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 f^-J'u 
 
The One Hundred and One County 
 
 Jails of Illinois and Why They 
 
 Ought to be Abolished 
 
 -By 
 
 EDITH ABBOTT 
 
 Chairman, Committee on Crime of the Illinois 
 
 State Conference of Charities 
 
 Alton, 1916 
 
 ISSUED BY 
 
 THE JUVENILE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION 
 OF CHICAGO 
 
 1916 
 
The One Hundred and One County Jails of Illinois 
 and Why They Ought to be Abolished 
 
 ^(•^^"^^IIE only way to solve the county jail problem is to abolish the 
 
 M ^^ county jails. It is folly to hope that any attempt to reform 
 
 ^^^^ the county jaiLs of Illinois or of any other state can be even 
 
 measurably successful. One attempt after another has failed in the pnst, 
 
 and similar efforts will fail in the future. 
 
 In the year 1870, the then newly created Illinois State Board of 
 Charities made a survey of our county jails; and to improve the horrible 
 conditions then found, a "new jail law" was passed in 1874. This law, 
 which was passed forty-two years ago has not only never been amended 
 but it has never been enforced. The very thorough survey that was made 
 last year by the present State Charities Commission brought to light 
 abuses as serious as those that were found in 1870. The provisions of 
 the "new jail law of 1874," which required that the jails be kept sanitary 
 and clean and that different classes of prisoners should be separated (the 
 men and the women kept apart and young prisoners separated "from 
 notorious offenders and those convicted of a felony or other infamous 
 crime"), — these provisions are not enforced today in many of the 
 counties of Illinois, they have never been enforced, and it is entirely 
 safe to predict that they never will be enforced. The long and costly 
 lesson of experience has taught us that any humanitarian legislation 
 that is left to a hundred and one different local authorities to enforce 
 will simply not be enforced. 
 
 There are in Illinois precisely'' one hundred and one different coun- 
 ties outside of Cook County. That means that there are precisely one 
 ^hundred and one different local authorities that must be brought up to 
 .^* an adequate understanding of the county jail problem before any reforms 
 '<j under the present law can be attempted. It means more than this. One 
 • hundred and one different local authorities must be educated this year; 
 ^j. but two years hence a new set of officials will be elected, and the w'ork 
 \ must begin all over again. 
 
 Long ago the English government learned the lesson that we are 
 still studying. In England, numerous attempts were made to compel 
 the local authorities to provide decent jaiLs. None of these attempts 
 was successful; and, finally, more than half a centurj' ago, the central 
 government solved the problem by taking over the management of these 
 institutions. Much more recently the State of Indiana learned the same 
 lesson and by providing a state farm for misdemeanants removed all 
 of these offenders from the custody of the county authorities. 
 
 1 
 
It must not be forgotten that the Illinois State Legislature decided 
 more than forty years apro that this was a matter which should not be 
 left to the county authorities. The leuislature when it passed the "new 
 jail law of 1874" took the stand that every person deprived of his 
 liberty in the state of Illinois must be humanely treated, — that he must 
 not be confined in a place that would injure him either physically or 
 morally. Having passed this law, however, the state legislature of 1874, 
 and the score of legislatures that have met since, failed to do anything 
 to secure the enforcement of the provisions that were designed to safe- 
 guard the health and morals of the helpless people who are confined in 
 our county jails each year. 
 
 Of course, all the counties are not equally culpable. In a few, 
 new and decent jails have been erected ; and, in a few others, new plans 
 have been made. But in the vast majority, there is nothing but indiffer- 
 ence and neglect on this subject. The inspector for the State Board 
 reported that the records of county expenditures shoAved that large sums 
 were expended last year on what were called "jail improvements." 
 But these improvements were "not new plumbing or fresh paint, or new 
 bedding, or a few windows." This was not the type of jail improvement 
 for which the county officials were walling to spend their money. Instead 
 of this the "jail improvements" accounted for in the records were found 
 by the state inspector to be "almost invariably a new porch for the 
 sheriff, a new garage for the sheriff, a new bathroom for the sheriff, or a 
 new hardwood floor for the sheriff. "With the exception of the appropria- 
 tions for new jails, not $5,000 was expended in the last year in the state 
 of Illinois on improvements on the jail proper. A good many thousands 
 were expended on the sheriff's residence, but not on the dark little annex 
 in the rear." 
 
 The state inspector goes on to say, "There is no reason why the 
 counties should not expend unlimited sums on improvements for the 
 sheriffs' residences, if they desire to do so. but the records of items would 
 be less misleading if they were credited to the sheriff's residence, and 
 not to the jail." 
 
 The recent survey of the State Board of Charities shows how com- 
 pletely the "new jail law" has broken down. It has been impossible to 
 compel the county authorities to obey the provisions of this law. The 
 "new jail law of 1874" has been "a dead letter" for more than forty 
 years. Some extracts* from the recent jail survey of the State Charities 
 Commission will illustrate the indifference of our country' authorities to 
 the attempt on the part of the State to compel them to erect and maintain 
 
 These ars verbatim extracts from thft In.stitution Quarterly issued by the 
 State Charities Commission and the State Board of Administration. The iiispec- 
 tions were made by Miss Ilinrlchsen, the official Inspector. 
 
sanitary jail55 with facilities for separating the different classes of 
 prisoners. 
 
 The Adams County Jail, inspected July 28, 1915, is in the basement of 
 the courthouse. The main jail room is 44 by 68 feet in dimensions. It is 
 lighted by windows at the south and north ends. The two cell blocks con- 
 tain fourteen cells each. The cells of each block are placed back to back. 
 No air can circulate through them as the solid stone walls shut off even the 
 small amount that enters through the north and south windows. Each cell 
 contains a toilet and two bunks. The cells are very dark. Neither air nor 
 light can enter them. 
 
 The jail is dark, insanitary and ill-ventilated. Separation of different 
 classes of prisoners is impossible. 
 
 Alexander County Jail, inspected April 23, 1915, confines its prisoners 
 in a dungeon in the courthouse basement. So dark is the place that electric 
 lights must burn all day. The main prison is a small room, dark, damp, 
 ill-smelling. The cage has four cells, two on each side of a latticed corridor. 
 The air was heavy with the exhalations of fourteen pairs of lungs and reeked 
 with the odors of crowded, unwashed bodies. 
 
 Fourteen men were crowded in a space where there was not enough 
 oxygen for one. The electric lights do not light the cells but shine dimly 
 in the cage. The men's faces are almost indistinguishable, except when 
 directly beneath the lights. 
 
 Buckets and toilets provide the only sanitary facilities and they are 
 utterly inadequate. No bathtubs are provided. The county furnishes towels 
 and soap but no changes of underwear. A prisoner cannot be required to 
 bathe and change when admitted, because there are no tubs and no clothes. 
 He and all the vermin and disease he may bring with him are thrown into 
 a cage with a dozen or more other prisoners — clean, dirty, healthy or dis- 
 eased — there to remain in darkness and dampness for weeks and months. 
 The men are kept herded in the cage all the time, as the walls of the rooms 
 are not strong enough to hold them. 
 
 The fourteen men in the cage were all awaiting trial. They were pre- 
 sumably innocent men. They are herded into a pen not fit for the lowest 
 beasts, deprived of light, air and the ordinary decencies of the body. 
 
 This jail has been condemned for many years. It is not only a disgrace 
 to the humanity of a county, but it is a positive menace to public health. 
 The entire building is made insanitary by the crowding together in the base- 
 ment of all kinds and conditions of men, in every stage of health or disease, 
 without air or light or decent toilet facilities. 
 
 The Bond County Jail, inspected May 29, 1915, is a large, dark, damp, 
 insanitary room, ... 
 
 The main prison room is dimly lighted by two windows at each of two 
 sides and one -window on a third side. The windows are barred, both inside 
 and out, and cannot be opened. No fresh air can enter this room, and as 
 the windows cannot be washed, the light is shut out. The walls and floor 
 are very damp. 
 
 The cage has four cells, two on each side of a small corridor. The cell 
 doors are latticed and the backs of the cells are latticed. There is a toilet 
 and a stand in the cage corridor. The plumbing was out of order and the 
 floor around the toilet was wet. 
 
 The jail is heated by an old stove and is lighted by electricity. There 
 is no tub except a metal laundry tub, which is brought in when the prisoners 
 wish to bathe. 
 
 The Brown Coiuity Jail, inspected May 14, 1915, . . is so dark 
 
 and damp that it is not safe to confine anyone in it. No arrangements are 
 made for separating different classes of prisoners. With several prisoners 
 in this jail it would be absolutely insanitary. Children and minors are con- 
 fined with other prisoners. 
 
 The Bui-eau County Jail, inspected September 3, 1915, is two large 
 
 3 
 
rooms in the rear of the sheriff's residence. The building is across the street 
 from the court house. 
 
 The women's section is next to the jail office and north of the men's 
 room. It contains four cells on the first floor and four cells on the second 
 floor, opening upon a balcony. The two floors are one room. Each cell is a 
 small room with an outside window. There is a toilet and stand in each. 
 In one there is a bathtub. The cots have mattresses and blankets. 
 
 The second tier is nominally for minors and children. There were ten 
 women prisoners in the room on the day of inspection. The one minor was 
 in the men's section. 
 
