Viewing page 169 of 284

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

the purpose, and its location is very damp and unhealthy.  These reasons necessarily render the jail one of the worst in the country in comparison with its requirements.  There are now by no means as many persons confined as has been the case.

They number 83 in all - of whom six are women, all colored, and of the remaining 77 males seventeen only are white.  There is but one case on the sick list - who was taken ill the day before my visit.  The general health is better than might have been expected from the location and character of the building.

There was not in the jail one single person who complained of scanty or unproper food - and on examination of the kitchen and the rations issued while I was there I saw no cause for complaint on that subject. -

I also asked each individual confined whether there was any complaint of ill treatment on the part of the [[strikethrough]] prisoners [[/strikethrough]] jailors - and in doing this informed them that I was a United States Officer having full power and that they could not get into any trouble with their present jailors by telling the truth to me.  I went to the verge of inviting complaint.  None of the males made the slightest complaint but stated that they were as well treated as prisoners could be.  This expression was so common among them that it seemed to me suspiciously like repeating a lesson.

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-09-06 15:16:52