RULES GOVERNING DISCIPLINE.Your attention is directed to the following rules. Only by observing and obeying them can you make a good record as a prisoner and become eligible for parole and the diminution of your sentence which the law allows:1.Your first duty is strict obedience to all rules and regulations and any orders of the officer under whose charge you may be placed.2.You must observe strict silence in all departments of the prison and while marching through the yard.3.You must not speak to, give or receive from visitors anything except by permission of the Warden or Deputy Warden. Gazing at visitors or strangers passing through the prison is strictly forbidden.4.You are expected to apply yourself diligently at whatever labor you are assigned, and, after reasonable teaching, to perform the same amount of work as would be required from you as a citizen.5.At every signal to fall in for marching take your place in line promptly. March with military step, attend to and promptly obey the orders of your officer.6.You will be required to keep your person clean and your clothing tidy and in good order. You must not make any alterations in your clothing or cut your shoes; if they do not fit[pg 107][pg 108][pg 109]or need repairs report the fact to your officer. You must not carry knives, tools of any kind, pencil, paper or any material whatever from your shop to your cell without permission in writing from the Warden or Deputy Warden. Finding these things in your possession will be considered proof that you have violated this rule. Tinkering or writing notes to other convicts or carrying notes from one convict to another is strictly forbidden.7.You are not allowed to have any money on your person or in your possession, neither are you permitted to trade or purchase any article whatever. All of your business must be done through the Warden.8.You must approach an officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before speaking. You must confine your conversation with him strictly to the business in hand. You must not address an officer on matters outside the prison. Insolence in any form to an officer, foreman, or even to a fellow convict will not be tolerated,9.On entering the cell house, office of the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden you must uncover unless your duties are such that you have special permission to remain covered.Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909. On holidays They Have the Privilege of Talking.PRIVILEGESYou are not compelled to attend service, but you are specially requested to do so, believing that the moral support of religeous instruction is necessary to all.You are required to bathe once a week in summer, once in two weeks in winter, and oftener if considered necessary by the prison Physician unless excused by him, the Warden or Warden.On entering the prison you will receive three (3) tickets entitling you to the following privileges as long as you obey strictly all the rules of the prison:First. One ration of tobacco each week.Second. Permission to write under grade rules.Third. Permission to see friends once in four weeks.NEWSPAPERS. You are permitted to receive such weekly[pg 110]papers as the Warden may approve. No daily papers or sensational publications of any description will be admitted.EXTRA LETTERS. Written permission must be obtained from the Warden or Deputy Warden in case it becomes necessary to write special letters.MAIL MATTERS. Letters and papers of every description must be examined at the office under the direction of the Warden before being mailed or delivered.SHOP RULES1.On entering the shop you will take off your coat, put on your apron and get at your work promptly. If you have any cause for complaint, whether from keeper, foreman or others you will be allowed to send application for an interview through your officer at any time to the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden.2.Communications between prisoners is strictly prohibited and will not be allowed at any time except by special permission of the officers in charge, and then only when absolutely necessary.3.In talking with your foreman you are required to confine yourself strictly to your shop duties. You will not be allowed to talk with him upon matters pertaining to outside news.4.You will be required to approach your officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before addressing him and make your wants known as briefly as possible.5.You will be required to give your individual attention to your work. Gazing about at visitors passing through the shop or at other prisoners will not be allowed. You must respectfully listen to and faithfully carry out all instructions given you by your foreman pertaining to your work.6.You will not be allowed to leave your place of work except by permission of the officer in charge.7.You will not be allowed to brush against a fellow convict in passing, to get in each other's way or otherwise trespass upon the rights of each other so as to provoke illfeeling.8.Careless or wilful injury of your work or tools will be promptly reported.9.You must always salute an officer on entering or retiring from your shop. You will not be permitted to leave shop or place of work under any circumstances without first obtaining special permission of the officer in charge.10.If you are sick or unable to work report the fact to your officer and act as he may direct. If you desire to see the Physician give your name to your officer immediately after entering the shop in the morning.11.All trading or bartering of whatsoever kind between prisoners or between citizens and prisoners is strictly prohibited. You will not be allowed to give or receive any present or gift from a foreman or citizen under any condition.12.If it becomes necesary to use a lead pencil about your work apply to your officer, who will supply you. Pencil must invariably be returned to the officer every evening. You will not be allowed to cut off or appropriate any part of pencil.DINING HALL RULES1.On entering the dining hall take your seat promptly—position erect—arms folded, with eyes to the front until the signal is given to commence eating.2.Strict silence must be observed during the meal. Staring at visitors, talking and laughing, fooling or gazing about the room is strictly forbidden.3.Eating or drinking before or after the gong sounds, using vinegar in your drinking water, or putting meat on the table is prohibited.4.Should you desire additional food make your wants known to the waiters in the following manner:1.If you want bread hold up your right hand.2.Coffee or water, hold up your cup.3.Meat, your fork.4.Soup, hold up your spoon.5.Vegetables, hold up your knife.6.If you desire to speak to an officer about food or service in dining hall hold up your left hand.5.Wasting food in any form will not be tolerated. You must not ask for or allow waiter to place on your plate more[pg 112]food than you can eat. When through with meal leave pieces of bread unmussed on left side of plate. Crusts and small pieces of bread must not be left on your plate.6.After finishing your meal place knife, fork and spoon on right side of plate. Sit erect with arms folded. When the signal is given to arise drop hands to your side. At the second signal of the gong march out and to your respective places in line in a prompt, quiet and orderly manner.7.In passing to and from the dining hall you must not gaze into cells or loiter on the gallery. Walk erect with your eyes to the front. It is strictly against the rules to carry out any of the dining hall furnishings or to carry food to or from the dining hall at any time except on Sundays and holidays, when you will be allowed to carry lunch to your cell for the evening meal.CHAPEL RULES1.On entering the chapel you will march erect with arms by your side, keeping step with the music.2.You will take your seat promptly as designated by the officers in charge and sit with arms folded during chapel service.3.The signal for rising and being seated will be the sound of the Deputy Warden's gavel. When this signal is given you will rise promptly and remain standing until notified to be seated. You will be allowed to drop arms to your side while standing.4.Strict attention must be given to the service. You must not gaze about the room at visitors or at fellow convicts, but must sit erect in your seat facing the speaker.5.Reading, spitting on the floor, shuffling of the feet or any other unnecessary noise is strictly forbidden.6.Should you be taken sick during service, or if it becomes necessary for you to retire, raise your right hand to the officer in charge, who will excuse you if necessary.7.After service you will sit erect with arms folded, giving strict attention to your officer until he gives the signal to rise, when you will be required to rise promptly and march out of the chapel as directed, keeping time with the music.8.In marching to and from the chapel you will be required to keep in close order with face to the front and in as quiet and orderly a manner as possible.Any wilful violation of these rules will be promptly reported, and severely punished if necessary to enforce compliance.GRADING RULESThe Board of Control by virtue of the authority and power conferred upon them by Section 5 of an act of the Minnesota Legislature, entitled“An Act to regulate the sentencing of prisoners convicted of felony and their subsequent release on parole,”hereby establish three (3) grades of prisoners to be known and designated as the First, Second and Third Grades, together with a system of marks to be governed by the following rules and regulations, which shall be in force and have effect from and after the official notification of the passage of said Act is certified by the Secretary of State under date of April 5th, 1893.All prisoners on arrival shall be entered in the Second Grade; they may earn nine credit marks each month and shall be marked on conduct, work and mental advancement. Promotion from the Second to the First Grade shall be conditioned upon the earning of fifty (50) out of the possible fifty-four (54) credit marks, within six (6) consecutive months. The loss of more than two (2) marks in any one month shall cause the prisoner so offending to be reduced to the next lower grade. By a clear record of one (1) month, and the earning of nine (9) credit marks shall entitle the prisoner to be advanced to the next upper grade.Prisoners may lose their grades:First. By such violations of prison rules as shall necessarily subject them to solitary confinement.Second. For general disorderly conduct.Third. For habitual laziness, untidiness or negligence.decoration, p. 113[pg 114]LIBRARY RULESIn ordering books the following directions must be carefully adhered to:Write plainly upon a slip of paper your name and cell number. Underneath place the numbers of fifteen or twenty books you prefer to read. Always take your library book with you when moving from one cell to another. Bear in mind that all books are charged to you and that you will be held strictly responsible for their preservation and safe return. The catalogue and all books charged to you must be accounted for on the day of your parole or discharge from prison. You will not be allowed to have a library book in your possession or in your cell except those that have been regularly charged up and come to you through the regular channels. If you find a stray book in your cell you must turn it over to the Librarian at once. Failing