Article published September 28, 1915

Sec'y A.S. Johnstone Tells of Conditions in Local Jails

Thorough Inspection of Local Penal and Charitable Institutions Made a Few Days Ago By Secretary of the State Board of Charities and Corrections.

Albert S. Johnstone, secretary of the state board of charities and corrections recently spent several days in Spartanburg inspecting the city and county jails, the county parish and the six chaingangs of Spartanburg county. Representatives of this board are making a preliminary survey of the penal and charitable work of the state in order to present as full a report to the next session of the legislature as possible.

Mr. Johnstone was taken through the county jail by Jailer E.M. Wilson. At the time there were 44 prisoners; 17 were white, six of them girls and women. This fact emphasizes the need for an institution for girls which the state board of charities and corrections is urging at the present time. Mr. Johnstone stated that the Spartanburg jail was the largest and most secure which he has yet inspected in the state. Separate quarters are provided for white and blacks and males and females. In addition, there are two hospital rooms and three cells for unruly prisoners.

"The jailor's residence is very much in need of minor repairs," said Mr. Johnstone. "The steel cells should be repainted as rust is making inroads in some places. The walls need whitewashing."

Took Sentence as Joke

At the time of the inspection there were in the jail two boys who give their ages as over 17. They had just been sentenced to the chaingang for 20 days for a slight offense, but seemed to regard the whole affair as a joke. Whether or not their experience on the chaingang will be reformatory is an open question. There were also six white girls in the jail. One was very sick; another would have been released the day before but because she had had several fits, it was thought unwise for her to leave. These facts indicate some of the problems to which the state board of charities and corrections is addressing itself. The case of the girls urges the need for a matron for female prisoners, and the use of the hospital wards for sick women. At present this cannot be done because there is no matron.

Clean City Jail

Mr. Johnstone stated that the city jail seemed to be much cleaner than the average, better ventilated and better equipped. The stockade part proper is not fixed up as is intended but affords pretty good sleeping quarters for the prisoners, together with toilet and bathing facilities much better than the ordinary. Mr. Johnstone discussed at length with Chief Hill , Clery Boyd and Engineer Tull costs of maintaining the prisoners. He was told that during the fiscal year of 1914 the actual cost for feeding prisoners was 11.7 cents per day per head, and that the actual cost of all maintenance, including food, clothing, guards, etc., was 29.5 cents per day per head. In the county jail the dieting fee is 40 cents per day for county prisoners and 35 cents for federal prisoners.

The County Home

Two days were spent visiting the county home and the six chaingangs. Supervisor J.J. Vernon took Mr. Johnstone around and on the second day, Capt. George W. Johnson, of the county parish accompanied the party. Mr. Johnstone found that the buildings at the county parish, while old, showed good care.

"A good many of the needed improvements are planned for," he stated, "such as new flooring and new ceilings in some of the houses." Several of the rooms were especially clean. Iron beds are provided with comfortable bedding. There is running water, but it does not yet reach the individual rooms. There is no sewerage system. Surface toilets are used. This decreases the comfort of the old people and makes it harder to keep the home as the officials desire. The absence of adequate bathing facilities is another condition that should be remedied as soon as possible. At present kerosene lamps are used, but these are dangerous especially as there are a number of epileptic and feeble minded inmates. The indications are that the inmates are kindly treated and well care for. The farm seems to be successfully managed as it furnishes the gangs of the county with corn for some nine months out of the year, provides the home with milk, butter, vegetables, grain and a large percent of the meat, and makes the parish practically self-sustaining.

Incurable Cases

One of the burdens of the county parish which it should be assisted in handling are incurable cases. In one of the houses occupied by negro women were two with an incurable disease. Both were in bed, one very ill. A negro nurse is needed to care for such inmates.

Four of the chaingangs live in tents about 20 feet long by 18 feet wide, without floors. The beds are pallets made of blankets with straw ticks or mattresses in some cases, resting on raised boards. The bedding is sprayed frequently and washed on an average of about once a month. The prisoners sleep for the most part in their day clothes which are changed once a week after their weekly bath. A high percentage are chained to the long chain at night. The weight of these chains on the ankle is relieved in a number of cases by hanging the chain over a nail at the foot of the pallet.

In the camp of Capt. B.W. Moore near Switzer, the prisoners sleep in a cage 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 7 feet high. It is on wheels and raised several feet from the ground. The sides and ends are of steel strips five inches square. There are 11 prisoners whose pallets are on raised boards, or boards suspended from the roof. The ventilation in this cage is particularly good during the good days of the summer.

At the county parish the gang under Captain Johnson which numbers 27 is housed in a wooded jail with a high stockade fence around it. The bathing and toilet facilities of this are, of course, better than in the field camps.

NOTE: This is a historical document that was written in the context of the time. Nothing herein is intended to be derogatory or disrespectful to any person or persons.