to the smoke stack. The new over-head stone tunnel was completed and connection made on the date above mentioned, with the breeching fitted to the boilers, with proper connection, and the smoke given a direct connection with the stack.

The results obtained are quite noticeable in the work of firing. This has improved the draft, as evidenced by the combustion of the fuel and decrease in amount of the ashes made. The actual outlay for this change was about $450.00, all the work being done by prison labor. The breeching, if done by free labor, would be worth $650.00, and the tunnel $1,200.00.

The work in our small foundry during the past two years has been of great convenience and profit to the state. During this time 215,940 pounds of castings have been made, valued at a conservative figure, of four cents a pound, or $8,637.60. The valuation placed by the foreman on different work runs from two and one-half cents to twelve cents per pound. I have placed the general price at four cents, preferring to under-figure rather than overestimate.

The entire outlay for material, iron, coke, moulder's tools and foundry facing is $1,135.20, leaving a profit to the state of $7,502.40. This includes radiators, boiler fronts, columns for the porch, and repairs on machinery in the different departments of the institution.

Tin cans that accumulate around the institution have been utilized at the foundry and cast into sash weights, making a serviceable and satisfactory article for this purpose. Three tons of these weights have been made during the past two years.

We discovered a bank of moulder's sand within three miles of Anamosa which amply supplies our needs, and has proved a great saving. To purchase this sand would cost us about $30.00 a car.

LIBRARY.

The library is well patronized, and in connection with the school work, there has been an increased demand for literature of a more substantial nature. As an indication of the use made of the library, it is necessary to state that during the year from June 1, 1899, to June 1, 1900, there have been 29,246 books circulated among the prisoners, almost as many as circulated at the Cedar Rapids public library, which circulated 33,939 for the same period of time, in a city of 25,000 inhabitants. At the beginning of the year, thirty-four magazines and periodicals, in all, sixty-nine copies, were subscribed for, which have been circulated among the prisoners and highly appreciated.

PRISON SCHOOL.

At the beginning of this biennial period the school work was still a new feature in the prison. It is now past the initial and experimental stage and is thoroughly organized and recognized as a part of the work of the institution. At first there was opposition, which is found in all new undertakings, especially if it be an advance, and a natural suspiciousness on the part of some as to its success and advisability, but it was soon recognized as a helpful feature to those who took advantage of the opportunities offered, and its growth has been rapid, although success has not been obtained without difficulties to overcome. The average enrollment for the two years has been 172, and the average class attendance fifty-one. The sessions are held

nightly, Sundays excepted, between the hours of 6:45 and 8:15, four classes reciting each evening. One of the prominent features of the school has been a class of physiology. The lack of charts to suitably explain the various organs of the body and their relation to each other was keenly felt, but this difficulty was met by an inmate reproducing in life size, in water colors, drawings showing the muscles, arteries and bones in the various organs of the human body, adding greatly to the interest taken in the study. The progress made in penmanship during the past year has been remarkable, and today there is not an inmate but who is able to write The necessary apparatus has been supplied the school. The higher branches are taught when desired, but particular attention is given to the primary studies. A sentiment which prevailed among some of the prisoners against the school at the beginning has been eliminated, and all show an increased appreciation of the benefits to be derived from the opportunity offered.

STATE QUARRY.

The state quarry is located about one and three-fourths miles northwest of the penitentiary and connected with the prison by a spur of the Northwestern railroad. Prisoners are conveyed to and from the quarry by a train of handcars accompanied by armed guards.

The rock is a limestone known as the Upper Niagara, belonging to the Silurian system of rocks. It is described in the Iowa Geological Survey as follows: The rock is here a rather soft, bright yellow dolomite, very evenly bedded, occurring in layers ranging from a few inches to over a foot in thickness There is scarcely a trace of sub-crystalline structure, a freshly broken surface being almost devoid of lustre. The layers are horizontally banded, bright yellow laminæ, alternating with those containing a considerable percentage of ferric oxide. The rocks may be split along these planes, and weathering tends to separate the laminæ. The rock forms a good building stone. The higher beds of the formation give a typical exposure at Anamosa."

The quarry produces at times a good quality of stone, although very little flagging has ever been found. The quarry today is in very fair condition, face straight and ledges terraced. The rock is not uniform in quality, and at times we work under disadvantage by striking a poor ledge. All of the stone is more or less flinty, and where the flint is found in any quantity the stone caps easily and is usually worthless. A large amount of stripping is necessary in this quarry, as in some places there is as much as sixty feet of dirt and worthless stone to be removed before we reach dimension rock. During the past two years we have worked an average of forty-seven men per day. This reduced force has accomplished perhaps as much work as in previous years with a much larger number of men. Notwithstanding the large amount of waste rock quarried and thrown aside and the extra amount of stripping necessary, we have kept the stone shed well supplied. There were loaded and shipped from the quarry during the two years past stone of all kinds to the amount of 900 cars and 1,021 wagon loads, including 213 wagon loads for the hog house built at the state farm. This, with the regular work at the quarry, such as stripping, quarrying and handling the waste, with forty-seven men, has made the quarry a very busy place.

ESCAPES.