 The women's room and cells were clean, light and well ventilated. The 
 men's section contains a two-tier cage. The room has six windows on each 
 of two sides. On the first tier, the eight cells and the bath cells are latticed. 
 On the second tier, the backs of the cells are barred. Iron cots are used on 
 the first tier and canvas hammocks on the second. There is no bath cell on 
 the second tier. 
 
 The men are not locked in the cages, but are given the liberty of the 
 jail room. Separation of different classes of prisoners is impossible. There 
 were twenty-six men in the jail room at the time of inspection. The room 
 has sufficient air for half that number. 
 
 In the Calhoun County Jail, inspected June 15, 1915, there is one room 
 on the first floor and two on the second. The first floor room contains a 
 latticed cage with three cells and a corridor. The cage is so placed that no 
 air from the windows can enter it. The iron is painted black. The room 
 and cage are very dark, damp and insanitary. There is no running water. 
 A stove heats the room. 
 
 One man had been held for trial for a year in the jail and had been 
 released a few days before. . . . The place is entirely unfit for the care 
 of human beings. 
 
 The Carroll County Jail, inspected August 31, 1915, makes no provision 
 for the separation of men and women prisoners. At the time of inspection 
 one woman and three men were occupying the same room. ... If the 
 insane or children are brought to the jail they, too, must be placed in this 
 one large room. 
 
 The Cass Coiuity Jail, inspected July 7, 1915, is a one-room stone annex 
 to the sheriff's brick residence. The jail room contains a two-tier, twelve- 
 cell stone cage. There are six small windows on each side of the room. The 
 jail is dark, ill-ventilated and insanitary. 
 
 The cells are very small and have barred doors. They are dark and no 
 air can enter them. Each has two iron wall cots with mattresses and 
 blankets and a ventilated box for a night bucket. . . . This jail is so 
 dark and ill ventilated as to be an unsafe place to hold prisoners. It is said 
 to be one of the strongest jails in the State, one of the few from which 
 prisoners cannot escape. Separation of the different classes of prisoners is 
 impossible. Only one woman can be held in the women's section. 
 
 In the Chi'istian Coimty Jail, inspected June 23, 1915, the jail rooms 
 are on the second floor of the sheriff's handsome residence. The east, or 
 newly remodeled old section, is a large room containing two cages, one for 
 men and one for women. 'The cages are on opposite sides and a meager 
 pretense of separation is offered in the shape of a sheet-iron screen six feet 
 high extending part way across the room between the two cages. It is true 
 that this screen does separate parts of the cages, but it does not interfere 
 with unlimited conversation back and forth between the two cages. 
 
 There is a bathtub in the jail room, but there is not even a screen 
 around it. It is in plain sight of all the occupants of the cage. 
 
 The lack of proper separation of men and women prisoners makes the 
 newly remodeled old part of the jail unfit for use, unless either one sex or 
 the other alone occupy it. The bathing facilities are not good and half of 
 the cells are too dark for use. The wood floors and ceilings make the jail 
 unsafe. 
 
 4 
 
The Clark County Jail, inspected June 3, 1915, is a small brick build- 
 ing connected by a covered passage with the sheriff's handsome new two- 
 story brick residence. 
 
 The jail is dark and damp and there are no free air currents. Iron 
 slats across the lower part of the windows shut off air and light; the upper 
 tier is darker and more insanitary than the lower one. 
 
 The Clinton County Jail, inspected May 19, 1915. . . . It is impos- 
 sible to separate different classes of prisoners. 
 
 The Cumberland County Jail, inspected June 1, 1915. . . . Separa^ 
 tlon of different classes of prisoners is not possible. 
 
 In the Douglas County Jail, inspected July 3, 1915, the first floor jail 
 room contains a cage which has four cells and a corridor. Two little win- 
 dows on each of two sides let in only a very small amount of air and light. 
 Even in the middle of the day the electric light burns. The windows were 
 open, but the air was heavy and stale. In the corridor are the toilet and 
 stand. 
 
 So little light and air can enter this jail that is is not a fit place to hoM 
 men and women. The law requiring the separation of minors from older 
 offenders cannot be enforced. At the time of inspection a boy of 15 and one 
 of 18 were held in the same room with six older offenders. There was no 
 room for them anywhere else. The women's quarters are not large enough 
 for one woman, but the one small cell is the only place where women can 
 be confined. This jail has been condemned as unfit for use. Recently a 
 motion for a new jail was introduced at a meeting of the county board. 
 The motion received but two favorable votes, that of the man who introduced 
 it and of the man who seconded it. 
 
 Edgar County Jail, inspected July 14, 1915, confines white women in 
 the same room with negro men in the county jail. Only two jail rooms are 
 provided for prisoners. In one the cage is partitioned. In the other it is 
 not. When one room becomes crowded with men the prisoners must be 
 taken to the other room and placed in the same cage with the women. The 
 partition in the middle of the latticed cage is the only attempt at separation 
 of the sexes. On the other three sides, the sections of the cage are latticed 
 and the prisoners of the two sections can converse freely, and every sound 
 in one section can be distinctly heard in the other. 
 
 On the second fioor the jail room is like the one on the first, except that 
 a partition has been put in the cage corridor. At the time of inspection 
 there were three negro men in one side of the cage and a white woman in 
 the other. The first-floor room was crowded with men, and the sheriff had 
 been compelled to resort to the present arrangement. There are no rooms 
 for women, none for children and none for the insane. The law requiring 
 the separation of men and women, minors from older offenders, and persons 
 charged with infamous crimes from those charged with crimes not infamous, 
 cannot be complied with. 
 
 An addition should be built to this jail. The present arrangement is a 
 violation of the laws of State and morality. Until quarters are built for 
 women and minors, it will be necessary for the sheriff to confine men, women, 
 children, minors, old offenders and the insane in the same room. 
 
 Edwards County Jail, inspected April 10, 1915, The jail is not properly 
 equipped for the care of prisoners. There are no means of separation of 
 different classes of prisoners. 
 
 The Fayette County Jail, inspected May 29, 1915, is dark, ill-venti- 
 lated, vile-smelling and insanitary. The prison room is dimly lighted by 
 three small windows high in the wall on two sides. The cage is in two tiers. 
 Each tier contains four cells and two corridors. The cells are very dark. 
 The doors are latticed and there is a latticed cell window opposite each door. 
 But the windows of the room are so placed that neither light nor air falls 
 through the latticing into the cells. Neither light nor fresh air can enter 
 the cells and the odors are very foul. 
 
 Each cage corridor on the first tier contains a toilet and a stand, both 
 
in a state of dilapidation. There is a bathtub in the prison room. A bath 
 taken in this tub would be a public performance for the jail inmates. 
 
 An iron stairway leads to the second tier. This tier is a trifle better 
 ventilated than the lower one, as the small windows send a little air into 
 the cage. There are no toilet facilities on this tier. 
 
 There are no arrangements for separation of sexes or different classes 
 of prisoners. The jail is dark and insanitary and entirely unfit for human 
 beings. It was as clean as so wretched a place could be. 
 
 Ford County Jail, inspected July 23, 1915. . The room is dark 
 
 and the air cannot circulate freely through the cells. 
 
 On the second floor the main jail room is like the one on the first floor. 
 There is one dark cell in the general room on the second floor. 
 
 There were five men in the jail. 
 
 The jail is too dark and ill-ventilated to be sanitary. 
 
 Franklin County Jail, inspected April 30, 1915. This jail is a whitened 
 sepulchre. According to the report of the inspector it was built ten years 
 ago and the exterior of it is that of a handsome, two-story brick residence," 
 but within it "was so dirty as to be an unfit place for human beings. The 
 windows were hea^T with dirt, the floors were covered with all kinds of 
 refuse. . . The toilets were filthy, the drains were clogged. 
 
 The prisoners had been without soap for three days. There was one 
 t-owel for a cage of men. 
 
 The mattresses were on the floor. . . . The bedding was worn and 
 very filthy. . . . The bathroom was full of dirty rags, old brooms and 
 a torn and filthy mattress. 
 
 The women's section was a small two-cell cage so dark that it was 
 diflftcult to see what furnishings were in it and so dirty as to be unfit for 
 occupancy. The odor was disgusting. No sunlight and no air enter this 
 room. 
 
 On the second floor the main prison and the insane cage are similar to 
 the main prison and the women's room of the first floor. The Insane cage 
 was disgustingly dirty, vile-smelling and very dark. An insane man had been 
 kept there through the previous night. The place was unfit for an animal. 
 A small room intended for a hospital room was packed with lumber. 
 
 The Fulton Coimty Jail, inspected August 28, 1915, is a two-story stone 
 annex to the sheriff's brick residence. 
 
 The main room on the first floor contains three small windows on each 
 of two sides. The windows are out of proportion to the thick stone walls 
 and are little better than slits. No sunlight and very little air can enter. 
 Oiie window is darkened by the covered cellai-way outside. 
 
 The gray cage contains six cells and a corridor. In each cell are four 
 steel wall cots with mattresses and blankets. There is an electric light in 
 each cell. 
 
 The cells are very dark. The air was stale and hea^'y with odors. The 
 mattresses and blankets were old and discolored. The floors were damp. 
 The end of the cage farthest from the entrance was so dark that the fixtures 
 could not be seen without lights. A garbage basket half full of refuse added 
 several more sickening odors to the heavy atmosphere. The men complained 
 
 that the night odors are especially bad There were thirteen 
 
 prisoners in the jail at the time of inspection. Separation of different classes 
 of prisoners is impossible. 
 