to do this, in the event of finding a stray library book in your cell will be the means of depriving you of all library privileges.You are accorded the utmost liberty in the selection of your reading matter, but it is hoped and it will be expected by the management that the library record will show that you have exercised due diligence and regard for your own best interests in the selection of books. The Warden, Chaplains, Teachers or other officers will gladly advise you concerning the selection of proper reading matter.All library books, excepting books of reference, may be retained two weeks. Books of reference may be held but one day.RULES FOR EXCHANGING PAPERSAny person wishing to exchange papers or periodicals with other prisoners may do so by observing the following rules:Mark the numbers of the cells to which you wish to send the paper or periodical plainly on the margin thereof and drop it in the exchange box at the foot of the stairs as you go out with your bucket in the morning.Solitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeSolitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeCrank Cells and KeeperCrank Cells and KeeperSolitary Confinement.Solitary Confinement. The Severest Mode of Punishment at the Minnesota State Prison. Door to Right is Closed at all Times.After reading papers sent to you scratch your number out and replace papers in the exchange box the following morning, but[pg 115][pg 116][pg 117]do not add any numbers to the list nor erase any but your own.Weekly and semi-weekly publications circulate ten days from the date of their issue; monthly publications circulate the month of their issue.Writing on, drawing pictures on, or in any way defacing exchanges is forbidden. Papers must be kept as clean as possible.RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP.A convict who shall pass the entire period of his imprisonment without a violation of the rules and discipline, except such as the Warden or Board of Control shall excuse, shall upon his discharge from prison be restored to the rights and privileges forfeited by his conviction, and shall receive from the Governor a certificate under the great seal of the state as evidence of such restoration, to be issued upon presentation to the Governor of a certificate of such conduct, which shall be furnished to such convict by the Warden.SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.The mode of punishing infractions of the prison rules at the Stillwater penitentiary consists of standing the prisoner on the inside of a cell door; putting his hands through the bars, and handcuffed on the outside. He is kept standing in this position ten hours during the day, and then let down during the night; is allowed only a single slice of bread and a cup of water each day while undergoing punishment. There are no beds in these cells, nothing but a plank on which to sleep.As a rule, prisoners are only kept in these punishment cells from four to six days, and it frequently occurs that he is released in one day, providing he promises to obey the rules and will try to avoid getting into trouble in the future. It is not the custom to subject the inmates of the Stillwater penitentiary to this form of punishment for trivial offenses, but it is applied to those prisoners who attempt to escape, who destroy property, or[pg 118]who indulge in fights and who display a general negligence in regard to their work.On entering the punishment cell the prisoner is searched thoroughly and given a third-grade uniform. After the punishment is over he is kept in the third grade for thirty days, and by good conduct at the end of that time he is admitted to the second grade. While in the third grade all his privileges are cut off, such as permission to write letters, receiving visits from friends, and tobacco and newspapers.Not very many prisoners are subjected to this form of punishment and it is resorted to only when all other means of enforcing prison discipline fails.THE TWINE FACTORYThere is a twine factory in operation in the Minnesota State Prison having a yearly capacity of nearly eighteen million pounds of binder twine. This adjunct to the prison's industries was inaugurated about eighteen years ago, the author of the measure being the brilliant Ignatius Donnelly, known as the Sage of Nininger. At that time the farmers of this state were groaning under the iron heel of the trust, being compelled to pay eighteen cents a pound for their twine, but today the prison is manufacturing twine of superior quality and selling it to the farmers at an average price of about seven cents per pound.In its infancy the twine plant was conducted on a very small scale, but the present management has developed and added to its equipment until now the factory supplies almost the entire demand of the state. There is little opposition from labor unions against the employment of prison labor in this industry, for there is but a small proportion of the product manufactured in this[pg 119][pg 120][pg 121]state outside of the prison, and outside factories are under the domination of the Cordage Trust.The successful operation of Minnesota's twine plant has aroused the keenest interest among prison officials in other states, and there are now quite a number of similar factories operating in other penitentiaries. Delegations of prison officials from other states are frequent visitors at the Minnesota factory, inspecting the manufacture of twine, and they are invariably enthusiastic over results attained.The twine factory is what is known to the trade as a“three-system plant;”that is, it contains three complete sets of each of the machines necessary to convert the fibre into twine ready for shipment. The transformation is effected principally by a series of combings. From the moment the rush-plaited cover is removed and the bale is opened until the long strands of fibre reach the spinning machines to be twisted into cord the material is constantly undergoing combing.The binder twine fibre is unloaded from the cars inside the prison yard. It is weighed and stored in the warehouse until it is used. Adjoining the fibre warehouse is the opening room in which the bales are opened and spread out, the kinks shaken out of the long strands by hand and the fibre put through a machine called a“breaker.”The breaker subjects it to the first course of raking, and in order to toughen the material and make it more pliable distributes a limited amount of oil through it. After passing through the first breaker, it is sent on to a second, where it is again cleaned and straightened. Then it is removed from the opening room to the next shop, where it is passed through first to a coarse then a fine“spreader.”Like the breaker, the spreader is merely a steel comb on a belt.[pg 122]After leaving the spreaders the fibre is in long, straight and fairly clean strands, and one would think that it might at once be twisted into a cord. But the combing process is not through yet, for in the next room it is sent through first a coarse and then a fine“draw frame,”and then is given what is technically known as a“third working”in a still finer one. These draw frames not only comb the fibre, but they also regulate the sliver—that is, they determine how many strands of hemp will go to make up the finished twine.Next the fibre is run through a“finisher,”an almost human machine, which regulates more precisely than the draw frames the size of the sliver, and then it is ready for the spinning rooms. As it comes out of the spinner it is wrapped on huge spools, which are piled on little carts and distributed among the men operating the balling machines. These latter wrap the twine into five-pound balls, tagged and ready for baling. In the balling shop the twine is weighed, tested and packed in 50-pound bales, which are sent to the twine warehouses and stored there, roof-high, until the harvesting commences.The output of the twine factory previous to 1903 amounted to about 5,000,000 pounds, but it turned out about 15,000,000 pounds last season, and it is anticipated that this enormous increase will reach 18,000,000 in the near future. About 225 prisoners are employed the year around in this manufactury. Mr. E. C. Williams is the superintendent of the twine plant and is an excellent man for the position, thoroughly understanding the business. Under his capable management the factory is kept up to its highest capacity and few breakdowns have been recorded.Spinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryConvicts Marching In to DinnerConvicts Marching In to Dinner
RULES GOVERNING DISCIPLINE.Your attention is directed to the following rules. Only by observing and obeying them can you make a good record as a prisoner and become eligible for parole and the diminution of your sentence which the law allows:1.Your first duty is strict obedience to all rules and regulations and any orders of the officer under whose charge you may be placed.2.You must observe strict silence in all departments of the prison and while marching through the yard.3.You must not speak to, give or receive from visitors anything except by permission of the Warden or Deputy Warden. Gazing at visitors or strangers passing through the prison is strictly forbidden.4.You are expected to apply yourself diligently at whatever labor you are assigned, and, after reasonable teaching, to perform the same amount of work as would be required from you as a citizen.5.At every signal to fall in for marching take your place in line promptly. March with military step, attend to and promptly obey the orders of your officer.6.You will be required to keep your person clean and your clothing tidy and in good order. You must not make any alterations in your clothing or cut your shoes; if they do not fit[pg 107][pg 108][pg 109]or need repairs report the fact to your officer. You must not carry knives, tools of any kind, pencil, paper or any material whatever from your shop to your cell without permission in writing from the Warden or Deputy Warden. Finding these things in your possession will be considered proof that you have violated this rule. Tinkering or writing notes to other convicts or carrying notes from one convict to another is strictly forbidden.7.You are not allowed to have any money on your person or in your possession, neither are you permitted to trade or purchase any article whatever. All of your business must be done through the Warden.8.You must approach an officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before speaking. You must confine your conversation with him strictly to the business in hand. You must not address an officer on matters outside the prison. Insolence in any form to an officer, foreman, or even to a fellow convict will not be tolerated,9.On entering the cell house, office of the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden you must uncover unless your duties are such that you have special permission to remain covered.Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909. On holidays They Have the Privilege of Talking.PRIVILEGESYou are not compelled to attend service, but you are specially requested to do so, believing that the moral support of religeous instruction is necessary to all.You are required to bathe once a week in summer, once in two weeks in winter, and oftener if considered necessary by the prison Physician unless excused by him, the Warden or Warden.On entering the prison you will receive three (3) tickets entitling you to the following privileges as long as you obey strictly all the rules of the prison:First. One ration of tobacco each week.Second. Permission to write under grade rules.Third. Permission to see friends once in four weeks.NEWSPAPERS. You are permitted to receive such weekly[pg 110]papers as the Warden may approve. No daily papers or sensational publications of any description will be admitted.EXTRA LETTERS. Written permission must be obtained from the Warden or Deputy Warden in case it becomes necessary to write special letters.MAIL MATTERS. Letters and papers of every description must be examined at the office under the direction of the Warden before being mailed or delivered.SHOP RULES1.On entering the shop you will take off your coat, put on your apron and get at your work promptly. If you have any cause for complaint, whether from keeper, foreman or others you will be allowed to send application for an interview through your officer at any time to the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden.2.Communications between prisoners is strictly prohibited and will not be allowed at any time except by special permission of the officers in charge, and then only when absolutely necessary.3.In talking with your foreman you are required to confine yourself strictly to your shop duties. You will not be allowed to talk with him upon matters pertaining to outside news.4.You will be required to approach your officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before addressing him and make your wants known as briefly as possible.5.You will be required to give your individual attention to your work. Gazing about at visitors passing through the shop or at other prisoners will not be allowed. You must respectfully listen to and faithfully carry out all instructions given you by your foreman pertaining to your work.6.You will not be allowed to leave your place of work except by permission of the officer in charge.7.You will not be allowed to brush against a fellow convict in passing, to get in each other's way or otherwise trespass upon the rights of each other so as to provoke illfeeling.8.Careless or wilful injury of your work or tools will be promptly reported.9.You must always salute an officer on entering or retiring from your shop. You will not be permitted to leave shop or place of work under any circumstances without first obtaining special permission of the officer in charge.10.If you are sick or unable to work report the fact to your officer and act as he may direct. If you desire to see the Physician give your name to your officer immediately after entering the shop in the morning.11.All trading or bartering of whatsoever kind between prisoners or between citizens and prisoners is strictly prohibited. You will not be allowed to give or receive any present or gift from a foreman or citizen under any condition.12.If it becomes necesary to use a lead pencil about your work apply to your officer, who will supply you. Pencil must invariably be returned to the officer every evening. You will not be allowed to cut off or appropriate any part of pencil.DINING HALL RULES1.On entering the dining hall take your seat promptly—position erect—arms folded, with eyes to the front until the signal is given to commence eating.2.Strict silence must be observed during the meal. Staring at visitors, talking and laughing, fooling or gazing about the room is strictly forbidden.3.Eating or drinking before or after the gong sounds, using vinegar in your drinking water, or putting meat on the table is prohibited.4.Should you desire additional food make your wants known to the waiters in the following manner:1.If you want bread hold up your right hand.2.Coffee or water, hold up your cup.3.Meat, your fork.4.Soup, hold up your spoon.5.Vegetables, hold up your knife.6.If you desire to speak to an officer about food or service in dining hall hold up your left hand.5.Wasting food in any form will not be tolerated. You must not ask for or allow waiter to place on your plate more[pg 112]food than you can eat. When through with meal leave pieces of bread unmussed on left side of plate. Crusts and small pieces of bread must not be left on your plate.6.After finishing your meal place knife, fork and spoon on right side of plate. Sit erect with arms folded. When the signal is given to arise drop hands to your side. At the second signal of the gong march out and to your respective places in line in a prompt, quiet and orderly manner.7.In passing to and from the dining hall you must not gaze into cells or loiter on the gallery. Walk erect with your eyes to the front. It is strictly against the rules to carry out any of the dining hall furnishings or to carry food to or from the dining hall at any time except on Sundays and holidays, when you will be allowed to carry lunch to your cell for the evening meal.CHAPEL RULES1.On entering the chapel you will march erect with arms by your side, keeping step with the music.2.You will take your seat promptly as designated by the officers in charge and sit with arms folded during chapel service.3.The signal for rising and being seated will be the sound of the Deputy Warden's gavel. When this signal is given you will rise promptly and remain standing until notified to be seated. You will be allowed to drop arms to your side while standing.4.Strict attention must be given to the service. You must not gaze about the room at visitors or at fellow convicts, but must sit erect in your seat facing the speaker.5.Reading, spitting on the floor, shuffling of the feet or any other unnecessary noise is strictly forbidden.6.Should you be taken sick during service, or if it becomes necessary for you to retire, raise your right hand to the officer in charge, who will excuse you if necessary.7.After service you will sit erect with arms folded, giving strict attention to your officer until he gives the signal to rise, when you will be required to rise promptly and march out of the chapel as directed, keeping time with the music.8.In marching to and from the chapel you will be required to keep in close order with face to the front and in as quiet and orderly a manner as possible.Any wilful violation of these rules will be promptly reported, and severely punished if necessary to enforce compliance.GRADING RULESThe Board of Control by virtue of the authority and power conferred upon them by Section 5 of an act of the Minnesota Legislature, entitled“An Act to regulate the sentencing of prisoners convicted of felony and their subsequent release on parole,”hereby establish three (3) grades of prisoners to be known and designated as the First, Second and Third Grades, together with a system of marks to be governed by the following rules and regulations, which shall be in force and have effect from and after the official notification of the passage of said Act is certified by the Secretary of State under date of April 5th, 1893.All prisoners on arrival shall be entered in the Second Grade; they may earn nine credit marks each month and shall be marked on conduct, work and mental advancement. Promotion from the Second to the First Grade shall be conditioned upon the earning of fifty (50) out of the possible fifty-four (54) credit marks, within six (6) consecutive months. The loss of more than two (2) marks in any one month shall cause the prisoner so offending to be reduced to the next lower grade. By a clear record of one (1) month, and the earning of nine (9) credit marks shall entitle the prisoner to be advanced to the next upper grade.Prisoners may lose their grades:First. By such violations of prison rules as shall necessarily subject them to solitary confinement.Second. For general disorderly conduct.Third. For habitual laziness, untidiness or negligence.decoration, p. 113[pg 114]LIBRARY RULESIn ordering books the following directions must be carefully adhered to:Write plainly upon a slip of paper your name and cell number. Underneath place the numbers of fifteen or twenty books you prefer to read. Always take your library book with you when moving from one cell to another. Bear in mind that all books are charged to you and that you will be held strictly responsible for their preservation and safe return. The catalogue and all books charged to you must be accounted for on the day of your parole or discharge from prison. You will not be allowed to have a library book in your possession or in your cell except those that have been regularly charged up and come to you through the regular channels. If you find a stray book in your cell you must turn it over to the Librarian at once. Failing to do this, in the event of finding a stray library book in your cell will be the means of depriving you of all library privileges.You are accorded the utmost liberty in the selection of your reading matter, but it is hoped and it will be expected by the management that the library record will show that you have exercised due diligence and regard for your own best interests in the selection of books. The Warden, Chaplains, Teachers or other officers will gladly advise you concerning the selection of proper reading matter.All library books, excepting books of reference, may be retained two weeks. Books of reference may be held but one day.RULES FOR EXCHANGING PAPERSAny person wishing to exchange papers or periodicals with other prisoners may do so by observing the following rules:Mark the numbers of the cells to which you wish to send the paper or periodical plainly on the margin thereof and drop it in the exchange box at the foot of the stairs as you go out with your bucket in the morning.Solitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeSolitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeCrank Cells and KeeperCrank Cells and KeeperSolitary Confinement.Solitary Confinement. The Severest Mode of Punishment at the Minnesota State Prison. Door to Right is Closed at all Times.After reading papers sent to you scratch your number out and replace papers in the exchange box the following morning, but[pg 115][pg 116][pg 117]do not add any numbers to the list nor erase any but your own.Weekly and semi-weekly publications circulate ten days from the date of their issue; monthly publications circulate the month of their issue.Writing on, drawing pictures on, or in any way defacing exchanges is forbidden. Papers must be kept as clean as possible.RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP.A convict who shall pass the entire period of his imprisonment without a violation of the rules and discipline, except such as the Warden or Board of Control shall excuse, shall upon his discharge from prison be restored to the rights and privileges forfeited by his conviction, and shall receive from the Governor a certificate under the great seal of the state as evidence of such restoration, to be issued upon presentation to the Governor of a certificate of such conduct, which shall be furnished to such convict by the Warden.SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.The mode of punishing infractions of the prison rules at the Stillwater penitentiary consists of standing the prisoner on the inside of a cell door; putting his hands through the bars, and handcuffed on the outside. He is kept standing in this position ten hours during the day, and then let down during the night; is allowed only a single slice of bread and a cup of water each day while undergoing punishment. There are no beds in these cells, nothing but a plank on which to sleep.As a rule, prisoners are only kept in these