^5^ 
 
 Blake 
 
 Report on Sing Sing Prison
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Estate of 
 Klara ^andrich
 
 To be released for Morning papers, Monday, May 13, 1913. Not to be 
 previously published, quoted from, or used in any way. 
 
 CHESTER C. PLATT, 
 
 Secretary to the Governor . 
 
 REPORT ON SING SING PRISON 
 
 By GEORGE W. BLAKE 
 
 A Special Commissioner Appointed to Investigate Prisons and Reformatories 
 
 of this State. 
 
 Albany, K Y., April 21, 1913. 
 
 Hon. William Sulzek, Governor State of New York, Executive 
 < hamber, Albany, N. Y.: 
 
 Sib.— Herewith I beg to submit my report on the management 
 and conditions at Sing Sing Prison : 
 
 Administeation. 
 
 The prison is remarkable because of the lack of any cohesive or 
 well poised plan of government. It is so slipshod and incompe- 
 tent as to breed the suspicion at the first glance that the purpose 
 is to cover up dishonest methods by a brazen show of innocent 
 carelessness. 
 
 I found no one man in the prison who appeared to know the 
 slightest thing about the work he was expected to do, with the 
 exception of the prison doctors, who are, without doubt, con- 
 scientious men striving to do their duty in the face of manifold 
 difficulties. 
 
 AVarden Kennedy has violated the law, he has permitted the 
 creation and continuance of unbusinesslike methods and has 
 caused the State to lose thousands of dollars in a way that points 
 directly to graft. He has made no attempt to protect the inmates 
 from disease and vice, nor any effort to produce better conditions 
 in this prison. During his administration scandals of the prison 
 management have become rife in every section of the State. 

 
 2 
 
 I do not wish to bear too heavily upon Warden Kennedy, because 
 I am stronglv of the opinion that the facts set forth in this state- 
 ment are due directly to Joseph F. Scott, who was for nearly two 
 years Superintendent of Prisons. I have dug into the sterile soil 
 of prison management to discover, if possible, one redeeming trait 
 in the management of prisons of this State during the period in 
 which Colonel Scott was in control but I have not found one sign 
 to show that he was either competent, conscientious or industrious. 
 
 There is ample evidence to prove that Colonel Scott was poorly 
 equipped for the place of Superintendent of Prisons and that 
 during his administration the prisons deteriorated with a speed 
 that threatened complete demoralization. But there are some 
 things that even he could have done to relieve the bad conditions 
 in Sing Sing if he had cared to. If he had sought the assistance 
 of Dr. Farr, the prison physician, or Dr. Mareness, the assistant 
 physician, suggestions for improving the conditions would have 
 been made. Or he might have had the aid of some of the most 
 competent prison men and the advice of alienists without cost to 
 the State if he had displayed any personal interest in the matter. 
 There is not an atom of proof that Colonel Scott ever contributed 
 anything of value to the prison. 
 
 Where Colonel Scott got his reputation as a penologist is well 
 known to many prison officials and it is fairly well known to me. 
 It did not grow out of knowledge but came from the imagination 
 of a man who for many years took money from the State for 
 services which were not rendered. This man is Frederick Hamlin 
 Mills, concerning whose operations a separate report will be made 
 if you desire it, and which will contain the names of some of the 
 men concerned with him in his schemes and who shared in the 
 large profits that grew out of them. 
 
 I asked Warden Kennedy if he had ever known of Colonel Scott 
 making any suggestions of value for the improvement of the orison 
 system and lie replied that he <li<l not. I asked Principal Keeper 
 Connaughton, the most experienced prison man in the State, this 
 quesl ion ; 
 
 Q. Did you ever know of Colonel Scott visiting the cell house, 
 inspect ing the cells, or hear him <li-ru-i~ any methods as to how the 
 
 890225
 
 conditions here could be relieved? Mr. Comiaugkton replied: A. 
 I have seen him around here a little. 
 