 This jail should be either abandoned or made sanitary. It is too dark, 
 damp and ill ventilated a place in which to confine men and women. As no 
 separation of different classes of prisoners is possible, the young offenders 
 have every opportunity of taking lessons in all manners of vice from the 
 older prisoners. 
 
 The GaUatin Coiuity Jail, inspected April 15, 1915, was built before 
 Illinois became a State and it is as primitive as it was 100 years ago. 
 It is a log cabin whose outer walls have been covered with brick. 
 
 To enter the main room, one must crawl through a hole about four 
 feet square cut in the thick log walls. A block of wood forms a hea\T door 
 for this hole. 
 
 6 
 
The windows are two, barred, narrow slits in the front wall. The entire 
 interior is of wood. At one end of the room is a small cell with a covered, 
 ventilated, vile-smelling box. Connected with this room by a hole, a small 
 slit high in the wall, similar to the one by which the main room is entered, 
 is a small cell. On the floor of the cell, is a straw mattress. At the opposite 
 end of the long room, is another small cell entered by a hole in the wall 
 and lighted by a small window slit. It contains a cot and a mattress on the 
 floor. 
 
 In the men's prison at the time of inspection were four men, all using 
 the same towel and washing in the same tin pan. 
 
 The women's prison on the first floor is a large, filthy, vile-smelling 
 room. The plaster is falling from the ceiling and walls. There is a double 
 wooden bed in one corner, a straw pallet on the floor in another. 
 
 There were four women in this room. The only toilet facilities were a 
 small tin cooking pan and two buckets. 
 
 The Greene County Jail, inspected June 17, 1915. This jail is entirely 
 inadequate in every way. It is too small to allow separation of different 
 classes of prisoners. The women's section is too small for even one woman. 
 The location of the bathroom is indecent. 
 
 The Grundy Coimty Jail, inspected August 14, 1915. The men's room 
 is lighted by five small windows. 
 
 The room contains a two-tier stone cell block. In this cell block are 
 twelve small, dark caves. The corridor around the cell block was so dark 
 than an electric torch was used for the inspection. The caves were so dark 
 as to be merely black shadows against the whitewashed stone of the block. 
 
 The sunlight does not enter the jail room. The only light comes from 
 candles and from small kerosene lamps. In several of the caves there were 
 bits of candles. In the corridor were small lamps, their chimneys so black- 
 ened that only a dim glimmer came through the soot. 
 
 There were eight persons at the time of inspection. Seven were confined 
 in the main room. . . . No separation according to age or class of crime 
 can be made. There was one minor. 
 
 The jail is so dark, damp, wretchedly ventilated, dirty and verminous 
 as to be an unfit place in which to confine human beings. The lack of any 
 means of separation of the different classes of prisoners makes it a constant 
 offense against the State law. The darkness, dampness, dirt and insanitation 
 make it dangerous to the health of the persons confined in it. 
 
 The Hamilton County Jail, inspected April 13, is one room on the 
 first floor of a two-story brick building. . . . The jail was built in 1857. 
 Little has been done to it since that time. 
 
 The jail is a room 10 by 12 feet with two very dark cells on two 
 sides. There is one window in the room. The door is iron and is kept closed. 
 During the day the window is open but after supper the iron shutters are 
 closed and locked. 
 
 No more inhuman, indecent jail torture could be inflicted than the 
 imprisoning of men in this small space where no air can possibly come. The 
 odors are loathsome. The men suffer horribly at night. The day-light is 
 shut out at six o'clock. The men must either sit in darkness or make their 
 cage still more hideous by burning a coal oil lamp. 
 
 For 12 hours out of the 24, four men are confined in one small 
 cage into which not a breath of outside air can penetrate. Iron shutters 
 seal the one window and a solid sheet of iron seals the door. The only 
 toilet facilities are buckets. If the prisoners have a lamp between six in the 
 evening and six in the morning, the supply of oxygen is even more depleted. 
 
 Of the four prisoners two are awaiting trial. . . . One will be 
 tried in August and one in September. Three of these men will probably 
 spend the entire summer in this horrible place. Their sufferings through 
 the hot days will be the most cruel torture. 
 
 The only bathing facilities are a small tin basin. 
 
 This jail is a disgrace to the county and to the state. It is a disgrace 
 
to the grand jury who sit in the room above it and whose duty it is to inspect 
 it and report its condition. It is a disgrace to the supervisors of the county. 
 
 Hancock County Jail, inspected July 30, 1915, is a stone building in the 
 rear of the sheriff's residence on the public square of Carthage. The 
 rooms and cells used for women, minors, and city prisoners, are unfit for 
 any purpose. They are not sufficiently separated from the main jail room 
 to be used for either women or minors, and the lack of privacy of any sort 
 makes them practically useless. ... At the last session of the grand 
 jury, recommendations were made that the plumbing system be put in 
 better order and that three new cells be built. Both recommendations 
 should be carried out by the county board. The one bathtub is utterly 
 unfit for use. There should be more cells or an addition to the jail. With 
 the small quarters, it is impossible for the sheriff to separate the prisoners 
 according to the provisions of the law. 
 
 The Hardin County Jail, inspected April 21, 1915, is a small, one-story 
 brick building in the rear of the courthouse. It contains one room, about 
 twenty feet square, which is the main prison, a small cell for women and a 
 tiny entrance hall. 
 
 The main prison contains a cage 12 by 14 feet with two cells 7% by 7 
 feet and a narrow corridor. Each cell has a barred back and a latticed door. 
 The room has two windows on each side. 
 
 Each cell has a ventilated box but these are not used. 
 
 In the cage corridor is a toilet. The water for flushing must be carried 
 to it. The toilet was packed around with lime. A tin washbasin provided 
 the only bathing facilities. 
 
 It is not possible to separate minors from older offenders nor prisoners 
 charged with infamous crimes from those charged with crimes not infamous. 
 
 The Henderson County Jail and Almshouse, inspected July 31, 1915. 
 By a special act of the Legislature in February, 1859, Henderson County is 
 permitted to maintain a combined jail and almshouse. 
 
 The act states that prisoners may be confined in the Henderson County 
 almshouse until a suitable jail shall be provided. Although this act went 
 Into effect 5 6 years ago, there is as yet no disposition on the part of the 
 Henderson County officials to abrogate the ancient charter and adopt a more 
 modern and humane method of caring for their dependents and delinquents. 
 
 The jail-room in the basement is . . . almost level with the ground. 
 
 There are three small cells and a bath cell set in a stone block. The 
 cells are very dark. . . . The cells have wall cots with old mattresses 
 and worn comforts. The doors of the cells are latticed. The floors are of 
 wood. 
 
 The windows are barred and covered with perforated sheets of iron. 
 
 There had been a hea\'y rain the night before and the water had run 
 through the windows into the jail-room. This happens every time there is 
 rain and there is a drain pipe especially constructed to carry away the water 
 after it has flooded into the jail. The prisoners say they get up on chairs 
 when the rain begins to fall. At the time of inspection the floor was very 
 damp. As no sunlight reaches the jail the drying out process is a slow and 
 incomplete one. 
 
 But the combining of the jail and the almshouse is very far from being a 
 humane procedure. Almshouse inmates and jail prisoners are two totally 
 different classes and should not be cared for as one class. The sheriff of 
 the county should not be expected to be sheriff, almshouse superintendent, 
 farm manager and jailer. 
 
 The basement jail should be completely abandoned. It is not safe to 
 hold persons in a cellar under any circumstances and a cellar that is flooded 
 with water every time it rains should not be used as a dwelling place. 
 
 The lack of any means of separation of the different classes of prisoners 
 is one reason why this jail should be condemned and abandoned. 
 
 Henry County Jail, inspected October 29, 1915. The jail is one large 
 
 8 
 
room. A row of small windows near the roof is the only means of admitting 
 light and air. 
 
 In the jail-room is a two-tier, stone, cell block with six cells on each side 
 of each tier. The cells are dark. No air enters them. Each cell has a 
 cot with mattress and blankets. In one cell is a toilet. Night buckets are 
 provided for the cells. 
 
 No bathtub is provided except a laundry tub. In this laundry tub, the 
 men wash their bodies and their clothes. Water must be heated in another 
 part of the building. 
 
 The west side of the jail was occupied by 10 men. One man had been 
 discharged from the army on account of a diseased condition of his 
 lungs. He eats, sleeps and mingles constantly with the other men. They 
 bathe in the same tub. They wash their clothes in the same tub. 
 
 The women's section was darker than the men's and there was less 
 air in it. The separation of sexes is inadequate. There is a window between 
 the two sections through which the men and women may converse freely. 
 
 No separation of different classes of prisoners is possible and no 
 isolation of prisoners with communicable diseases can be made. The men 
 are exposed to physical and moral contagion every hour that they are in 
 this prison. 
 
 Physical care of their bodies is almost an impossibility under the 
 present arrangements. 
 
 All classes of prisoners, old offenders, hardened reprobates and first 
 offenders, must be herded in one room. From moral contagion for the better 
 class of prisoners, there is no protection. 
 
 The lack of adequate facilities for separation of the two sexes is a 
 condition of which the moral aspect needs no comment. 
 
 The jail is an insanitary, ill-ventilated building, admitting of no separa- 
 tion of different classes of prisoners, of no separation of diseased from healthy 
 persons, of an entirely inadequate separation of men from women and lack- 
 ing in the necessary toilet facilities. 
 