punishment cells from four to six days, and it frequently occurs that he is released in one day, providing he promises to obey the rules and will try to avoid getting into trouble in the future. It is not the custom to subject the inmates of the Stillwater penitentiary to this form of punishment for trivial offenses, but it is applied to those prisoners who attempt to escape, who destroy property, or[pg 118]who indulge in fights and who display a general negligence in regard to their work.On entering the punishment cell the prisoner is searched thoroughly and given a third-grade uniform. After the punishment is over he is kept in the third grade for thirty days, and by good conduct at the end of that time he is admitted to the second grade. While in the third grade all his privileges are cut off, such as permission to write letters, receiving visits from friends, and tobacco and newspapers.Not very many prisoners are subjected to this form of punishment and it is resorted to only when all other means of enforcing prison discipline fails.THE TWINE FACTORYThere is a twine factory in operation in the Minnesota State Prison having a yearly capacity of nearly eighteen million pounds of binder twine. This adjunct to the prison's industries was inaugurated about eighteen years ago, the author of the measure being the brilliant Ignatius Donnelly, known as the Sage of Nininger. At that time the farmers of this state were groaning under the iron heel of the trust, being compelled to pay eighteen cents a pound for their twine, but today the prison is manufacturing twine of superior quality and selling it to the farmers at an average price of about seven cents per pound.In its infancy the twine plant was conducted on a very small scale, but the present management has developed and added to its equipment until now the factory supplies almost the entire demand of the state. There is little opposition from labor unions against the employment of prison labor in this industry, for there is but a small proportion of the product manufactured in this[pg 119][pg 120][pg 121]state outside of the prison, and outside factories are under the domination of the Cordage Trust.The successful operation of Minnesota's twine plant has aroused the keenest interest among prison officials in other states, and there are now quite a number of similar factories operating in other penitentiaries. Delegations of prison officials from other states are frequent visitors at the Minnesota factory, inspecting the manufacture of twine, and they are invariably enthusiastic over results attained.The twine factory is what is known to the trade as a“three-system plant;”that is, it contains three complete sets of each of the machines necessary to convert the fibre into twine ready for shipment. The transformation is effected principally by a series of combings. From the moment the rush-plaited cover is removed and the bale is opened until the long strands of fibre reach the spinning machines to be twisted into cord the material is constantly undergoing combing.The binder twine fibre is unloaded from the cars inside the prison yard. It is weighed and stored in the warehouse until it is used. Adjoining the fibre warehouse is the opening room in which the bales are opened and spread out, the kinks shaken out of the long strands by hand and the fibre put through a machine called a“breaker.”The breaker subjects it to the first course of raking, and in order to toughen the material and make it more pliable distributes a limited amount of oil through it. After passing through the first breaker, it is sent on to a second, where it is again cleaned and straightened. Then it is removed from the opening room to the next shop, where it is passed through first to a coarse then a fine“spreader.”Like the breaker, the spreader is merely a steel comb on a belt.[pg 122]After leaving the spreaders the fibre is in long, straight and fairly clean strands, and one would think that it might at once be twisted into a cord. But the combing process is not through yet, for in the next room it is sent through first a coarse and then a fine“draw frame,”and then is given what is technically known as a“third working”in a still finer one. These draw frames not only comb the fibre, but they also regulate the sliver—that is, they determine how many strands of hemp will go to make up the finished twine.Next the fibre is run through a“finisher,”an almost human machine, which regulates more precisely than the draw frames the size of the sliver, and then it is ready for the spinning rooms. As it comes out of the spinner it is wrapped on huge spools, which are piled on little carts and distributed among the men operating the balling machines. These latter wrap the twine into five-pound balls, tagged and ready for baling. In the balling shop the twine is weighed, tested and packed in 50-pound bales, which are sent to the twine warehouses and stored there, roof-high, until the harvesting commences.The output of the twine factory previous to 1903 amounted to about 5,000,000 pounds, but it turned out about 15,000,000 pounds last season, and it is anticipated that this enormous increase will reach 18,000,000 in the near future. About 225 prisoners are employed the year around in this manufactury. Mr. E. C. Williams is the superintendent of the twine plant and is an excellent man for the position, thoroughly understanding the business. Under his capable management the factory is kept up to its highest capacity and few breakdowns have been recorded.Spinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryConvicts Marching In to DinnerConvicts Marching In to Dinner
RULES GOVERNING DISCIPLINE.Your attention is directed to the following rules. Only by observing and obeying them can you make a good record as a prisoner and become eligible for parole and the diminution of your sentence which the law allows:1.Your first duty is strict obedience to all rules and regulations and any orders of the officer under whose charge you may be placed.2.You must observe strict silence in all departments of the prison and while marching through the yard.3.You must not speak to, give or receive from visitors anything except by permission of the Warden or Deputy Warden. Gazing at visitors or strangers passing through the prison is strictly forbidden.4.You are expected to apply yourself diligently at whatever labor you are assigned, and, after reasonable teaching, to perform the same amount of work as would be required from you as a citizen.5.At every signal to fall in for marching take your place in line promptly. March with military step, attend to and promptly obey the orders of your officer.6.You will be required to keep your person clean and your clothing tidy and in good order. You must not make any alterations in your clothing or cut your shoes; if they do not fit[pg 107][pg 108][pg 109]or need repairs report the fact to your officer. You must not carry knives, tools of any kind, pencil, paper or any material whatever from your shop to your cell without permission in writing from the Warden or Deputy Warden. Finding these things in your possession will be considered proof that you have violated this rule. Tinkering or writing notes to other convicts or carrying notes from one convict to another is strictly forbidden.7.You are not allowed to have any money on your person or in your possession, neither are you permitted to trade or purchase any article whatever. All of your business must be done through the Warden.8.You must approach an officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before speaking. You must confine your conversation with him strictly to the business in hand. You must not address an officer on matters outside the prison. Insolence in any form to an officer, foreman, or even to a fellow convict will not be tolerated,9.On entering the cell house, office of the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden you must uncover unless your duties are such that you have special permission to remain covered.Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909. On holidays They Have the Privilege of Talking.PRIVILEGESYou are not compelled to attend service, but you are specially requested to do so, believing that the moral support of religeous instruction is necessary to all.You are required to bathe once a week in summer, once in two weeks in winter, and oftener if considered necessary by the prison Physician unless excused by him, the Warden or Warden.On entering the prison you will receive three (3) tickets entitling you to the following privileges as long as you obey strictly all the rules of the prison:First. One ration of tobacco each week.Second. Permission to write under grade rules.Third. Permission to see friends once in four weeks.NEWSPAPERS. You are permitted to receive such weekly[pg 110]papers as the Warden may approve. No daily papers or sensational publications of any description will be admitted.EXTRA LETTERS. Written permission must be obtained from the Warden or Deputy Warden in case it becomes necessary to write special letters.MAIL MATTERS. Letters and papers of every description must be examined at the office under the direction of the Warden before being mailed or delivered.SHOP RULES1.On entering the shop you will take off your coat, put on your apron and get at your work promptly. If you have any cause for complaint, whether from keeper, foreman or others you will be allowed to send application for an interview through your officer at any time to the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden.2.Communications between prisoners is strictly prohibited and will not be allowed at any time except by special permission of the officers in charge, and then only when absolutely necessary.3.In talking with your foreman you are required to confine yourself strictly to your shop duties. You will not be allowed to talk with him upon matters pertaining to outside news.4.You will be required to approach your officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before addressing him and make your wants known as briefly as possible.5.You will be required to give your individual attention to your work. Gazing about at visitors passing through the shop or at other prisoners will not be allowed. You must respectfully listen to and faithfully carry out all instructions given you by your foreman pertaining to your work.6.You will not be allowed to leave your place of work except by permission of the officer in charge.7.You will not be allowed to brush against a fellow convict in passing, to get in each other's way or otherwise trespass upon the rights of each other so as to provoke illfeeling.8.Careless or wilful injury of your work or tools will be promptly reported.9.You must always salute an officer on entering or retiring from your shop. You will not be permitted to leave shop or place of work under any circumstances without first obtaining special permission of the officer in charge.10.If you are sick or unable to work report the fact to your officer and act as he may direct. If you desire to see the Physician give your name to your officer immediately after entering the shop in the morning.11.All trading or bartering of whatsoever kind between prisoners or between citizens and prisoners is strictly prohibited. You will not be allowed to give or receive any present or gift from a foreman or citizen under any condition.12.If it becomes necesary to use a lead pencil about your work apply to your officer, who