THE PRISON NEWS
PUBLISHED MONTHLY, BY PRISON DIVISION OF THE STATE HIGHWAY AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION
VOL. VIII
THE STATE’S PRISON, RALEIGH, N. C. APRIL 1,
!«*»«
Miss Cairo [,. Drought
No. 4
CAPTAIN HODGES
KIND, BUT RIGID
Younger Prisoners Given Hope
And Segregated From Older
Inmates at Camp Polk Farm
BRILLIANT TAR HEEL SUCCUMBS
AND NATION MOURNS GREAT LOSS
THE DOINGS AT
CALEDONIA FARM
Hope and a chance to make Rood
under a sympathetic but rigid super¬
visor, most of the young men who are
segregated at the Camp Polk Farm
are doing their best to stage a com¬
plete come-back with a feeling o'
gratitude because Captain Hodges a'
any and all times treats them fair
and endeavors to encourage every man
who shows by his acts that he means
to overcome his past and fit himself
for citizenship when his period of
isolation is ended.
The following article written by
4 Herbert O’Keefe is significant:
North Carolina is punishing those
boys who ran afoul of the law and
who were imprisoned for the better¬
ment of society, but is attempting
to punish them in such a way that
their chance for the future will not
be tossed away.
Most of the really young crimi¬
nals — those from 17 to 21 years of
age arc sent to Camp Polk at Cary.
Ther" they are not subjected to con¬
tact with hardened criminals.
Welfare workers have long decried
the practice of locking young men
and boys — amateur criminals — in
with men who are professional crim¬
inals. Four or five years in such
prison environment is apt to turn
the amateurs into professionals, wel¬
fare leaders said.
Given Chance
That, in brief, is what the State
is attempting to do at Camp Polk.
Those amateurs, when their t-rms
are completed, are given even chances
of becoming worth-while citizens in¬
stead of remaining criminals.
Don’t get the idea that Camp Polk
is any bed of roses for its inmates.
It is far from that. The boys hav<-
to work, and the work is hard. They
live behind bars and they know they
are in prison.
Don’t get the idea that th<' boys
at Camp Polk are ideals. They are
not. If they were ideals or models,
they would not be there.
But, since they are youngsters, the
State is trying to punish them in a
way which will least mark their fu¬
ture.
There are only a few older prison¬
ers at the Camp. Most of them are
first-termers and are just as much
amateurs as are the young boys.
“Those old men provide the bal¬
ance wheels we need for discipline."
Captain P. A. Hodges, who is in
charge of the Camp, said.
The prisoners have plenty of work
to do. Some work the farm, some tend
livestock and poultry, others work
about the cell blocks or in the kitch
en. All of them must do some kind
of work — and must do it wi ll.
They work 10 hours a day. six
days a week — no NRA hours for
them. After working hours, there
Congressman Edw. W. I*ou Died At His Post Of Duty, Was
Accorded Tribute Of Capitol Funeral, And Laid To Rest As
Thousands Of Those Who Loved Him. Both While
And Black, Looked On In Gentle Reverence
Prisoners Enjoy Constructive
Recreation of Their
Own Making
Hon. Edw. William Pou, beloved
dean of the House of Representatives,
loved and honored by the people who
sent him to Washington, and close
friend and advisor of the last two
Democratic Presidents, died on April
1st in his apartment in Wardman
Park Hotel, Washington, D. C., hav¬
ing worked at his post of duty almost
to the end. As tribute to the great¬
ness of the man he was accorded a
funeral at the Capitol, in the presence!
of a joint session of Congress, and
then on the bluff above the River
Nouse in the River Cemetery near St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church near the
home of his boyhood days in Smith-
field. N. C., he was gently and beau- j
ti fully laid to rest in a flower-banked
grave as thousands looked on in deep
j reverence because a true friend had
passed on to his heavenly reward.