 Then I asked: 
 
 Q. Are you familiar with the conditions of dirt, of disease and 
 of vileness that prevail here? And he replied: A. I am, Com- 
 missioner. 
 
 Then 1 asked him this question: 
 
 Q. Is Warden Kennedy aware of it? He replied: A. He 
 knows what 1 know. 
 
 Q. Was Colonel Scott aware of it I A. I think he was. 
 
 Q. Do you know of your own knowledge whether Colonel Scott 
 ever made any real effort to clean up the conditions here and make 
 the prison more sanitary \ A. Xo. sir. 
 
 Here is an extract from the testimony of Dr. Mareness, the 
 assistant prison physician: 
 
 " There are two hundred cells flush with the flagging. In the 
 
 DO O 
 
 hot months moisture on the walls is perceptible and tangible. The 
 cells are primarily responsible for the large number of cases of 
 rheumatism that occur in the prison. A number of these cases 
 have been severe enough to incapacitate a man so that upon his 
 discharge he was partially, if not wholly, unfit to follow his usual 
 work. At the present time there are a large number of chronic 
 rheumatism cases. Two hundred of the cells are occupied by two 
 men. These cells are intended only for one. No care is taken in 
 ing the two men who have to occupy a single cell. A man 
 sentenced to prison for assault and undergoing his first term of 
 imprisonment is sometimes compelled to occupy a cell with an 
 habitual criminal. The cells are infected with vermin. Tt is im- 
 possible to fumigate or disinfect them. 
 
 •"Any improvement that occurred during the administration of 
 Colonel Scott was superficial and of such slight import as to have 
 
 ide no impression on my memory. Colonel Scott was indi fferenl 
 to the great big necessities. I do not consider Colonel Scott a good 
 penologist. During his administration there was no improvement 
 in the bad moral conditions that prevail. I spoke to the Colonel 
 about it but he made no suggestions." 
 
 Neither Warden Kennedy, Air. Connaughton, the prison doc
 
 tors or any man employed within the prison, ever attempted to 
 deny the frightful conditions that prevail within the prison or to 
 defend them. The worst feature of the prison management can- 
 not be discussed in any public document, but the subject is of 
 such vital importance to the welfare of the State that no time 
 should be lost in submitting it to the attention of men competent 
 to present a method of bettering a condition that breeds disease 
 of the mind and body and that should touch the hearts of every 
 man with any human instincts. 
 
 One man said to me that the only offense a prisoner could com- 
 mit, that would be followed by speedy punishment, was the offense 
 of trying to get something to eat. He told me stories, amply 
 corroborated, of such frightful character as to appeal to the most 
 unfeeling person. Colonel Scott knew of the existence of these 
 horrors. There is no doubt about that and yet he never made 
 one effort, so far as I was able to learn, to minimize them. !STor 
 did he ever seek any method of preventing the occupancy of the 
 cells by two men, nor to see that when the men were placed in a 
 cell their enforced comradeship would be in any sense congenial. 
 TIi!' low thief, stricken with disease, with no mental capacity and 
 with the lowest possible instincts has often been locked into a cell 
 with a man of education, of some ideals and of clean personal 
 habits. This would be bad enough if the cells were light, or large, 
 or clean, instead of being dark, and small and filthy. Also they 
 are unsanitary and those on the ground floor drip with moisture 
 so that the inmates of them have striven to protect themselves 
 from the chill and dampness by hanging sheets and blankets over 
 the walls. In these cells men contract rheumatism. In many 
 cases they become victims of chronic rheumatism and go out 
 crippled for life. 
 