will supply you. Pencil must invariably be returned to the officer every evening. You will not be allowed to cut off or appropriate any part of pencil.DINING HALL RULES1.On entering the dining hall take your seat promptly—position erect—arms folded, with eyes to the front until the signal is given to commence eating.2.Strict silence must be observed during the meal. Staring at visitors, talking and laughing, fooling or gazing about the room is strictly forbidden.3.Eating or drinking before or after the gong sounds, using vinegar in your drinking water, or putting meat on the table is prohibited.4.Should you desire additional food make your wants known to the waiters in the following manner:1.If you want bread hold up your right hand.2.Coffee or water, hold up your cup.3.Meat, your fork.4.Soup, hold up your spoon.5.Vegetables, hold up your knife.6.If you desire to speak to an officer about food or service in dining hall hold up your left hand.5.Wasting food in any form will not be tolerated. You must not ask for or allow waiter to place on your plate more[pg 112]food than you can eat. When through with meal leave pieces of bread unmussed on left side of plate. Crusts and small pieces of bread must not be left on your plate.6.After finishing your meal place knife, fork and spoon on right side of plate. Sit erect with arms folded. When the signal is given to arise drop hands to your side. At the second signal of the gong march out and to your respective places in line in a prompt, quiet and orderly manner.7.In passing to and from the dining hall you must not gaze into cells or loiter on the gallery. Walk erect with your eyes to the front. It is strictly against the rules to carry out any of the dining hall furnishings or to carry food to or from the dining hall at any time except on Sundays and holidays, when you will be allowed to carry lunch to your cell for the evening meal.CHAPEL RULES1.On entering the chapel you will march erect with arms by your side, keeping step with the music.2.You will take your seat promptly as designated by the officers in charge and sit with arms folded during chapel service.3.The signal for rising and being seated will be the sound of the Deputy Warden's gavel. When this signal is given you will rise promptly and remain standing until notified to be seated. You will be allowed to drop arms to your side while standing.4.Strict attention must be given to the service. You must not gaze about the room at visitors or at fellow convicts, but must sit erect in your seat facing the speaker.5.Reading, spitting on the floor, shuffling of the feet or any other unnecessary noise is strictly forbidden.6.Should you be taken sick during service, or if it becomes necessary for you to retire, raise your right hand to the officer in charge, who will excuse you if necessary.7.After service you will sit erect with arms folded, giving strict attention to your officer until he gives the signal to rise, when you will be required to rise promptly and march out of the chapel as directed, keeping time with the music.8.In marching to and from the chapel you will be required to keep in close order with face to the front and in as quiet and orderly a manner as possible.Any wilful violation of these rules will be promptly reported, and severely punished if necessary to enforce compliance.GRADING RULESThe Board of Control by virtue of the authority and power conferred upon them by Section 5 of an act of the Minnesota Legislature, entitled“An Act to regulate the sentencing of prisoners convicted of felony and their subsequent release on parole,”hereby establish three (3) grades of prisoners to be known and designated as the First, Second and Third Grades, together with a system of marks to be governed by the following rules and regulations, which shall be in force and have effect from and after the official notification of the passage of said Act is certified by the Secretary of State under date of April 5th, 1893.All prisoners on arrival shall be entered in the Second Grade; they may earn nine credit marks each month and shall be marked on conduct, work and mental advancement. Promotion from the Second to the First Grade shall be conditioned upon the earning of fifty (50) out of the possible fifty-four (54) credit marks, within six (6) consecutive months. The loss of more than two (2) marks in any one month shall cause the prisoner so offending to be reduced to the next lower grade. By a clear record of one (1) month, and the earning of nine (9) credit marks shall entitle the prisoner to be advanced to the next upper grade.Prisoners may lose their grades:First. By such violations of prison rules as shall necessarily subject them to solitary confinement.Second. For general disorderly conduct.Third. For habitual laziness, untidiness or negligence.decoration, p. 113[pg 114]LIBRARY RULESIn ordering books the following directions must be carefully adhered to:Write plainly upon a slip of paper your name and cell number. Underneath place the numbers of fifteen or twenty books you prefer to read. Always take your library book with you when moving from one cell to another. Bear in mind that all books are charged to you and that you will be held strictly responsible for their preservation and safe return. The catalogue and all books charged to you must be accounted for on the day of your parole or discharge from prison. You will not be allowed to have a library book in your possession or in your cell except those that have been regularly charged up and come to you through the regular channels. If you find a stray book in your cell you must turn it over to the Librarian at once. Failing to do this, in the event of finding a stray library book in your cell will be the means of depriving you of all library privileges.You are accorded the utmost liberty in the selection of your reading matter, but it is hoped and it will be expected by the management that the library record will show that you have exercised due diligence and regard for your own best interests in the selection of books. The Warden, Chaplains, Teachers or other officers will gladly advise you concerning the selection of proper reading matter.All library books, excepting books of reference, may be retained two weeks. Books of reference may be held but one day.RULES FOR EXCHANGING PAPERSAny person wishing to exchange papers or periodicals with other prisoners may do so by observing the following rules:Mark the numbers of the cells to which you wish to send the paper or periodical plainly on the margin thereof and drop it in the exchange box at the foot of the stairs as you go out with your bucket in the morning.Solitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeSolitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeCrank Cells and KeeperCrank Cells and KeeperSolitary Confinement.Solitary Confinement. The Severest Mode of Punishment at the Minnesota State Prison. Door to Right is Closed at all Times.After reading papers sent to you scratch your number out and replace papers in the exchange box the following morning, but[pg 115][pg 116][pg 117]do not add any numbers to the list nor erase any but your own.Weekly and semi-weekly publications circulate ten days from the date of their issue; monthly publications circulate the month of their issue.Writing on, drawing pictures on, or in any way defacing exchanges is forbidden. Papers must be kept as clean as possible.RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP.A convict who shall pass the entire period of his imprisonment without a violation of the rules and discipline, except such as the Warden or Board of Control shall excuse, shall upon his discharge from prison be restored to the rights and privileges forfeited by his conviction, and shall receive from the Governor a certificate under the great seal of the state as evidence of such restoration, to be issued upon presentation to the Governor of a certificate of such conduct, which shall be furnished to such convict by the Warden.SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.The mode of punishing infractions of the prison rules at the Stillwater penitentiary consists of standing the prisoner on the inside of a cell door; putting his hands through the bars, and handcuffed on the outside. He is kept standing in this position ten hours during the day, and then let down during the night; is allowed only a single slice of bread and a cup of water each day while undergoing punishment. There are no beds in these cells, nothing but a plank on which to sleep.As a rule, prisoners are only kept in these punishment cells from four to six days, and it frequently occurs that he is released in one day, providing he promises to obey the rules and will try to avoid getting into trouble in the future. It is not the custom to subject the inmates of the Stillwater penitentiary to this form of punishment for trivial offenses, but it is applied to those prisoners who attempt to escape, who destroy property, or[pg 118]who indulge in fights and who display a general negligence in regard to their work.On entering the punishment cell the prisoner is searched thoroughly and given a third-grade uniform. After the punishment is over he is kept in the third grade for thirty days, and by good conduct at the end of that time he is admitted to the second grade. While in the third grade all his privileges are cut off, such as permission to write letters, receiving visits from friends, and tobacco and newspapers.Not very many prisoners are subjected to this form of punishment and it is resorted to only when all other means of enforcing prison discipline fails.THE TWINE FACTORYThere is a twine factory in operation in the Minnesota State Prison having a yearly capacity of nearly eighteen million pounds of binder twine. This adjunct to the prison's industries was inaugurated about eighteen years ago, the author of the measure being the brilliant Ignatius Donnelly, known as the Sage of Nininger. At that time the farmers of this state were groaning under the iron heel of the trust, being compelled to pay eighteen cents a pound for their twine, but today the prison is manufacturing twine of superior quality and selling it to the farmers at an average price of about seven cents per pound.In its infancy the twine plant was conducted on a very small scale, but the present management has developed and added to its equipment until now the factory supplies almost the entire demand of the state. There is little opposition from labor unions against the employment of prison labor in this industry, for there is but a small proportion of the product manufactured in this[pg 119][pg 120][pg 121]state outside of the prison, and outside factories are under the domination of the Cordage Trust.The successful operation of Minnesota's twine plant has aroused the keenest interest among prison officials in other states, and there are now quite a number of similar factories operating in other penitentiaries. Delegations of prison officials from other states are frequent visitors at the Minnesota factory, inspecting the manufacture of twine, and they are invariably enthusiastic over results attained.The twine factory is what is known to the trade as a“three-system plant;”that is, it contains three complete sets of each of the machines necessary to convert the fibre into twine ready for shipment. The transformation is effected principally by a series of combings. From the moment the rush-plaited cover is removed and the bale is opened until the long strands of fibre reach the spinning machines to be twisted into cord the material is constantly undergoing combing.The binder twine fibre is unloaded from the cars inside the prison yard. It is weighed and stored in the warehouse until it is used. Adjoining the fibre warehouse is the opening room in which the bales are opened and spread out, the kinks shaken out of the long strands by hand and the fibre put through a machine called a“breaker.”The breaker subjects it to the first course of raking, and in order to toughen the material and make it more pliable distributes a limited amount of oil through it. After passing through the first breaker, it is sent on to a second, where it is again cleaned and straightened. Then it is removed from the opening room to the next shop, where it is passed through first to a coarse then a fine“spreader.”Like the breaker, the spreader is merely a steel comb on a belt.