 Jackson County Jail, inspected April 29, 1915. The cage is very dark. 
 The cage is latticed and the light does not enter freely. The air passes 
 through the cage very well but the cells are so dark that prisoners can 
 not read in their cells in the daytime. 
 
 There is no method of separation of different classes of prisoners. The 
 main room and the women's section are the only places of confinement. 
 Murderers, burglars and bootleggers are all placed together regardless of 
 the State law that requires classification according to crime and age. 
 
 There is a "kangaroo court" whose sentences are carried out with 
 lashes. 
 
 Jefferson County Jail, inspected April 8, 1915. The Jefferson County 
 jail is dark, wet, dirty and full of smells. It is situated next to a livery 
 stable. 
 
 It was built about 40 years ago and no improvements have been 
 added. 
 
 The floor is damp and the walls are defaced and very dirty. There 
 are four small windows near the ceiling on opposite sides of the room. 
 The room is so dark that electric lights burn all day. 
 
 There are four latticed cells 5 by 8 feet in each tier. They are so dark 
 that the interior could not be seen without lighted matches. They were 
 very dirty. On the cots were ragged mattresses and worn, dirty blankets. 
 
 In one corner a blanket, hung on a rope, screened an open toilet. 
 
 The only bathing facilities are tin washtubs for which the 
 water must be heated on an old stove. 
 
 On one side of the room are piled old cots and mattresses. 
 
 Bedbugs and cockroaches are thick. 
 
 There is a "kangaroo court" and its rules are enforced with a razor 
 strop. 
 
 Children are placed in the main prison with other prisoners. There Is 
 no separation according to age or degree of crime charged. There is no 
 hospital room. Sick persons remain in their cells. 
 
This jail should be condemned. It is entirely unfit for occupation and 
 is so antiquated that it can not be made sanitary., 
 
 Jersey County Jail, inspected June 14, 1915. 
 
 The main prison is a large room on the first floor with a two-tier cell 
 cage. The room Is dark and Ill-ventilated. . . There are two windows 
 
 on each of three sides. The windows are very small in proportion to the 
 room. There is so much solid iron in the cage that air currents can not 
 pass through the room. 
 
 Each tier of the cage has two sections. Each section contains two small 
 cells and a corridor. The doors of the cells are latticed. The walls are 
 solid iron. Air can not circulate through the cells. There is so 
 
 little air in the main prison that it would be unsafe for health to place more 
 than three or four prisoners in this section. Separation of different classes 
 of prisoners is impossible. 
 
 The Johnson County Jail, inspected April 27, 1915, is a dilapidated old 
 brick building. . . The main prison . . . is a gloomy room with 
 
 a latticed cage 17 by 18 feet. The cage contains four cells, two on each 
 side of a corridor. The cells have latticed backs and doors. Each has two 
 ragged, canvas hammocks and ragged quilts and blankets. 
 
 In the corridor is a toilet in which the water does not run freely and 
 a faucet from which water runs into a metal laundry tub. The water supply 
 is very low and the greater part of the water for washing must be carried. 
 
 The cells are dark. 
 
 The jail is lighted by coal oil lamps and heated by a coal stove. 
 
 A wooden staircase leads to the women's section on the second floor. 
 This is a single steel cage with two windows and no toilet facilities. 
 
 There were five prisoners in the jail and all were confined in the main 
 prison without regard to age or class of crime. One boy of nineteen was 
 with the older men. 
 
 There are no facilities for separation of minors from adults nor of the 
 prisoners charged with infamous crimes from those not infamous. The jail 
 is old, unsafe, insanitary, dark and ill-ventilated. There is no fire protec- 
 tion and much of the interior is of wood. The water supply is entirely 
 inadequate for the needs of such a place and bodily cleanliness is almost 
 impossible. Clothes and bodies are washed in the same tubs. 
 
 In the Kendall County Jail, inspected August 13, 1915, "separation of 
 different classes of offenders is impossible." 
 
 Knox County Jail, inspected August 3, 1915. . The cells are 
 
 small, dark holes in the stone cell block. They are ventilated by openings 
 into an air shaft that leads to the roof. The doors are small iron lattices. 
 The toilet facilities of the cells are covered buckets. 
 
 Separation of persons charged with different classes of crime is impos- 
 sible. All prisoners except women must be held in the one large room or 
 locked in their cells. 
 
 La Salle Coiuity Jail, inspected October 14, 1915. The present jail is 
 already so overcrowded . . "that no classification of prisoners can be 
 
 made. On the day of inspection two boys, aged seventeen and eighteen, 
 were in the same room with five older men held on charges of bastardy, 
 rape, assault, vagrancy and obtaining money under false pretenses. The boys 
 were serving sentences of three months for larceny. The law requiring 
 separation of minors from adults and persons charged with crimes not 
 infamous from those charged with infamous crimes can not be carried out." 
 
 The LawTence County Jail, inspected June 2, 1915, is a stone annex of 
 the sheriff's residence. The first floor is a large stone room with windows on 
 three sides. This room is well ventilated, but it is dark and lights are 
 burned in the day time. The stone walls and floors are full of moisture. 
 
 The Lee County Jail, Inspected December 6, 1915, has one room for men 
 
 and one for women. Classification of prisoners is impossible. 
 
 10 
 
 I 
 
The jail is a one-story annex to the sheriff's residence. The men's room 
 is on the west side. The floors, walls and cage are of stone. The cage is a 
 low stone block with twelve caves for the men to sleep in. The caves are 
 arranged six on a side, back to back. One row of caves is so dark that the 
 interior can not be seen without a light. 
 
 . The jail was clean. The prisoners said they were well fed. 
 The jail faults are chargeable to the construction and not to the management. 
 
 The men are given separate towels. They wash their own towels and 
 clothing. The county does not provide changes of clothing. 
 
 The sheriff receives fifty cents a day for the food of each prisoner. 
 Twenty-five dollars a month is allowed for a jailer. 
 
 The greatest fault of this jail is that no classification of prisoners can 
 be made. On the day of inspection two boys, aged seventeen and eighteen, 
 were in the same room with five older men held on charges of bastardy, rape, 
 assault, vagrancy and obtaining money under false pretenses. The boys 
 were serving sentences of three months for larceny. The law requiring 
 separation of minors from adults and persons charged with crimes not 
 infamous from those charged with infamous crimes can not be carried out. 
 
 Logan County Jail, inspected December 15, 1915. . . . One row of 
 windows near the roof furnishes the very small amount of light that enters 
 the jail-room. 
 
 In the jail-room Is a stone block with sixteen tiny dark caves. There 
 are four caves on each side of each tier of the block. Each cave has a 
 barred door. The caves are so dark that the interior can be seen with 
 difficulty. . . . 
 
 On each side of the room are the three tiny slits which serve as 
 windows. They are treble barred. Air and light are carefully excluded. 
 
 Cots or beds are not provided. The men sleep on black, discolored 
 mattresses on the stone floors. 
 
 The women's department is on the second floor. . . . The windows 
 of their rooms are double barred. The rooms are lined with wood. There 
 would be little chance of escape if fire should break out. 
 
 There were six men in the stone dungeon on the first floor. No separa- 
 tion of different classes of prisoners is possible. The sick and well, good 
 and bad, first offenders and hardened criminals, must be herded together in 
 a room in which it is unsafe, from the standpoint of health, to confine a 
 human being. 
 
 Confined in one room without air or light, sleeping on black mattresses 
 on the cold stone floor, using a toilet that is anything but sanitary, washing 
 their own towels and clothing — there is little chance for the prisoners in 
 this jail to escape physical and moral contagion. 
 
 The Macon County Jail, Inspected June 30, 1915, was built 50 years 
 ago. . . . With the exception of the women's department the jail is 
 unfit for the detention of human beings. . . The building is kept In 
 
 as good a condition as so ill-ventilated and unhealthful a place can be kept. 
 
 There were four women, twenty-nine men and three boys in the jail at 
 the time of inspection. 
 
 This jail is not fit for human beings to live in. It is insanitary to such 
 a degree as to make it an unsafe place to hold men and women. The law 
 requires that certain men shall be deprived of their liberty. There is no 
 law on earth under which any one can be deprived of air to breathe. 
 
 The lack of individual towels is inexcusable. These men confined in 
 insanitary quarters should be given clean, individual towels and the healthy 
 men should not be exposed to contagion by being compelled to use the towels 
 of the men who may be suffering from specific infections. 
 
 The women's quarters are too small. Young women, girls, and old 
 offenders must be placed in the same room. 
 
 The Macoupin County Jail, inspected June 19, 1915. is a two-story 
 stone building with the appearance and equipment of a small, mediaeval 
 fortress. The windows of the jail rooms are mere slits, . . . The 
 building reeks with the odors of disinfectants. 
 
 11 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 lUINOlS UBRARY 
 
The main prison room has three very small windows on each side. 
 The walls are stone. The cage has four cells, two on each side of a corridor. 
 The cells have barred backs, and latticed doors are placed opposite the 
 windows so that the small amount of air that enters the room can reach the 
 cells. 
 
 There is one room for women on the first floor. It has two small slits 
 for windows. 
 
 There were thirteen prisoners in the jail at the time of inspection. The 
 one woman, serving a jail sentence on an adultery charge, was in the 
 women's cell on the second floor. . . . The woman was conversing in 
 loud tones with the men in the second floor cage. The cell is only a few 
 feet from the men's room and the men and women can talk to each other 
 without difficulty. 
 