 Into none of the cells on the lower tiers has a ray of sunshine 
 entered for eighty years. Stories of torture of prisoners in the 
 middle ages sound like descriptions of luxuries in comparison to 
 the tales that have been told me of the lives that some of the 
 prisoners in Sing Sing live. The cramped and unhealthy condi- 
 tions are made worse by the presence of vermin in the cells. 
 When the cell house men are let out in the morning they sweep 
 out the refuse from their cells. Dust, and germs are swept, down
 
 from tier to tier so that at night when the men lie down for rest 
 their pillows are covered with dirt. Life in these cells is torture 
 to every grade of man who has a spark of imagination, or who 
 ever lived in a decent home. Even the lowest and most degraded 
 man must undergo cruel and unusual punishment when couth led 
 in these cells during the hours of the ordinary night. But when 
 comes Sunday or a holiday the horror of the situation is increased. 
 During these periods the men are confined in their cells for 18 
 and 19 hours and it is no exaggeration to say that after these 
 periods of confinement the men go out pale and staggering. 
 
 A Sunday or a holiday is a dreadful thing for these men. It is 
 bad enough when one man is alone in the cell, but when the men 
 are doubled up the physical suffering is greatly increased. There 
 is only one other thing that could add to the misery of these men 
 and that one thing was not overlooked by Colonel Scott or Warden 
 Kennedy. This was the knowledge that certain men through 
 political influence, or by the payment of money, or by some other 
 reason, received favors. 
 
 I shall also make a separate report along these lines which will 
 require a special investigation in an effort to expose men in this 
 State, some of them public officials, who banded themselves to- 
 gether to wring money from these prisoners. I have evidence 
 showing that because of influence, exerted by men well known in 
 various walks of life, money has been wrung from persons seeking 
 clemency for prisoners. 
 
 If the commutations and pardons bought were always delivered 
 there would have been a glint of fairness in the transactions, but 
 in some cases the " goods were not delivered." 
 
 I have evidence shewing that by the payment of money men 
 have been accorded the privilege of seeing their friends alone in a 
 room adjacent to the warden's office. I strongly suspect, and I 
 believe I will be able to prove it. thai certain men throughout the 
 State have used employees within the prison to ferret oul for 
 them prisoners with means in order that they might, by promisee 
 of clemency and of privileges, wring seine money from them. 
 
 This frightful condition thrived during the last, two years. 
 
 There are several important lines of investigation that should be 
 taken up and followed to the very end in order thai men who have
 
 lived on the sufferings of others should be exposed and the prison 
 ring broken. 
 
 Here are short extracts from the testimony of two witnesses: 
 
 Warden Kennedy. 
 
 " At the present time the cell block contains 1,200 cells and we 
 have over 1,500 prisoners. This necessitates doubling up which 
 is a crime pure and simple. On the lower gallery it is impos- 
 sible to keep the cells dry. The moisture on the walls on a day 
 like this is awful. You can scrape the water off the walls. I 
 never saw anything in the prison reports coming from Colonel 
 Scott that was of any value." 
 
 Principal Keeper Connattghton. 
 
 " I have called the attention of Warden Kennedy to the condi- 
 tion in the prison. Colonel Scott never asked me for any sug- 
 gestions. He seemed to think that he knew it all himself. I 
 think that conditions were just as good under Superintendent 
 Collins as under Superintendent Scott only that under Scott 
 things were slowing up a little." 
 
 Industrial Department. 
 
 The Industrial Department of the prison ought to be successful 
 because labor costs practically nothing; there are no overhead 
 charges and a ready and ample market waits upon the product. 
 
 Frederick H. Mills, who was for many years sales agent and, 
 who during the administration of Superintendent Scott, was the 
 master of them, used them only for the purpose of putting money 
 into his own pocket. I asked Warden Kennedy if this was not a 
 fact and he replied that it was. 
 
 Bad as the industrial conditions of Sing Sing prison were 
 prior to 1911 they grew steadily worse from that time. The be- 
 ginning of this last era of bad management came with the appoint- 
 ment of Patrick J. Tracy, as Superintendent of Industries in this 
 prison. The place had been in the competitive list of the Civil 
 Service but Mr. Tracy, having no knowledge of any branch of the 
 work, and being eligible only in tJhe sense thai hia political friends 
 wante<| to find a j<>!> for him, the place was taken out of the
 
 Civil Service and Mr. Tracy was appointed. In order to open 
 this door for him the doors to the same job were opened also in 
 Auburn and Clinton prisons. I asked Mr. Tracy if this place 
 had been taken ont of the Civil Service in order to give it to him 
 and he replied : " I presume it was." 
 