[pg 122]After leaving the spreaders the fibre is in long, straight and fairly clean strands, and one would think that it might at once be twisted into a cord. But the combing process is not through yet, for in the next room it is sent through first a coarse and then a fine“draw frame,”and then is given what is technically known as a“third working”in a still finer one. These draw frames not only comb the fibre, but they also regulate the sliver—that is, they determine how many strands of hemp will go to make up the finished twine.Next the fibre is run through a“finisher,”an almost human machine, which regulates more precisely than the draw frames the size of the sliver, and then it is ready for the spinning rooms. As it comes out of the spinner it is wrapped on huge spools, which are piled on little carts and distributed among the men operating the balling machines. These latter wrap the twine into five-pound balls, tagged and ready for baling. In the balling shop the twine is weighed, tested and packed in 50-pound bales, which are sent to the twine warehouses and stored there, roof-high, until the harvesting commences.The output of the twine factory previous to 1903 amounted to about 5,000,000 pounds, but it turned out about 15,000,000 pounds last season, and it is anticipated that this enormous increase will reach 18,000,000 in the near future. About 225 prisoners are employed the year around in this manufactury. Mr. E. C. Williams is the superintendent of the twine plant and is an excellent man for the position, thoroughly understanding the business. Under his capable management the factory is kept up to its highest capacity and few breakdowns have been recorded.Spinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryConvicts Marching In to DinnerConvicts Marching In to Dinner
RULES GOVERNING DISCIPLINE.Your attention is directed to the following rules. Only by observing and obeying them can you make a good record as a prisoner and become eligible for parole and the diminution of your sentence which the law allows:1.Your first duty is strict obedience to all rules and regulations and any orders of the officer under whose charge you may be placed.2.You must observe strict silence in all departments of the prison and while marching through the yard.3.You must not speak to, give or receive from visitors anything except by permission of the Warden or Deputy Warden. Gazing at visitors or strangers passing through the prison is strictly forbidden.4.You are expected to apply yourself diligently at whatever labor you are assigned, and, after reasonable teaching, to perform the same amount of work as would be required from you as a citizen.5.At every signal to fall in for marching take your place in line promptly. March with military step, attend to and promptly obey the orders of your officer.6.You will be required to keep your person clean and your clothing tidy and in good order. You must not make any alterations in your clothing or cut your shoes; if they do not fit[pg 107][pg 108][pg 109]or need repairs report the fact to your officer. You must not carry knives, tools of any kind, pencil, paper or any material whatever from your shop to your cell without permission in writing from the Warden or Deputy Warden. Finding these things in your possession will be considered proof that you have violated this rule. Tinkering or writing notes to other convicts or carrying notes from one convict to another is strictly forbidden.7.You are not allowed to have any money on your person or in your possession, neither are you permitted to trade or purchase any article whatever. All of your business must be done through the Warden.8.You must approach an officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before speaking. You must confine your conversation with him strictly to the business in hand. You must not address an officer on matters outside the prison. Insolence in any form to an officer, foreman, or even to a fellow convict will not be tolerated,9.On entering the cell house, office of the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden you must uncover unless your duties are such that you have special permission to remain covered.Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909. On holidays They Have the Privilege of Talking.
Your attention is directed to the following rules. Only by observing and obeying them can you make a good record as a prisoner and become eligible for parole and the diminution of your sentence which the law allows:
Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909
Audience Looking Down on Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909
Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909. On holidays They Have the Privilege of Talking.
Prisoners in Prison Park, Decoration Day, 1909. On holidays They Have the Privilege of Talking.
PRIVILEGESYou are not compelled to attend service, but you are specially requested to do so, believing that the moral support of religeous instruction is necessary to all.You are required to bathe once a week in summer, once in two weeks in winter, and oftener if considered necessary by the prison Physician unless excused by him, the Warden or Warden.On entering the prison you will receive three (3) tickets entitling you to the following privileges as long as you obey strictly all the rules of the prison:First. One ration of tobacco each week.Second. Permission to write under grade rules.Third. Permission to see friends once in four weeks.NEWSPAPERS. You are permitted to receive such weekly[pg 110]papers as the Warden may approve. No daily papers or sensational publications of any description will be admitted.EXTRA LETTERS. Written permission must be obtained from the Warden or Deputy Warden in case it becomes necessary to write special letters.MAIL MATTERS. Letters and papers of every description must be examined at the office under the direction of the Warden before being mailed or delivered.
You are not compelled to attend service, but you are specially requested to do so, believing that the moral support of religeous instruction is necessary to all.
You are required to bathe once a week in summer, once in two weeks in winter, and oftener if considered necessary by the prison Physician unless excused by him, the Warden or Warden.
On entering the prison you will receive three (3) tickets entitling you to the following privileges as long as you obey strictly all the rules of the prison:
SHOP RULES1.On entering the shop you will take off your coat, put on your apron and get at your work promptly. If you have any cause for complaint, whether from keeper, foreman or others you will be allowed to send application for an interview through your officer at any time to the Board of Control, Warden or Deputy Warden.2.Communications between prisoners is strictly prohibited and will not be allowed at any time except by special permission of the officers in charge, and then only when absolutely necessary.3.In talking with your foreman you are required to confine yourself strictly to your shop duties. You will not be allowed to talk with him upon matters pertaining to outside news.4.You will be required to approach your officer in a respectful manner. Always salute him before addressing him and make your wants known as briefly as possible.5.You will be required to give your individual attention to your work. Gazing about at visitors passing through the shop or at other prisoners will not be allowed. You must respectfully listen to and faithfully carry out all instructions given you by your foreman pertaining to your work.6.You will not be allowed to leave your place of work except by permission of the officer in charge.7.You will not be allowed to brush against a fellow convict in passing, to get in each other's way or otherwise trespass upon the rights of each other so as to provoke illfeeling.8.Careless or wilful injury of your work or tools will be promptly reported.9.You must always salute an officer on entering or retiring from your shop. You will not be permitted to leave shop or place of work under any circumstances without first obtaining special permission of the officer in charge.10.If you are sick or unable to work report the fact to your officer and act as he may direct. If you desire to see the Physician give your name to your officer immediately after entering the shop in the morning.11.All trading or bartering of whatsoever kind between prisoners or between citizens and prisoners is strictly prohibited. You will not be allowed to give or receive any present or gift from a foreman or citizen under any condition.12.If it becomes necesary to use a lead pencil about your work apply to your officer, who will supply you. Pencil must invariably be returned to the officer every evening. You will not be allowed to cut off or appropriate any part of pencil.
DINING HALL RULES1.On entering the dining hall take your seat promptly—position erect—arms folded, with eyes to the front until the signal is given to commence eating.2.Strict silence must be observed during the meal. Staring at visitors, talking and laughing, fooling or gazing about the room is strictly forbidden.3.Eating or drinking before or after the gong sounds, using vinegar in your drinking water, or putting meat on the table is prohibited.4.Should you desire additional food make your wants known to the waiters in the following manner:1.If you want bread hold up your right hand.2.Coffee or water, hold up your cup.3.Meat, your fork.4.Soup, hold up your spoon.5.Vegetables, hold up your knife.6.If you desire to speak to an officer about food or service in dining hall hold up your left hand.5.Wasting food in any form will not be tolerated. You must not ask for or allow waiter to place on your plate more[pg 112]food than you can eat. When through with meal leave pieces of bread unmussed on left side of plate. Crusts and small pieces of bread must not be left on your plate.6.After finishing your meal place knife, fork and spoon on right side of plate. Sit erect with arms folded. When the signal is given to arise drop hands to your side. At the second signal of the gong march out and to your respective places in line in a prompt, quiet and orderly manner.7.In passing to and from the dining hall you must not gaze into cells or loiter on the gallery. Walk erect with your eyes to the front. It is strictly against the rules to carry out any of the dining hall furnishings or to carry food to or from the dining hall at any time except on Sundays and holidays, when you will be allowed to carry lunch to your cell for the evening meal.
