prisoner can be had by raising the hand and asking the librarian or teacher.

Rule 4th. Undivided attention must be given to the teacher; his instructions promptly and respectfully obeyed, and the whole time of the prisoner who is learning must be devoted to study.

Rule 5th. Books, magazines, and papers will be issued for not longer than one week. Care must be exercised not to mark, tear, or mutilate them in any way.

Rule 6th. Should a violation of any of these rules result in a prisoner being reported for punishment, he will be black-listed, and denied the privilege of school or library.

Rule 7th. The privilege of the library will be given to prisoners of exemplary record, where they will have free access to books, magazines, and papers, after working hours.

S. A. HAWK, Warden.

LITERATURE FOR CONVICTS.

The Greenbrier (W. Va.) Independent says: “A short time ago Judge McWhorter of our town shipped to S. A. Hawk, warden of the state prison at Moundsville, a lot of books, magazines, etc., donated by himself and others. We are permitted to publish Mr. Hawk’s letter to the judge in acknowledgement of the donation:

“‘Your fine donation of literature came to hand to-day (March 10), for which please accept my sincere gratitude. I am gratified to inform you that from donations received from the generous people of West Virginia and some few publishers, I have about 10,000 volumes of books and magazines—the latter securely bound and covered. The library is indebted to the Wheeling Intelligencer and News for very many daily exchanges. The library room is 40×40 feet, handsomely furnished and fully equipped.

“‘I have an evening school of sixty pupils—thirty colored and thirty white, boys and men—the hours being from 5 to 7.30 p. m. Their progress is very satisfactory. Taking into consideration that I sent out my appeal for literature January 20, 1900, I think that I have met with unprecedented success, for which I am certainly grateful.

“‘I feel conscious that the new and more liberal system of discipline inaugurated by me since my management of the prison, and the many improvements made, is a duty I owe my charges and for the future protection of society, because these men feel that the hand of every man is not raised against them and that upon their release they will be encouraged to make of themselves useful citizens.

“‘Assuring you that I completely appreciate your kindness, I am sincerely yours,

S. A. HAWK.’”

THE BIBLE CLASS.

Had been in an intermittent state of organization from 1890, with but moderate success. Some two years ago (1899) the Gospel Trumpet people took an active interest in the welfare of the Bible class, which meant that henceforth renewed and intelligent effort was to be made for the future. The class under the new order of arrangement and new infusion of God’s Spirit greatly increased in membership in a short period of time. To this class of earnest Christians the Gospel Trumpet people and denominational ministers of Moundsville give their attention and best effort in their respective turn, every Sabbath morning from 8 to 9 o’clock. The commendable progress the members of the class have made in their work is to a large extent due to these ministers of God. Very many remarkable conversions have been brought about, and baptism given by the ordained ministers from the Gospel Trumpet office.

NOTABLE REFORMATIONS.

_Serial No. 2282_—A veteran inmate from Randolph Co., aged 56 years, received at the prison in 1892 to serve his natural life for the crime of murder, this being his second term for the same kind of crime. About twelve years ago he was pardoned by the governor upon well established grounds of mitigating circumstances connected with the alleged crime.

For the second term he has been an inmate for nine years. He is a large man, six feet in height, with a good looking face and possessed of a warm and tender heart. His prison record is exemplary, and he is employed in the tailor shop, filling a responsible position. Four times has the Bible class selected him as their class-leader, recognizing his Biblical learning, industry, and signal ability at prayer and exhortation. He says that during the years prior to the aid given to the class at the hands of the Gospel Trumpet people, he was somewhat lukewarm in his class work. However, with their hearty assistance and material aid he took on a new spirit and inspiration for more and better work for God. He is much encouraged by the many conversions made and by the growth of the class. He canvassed for subscribers for very many Gospel Trumpet literary works; of these and the Gospel Trumpet paper, he is a constant reader.

_Serial No. 2320_—Received from Cabell Co. in 1892 to serve a life sentence for murder, is a young man of fine education, culture, high resolve and noble purpose, a scion of Christian family residents of Ohio. The crime into which the unfortunate man was probably led appears to have been a concocted scheme made up and he enticed to join in, for the purpose of putting him out of the way in order to accomplish certain designs his enemies had against his life and property to be inherited by him. To make sure of their work the railroad officials and detectives were put on the job, so, when he and his companions made the attempt to stop and rob the railroad passenger train, they were fired upon by a posse of armed guards, which they returned, killing one of the passengers. He was seriously wounded, losing the use of his right arm.

He was converted several years ago and baptized. His health has long since been undermined by confinement and he is in a precarious condition, but above all things else he is a true Christian and child of God and entirely fit to be pardoned and restored to society, home, and friends. He has served one year as leader of the Bible class, and owing to his lovable disposition, learning, and industry he gave entire satisfaction to his classmates.

_Serial No. 2547_—Received from Fayette County in 1894, for murder, to serve his natural life in prison, age at the time 20 years, is a notable example of complete reformation within the prison-walls. He is a native of Virginia, raised to do hard work in the coal mines, where he was without much, if any, advantage to enable him to obtain an education. Possessed of natural abilities and doubtless awed by the shadow of the gallows from which a loving sister saved him, and the prison environments, he purposed to obey the prison rules by industry at his employment and civility toward the prison officials and his comrades. It seems also that early upon his entrance into the penitentiary he resolved to be a godly man. He taught himself how to read his Bible while in his cell at night. Attending the Bible class he learned how to pray. He gave his heart to God one Sabbath day while listening to a sermon. His classmates selected him as their leader and he served so satisfactorily that during the end of Governor Atkinson’s administration he was pardoned by and through the untiring effort and devotion of the sister who had saved him years before from the gallows. One and all rejoiced and prayed God that the Governor, at the end of life’s journey may be rewarded for the mercy he granted even unto the poorest and lowliest prisoner in the penitentiary.

_Serial No. 2504_—Received from Berkley County in 1894, for grand larceny, to serve a term of twelve years, upon entrance to the prison started in to make it unpleasant for the prison officials by stubbornly refusing to work and by violent acts of misconduct. It was found necessary to punish him severely several times. He was one of the prisoners in solitary confinement when Warden Hawk took hold of the prison. He was released with others, and at once taken in hand by the warden for individual treatment. A good position was given him in the laundry and other privileges granted to him as well as good counsel given and amiably received. It was soon observed by the prison officials that he was a constant attendant at the chapel Sabbath services, then at a pathetic and prayerful invitation went forward one Sabbath day and gave himself to the service of God and was baptized. He was in charge of the Bible class for a while. He was recently released by habeas corpus proceedings on the ground that having been committed to the penitentiary on two sentences, one for four years and the other for eight years, from different counties, the greater sentence embraced also the lesser one, in that the date of sentence in each case commenced from the day of sentence.