 Asked about a cartage contract that the industrial department 
 made with Michael Bradley, he replied that the contract was 
 made by Warden Kennedy. During the sixteen months before 
 this contract was given to Bradley the cartage charges of the 
 prison were $1,872.80. In the seventeen months between No- 
 vember 11th and March of the present year inclusive, the charges 
 of Bradley amounted to $3,127.32. The products of the industrial 
 department fell off considerably during Bradley's term of service. 
 When this situation was called to the attention of Warden Ken- 
 nedy he seemed very greatly surprised and was apparently 
 ignorant of the situation. 
 
 In 1910 the total sales of the industrial department amounted 
 to $406,937.67; in 1911 to $381,591.24, and in 1912 to 
 $337,878. In the first six months of the present fiscal year, 
 
 ginning October 1st, they were $183,417.13. 
 
 The profits for the first six months of the four fiscal years 
 referred to were: 
 
 1910 $76,749 70 
 
 1911 51,765 69 
 
 1912 30,052 16 
 
 1913 44,140 33 
 
 Without making any charge of graft or dishonest management 
 I desire to submit these figures covering purchases of lumber 
 from June 18, 1912, to October 9, 1912: 
 
 1912. 
 
 June 18. 5, 000 feet yellow pine 
 
 July 19. 12, 000 feet yellow pine 
 
 July 19. .">. 000 feet white pine 
 
 2, 500 feet spruce 
 
 0, 000 feet spruce 
 
 5, 000 feet 1J4 i" cn spruce 
 
 April 20. Lumber (per 1,000) 
 
 Oct. 9. 5, 000 feet No. 2 No. Can. pine, 12" and up 
 
 
 Paid 
 
 Low bid. 
 
 per 1,000. 
 
 $27.75 
 
 .$40.00 
 
 22 . 50 
 
 40.00 
 
 29.00 
 
 37.50 
 
 1! 50 
 
 50.00 
 
 43.50 
 
 52 . 00 
 
 42.50 
 
 52.00 
 
 28 . 7r, 
 
 1 ) 
 
 39 . 00 
 
 55 . 00
 
 The following two purchases were made without competitive 
 bidding. But one bid was sent out: 
 
 One car load of Canada cut shorts. Jones Lumber Company, 
 of North Tonawanda, N. Y., received the order. Their letter 
 was read at the prison on January 13, 1913, and the lumber was 
 ordered January 14, 1913. 
 
 One carload of Cypress lumber, bought of Jones Lumber Com- 
 pany. The order amounted to 18,000 feet at $54.50 per M. 
 Jones & Company quoted a price on February 4, 1913, and the 
 order was given to them on February 13, 1913. 
 
 Ji. D. Jones Lumber Company received a check March 27, 1913, 
 for: 10,104 ft. 8 x 4, $722.44; 8,123 ft. 10 x 4, $755.44; total, 
 $1,477.88. 
 
 And on January 24, 1913, a check for 22,743 ft. of 4 in., 
 $895.02 net. 
 
 Peculiar methods of buying were followed in every one of the 
 industrial departments. There were five bidders for 100 tons 
 of scrap iron. The lowest bid was $9 and the high bid was 
 $15.50. The price paid was $12.75. 
 
 Mr. Mills bought of the Elm Woolen Mills $3,299 worth of 
 suiting without competitive bidding. 
 
 On one occasion 4,500 feet of lumber was bought at $78 per 
 thousand while the market price was $62. 
 
 In many cases no attempt was made to get competitive bids. 
 The orders were simply sent to some favored concerns who sent 
 what they liked and charged what they liked and there was never 
 any question. A year ago there was a specification for 27,000 
 of bampico sent to Wilkins & Co., of New York, and Wilkins 
 Bros., of New Jersey. The latter did not bid and the order was 
 given to the New York company. I do not know whether there 
 is any connection between the two concerns, but, I am of the 
 opinion that the specification was sent to both concerns with the 
 full knowledge that only one concern would bid and that the 
 sole object in sending out the two bids was to make the record 
 -how that an effort, had been made to get bids from various 
 concerns. 
 
