was beneficial to him ought not to seriously injure
his men. Not even the yellow journals were excluded, nor were their
associate muck rakers, the magazines, kept from coming in. The warden
thought that even these do a world of good in uncovering frauds and
wrongs in high places, and in driving powerful wrongdoers to cover;
and when their work is completed, the smaller will not have the example
of those higher up in life to justify them in crime. He felt that
the desire for these papers was better than no desire at all, that
when the prisoners read these their mind was occupied, and that the
time passed so much quicker for them. Not only to the inmates did
the warden consider the newspapers of immeasurable value, as mighty
factors in maintaining discipline, but to the institution as well.
The prisoners received his order for unrestricted entrance into the
prison, of all newspapers and periodicals, with much pleasure. An.
unrestricted mail was another
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feature that Warden
Melick permitted that aided him much in his work. While the prisoners were
formerly permitted to write only one letter a week, they were now permitted
to write special ones and to receive as many as the letter carrier brought.
Good books the warden also considered a great factor in maintaining the prison
discipline, as well as great educational factors. The library was
thoroughly overhauled and cleaned, the books were classified and
listed, and many scientific and practical handbooks were added; books
that teach men to do things in life - how to build houses, how to
run machinery, how to mix concrete, books on electricity and many other
practical books that benefit and strengthen the readers and fit them
to better cope with the practical bread-and-butter part of life,
when the big steel gate swings open to them. To those who prefer
fiction, it is there in abundance. Hitherto the rule had been to
allow one book to each inmate per week, but now this rule
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