What may be said here cannot ex¬
press the great service this wonder¬
ful man has exercised during his bril¬
liant career in behalf of his neighbors, j
his town, his county, his state, and
hi - country, but in the short epitaph
he wrote a few weeks before his death
one may grasp the true spirit of a gized by a fellow member on the floor
fine gentleman that he was, and un- as, “the sweetest, the finest, the
del-stand the reasons why he was a greatest man I know.’’
friend of man. “I know not what re- In 1887 Mr. Pou married Miss Car-
cord may await me in the world to rio H. Ihrie, of Sniithfield. who sur-
, come, but this I do know: I was never vives him. There were born to the
mean enough to despise a man because union four children. Of these the
he was poor, because he was ignorant, following survive: Mrs. Thomas An-
Hon. Edwin W. Pou
or because he was black.”
tony Waddell, of Washington; George
Mr. Pou was elected solicitor of a Ross Pou, of Raleigh; and Mrs Ed-
judicial district at the age of 27: win Fuller Parham, of Henderson.
eW-tcd to Congress in 1900; rose to A fourth child, Ensign Edwin Smith
the chairmanship of the Committee Pou. was killed in the World War
Caledonia has been greatly bene¬
fited and impressed by recent ac¬
tivities undertaken by a certain group
of prisoners at the Farm, who have
had both a change of heart and a
changed outlook upon life. These
men coming to the realization that
noble living is just as possible in pris¬
on as without have set about to give
expression of that fact and much to
their surprise are deriving much joy
and inward satisfaction therefrom.
Being prompted by this motive and
realizing that recreation is RE-CRE¬
ATION, they have undertaken nothing
less than that of trying to re-create
themselves (and incidently, others)
by spending their free moments
(recreation hours) in re-creating ac¬
tivities.
They have produced and performed
several exemplary musical comedies
not only to their own joy and satis¬
faction but also to the whole prison’s.
If you don’t believe that they were
clever, and extremely hilariously
amusing, just ask any one who has
seen one of their plays. Personally,
I have spent many a dollar and a
half (more or less) in New York
City for the privilege of witnessing a
play that wasn’t nearly so enjoy¬
able. On behalf of all the prisoners,
I would like to express our feelings
of thanks to this group for brighten¬
ing our stay at the Farm.
While the orchestra is still in the
making, it has on a number of occa¬
sions rendered music of exceptional
quality. We are confident that it will
become more and more a growing
factor, and will eventually prove to
be a tremendous asset to the Farm,
not only for those who compose it
but to all who have an opportunity of
listening to its harmonious strains.
The School, which is held in the
on Rules in 1917 and so entrenched while on active duty as a naval av-
himself by his constructive activities iator. Also surviving are eight grand-
during hi,
:«
year, nf service tha- children a brother James Hinton afternoons, ' 'is
when the last sesston of Confess
Гои
of Raleigh, and a sister. M.ss l ^ ^ rapj'
was drawing to a close he was eulo- Mattie Pou, of Smithfirid. j
д
kc(,n intI,rest is being shown by
POPULAR WOMAN | COMM. GILL URGES ; “d^""^’1'0"" "f ""™ine
LEAVES RALEIGH BETTER SYSTEM All of us are grateful to the offi-
- - i cials, especially to Mr. Geo. Ross Pou,
Miss Josephine Rand Accepts Proper Supervision of Paroled for their interest and cooperation in
Secretarial Position In
Washington, D. C.
Men Necessary To Reduce
Second Offenders
these undertakings. We are espe¬
cially grateful to the State for fur¬
nishing us with several musical in-
Miss Josephine Rand. Chief Clerk i Repeaters in crime can be materi- struments, sheet music etc., which
of State’s Prison since 1919 and sec¬
retary to George Ross Pou. Executive
ally reduced if it were possible to make:; it possible for us to benefit so
maintain proper supervision of per- much from all these activities that
Director of the n-w consolidated j «on*5 paroled. Commissioner Edwin are now being carried on here. All
prison and highway departments un-'Gill, told a (.rime Study < bib in Dur- who have enjoyed these “doings,"
der the head of North' Carolina State bam. recently, in an address before would also, like to thank their fellow
Highway & Public Works Commission. | that club in its regular monthly prisoners for their kind thoughts and
since the consolidation after endear- meeting. intentions toward making this Farm
ing herself to great numbers of i Mr. Gill pointed out that if dis- a better and more worthwhile place
friends whom she touched w-ith her charged men could in some way bo to be
pleasing personality and unconscious fitted into useful places in society -
attitude of simply being just herself , through a workable system properly The coming of spring maketh a glad
under any and all circumstances re- j supervised, the large number of re- heart, especially when the woodshed
. cently accepted a position as secre- praters could be practically elimin- js empty,
tary to Hon. Edw. W. Pou. Congress- ated to the credit and advantage of _
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t Continued or. Page Four)
No matter what you do, somebody
alwaj 3 ready to _ay, “I told you so.”