 The sheriff tries to separate the prisoners according to classes of crime 
 and those held on charges of infamous crimes were confined on the second 
 floor, and those for crimes not infamous on the first floor. The woman 
 prisoner was able to converse freely with the men held on charges of 
 infamous crimes. 
 
 This jail is a relic of the days when sanitation, ventilation and humanity 
 to persons charged with crimes were unknown. It stands across the street 
 from one of the finest courthouses in Illinois. The almshouse of the county 
 is one of the handsomest and most costly in the State. Macoupin houses its 
 records and its poor in the most beautiful and costly buildings. It confines 
 its law-breakers in a wretched survival of the days of barbarism, ignorance 
 and cruelty. 
 
 The Madison County Jail, inspected May 27, 1915, is in the rear of the 
 sheriff's spacious, two-story brick house. The prison odors are noticeable 
 for half a block. 
 
 The new part of the jail is clean, sanitary and well ventilated. The old 
 part is clean, insanitary, ill-ventilated, dark and odorous. 
 
 The old part consists of a large prison room with a two-tier cage. Each 
 tier contains ten small cells, five on each side. The cells are back to back 
 and are of solid iron with barred doors. There is a stand and toilet in each 
 cage corridor. The two tiers are alike. The cells are dark closets through 
 which there can be no passage of air. There is no bathroom in this part 
 of the jail. The place was as clean as soap and water could make it, but 
 the lack of ventilation made the room odorous and the powerful disinfectants 
 which were used ciade the smells even more sickening. 
 
 Prisoners are not separated according to age nor classes of crime. There 
 were seventy prisoners in the jail at the time of inspection. A man under 
 death sentence occupied a section of the new jail. Other prisoners, on 
 account of the small quarters, were placed together regardless of age and 
 charges. Two seventeen-year-old boys were in the room with older offenders. 
 
 Marion County Jail, inspected April 7, 1915. . . . Disgustingly 
 dirty, dark and foul-smelling. A steel cage, two tiers high and 15 feet 
 square holds the prisoners. . . . Long, narrow windows at two sides let 
 In a little air. The glass of the windows is dark with dirt, and the ledges 
 are covered with refuse. 
 
 One side of the steel cage is latticed and on the opposite side are two 
 narrow lattice windows. In each tier of the cage is a long corridor and two 
 cells. 
 
 At the time of inspection there were three men in each cell. The 
 corridor had an open toilet, dirty and foul-smelling. . . . The physical 
 condition of the men is evidently not taken into account. They were dirty, 
 disheveled and unshaven. 
 
 The cells and corridors of the cage are very dark and dirty. The 
 bars are covered with dust and were used to hold burnt matches and other 
 bits of trash. 
 
 The cots had dirty mattresses and blankets and were all in disorder. 
 The men are kept locked in the cage. 
 
 The women's section is between the sheriff's kitchen and the men's jail. 
 There are no toilet facilities in this section except uncovered night 
 buckets. There are no hospital arrangements. 
 
 12 
 
Minors are placed with old offenders and no separation according to the 
 degrees of crime is made. 
 
 Sixteen men are confined in the jail. All are herded together without 
 regard to degree of crime charged. There was one boy of seventeen in the 
 cage with the older men. 
 
 Mason County Jail, inspected July 8, 1915. The windows are so high in 
 the walls that the air can not enter the lower parts of the cage; they are so 
 small that there is little light in the room. In the middle of the day the 
 electric lights burn. . . . The fronts are barred. Each cell has a toilet, 
 a stand and an iron wall cot. The wall cots have very thin mattresses. 
 When there are only a few prisoners two mattresses are used on each cot, 
 but when the cells are all occupied there not enough mattresses to go around 
 twice and the men must sleep on exceedingly hard beds. 
 
 The bathtub is in a small cell in the room outside the cage. The door 
 of the cell is barred and the tub is in view of the occupants of the cage. 
 
 A very steep stairway leads to the second floor where the women and 
 the insane are held. . . . This room is not separated from the men's 
 jail by walls or doors. Conversations can be distinctly heard between the 
 two sections. 
 
 The exclusion of light and air makes this jail insanitary. There Is so 
 much solid iron in the cage that the small amount of air which does enter 
 can not reach all parts of the room or the cage. 
 
 Separation of the different classes of prisoners is impossible. Old 
 offenders and boys must be kept together. Wom«n and insane can not be 
 separated and the section used for them is not properly separated from the 
 men's jail. 
 
 Massac County Jail, inspected April 22, 1915. The prisoners can 
 scratch their way out of the Massac County Jail with their fingers. The 
 mortar between the bricks is so rotten that the scratching of a finger nail 
 will remove it and loosen the bricks. On one side of the jail are five 
 patches that mend holes drilled by prisoners. 
 
 The jail is old. . . . The room is dark. There are two windows 
 on two opposite sides and one window at the end. The cage is 13 by 23 feet 
 and contains four cells and a corridor. . . . The cells are 7 by 6 % 
 feet. Each cell has four cots with mattresses. 
 
 The men are locked all day in the cage. The walls of the room are 
 so insecure that it is not safe to allow the men to leave the cage. 
 
 Bedbugs and cockroaches were numerous. 
 
 This jail is only a useless hulk. It is not strong enough to hold 
 prisoners. The county has spent large sums of money in recapturing those 
 who have escaped. It is not safe to leave the prison unguarded at any hour. 
 The main prison is dark and ill-ventilated, the cage is placed so that no 
 air currents can pass through it. There is no provision for the separation of 
 different classes of prisoners. 
 
 McDonough County Jail, inspected August 30, 1915. The main jail- 
 room . . . has three small slits in each of two sides and two slits on a 
 third side. The slits are barred on the outside and covered with perforated 
 steel on the inside. Light and air are successfully excluded. The cells 
 are very small and dark. 
 
 Several of the cells are used as garbage dumps. Newspapers and all 
 sorts of jail refuse were piled in them. The entire room needs whitewash. 
 
 There were seven men in the main jail at the time of inspection. All 
 were in the men's section. No classification of different classes of prisoners 
 can be made. The jail is insanitary. No air can enter the cells. 
 
 The McLean County Jail, inspected October 18, 1915, is in an insanitary, 
 ill-ventilated, dark prison. 
 
 The main prison is a three-tier stone cell block. The cells are dark 
 caves in the sides of the block. . . . There are six cells on each side of 
 each tier. The cells are small and dark. They are furnished with canvas 
 hammocks and small covered night buckets. 
 
 13 
 
The Menard County Jail, inspected July 9, 1915, is a stone annex to the 
 sheriff's residence. The main prison is a large, dark, damp, ill-smelling room. 
 Near the high roof, on two sides, are two small slits and one long, narrow 
 one. Through these tiny apertures come the only air and light that the 
 prisoners can have. 
 
 The room has a two-tier cell, with six cells in each tier. The cells are 
 back to back. They are black holes in the stone walls. They are so dark 
 that it is impossible, without a light, to see what is in them. 
 
 The darkness, dampness and insanitation of the jail are sufficient rea- 
 sons for abandoning it entirely. In addition to these conditions, the jail is 
 unfit for use because of the impossibility of separating the different classes 
 of prisoners. The young boys held on first charges must be placed with the 
 vilest offenders. Diseased men and healthy men, presumably innocent men 
 and those convicted of crimes, boys and aged degenerates must be held in 
 the same room. 
 
 The Morgan County Jail was built in 1864, and remodeled in 1904. 
 
 The old part of the jail is in two sections. One section has three dark 
 cells, a corridor and a bathroom. The other has four dark cells. The 
 sections are lighted by a skylight and ventilated by a small window In the 
 bathroom. This part of the jail should be abandoned. 
 
 The women's section is fairly good, but a deputy sheriff's bedroom 
 should not adjoin the women's quarters unless the deputy Is a woman. 
 
 The main jail room has space, light and air for half a dozen men, but 
 not for any more. As there are usually from twelve to eighteen men in this 
 section, the conditions are far from being good. 
 
 Separation of different classes of prisoners is impossible. Boys and 
 men, old offenders and first offenders, bootleggers, vagrants, burglars and 
 suspects are herded together without regard to the inevitable moral and 
 physical contagious. The jail is too small for any separation to be made. 
 
 The Moultrie County Jail, inspected July 2, 1915, is one large room 
 on the second floor of the ancient, dilapidated brick buildiag. . 
 
 The cage is a wide, very dark corridor with four cells on one side and 
 three on the other. There is one small window in the corridor. An electric 
 light burned in the corridor, but the place was so dark, except directly under 
 the light, that the faces of the prisoners could not be distinctly seen. 
 
 The cells were very dark, and fresh air can not possibly enter them. 
 The iron wall cots had mattresses and blankets. The Jail was evidently 
 kept as clean as so hideous, dark and insanitary a place could be. . . . 
 
 There were seven male prisoners at the time of inspection. Three were 
 under twenty years of age. All are held in one room and are locked In the 
 cage at night. . . . 
 
 No provision is made for the women prisoners. 
 
 The Ogle County Jail, inspected December 1, 1915, Is old, dark and 
 Ill-ventilated. 
 
 Perry County Jail, inspected April 29. 1915. . . . All prisoners are 
 confined in one room. No separation of different classes Is possible. Minors, 
 old offenders, murderers, bootleggers and burglars are confined in one room. 
 No arrangements have been made for any separation. 
 
 Pike County Jail, inspected May 12, 1915. . . . 
 