 On nearly all of the orders senl out appear the words "best
 
 9 
 
 quality." It appears that these words have often been added to 
 the memorandum after the goods have been delivered. They 
 meant nothing. 
 
 I file with this report a statement showing many instances 
 where the highest bidder got the orders. Within the last two 
 years $3.20 each have been paid for axles, when the lowest 
 bidder offered them for $3.02. 
 
 Stay binding was bought at 50 cents gross yard when the 
 lowest bid was 32 cents. 
 
 Low bidder. Paid. 
 
 2. 000 yards selisa $0 06y 2 $0 07% 
 
 2, 000 yards suiting 55 62y 2 
 
 3, 000 yards suiting 14% 20 
 
 1, 500 yards fancy suiting 59 65 
 
 1, 000 yards suiting 40 62% 
 
 5, 000 yards Oxford suiting 18% 20 
 
 4, 000 yards Oxford suiting 17% 19 
 
 2, 200 yards Oxford suiting 18 21 
 
 10. 000 pairs hemlock insoles 7 9% 
 
 5, 000 pairs women's insoles 5 7 
 
 10, 000 horn fibre counters 1 40 ■ 1 50 
 
 4. 000 men's horn fibre counters 1 35 1 50 
 
 5. 000 feet kangaroo side leather 16% 18 
 
 5. 000 feet black glazed side leather 17 18 
 
 1 barrel furniture varnish (per gal.) 17 18 
 
 3, 000 yards bleached sheeting 15 17% 
 
 100 tons scrap iron 9 00 12 75 
 
 125 tons pig iron 15 65 16 00 
 
 These are only a few of the 103 cases filed with this report 
 where the high prices were paid for material. I have no doubt 
 but that in the cases where the prices higher than the lowest 
 bid were paid, and which were a trifle less than the highest bid, 
 the highest bidder got the contract at a price less than his first 
 bid. That there was collusion seems certain. 
 
 The methods of doing business in the industrial department 
 were so unbusinesslike, to use no stronger phrase, that to dip in 
 the records leads to the gravest suspicions. 
 
 In certain cases only one specification was sent out. In some 
 instances the names of firms were put on the list for the receipt 
 of specifications when it was well known from the records that 
 they would not bid. In other cases it appears as if arrange- 
 ments have been made where very high bids have been sent in 
 to give the excuse for accepting lower bids that were really ex- 
 cessive. Since the first of the year more specifications have been
 
 10 
 
 sent out. It only requires an honest administration to eradicate 
 this incompetent, wasteful and dishonest way of doing business. 
 Another sample of the unbusinesslike methods that prevail is 
 that it appears there has been no effort made to collect accounts 
 due the prison. Here is a list of the account- : 
 
 Bellevue Hospital $23,172 82 
 
 Superintendent of Public Charities 12,337 36 
 
 Department of Street Cleaning 15,331 75 
 
 Central Islip State Hospital 4,492 87 
 
 Department of Health 6,113 19 
 
 Department of Education 5,192 74 
 
 Total $67,273 73 
 
 Here are a few facts showing how, during the last two years, 
 the business has deteriorated. The business of the clothing de- 
 partment shows a profit during the first six months of the present 
 fiscal year of $7,027.24. This is an increase over the profits of 
 the corresponding period of 1912 of $1,170.62 and a decrease 
 for the same months of 1911 of $5,712.12. 
 
 The shoe shop shows a profit for the first six months of tin- 
 fiscal year of $6,117.51. This is a decrease from the profits of 
 the corresponding period of 1913 of $1,197.98 and of $2,785.52 
 under the receipts of 1911. 
 