CHAPEL RULES1.On entering the chapel you will march erect with arms by your side, keeping step with the music.2.You will take your seat promptly as designated by the officers in charge and sit with arms folded during chapel service.3.The signal for rising and being seated will be the sound of the Deputy Warden's gavel. When this signal is given you will rise promptly and remain standing until notified to be seated. You will be allowed to drop arms to your side while standing.4.Strict attention must be given to the service. You must not gaze about the room at visitors or at fellow convicts, but must sit erect in your seat facing the speaker.5.Reading, spitting on the floor, shuffling of the feet or any other unnecessary noise is strictly forbidden.6.Should you be taken sick during service, or if it becomes necessary for you to retire, raise your right hand to the officer in charge, who will excuse you if necessary.7.After service you will sit erect with arms folded, giving strict attention to your officer until he gives the signal to rise, when you will be required to rise promptly and march out of the chapel as directed, keeping time with the music.8.In marching to and from the chapel you will be required to keep in close order with face to the front and in as quiet and orderly a manner as possible.Any wilful violation of these rules will be promptly reported, and severely punished if necessary to enforce compliance.
Any wilful violation of these rules will be promptly reported, and severely punished if necessary to enforce compliance.
GRADING RULESThe Board of Control by virtue of the authority and power conferred upon them by Section 5 of an act of the Minnesota Legislature, entitled“An Act to regulate the sentencing of prisoners convicted of felony and their subsequent release on parole,”hereby establish three (3) grades of prisoners to be known and designated as the First, Second and Third Grades, together with a system of marks to be governed by the following rules and regulations, which shall be in force and have effect from and after the official notification of the passage of said Act is certified by the Secretary of State under date of April 5th, 1893.All prisoners on arrival shall be entered in the Second Grade; they may earn nine credit marks each month and shall be marked on conduct, work and mental advancement. Promotion from the Second to the First Grade shall be conditioned upon the earning of fifty (50) out of the possible fifty-four (54) credit marks, within six (6) consecutive months. The loss of more than two (2) marks in any one month shall cause the prisoner so offending to be reduced to the next lower grade. By a clear record of one (1) month, and the earning of nine (9) credit marks shall entitle the prisoner to be advanced to the next upper grade.Prisoners may lose their grades:First. By such violations of prison rules as shall necessarily subject them to solitary confinement.Second. For general disorderly conduct.Third. For habitual laziness, untidiness or negligence.decoration, p. 113
The Board of Control by virtue of the authority and power conferred upon them by Section 5 of an act of the Minnesota Legislature, entitled“An Act to regulate the sentencing of prisoners convicted of felony and their subsequent release on parole,”hereby establish three (3) grades of prisoners to be known and designated as the First, Second and Third Grades, together with a system of marks to be governed by the following rules and regulations, which shall be in force and have effect from and after the official notification of the passage of said Act is certified by the Secretary of State under date of April 5th, 1893.
All prisoners on arrival shall be entered in the Second Grade; they may earn nine credit marks each month and shall be marked on conduct, work and mental advancement. Promotion from the Second to the First Grade shall be conditioned upon the earning of fifty (50) out of the possible fifty-four (54) credit marks, within six (6) consecutive months. The loss of more than two (2) marks in any one month shall cause the prisoner so offending to be reduced to the next lower grade. By a clear record of one (1) month, and the earning of nine (9) credit marks shall entitle the prisoner to be advanced to the next upper grade.
Prisoners may lose their grades:
decoration, p. 113
LIBRARY RULESIn ordering books the following directions must be carefully adhered to:Write plainly upon a slip of paper your name and cell number. Underneath place the numbers of fifteen or twenty books you prefer to read. Always take your library book with you when moving from one cell to another. Bear in mind that all books are charged to you and that you will be held strictly responsible for their preservation and safe return. The catalogue and all books charged to you must be accounted for on the day of your parole or discharge from prison. You will not be allowed to have a library book in your possession or in your cell except those that have been regularly charged up and come to you through the regular channels. If you find a stray book in your cell you must turn it over to the Librarian at once. Failing to do this, in the event of finding a stray library book in your cell will be the means of depriving you of all library privileges.You are accorded the utmost liberty in the selection of your reading matter, but it is hoped and it will be expected by the management that the library record will show that you have exercised due diligence and regard for your own best interests in the selection of books. The Warden, Chaplains, Teachers or other officers will gladly advise you concerning the selection of proper reading matter.All library books, excepting books of reference, may be retained two weeks. Books of reference may be held but one day.
In ordering books the following directions must be carefully adhered to:
Write plainly upon a slip of paper your name and cell number. Underneath place the numbers of fifteen or twenty books you prefer to read. Always take your library book with you when moving from one cell to another. Bear in mind that all books are charged to you and that you will be held strictly responsible for their preservation and safe return. The catalogue and all books charged to you must be accounted for on the day of your parole or discharge from prison. You will not be allowed to have a library book in your possession or in your cell except those that have been regularly charged up and come to you through the regular channels. If you find a stray book in your cell you must turn it over to the Librarian at once. Failing to do this, in the event of finding a stray library book in your cell will be the means of depriving you of all library privileges.
You are accorded the utmost liberty in the selection of your reading matter, but it is hoped and it will be expected by the management that the library record will show that you have exercised due diligence and regard for your own best interests in the selection of books. The Warden, Chaplains, Teachers or other officers will gladly advise you concerning the selection of proper reading matter.
All library books, excepting books of reference, may be retained two weeks. Books of reference may be held but one day.
RULES FOR EXCHANGING PAPERSAny person wishing to exchange papers or periodicals with other prisoners may do so by observing the following rules:Mark the numbers of the cells to which you wish to send the paper or periodical plainly on the margin thereof and drop it in the exchange box at the foot of the stairs as you go out with your bucket in the morning.Solitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeSolitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeCrank Cells and KeeperCrank Cells and KeeperSolitary Confinement.Solitary Confinement. The Severest Mode of Punishment at the Minnesota State Prison. Door to Right is Closed at all Times.After reading papers sent to you scratch your number out and replace papers in the exchange box the following morning, but[pg 115][pg 116][pg 117]do not add any numbers to the list nor erase any but your own.Weekly and semi-weekly publications circulate ten days from the date of their issue; monthly publications circulate the month of their issue.Writing on, drawing pictures on, or in any way defacing exchanges is forbidden. Papers must be kept as clean as possible.
Any person wishing to exchange papers or periodicals with other prisoners may do so by observing the following rules:
Mark the numbers of the cells to which you wish to send the paper or periodical plainly on the margin thereof and drop it in the exchange box at the foot of the stairs as you go out with your bucket in the morning.
Solitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells OppositeSolitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells Opposite
Solitary Confinement Cell, with Crank Cells Opposite
Crank Cells and KeeperCrank Cells and Keeper
Crank Cells and Keeper
Solitary Confinement.Solitary Confinement. The Severest Mode of Punishment at the Minnesota State Prison. Door to Right is Closed at all Times.
Solitary Confinement. The Severest Mode of Punishment at the Minnesota State Prison. Door to Right is Closed at all Times.
After reading papers sent to you scratch your number out and replace papers in the exchange box the following morning, but[pg 115][pg 116][pg 117]do not add any numbers to the list nor erase any but your own.
Weekly and semi-weekly publications circulate ten days from the date of their issue; monthly publications circulate the month of their issue.
Writing on, drawing pictures on, or in any way defacing exchanges is forbidden. Papers must be kept as clean as possible.
RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP.A convict who shall pass the entire period of his imprisonment without a violation of the rules and discipline, except such as the Warden or Board of Control shall excuse, shall upon his discharge from prison be restored to the rights and privileges forfeited by his conviction, and shall receive from the Governor a certificate under the great seal of the state as evidence of such restoration, to be issued upon presentation to the Governor of a certificate of such conduct, which shall be furnished to such convict by the Warden.
A convict who shall pass the entire period of his imprisonment without a violation of the rules and discipline, except such as the Warden or Board of Control shall excuse, shall upon his discharge from prison be restored to the rights and privileges forfeited by his conviction, and shall receive from the Governor a certificate under the great seal of the state as evidence of such restoration, to be issued upon presentation to the Governor of a certificate of such conduct, which shall be furnished to such convict by the Warden.
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.The mode of punishing infractions of the prison rules at the Stillwater penitentiary consists of standing the prisoner on the inside of a cell door; putting his hands through the bars, and handcuffed on the outside. He is kept standing in this position ten hours during the day, and then let down during the night; is allowed only a single slice of bread and a cup of water each day while undergoing punishment. There are no beds in these cells, nothing but a plank on which to sleep.As a rule, prisoners are only kept in these punishment cells from four to six days, and it frequently occurs that he is released in one day, providing he promises to obey the rules and will try to avoid getting into trouble in the future. It is not the custom to subject the inmates of the Stillwater penitentiary to this form of punishment for trivial offenses, but it is applied to those prisoners who attempt to escape, who destroy property, or[pg 118]who indulge in fights and who display a general negligence in regard to their work.On entering the punishment cell the prisoner is searched thoroughly and given a third-grade uniform. After the punishment is over he is kept in the third grade for thirty days, and by good conduct at the end of that time he is admitted to the second grade. While in the third grade all his privileges are cut off, such as permission to write letters, receiving visits from friends, and tobacco and newspapers.Not very many prisoners are subjected to this form of punishment and it is resorted to only when all other means of enforcing prison discipline fails.