During the past two years five men have escaped, four of them in the year closing 1900. These men were all considered trusties, three being cooks who were taken out at four o'clock in the morning to prepare breakfast. On the morning of September 15, 1900, they managed to elude their guard for a few moments, passed into the basement and escaped through the tunnel leading into the administration building, which was unfinished, thence over the stockade before the armed guards had been placed. Two of these were recaptured and returned inside of three days. The fourth man was the night engineer, who had authority to go to all parts of the prison wherever his duty might take him. One dark, rainy night he took advantage of this privilege and passed out through the north cell house, which was unfinished and easy of access. The fifth man was employed as a trusty on the hog house at the farm. He was considered trustworthy and not watched closely. The guard sent him some distance for water and he failed to return. He was recaptured at Sioux Falls some two months later and returned to the prison. In connection with this, I would state that we have captured and returned to this prison four men who had succeeded in making their escape in former years, making a total of convicts captured and returned during this period, of seven. Two of them were found in Salt Lake City, one in northern Wisconsin, one in Illinois, one in South Dakota, and two captured in this state.

FEMALE DEPARTMENT.

At the close of this biennial period there were seventeen females confined in this prison. These females are employed in patching clothing, making shirts and underwear for the men and the general work pertaining to their ward. The health of the department has been good, with the exception of one confirmed invalid. Her case has been reversed by the supreme court and she is now waiting action of the lower court. The discipline of this department is of a high grade, and no other department of the institution where the striped suit is so much dreaded.

USHER.

On assuming charge of the prison I found no regular officer employed to conduct visitors through the institution. I regarded the duty of showing visitors through the prison as important, as visitors are inclined to take liberties with prisoners which are offensive to them, also a desire to communicate, and in some cases to smuggle in articles that are prohibited. I thereby appointed a regular officer, fully instructed as to his duties and responsibilities for this important place. The work is fatiguing, as evidenced by the daily average of visitors during the past two years. There were seventeen for each visiting day, or a total of 10,742 paid admissions, amounting to $2,685.50. The ushers salary is $600.00 per year, leaving a net profit to the state of $1,485.50. In addition to his duties as usher, he is also the authorized mail carrier, sworn into the United States service, and carries the mail to and from the prison; is also charged with the care of the green house and the lawns in front of the prison, and is in fact one of the busiest officers of the institution.

DAY TURNKEY.

The day turnkey is a position of great trust, as he is required to notewhether the visitors are fit persons to admit to the prison. He is also charged with the care of permitting trusties to pass out, without being imposed upon. He has admitted for the past two years, 10,742 visitors, as above stated. Besides the care of visitors and trusties, all teams and cars passing in and out of the prison, are admitted by him. From September, 1900, to July 1, 1901, 8,490 teams passed one way through the gate and 570 loaded cars were admitted.

STATE FARM.

Of the sixty acres of land belonging to the state and under cultivation, located about three-fourths of a mile west of the prison, twenty-two acres are planted in vegetables. At the state quarry, a mile and three-quarters northwest of the prison, we have twenty-four acres planted in potatoes, making forty-six acres used for garden purposes.

In 1900 we raised for the use of the prison.

At a conservative market price, the total value of these products would be $1,800.00.
In addition there were gathered for seed, as follows:

There were used for feed, 100 shocks of corn, and five tons of millet, valued at $33.00.

Twenty-four head of hogs were sold for $313.70.

Milk, from cows on farm, used in the hospital, valued at $90.00. Several other small articles sold, making total value of the farm for the year closing June, 1900, $2,294.30.

Four teams belonging to the state, besides doing the farm work, have hauled 2,000 loads of sand; 213 loads of stone from the quarry to the hog house, and 500 loads of ice. All this labor is performed by convicts under

the control of one officer, the farmer. From eight to fifteen men are employed at the farm. These men are scattered through the various pieces of land we are working and at times some of them are a mile away from the officer in charge. We are liable of course to lose some by escapes, but so far I am pleased to state that convicts who have been trusted with this work have not attempted to make their escape.

This year on account of the drouth, which has been continuous from May, very little has been realized from the farm, therefore I give no report for this year, as the amount is small, Later in the season we may succeed in getting vegetables, however, the prospect for a crop of onions is fair and it is possible' we may get 800 or 1,000 bushels of potatoes off the thirty-three acres that are planted this year.

HOLIDAYS, LECTURES AND ENTERTAINMENTS.

I find that occasional diversion from the routine of prison work with suspension of prison rules, is helpful to good discipline, as well as the moral and physical welfare of the men. We observe as regular holidays, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving day, Christmas, Decoration day, and as half-holidays, Labor day, New Year's day and Washington's birthday. For the regular holidays the freedom of the yards is given immediately following breakfast, and usually some special entertainment is arranged for to be given in the chapel, followed by a two o'clock dinner, after which the men are locked in their cells for the rest of the day. When the half-holidays are given, the men work in the forenoon as usual, and the regular dinner is followed by the freedom of the yard for about three hours, then the lock-up is made for the day. Aside from the holidays, we have had during the past two years a number of lectures and concerts. An instructive lecture is probably appreciated more than any form of entertainment or amusement. As no funds have been provided for such entertainments, we have depended upon volunteer service. However, in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly a bill was introduced providing for this deficiency, which became a law and affords us a fund for this purpose.

In addition to the number of entertainments, lectures and musicals, the flower mission service of the W. C. T. U. is held regularly each year at the prison, under the auspices of Mrs. Hinman, of Wright county. Each prisoner is presented by the organization with a small bouquet and message of good wishes. A special musical program is usually arranged for this

occasion.

CHAPLAIN.

January 1, 1901, Chaplain Byers severed his connection with this institution and Felix Pickworth appointed acting chaplain, until the vacancy could be regularly filled. Therefore I submit two reports containing information of much value.

In addition to the chaplain's duties of administering to the spiritual needs of the men, he has charge of the library, school, printing office and bindery.

In establishing a newspaper at a penitentiary, I realized that it was a venture that might call forth criticism, and even censure, since it was an advance in the work of criminology, especially in Iowa. That mistakes have been made cannot be gainsaid, but I realized the importance of this