 Another striking method of the way business is conducted in 
 this prison can be found in the brush shop. In 1911 the gross 
 sales were $17,261.50, on which there was a profit of $3,199.50, 
 and in 1912 the gross sales were $21,103.97, the profits on which 
 were only $2,782. 
 
 The gross sales for the first six months of the fiscal year, 1911, 
 were $1,866.82 — over three times the profit of 1912 on sales 
 which were about $1,800 less in gross. 
 
 I consider it would be useless to make any further investiga- 
 tion into this matter. All that is needed is to change the per- 
 sonnel of the men in charge. 
 
 On an order from Bellevue Hospital for 172 mattresses, a price 
 of 35 cents a pound was quoted by Mills. It cost 26 cents per
 
 1L 
 
 pound for hair. Fifty dozen brooms, made up at Mr. Mills' sug- 
 gestion, were never sold. 
 
 The sash and door department of the prison has continued 
 although it is generally admitted that the department is of no 
 value whatever and is only a burden for the prison management 
 to carry. 
 
 This department shows a loss for the past six months of 
 $745.57, and practically the same amount for the corresponding- 
 period of the previous fiscal year. 
 
 But in 1911, prior to the administration of Superintendent 
 Scott, it showed a profit of $6,718.66. 
 
 The cart and wagon department shows a profit for the past 
 six months of $6,718.19, an increase over the corresponding period 
 of last year of $3,498.44. The gross sales amounted to $79,676.56 
 in 1911, on which there was a profit of $17,185.62. In 1912 
 there was a profit of $22,890.84 on gross sales of only $48,879.28. 
 
 The knitting and hosiery department is the most important one 
 at the prison and it showed a profit for the past six months of 
 the fiscal year, 1913, of $17,159.20, an increase of $9,752.73 over 
 the profits of the corresponding period of last year. 
 
 The figures also show a peculiar condition of profits. The gross 
 sales for 1910 were $120,368.48, on which there was a profit of 
 $48,640.28. In 1911 the sales were $109,181.32 and the profits 
 were only $21,41 6.32. This was a loss in the net of about $27,000, 
 while the gross sales decreased only about $11,000. 
 
 The loose and unbusinesslike methods could be multiplied indefi- 
 nitely, but I think the facts presented here are sufficient to show- 
 that the matter needs the attention of some man conscientious' 
 enough to forget occasionally his pleasures and profits. 
 
 The Commissary Department. 
 
 The waste in this department is so excessive that it looks very 
 much as if food was thrown away in order to create an excuse for 
 buying more for the benefit of somebody's pocket. Good beef 
 comes into the hands of the- storekeeper, bad beef is served to the 
 inmates. I found nobody who could or would explain this strange 
 occurrence. It may be thai the good beef is exchanged for bad 
 beef. Such a suspicion as this may appear foolish because it.
 
 12 
 
 wmild entail a roundabout way to graft, but my experience in the 
 prisons has convinced me that many prison officials are unsparing 
 in this direction. 
 
 Figures from the commissary department excited my admira- 
 tion of the capacity of the warden to consume beef. During 
 March he was served with 469 pounds, which seems a deal of 
 meat for one family to eat. If these figures are wrong the fault 
 lies with the bookkeeping system and not with me. During the 
 month 16,230 pounds of beef were bought and the records show 
 that it was disposed of in the following fashion : 
 
 Warden 469 pounds 
 
 Principal keeper 69 pounds 
 
 Night force 192 pounds 
 
 Condemned men 530 pounds 
 
 Hospital 1,155 pounds 
 
 Convicts 12,633 pounds 
 
 On hand 3 pounds 
 
 This left 1,179 pounds to be accounted for and it was promptly 
 accounted for by the declaration that it was due to shrinkage. 
 There was also considerable waste but this was not referred to at 
 the time. Later this reticence was overcome. 
 
 The more beef consumed the better for Armour & Co., who sell 
 the prison about 90 per cent, of it, thanks to an active agent. I 
 am strongly of the opinion that the meat bought from other con- 
 cerns on some other plan might result in cutting the shrinkage 
 down to something less than 40 per cent. 
 