The mode of punishing infractions of the prison rules at the Stillwater penitentiary consists of standing the prisoner on the inside of a cell door; putting his hands through the bars, and handcuffed on the outside. He is kept standing in this position ten hours during the day, and then let down during the night; is allowed only a single slice of bread and a cup of water each day while undergoing punishment. There are no beds in these cells, nothing but a plank on which to sleep.
As a rule, prisoners are only kept in these punishment cells from four to six days, and it frequently occurs that he is released in one day, providing he promises to obey the rules and will try to avoid getting into trouble in the future. It is not the custom to subject the inmates of the Stillwater penitentiary to this form of punishment for trivial offenses, but it is applied to those prisoners who attempt to escape, who destroy property, or[pg 118]who indulge in fights and who display a general negligence in regard to their work.
On entering the punishment cell the prisoner is searched thoroughly and given a third-grade uniform. After the punishment is over he is kept in the third grade for thirty days, and by good conduct at the end of that time he is admitted to the second grade. While in the third grade all his privileges are cut off, such as permission to write letters, receiving visits from friends, and tobacco and newspapers.
Not very many prisoners are subjected to this form of punishment and it is resorted to only when all other means of enforcing prison discipline fails.
THE TWINE FACTORYThere is a twine factory in operation in the Minnesota State Prison having a yearly capacity of nearly eighteen million pounds of binder twine. This adjunct to the prison's industries was inaugurated about eighteen years ago, the author of the measure being the brilliant Ignatius Donnelly, known as the Sage of Nininger. At that time the farmers of this state were groaning under the iron heel of the trust, being compelled to pay eighteen cents a pound for their twine, but today the prison is manufacturing twine of superior quality and selling it to the farmers at an average price of about seven cents per pound.In its infancy the twine plant was conducted on a very small scale, but the present management has developed and added to its equipment until now the factory supplies almost the entire demand of the state. There is little opposition from labor unions against the employment of prison labor in this industry, for there is but a small proportion of the product manufactured in this[pg 119][pg 120][pg 121]state outside of the prison, and outside factories are under the domination of the Cordage Trust.The successful operation of Minnesota's twine plant has aroused the keenest interest among prison officials in other states, and there are now quite a number of similar factories operating in other penitentiaries. Delegations of prison officials from other states are frequent visitors at the Minnesota factory, inspecting the manufacture of twine, and they are invariably enthusiastic over results attained.The twine factory is what is known to the trade as a“three-system plant;”that is, it contains three complete sets of each of the machines necessary to convert the fibre into twine ready for shipment. The transformation is effected principally by a series of combings. From the moment the rush-plaited cover is removed and the bale is opened until the long strands of fibre reach the spinning machines to be twisted into cord the material is constantly undergoing combing.The binder twine fibre is unloaded from the cars inside the prison yard. It is weighed and stored in the warehouse until it is used. Adjoining the fibre warehouse is the opening room in which the bales are opened and spread out, the kinks shaken out of the long strands by hand and the fibre put through a machine called a“breaker.”The breaker subjects it to the first course of raking, and in order to toughen the material and make it more pliable distributes a limited amount of oil through it. After passing through the first breaker, it is sent on to a second, where it is again cleaned and straightened. Then it is removed from the opening room to the next shop, where it is passed through first to a coarse then a fine“spreader.”Like the breaker, the spreader is merely a steel comb on a belt.[pg 122]After leaving the spreaders the fibre is in long, straight and fairly clean strands, and one would think that it might at once be twisted into a cord. But the combing process is not through yet, for in the next room it is sent through first a coarse and then a fine“draw frame,”and then is given what is technically known as a“third working”in a still finer one. These draw frames not only comb the fibre, but they also regulate the sliver—that is, they determine how many strands of hemp will go to make up the finished twine.Next the fibre is run through a“finisher,”an almost human machine, which regulates more precisely than the draw frames the size of the sliver, and then it is ready for the spinning rooms. As it comes out of the spinner it is wrapped on huge spools, which are piled on little carts and distributed among the men operating the balling machines. These latter wrap the twine into five-pound balls, tagged and ready for baling. In the balling shop the twine is weighed, tested and packed in 50-pound bales, which are sent to the twine warehouses and stored there, roof-high, until the harvesting commences.The output of the twine factory previous to 1903 amounted to about 5,000,000 pounds, but it turned out about 15,000,000 pounds last season, and it is anticipated that this enormous increase will reach 18,000,000 in the near future. About 225 prisoners are employed the year around in this manufactury. Mr. E. C. Williams is the superintendent of the twine plant and is an excellent man for the position, thoroughly understanding the business. Under his capable management the factory is kept up to its highest capacity and few breakdowns have been recorded.Spinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine FactoryConvicts Marching In to DinnerConvicts Marching In to Dinner
There is a twine factory in operation in the Minnesota State Prison having a yearly capacity of nearly eighteen million pounds of binder twine. This adjunct to the prison's industries was inaugurated about eighteen years ago, the author of the measure being the brilliant Ignatius Donnelly, known as the Sage of Nininger. At that time the farmers of this state were groaning under the iron heel of the trust, being compelled to pay eighteen cents a pound for their twine, but today the prison is manufacturing twine of superior quality and selling it to the farmers at an average price of about seven cents per pound.
In its infancy the twine plant was conducted on a very small scale, but the present management has developed and added to its equipment until now the factory supplies almost the entire demand of the state. There is little opposition from labor unions against the employment of prison labor in this industry, for there is but a small proportion of the product manufactured in this[pg 119][pg 120][pg 121]state outside of the prison, and outside factories are under the domination of the Cordage Trust.
The successful operation of Minnesota's twine plant has aroused the keenest interest among prison officials in other states, and there are now quite a number of similar factories operating in other penitentiaries. Delegations of prison officials from other states are frequent visitors at the Minnesota factory, inspecting the manufacture of twine, and they are invariably enthusiastic over results attained.
The twine factory is what is known to the trade as a“three-system plant;”that is, it contains three complete sets of each of the machines necessary to convert the fibre into twine ready for shipment. The transformation is effected principally by a series of combings. From the moment the rush-plaited cover is removed and the bale is opened until the long strands of fibre reach the spinning machines to be twisted into cord the material is constantly undergoing combing.
The binder twine fibre is unloaded from the cars inside the prison yard. It is weighed and stored in the warehouse until it is used. Adjoining the fibre warehouse is the opening room in which the bales are opened and spread out, the kinks shaken out of the long strands by hand and the fibre put through a machine called a“breaker.”The breaker subjects it to the first course of raking, and in order to toughen the material and make it more pliable distributes a limited amount of oil through it. After passing through the first breaker, it is sent on to a second, where it is again cleaned and straightened. Then it is removed from the opening room to the next shop, where it is passed through first to a coarse then a fine“spreader.”Like the breaker, the spreader is merely a steel comb on a belt.
After leaving the spreaders the fibre is in long, straight and fairly clean strands, and one would think that it might at once be twisted into a cord. But the combing process is not through yet, for in the next room it is sent through first a coarse and then a fine“draw frame,”and then is given what is technically known as a“third working”in a still finer one. These draw frames not only comb the fibre, but they also regulate the sliver—that is, they determine how many strands of hemp will go to make up the finished twine.
Next the fibre is run through a“finisher,”an almost human machine, which regulates more precisely than the draw frames the size of the sliver, and then it is ready for the spinning rooms. As it comes out of the spinner it is wrapped on huge spools, which are piled on little carts and distributed among the men operating the balling machines. These latter wrap the twine into five-pound balls, tagged and ready for baling. In the balling shop the twine is weighed, tested and packed in 50-pound bales, which are sent to the twine warehouses and stored there, roof-high, until the harvesting commences.
The output of the twine factory previous to 1903 amounted to about 5,000,000 pounds, but it turned out about 15,000,000 pounds last season, and it is anticipated that this enormous increase will reach 18,000,000 in the near future. About 225 prisoners are employed the year around in this manufactury. Mr. E. C. Williams is the superintendent of the twine plant and is an excellent man for the position, thoroughly understanding the business. Under his capable management the factory is kept up to its highest capacity and few breakdowns have been recorded.
Spinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine Factory
Spinning Room In Twine Factory
Bailing and Sacking Room In Twine FactoryBailing and Sacking Room In Twine Factory
Bailing and Sacking Room In Twine Factory
Spinning Room In Twine FactorySpinning Room In Twine Factory
Spinning Room In Twine Factory
Convicts Marching In to DinnerConvicts Marching In to Dinner
Convicts Marching In to Dinner