 The jail should be entirely rebuilt. It is so damp and Ill-ventilated that 
 it is wrong to confine anyone in It. There is no means of separation of men 
 from women, as the four sections are In one room. Men, women, minors 
 and all classes of offenders are held In practically one room. 
 
 The Pulaski Coimty Jail, inspected April 26, 1915, was built two years 
 ago at a cost of $10,000. It is a handsome, two-story brick building with 
 the jail quarters in the rear of the sheriff's residence. It stands in the 
 courthouse square. 
 
 On the first floor are a main room and a trusty's room. The main room 
 Is 24 by 32 feet and has brick walls and cement floor and ceiling. At each 
 
 14 
 
of two sides are two windows. They are not opposite each other and there is 
 no free air current. At the end of the room are three windows. 
 
 The cage is 14 by 26 feet and contains 5 cells and a corridor. Two 
 boys, 19 years old, were confined in this cage with older prisoners. 
 
 Prisoners are not compelled to bathe on entrance to the jail, nor at 
 regular intervals afterwards. Changes of clothing are not provided. The 
 interior has never been whitewashed. 
 
 The Piitnam County Jail, inspected August 18, 1915. . It was 
 
 one of the first buildings erected in a new settlement. The early settlers of 
 Hennepin built a strong room for the settlement's offenders and the old 
 relic still stands. But, unfortunately, instead of being preserved merely as a 
 souvenir of the early life of the community it is used for the same purpose 
 that it was built when Illinois was an unsettled wilderness. 
 
 The jail-room is 18 feet square. The walls, floor and ceiling are of 
 heavy boards studded with iron spikes. There are two small slits through 
 which a few rays of sunlight and very little air enter. In the center of the 
 room is a latticed cage 9 by 9 feet square and 7 feet high. This cage con- 
 tains two cots with mattresses and blankets and two Iron wall cots. The 
 prisoners enter the cage through a window at one side. 
 
 The toilet facilities are one tin pan, a tin bucket and at one side of the 
 room a wooden box above a deep vault. The jail had recently been white- 
 washed and was clean. 
 
 There were three prisoners. One man is held on a charge of a most 
 infamous crime. One is held on a peace bond and the third Is serving a 
 sentence on a charge of disorderly conduct. The law requiring the separation 
 of different classes of offenders cannot be observed. . . . The sewage 
 vault beneath the building is a constant menace to the health of not only the 
 persons confined in the jail but of those whose wells are in the vicinity of 
 the jail. 
 
 Randolph County Jail, inspected May 2, 1915, confines Its prisoners In a 
 basement dungeon under the sheriff's residence. The walls are of solid rock. 
 There is a small, brick paved area around the walls that was very wet. 
 Water can not drain from it and as the hydrant leaks into It the place is 
 always wet and insanitary. 
 
 The jail contains an entrance, two cells 12 by 15 feet and four cells 
 7 by 8 feet. The only light from the outside comes through narrow slits in 
 the walls. There are two slits in each of the larger rooms and one in each of 
 the smaller ones. The heavy doors are solid with a small, square opening 
 in each. The rooms were so dark when the lights were turned off that it 
 was impossible to see whether or not there were prisoners in the room. 
 . The drainage is from heavy tiles which open into the room. There 
 is no running water, but every day the sheriff flushes the pipes with a hose. 
 Battered tin pans are the bathing facilities. 
 
 The prisoner's towels were black with grime. They were unfit for use 
 on human bodies. The sheriff does not have them washed and as no light 
 and air can penetrate these quarters the efforts of the men to keep them clean 
 do not have much effect on them. The men have to wash and dry their 
 own things in these rooms. 
 
 The entire place is unfit for human beings or for any living thing. 
 There is neither air nor sunlight. The sanitary arrangements are entirely 
 inadequate. The lack of drainage around the walls makes the place a 
 menace to health. There are no arrangements for the separation of different 
 classes of prisoners. The men are held in darkness and are deprived of air 
 and sunshine. 
 
 Saline Coimty Jail, inspected April 16, 1915, , . . built three years 
 ago, is a handsome two-story brick structure. 
 
 Minors are not kept separate from old offenders and there is no separa- 
 tion according to classes of crime. Six United States prisoners, whose charges 
 were not reported, were locked in with the other men. 
 
 Sangamon County Jail, inspected January 25, 1915, built 50 
 
 years ago, is the typical stone block jail of the last century. 
 
 15 
 
The stone-block is two tiers high. On each side of each tier ar« eight 
 email caves. In each cave is a double-deck, iron bunk with springs and 
 blankets. An opening in the wall holds a night bucket. 
 
 On each side of the block is a tub so ancient, so dilapidated, so entirely 
 insanitary that its very presence in the room is a menace to the health of 
 the prisoners, to say nothing of the evil effects of its use. Bathing must be 
 a public performance. 
 
 There is one toilet for the use of all the prisoners. It is exposed. 
 
 Women are held on the second floor in a wood-lined department. Their 
 quarters are clean and well ventilated, but the danger of fire is so great that 
 no person should be confined in this department. There is no fire protection 
 and the old, wood-lining would burn like tinder. 
 
 There were 75 prisoners in the jail on the day of inspection. Fifteen 
 were serving sentences. Sixty were waiting trial. There were two women 
 and two boys. 
 
 The jail is insanitary, wretchedly ventilated, inhumanly overcrowded. 
 Fifty years ago Springfield was a small city and the population of the county 
 was small. The jail was built according to the needs of the community popu- 
 lation of that day. It must answer the needs of the large population t day. 
 For one-fifth the number of prisoners, the jail might not be an entirely con- 
 demnable place, but for the number that are usually here, the jail Is abso- 
 lutely unfit. 
 
 No air can enter the tiny caves. In many of them two men must sleep. 
 The air cannot circulate through the jail room, but 70 men must stay in this 
 room. Separation of different classes of prisoners is impossible. The per 
 cent of communicable diseases in every jail is high. These prisoners, sick 
 and well, diseased and healthy, young and old, vagrants, burglars, robbers, 
 murderers, suspects and first offenders, must be herded together. The archi- 
 tecture of the jail makes classification impossible. 
 
 Schuyler County Jail, inspected May 14, 1915, . . . is in the rear 
 of the sheriff's handsome two-story, red-brick residence. The plumbing is 
 out of order and water stands in the cells. There is a strong odor from the 
 
 clogged drain There are no provisions for the separation of 
 
 different classes of prisoners. 
 
 Scott County Jail, inspected August 27, 1915, is a dilapidated, brick 
 hovel with a stone foundation. This jail ought to be torn down. It is an 
 unsightly object. It is dark, damp, has no ventilation, is hoplessly insani- 
 tary. . . . There is no sunlight, no air. . . . The walls and floors 
 are damp. 
 
 The jailer has rooms in the brick section. The prisoners live in the 
 stone basement and in one cell at the front of the house. 
 
 The women's department is a dark, dingy, wooden cell with iron grat- 
 ings. It is near the front door. In cases of fire the woodwork would bum 
 like tinder. 
 
 The main jail room has four small, double-barred windows. Very little 
 light and air can enter. 
 
 The cage contains two small, intensely dark cells and a corridor. 
 
 The jail is heated by an old stove and lighted by oil lamps. 
 
 Shelby Coimty Jail, inspected June 24, 1915. 
 
 The jail room on the first floor is dark and little air can enter It. The 
 windows are covered with iron panes, partially perforated, and air and light 
 are excluded. 
 
 Stephenson Coimty Jail, inspected December 4, 1915. . . . Too 
 dark to be sanitary. Vermin . . . are numerous. . . . The odors 
 of disinfectants were overpowering. 
 
 Tazewell Coimty Jail, inspected October 15, 1915. . . . The jail 
 building is old. The rooms are dark and ill-ventilated. 
 
 The loathsome odors of disinfectants and clogged sewer pipes permeate 
 the place. The main room on the first floor is a dark, vile-smelling place, 
 with three windows on each of three sides. With this amount of window 
 
 16 
 
space, there should be a good supply of fresh air and light. But the win- 
 dows are small and the gratings and old dark panes keep out the light and 
 air. The cage has two tiers. There are six cells in each tier, three cells on 
 each side of a corridor. Each cell has a most insanitary toilet, a steel wall 
 cot with mattresses and blankets. In the cage corridor is a tub so dark 
 and dilapidated as to be almost hidden in the shadows. 
 
 Prom the pipes come the odors of the clogged sewer. The floor was 
 damp. 
 
 On the second floor are the quarters for women and juveniles. The 
 women's room is a corner barred to form a room. A blanket draped over 
 the bars conceals the toilet. There are two cells with outside windows. 
 There is little privacy for the women. Every part of the room can be seen 
 from the stairs 
 
 The department for juveniles Is across the hall. The room has a two- 
 cell cage, a bath and toilet. The floor is of wood. 
 
 The present jail is an unfit place to confine human beings. It cannot be 
 operated without a violation of the State law regulating the separation of 
 different classes of prisoners and requiring cleanliness. 
 
 Union County Jail, inspected April 28, 1915. 
 
 A two-story stone building in the back yard of the sheriff's residence Is 
 the Union County Jail. The building is of solid stone with two rooms on 
 each floor. The rooms are so dark that one cannot see any part of the 
 interior without a light. They are damp and ill-smelling. 
 
 There is a small entrance with a room on each side. The rooms are 
 10% feet by 12 feet, and the only air and light come from a slit in the wall 
 near the ceiling. This slit is 4 feet long and 8 inches wide. 
 