 Some reason for the large consumption of beef appeared when 
 the waste was looked into. I thought there was a good deal of 
 waste in the other prisons, and there really is, but. it sang small in 
 comparison with the way food is squandered in Sing Sing. The 
 waste is at least 25 per cent., or in round figures about $15,000 
 a year. I intended going into the various items of waste in detail 
 and show just how much newly cooked food was thrown away 
 each day. lint very shortly this detailed work became unnecessary 
 because the broad aspeel of the matter was speedily sufficienl to 
 prove conclusively thai a change in the personnel of the com-
 
 13 
 
 inissary department would mean thousands of dollars saved for the 
 State. 
 
 On Tuesday. April 8th, 1,000 pounds of food were taken from 
 the tahles and thrown into the swill barrels. This food consisted 
 of kamburg steak, vegetable soup, boiled potatoes, bread and 
 coffee. From Wednesday's breakfast alone the waste weighed 
 025 pounds. Then, suspecting that this supervision of the waste 
 was to continue, some care was exercised so that the waste from 
 Thursday's breakfast was only 200 pounds. This proved that 
 the waste was wanton and that only indifferent care could have 
 reduced it at least one-third. This waste runs all through the 
 department. Sixteen hundred pounds of potatoes weighed only 
 1,100 pounds after they were pared. 
 
 The method of buying flour for the prison is mysterious. All 
 kinds of bids are sent out, but one concern nearly always gets the 
 order. When the flour conies to the prison in carload lots the re- 
 ceipts are signed by FrederickJ. HJahn, the kitchen keeper. Mr. 
 Halm was asked : 
 
 Q. Do you count the number of barrels? A. Not always. 
 
 Q. The storekeeper says it is all right and you sign your name 
 to the receipt? A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. It might he 250, -300, or 350 barrels? A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Ilahn said that the whole codfish was bought by order of 
 Colonel Scott and that the method was wrong. Scrap codfish, 
 he said, was cheaper and more nutritious and there was no waste 
 to it. 
 
 Then came this testimony: 
 
 Q. Did Colonel Seott ever speak to you in regard to methods in 
 running the kitchen? A. I do not know whether ho asked mo 
 about better methods, but I know 1 have had argument- with him 
 in regard to the methods we were working under. 
 
 Q. Did your arguments have any effect? A. Ho told me to 
 get out of the office. 
 
 Q. Do you think you could -avo $1,000 a month under different 
 method* \ A. Yes, if I could do the buying as it oughl to he 
 done. 
 
 Q. That is, under honest, ordinary business methods \ A. Yes. 
 sir.
 

 
 14 
 
 Q. Are the articles you receive up to specifications ? A. I do 
 not know ; I would have to see the samples, and they are not kept 
 here. 
 
 Q. They are kept in Albany? A. I think so. 
 
 Lyman S. Gibbs, the storekeeper, talked glibly about the various 
 firms that sold goods to the prison, but he neglected to mention 
 the firm of R. C. Williams & Co. When he was asked if this con- 
 cern did not furnish a fair share of the goods for the commissary 
 department he explained: 
 
 " You see, they deputize a man named Theodore Linington, Jr., 
 who makes the contracts for them. Instead of selling the goods 
 direct, that firm allows Linington to furnish the goods in his own 
 name." 
 
 The commissary department of the prison is run along in- 
 competent if not dishonest lines. There is criminal carelessness 
 if not downright grafting. Signs that this is the case stick out 
 as plentifully as quills on the back of a frightened porcupine. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 GEORGE W. BLAKE, 
 
 Commissioner.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 JAN 2 8 1959 
 
 Form L9-40m-7,'56(C790s4)444 
 
 —ess-"
 
 ■-ffiZ Hlake - 
 
 J 8352 Report on Sing 
 
 RtNPiTRY 
 
 Alid Q VI— 5 
 
 HV 
 
 8352 
 353r 
 
 AA 000 393 591 3