 The sewage facilities are a funnel put through the wall. This funnel 
 opens into a wooden trough on the outside. If the sewage is washed through 
 the funnel, water must be poured into the funnel. From the appearance of 
 the trough beneath the funnel, little water is used to cleanse the funnel. No 
 more disgusting and indecent method of sewage disposal can be Imagined 
 than this. There is a funnel for each cell. The funnels in the second-floor 
 cells are placed in such a way that the sewage may or may not fall down 
 into the trough. 
 
 Vermillion County Jail, inspected July 18, 1915. 
 
 At the time of inspection there were 3 women, 77 men and 2 minors ia 
 the jail. 
 
 The cells are so dark that it is almost impossible to see what is in them. 
 There are wall cots in some. In others the prisoners are compelled to sleep 
 on mattresses on the floor. There are three men to each narrow cell. The 
 mattresses and blankets are old, very dirty and filled with vermin. 
 
 The walls of the cage and the room are horribly defaced and have not 
 been whitewashed or painted for a long time. 
 
 Small vegetable cans are used for night buckets. There are only two 
 night buckets that do not leak, the men said. The tin vegetable cans are 
 uncovered. 
 
 The men said that the rats and vermin make the cells unbearable. They 
 complained very bitterly of the drinking water. They get the water from the 
 faucets and they say that the water for drinking is warm and the water for 
 washing is cold. 
 
 The men were unshaven and their clothing was untidy. As changes of 
 clothing or underclothing are not provided by the county, few of the men can 
 keep clean. They wash their own clothes in the water which they say is not 
 hot enough to secure cleanliness and clothing is to be dried in the dark 
 cage. 
 
 Thirteen men are serving sentences; one man is to be taken to the 
 Chester penitentiary; one man has escaped from Kankakee and is to be held 
 only a few hours. Three women and 64 men, "presumably innocent," are 
 awaiting trial. 
 
 The third-floor cell is the only one in which human beings should be 
 held. The other cages are dark, have no fresh air and are infested with 
 vermin. The women's section and the hospital room are light and well 
 
 17 
 
ventilated, but the women's section is inadequate as there can be no classi- 
 fication of prisoners. 
 
 The Warren County Jail, inspected August 2, 1915, Is to be abandoned 
 in a few days. August 14 a contract is to be let for a new Jail. The new 
 prison will be built on the site of the old one, adjoining the sheriff's resi- 
 dence. Prisoners will be held in other jails while the new one is being built. 
 
 The new jail is greatly needed. The old one is dark, damp, insanitary. 
 The main jail room contains a two-tier cage of latticed iron with four cells 
 and a corridor in each tier. The section for women and boys Is In an outer 
 room. There are two small cells on the first tier and two on the second. 
 All cells are dark and the air currents cannot pass through them. 
 
 The "Washington County Jail, inspected April 6. 1916, Is a 
 
 menace to public health. ... In summer the odor can be detected half 
 a block away. The vault of an old outside closet receives the sewage. The 
 vault, the pipes leading to it and the hoppers have an odor Indescribably 
 disgusting and loathsome. 
 
 The jail has been condemned. It should be absolutely obliterated. 
 
 A washroom in the prison yard shuts off the air from the north window, 
 and the south one is kept closed to shut out the horrible odor from the open 
 hopper in the yard near the window. 
 
 At the end of the main room is a small closet containg the toilet, an 
 open bowl. The odor from this is hideous. Fortunately, an iron door sepa- 
 rates this closet from the main room. 
 
 The toilet facilities in the room consist of a stationary washstand with 
 two very dirty bowls, a bucket of water and two metal tubs, which are used 
 for washing both the bodies and clothes of the prisoners. 
 
 There were three prisoners in the jail awaiting trial. 
 
 The jail has been condemned. The city has passed an ordinance declar- 
 ing it a nuisance. The merchants and residents in the neighborhood vote 
 it an abomination. 
 
 Wayne County Jail, inspected April 9, 1915. 
 
 The cage has two cells 7 by 5 feet and a corridor 9 by 14 feet. 
 
 The brick walls are dirty and defaced. There is an open toilet in the 
 corner of the main room and one in a corner of the cage. 
 
 At the time of inspection there were four men in each cell and four in 
 the corridor outside the cage. Three of the men were ill, but no provision 
 had been made for their care or their separation from the other prisoners. 
 One of them had an advanced case of gonorrhea. 
 
 Some of the men sleep on mattresses on the floor and some in canvas 
 hammocks. The hammocks and the blankets and comforters were ragged and 
 very dirty. 
 
 Bath water is heated on an old stove and the prisoners and their clothes 
 are washed in an old metal laundry tub. Twelve prisoners were using two 
 towels. 
 
 City prisoners are kept in a small, dirty lavatory on the second floor of 
 the jail. They sleep on iron shelves. 
 
 Another very dirty lavatory under the city cell is allotted to the women. 
 The city cell and the women's cell are in the same room, one above the other. 
 
 The prison is in so dilapidated a condition that prisoners have to be 
 guarded, as well as locked in. . . . 
 
 The jail should be condemned and abandoned. It is dark and insani- 
 tary. There is no separation of different classes of offenders, nor of minors 
 from older offenders. Women and city prisoners are held in the same room. 
 The sick are kept with the well. Even contagious cases are put in the same 
 room with well men. 
 
 AVhite County Jail, inspected April 13, 1915. . . . Condemned 20 
 years ago as unsafe; dark and ill-ventilated as a tomb; a firetrap so 
 dangerous that no one should be placed in it. The White County jail is a 
 reproach to a community. 
 
 The jail is barbarously arranged, is unsafe, is so constructed that the 
 law regulating the separation of prisoners cannot be complied with. The 
 women are practically in the same room with the men in the main prison. 
 
 18 
 
It is impossible for this jail to be made a fit place of confinement for human 
 beings. 
 
 Will County Jail, inspected October 7, 1915. 
 
 The jail rooms are dark and ill-ventilated. The cells in the stone block 
 are small, dark caves. The small windows do not admit suflBclent air or 
 light. . . . 
 
 The old part of the jail is in a large, stone room with a stone cell block 
 in the middle. The cells are in two tiers, eight cells on a tier. The windows 
 are level with the second-tier cells and the cells on the first tier are wretch- 
 edly ventilated. The cells have canvas hammocks, blankets and night 
 buckets. 
 
 This section of the jail was built in 1861 and looks it. . . . 
 
 There were 37 men and 5 women in the jail. 
 
 Williamson County Jail, inspected April 17, 1915, was completed a year 
 ago at a cost of $35,000. . . . 
 
 The plumbing in one of the first-floor sections was out of order, and a 
 disgusting pool of water had run into the passage around the cage. 
 
 Except for the defective plumbing, the prison was in good order, clean 
 and with no odors. 
 
 The prisoners are separated according to race and not according to 
 degree of crime. On the first floor, one section is given to the Americans; 
 in the other, are the Italians. In one section of the second floor are the 
 negroes and in the other are the women. 
 
 Minors are confined with older offenders. 
 
 It is not the small towns and counties alone that neglect the prison- 
 ers. The horrors of the Chicago police stations and the Cook County Jail 
 are well known. As to conditions in this greatest of western cities, the 
 State Inspector reports : 
 
 In Chicago we find the worst jails in the State. There are forty-five 
 precinct station jails, the jail in the detective bureau, the Cook County Jail 
 and the Bridewell jails. 
 
 Of the forty-six city jails of Chicago, only about a dozen are fit for any 
 use whatever. Nineteen are underground. Through eleven run open sewers. 
 These sewers provide the toilet facilities. These sewers are small troughs in 
 the back of the cells, flushed by running water. The contents of each cell 
 pass through the outer cells. Whatever enters this sewer in one cell passes 
 through the cells beyond it. In one of these jails the men, women, insane and 
 the prisoners' food are held in one row and the sewer runs the length of the 
 row. When the sewers overflow the floors are flooded with the contents of 
 the sewers. Rats and vermin are numerous. The walls are painted black. 
 The men sleep on planks. If there are more than two men in a cell, they 
 must lie on the floor beside the open sewer. Sometimes it Is necessary to put 
 eight or ten in one small cell. 
 
 There were 127,000 arrests made in the city of Chicago last year, and a 
 large per cent of this number passed through the city jails. 
 
 Chief Justice Olson, of the Chicago Municipal Court, told me recently 
 that a former president of the International Prison Congress said, after an 
 investigation of a typical Chicago police jail, that in all the prison history 
 of the world he had found no prisons so vile with the exception of the jails 
 of Turkey of the twelfth century. 
 
 The Cook County jail is one of the most insanitary in the State. It vio- 
 lates Chicago's municipal ordinance that there shall not be a bakery under- 
 ground. Separation of different classes of prisoners, especially of different 
 classes of boys, is impossible. The cells are mere caves. 
 
 At the Bridewell there are two modern cell houses and two dark 
 dungeons. 
 
 Except immediately after a court term, eighty per cent of the prisoners 
 in the county jails of the State outside of Cook County and ninety per cent of 
 the prisoners in the Cook County jail are awaiting trial. 
 
 19 
 
All the prisoners in the Chicago police jails are waiting hearings. These 
 persons are declared by the law to be presumably innocent, and they are 
 herded together in vile cells, exposed to every kind of moral and physical 
 contagion. They are held in idleness. The first offenders are in cells with 
 hardened criminals. Boys are with old men. The girl witness may be in the 
 same cell with the drunken women of the streets. The runaway boy may be 
 imprisoned with the sexual pervert. The physically clean are compelled to 
 use the same tubs, often the same towels and drinking cups, that are used by 
 those suffering from the most loathsome communicable diseases. They may 
 also use the same beds and bedding. Light and air are denied admission, 
 but vermin, rats and seepage enter without diflBculty. 
 
 Such is the picture of the county jails of Illinois that is presented in 
 an official report of our State Charities Commission. Surely no further 
 details are needed to show that the attempt to improve the county jails 
 has completely failed. 
 
 It is because of this breakdowTi in the attempts to secure a proper 
 administration of the jail law from the county authorities that it is now 
 proposed to have the state take over the custody of all convicted persons. 
 
 These are two classes of prisoners in the county jails: 
 
 1. Persons held awaiting trial. 
 
 2. Sentenced persons who have been tried and found guilty. 
 Taking up first the question of what should be done with the second 
 
 class of prisoners, it is apparent that they not only should have a 
 sanitary place of confinement but that they should be employed at work 
 which will aid in restoring them to physical, mental and moral vigor. 
 Idleness is only a new source of demoralization. At present the county 
 jails all over this state and all over this country are demoralizing by 
 idleness the prisoners that are sentenced because they need to be 
 reformed. No one in the world can be reformed living in idleness and 
 bad companionship, in a dark and filthy cell. The present jail system 
 not only fails to reform, it actually demoralizes the unfortunate persons 
 who are its victims. When the new jail law of 1874 was passed, no 
 substitute for the county jail had been devised ; and it was not then so 
 apparent as it is today that it is impassible to reform the one hundred 
 and one county boards that are responsible for local jail administration. 
 It is clear now that the only way out is to have the State take over 
 the custody of the men and boys who have violated the laws of the State 
 and that this should be done by establishing institutions similar to work- 
 house farms which will take the men who now serve their sentences and 
 "lay out" their fines in idlen&ss into the sunlight and open air where 
 profitable work can be provided for them. In 1913 the National Prison 
 Association recommended the abolition of the county jail in favor of the 
 state-farm system at the Indianapolis meeting of the National Confer- 
 ence of Charities and Correction. In I\lemphis, in 1912, the Committee 
 on Corrections adopted the following among other recommendations : 
 
 1. State control of all minor prisons. 
 
 2. Establishment of industrial farms for convicted misdemeanants. 
 
 20 
 
3. The prohibition of the use of the jail for any other purpose than 
 that of temporary detention. 
 
 A state farm colony system has, therefore, been accepted as a modem 
 substitute for the old county jail system. It has two great merits. 
 
 1. It does away with the necessity of trying to compel one hundred 
 and one local authorities to obey a law requiring them to build and 
 maintain proper jails. 
 
 2. It makes possible the provision of an adequate farm colony 
 equipment, so that health-giving, character-building work can be pro- 
 vided for the prisoners. It is obviously impossible for each county with 
 a small number of prisoners to provide a farm colony for them. In the 
 same way it was impossible for each county to provide properly for its 
 insane or feeble-minded persons who were in need of custodial care. In 
 the case of the insane, the state long ago undertook the building of 
 properly equipped hospitals where medical treatment could be provided 
 and Illinois now has a state law wliich compels the county authorities 
 to turn over to the state all insane persons who are in need of confine- 
 ment. In the same way the state should compel the county authorities 
 to turn over to the care of the state all persons who have been found 
 guilty of violating its laws. In this way, and in this way only, can 
 hundreds of young men and boys be saved each year from the con- 
 taminating influences of the county jail system. 
 
 The state farm is not a visionary project. The neighboring state of 
 Indiana has a law providing for such a farm, and Mr. Butler, of the 
 Indiana State Board of Charities, convinced those who were fortunate 
 enough to hear him speak at the recent National Conference of Charities, 
 of the valuable results of this Indiana experiment. The Indiana farm 
 is modeled after the splendid farm in Occaquan, Virginia, where the 
 United States government began the great experiment of taking the men 
 who had been condemned to idleness in the House of Correction in the 
 District of Columbia out to a place where proper work could be provided 
 for them. 
 
 At Occaquan "the prisoners live in inexpensive wooden buildings 
 which they themselves erected. These buildings are so open to sunlight 
 and fresh air that the men practically live outdoors. Their employ- 
 ment also is out of doors; they crush stone, make brick, operate a saw 
 mill, clear and cultivate the ground, grow fruits and garden crops, raise 
 stock and carry on various farm industries." Equally well known is 
 the great farm at Guelph, where prisoners of the Canadian province of 
 Ontario live and learn in healthful surroundings and wholesome work; 
 and there are many other farm colony experiments in the United States 
 that have gone beyond the experimental stage. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the next session of the Illinois legislature will 
 
 21 
 
provide in the year 1917 a law for Illinois similar to the Indiana law. 
 This cannot be done too soon. Cook County is trying to make plans for 
 a new jail, and if a state law can be secured that will take all com- 
 mitted prisoners out of this greatest of county jaiLs, the new plans can be 
 simplified. 
 
 The state farm, will, in time, become two or more district farms, 
 just as the state hospital for the insane has become several hospitals. 
 But the state instead of the local authorities will be in control, and 
 efficient and humane administration will be secured. 
 
 Many people think that the unfortunate men and boys in our jails 
 are not worth reclaiming. " Wliy spend money on drunks and 'bums' and 
 thieves?" is the question asked by county politicians. But if one of 
 these boys was your son — and everj- one of them is somebody's son — 
 would you not think it worth while to try to make a decent citizen of 
 him, and is it not better for the state? Moreover, the farm colony is 
 much less expensive to maintain than the county jail system. The penal 
 farm as a substitute for the county jail means not only saving the young 
 men and boys who are allowed to sink into vice and to become hardened 
 in crime in our foul modern jails, but it means saving dollars and cents 
 as well. i ' f'li^j 
 
 A further gain that will result from the employment of the prisoners 
 should. not be overlooked. Under the present system, the prisoners are 
 supported in idleness and their families are supported by public and 
 private charity. With the establishment of such a farm we may look 
 forward to the prisoners earning not only their own maintenance but 
 something which may be used for the support of their now dependent 
 families. 
 
 The state farm will not take care of the other class of prisoners, the 
 persons who are held awaiting trial. But these persons are merely under 
 detention, since they have not been found guilty of any offense. If all 
 convicted prisoners were removed, the jail would cease to be a jail ; it 
 would be only a detention house. The problem will be greatly simplified 
 when the convicted persons are removed. The cruelty of confining in 
 dark and loathsome cells untried persons who may be found to be eutirely 
 innocent will be apparent even to the most indifferent persons. Year 
 after year, thousands of men and boys are imprisoned in our jails, lose 
 their wages and finally their jobs, and suffer all that human beings can 
 suffer through being deprived of their liberty and locked up in the foul, 
 dark places we call jails; then these men are tried and the great majority 
 of them are found "not guilty'' — and discharged. The wrongs that are 
 suffered by innocent persons during imprisonment in our county jails 
 are incalculable. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that they suffer only 
 because of their poverty. Well-to-do persons are released on bail, go on 
 
 22 
 
with their work and live at home with their families pendinf!^ trial. It 
 is hoped that the ]>lan* of releasini? under probationary supervision per- 
 sons who cannot afford to jjive bail will be gradually adopted. 
 
 The first step to be taken, however, is to secure an appropriation for 
 a state farm. When the sentenced prisonei's are all removed from the 
 county jail and only untried persons remain there, it should be easier 
 to secure from the local authorities decent treatment for such persons. 
 When people cease to think of the county jail as a place of confinement 
 for those who have done wrong and are compelled to look at it as a 
 place of detention for persons who are merely under suspicion of \vrong- 
 doing, then the real jail problem can be dealt with. 
 
 When a state farm has been secured, when the county jail has become 
 a detention house, and the great mass of persons are released on proba- 
 tion pending trial, then, and not till then, will the county jail problem 
 be solved. Is it not time for Illinois to follow the recommendation of 
 the National Prison Association and the National Conference of Charities 
 and Correction, and abolish its "schools of crime?" The men who have 
 violated the laws of the state should be the prisoners of the state and 
 should not be left to be educated in vice and crime through the indiffer- 
 ence and neglect of the county authorities. Will you not help in the 
 campaign to abolish the county jail by establishing a state farm for 
 misdemeanants ? 
 
 •See The Real Jail Problem, published by the Juvenile Protective Association. 
 1915. 
 
 23 
 
HOW MEN LIVE AND LEARN IN THE COUNTY JAILS 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 They live in idleness at the expense of the taxpayer. 
 They learn vice and immorality in our "schools of crime." 
 They become educated in criminal ways. 
 They degenerate physically, mentally, morally. 
 
 HELP IN THE CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH THE COUNTY 
 
 JAILS BY ESTABLISHING A STATE PENAL 
 
 FARM IN ILLINOIS 
 
 "We seem to have dedicated an institution in every county to the 
 propagation of idleness, viciousness and crime. . . . Put these men on 
 penal farms, where they may have days of wholesome work and nights of 
 refreshing sleep; where they may have every incentive to live a clean life; 
 where they may have the opportunity to realize the power of renewed man- 
 hood." — Amos W. Butler, former President of the American Prison 
 Association. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 002937198