#inspector e. r. jackson

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"PENITENTIARY CHANGES ARE NOW FORECAST," Owen Sound Sun Times. January 18, 1932. Page 1. --- Warden J. C. Ponsford of Kingston Penitentiary to Retire ---- SAYS PAPER ---- Other Changes Also Outlined; No Official Word ---- (Canadian Press Despatch) KINGSTON, Ont., Jan. 18 - The Whig-Standard says it was learned here today, on what is regarded as excellent authority that Capt. J. C. Ponsford, who has been warden of Kingston Penitentiary since March 4, 1913, is retiring immediately and that Inspector H. G. V. Smith, of the penitentiaries branch, Department of Justice, will take over charge of the penitentiary pending a permanent appointment.

It is also learned that Inspector E. R. Jackson, acting warden of the preferred class penitentiary, Collins Bay is to return to his duties as inspector at end of this month and that engineer Allen, penitentiaries Branch, Department of Justice, will assume charge at the preferred class prison.

The Whig-Standard, likewise informed that General W. St. Pierre Hughes, superintendent of penitentiaries for the past quarter of a century is retiring at the end of January, having reached the age limit. Warden Ponsford, when asked regarding the story that he was to retire, would neither deny nor confirm the statement.

Inspector Jackson replied, 'I have nothing whatever to say' when interviewed.

General Hughes was reached by long distance telephone at Ottawa, but declined to discuss the rumored changes.

The Whig-Standard also declares it understands Inspector H. C. Fatt will become acting superintendent and will assume the place to be vacated by General Hughes.

Under Consideration ---- (Canadian Press Despatch) OTTAWA, Ont., Jan. 18 - Changes in the personnel of the penitentiaries branch of the Department of Justice are understood to be under official consideration today. When decision has been made, an official announcement will be forthcoming.

[proprhettcies]

Season 3 Episodes 43-38 (257-272)

S3 Ep 43 (257)- Alien Invasion

Alf

S3 Ep 45 (259)- Weird News headlines-specifically Kentucky

World Record- Hissing Cockroaches

Walmart Headline

S3 Ep 46 (260)- Optical Illusions

S3 Ep 47 (261)- Weird Celebrity Kid Names

How Lando got his name

Link wants to name a daughter-Ninja- “It’s Nina with a J!”

Rhett’s Speech on introductions with weird names

Kid Names List-

-Rainbow Aurora- Holly Madison

-Calel- Nick Cage

-Pilot Inspector- Jason Lee

-Apple- Gweneth Paltrow

-Coco- Courtney Cox & David Arguette

-Kyd- David Duchovny & Tea Leoni

-Sage Moon Blood- Slyvester Stallone

-Destry- Steven Spielberg

-Ocean- Forrest Whitaker

-Rocket Rodriguez- Robet Rodriguez

- Moon Unit & Diva Thin Muffin- Frank Zappa

-Moxie Crimefighter- Penn Jillette

- Jermajesty- Jermaine Jackson

WoM-Black Spot- Hug a Stranger

S3 Ep 51 (265)- Music & Mood

Matching Outfits- Red & Blue

-Ambivalent: R- Tell Me- Kenny G

L- Two Weeks- Grizzly Bear

-Angry: R- Bombtrack- Rage Against the Machine

L-I’ve Got Rights- Hank Williams Jr.

-Paranoid: R- White Wedding- Billy Idol

L- Private Eyes- Hall & Oates

-Happy: R- It Takes Two- Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock

L- You Are The Woman- Firefall (L- “It’s got a flute!”)

-Blah: R- Beth/ Rest- Bon Iver

L- Adia- Sarah McLachlan

-Cranky: R- Beat It- Micheal Jackson

L- The Limit to Your Love- Feist

-Mischievous: R- Smooth Operator- Sade

L- Without Me- Eminem

-Devasted: R- Sing a Sad Song- Merle Haggard

L- Nothing Ever Hurt Me- George Jones

-Hungry: R- none

L-Hello- Lionel Richie

Weird Al

S3 Ep 52 (266)- Man who doesn’t have to eat again

Man who created the Soylent drink

Night Link & Night Rhett

fanfiction

WoM- Link invents the pancake

https://youtu.be/Rvg8vuXrujo?t=9

S3 Ep 53 (267)- The Drutter

Kickstarter

Craigslist

S3 Ep 56 (270)- April Fools Pranks

S3 Ep 57 (271)- Announcing The Mythical Show

S3 Ep 58 (272) World Records

The Drutter met its goal

Link would always buy the Guinness World Record book when the bookmobile came

World Records:

-Heaviest Rideable Bicycle

-Most Toilet Seats Broken by Head in 1 min

-Full Body Contact with Ice

-World’s Tallest Living Dog

-Most One Finger Push-Ups in 30 seconds

-Most Scorpions in the mouth

-Most Swords Swallowed Simultaneously by a Woman

-Most People Crammed into a Smart Car

- Most Domestic Appliances Thrown in One Min

Rhett’s Squirrel Calls

WoM- Rhett, and Link get Superpowers

[newingtonnow]

One of the Honored Dead: General J. K. F. Mansfield

By Nancy Finlay

Joseph King Fenno Mansfield was born in New Haven on December 22, 1803. He grew up in his grandfather’s house in Middletown, and at 15 earned admission to West Point, where he excelled, graduating second in the Class of 1822. Upon graduation, he received an appointment as second lieutenant of engineers and spent his early years working on fortifications. Beginning in 1831, he took charge of the construction of Fort Pulaski in the Savannah River, at one time working alongside another young West Point graduate, Lieutenant Robert E. Lee.

An Engineer in the War with Mexico

Major General Joseph King Fenno Mansfield – Courtesy of Middlesex County Historical Society

Advancement came slowly in the peacetime army, and it was 1838 before Mansfield received a promotion to captain. That same year, he married Louisa Maria Mather, back home in Middletown, Connecticut. Six years and three children later (a fourth child dying in infancy), Mansfield received a transfer to the Texas coast, where he served as General Zachary Taylor’s chief engineer. He designed the earthworks along the Rio Grande, later known as Fort Brown, that in May 1846 were the site of one of the first battles of the Mexican War. Mansfield received the rank of brevet major for his distinguished service during this action.

Four months later, in September, he was seriously wounded in the Battle of Monterrey, and promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel. He recovered in time to take part in the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847, where he was brevetted colonel. In addition to Robert E. Lee, Mansfield’s fellow officers during the Mexican War included Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Thomas (“Stonewall”) Jackson, and James Longstreet, among others. Aside from Grant and Mansfield, all of these talented young officers served the Confederacy during the Civil War.

In 1853, Mansfield received an appointment to the post of Inspector General, a job that required him to visit fortifications in all parts of the country, necessitating his being away from home for more than a year at a time. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he earned a promotion to brigadier general and took charge of the defenses of Washington.

Mortally Wounded at the Battle of Antietam

In September 1862, as Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into Union territory hoping to strike a blow capable of bringing a quick end to the war, Mansfield took command of the Twelfth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Mansfield rushed to join his command in Maryland, arriving just two days before the Battle of Antietam. Early on the morning of September 17, Mansfield’s Twelfth Corps joined Joseph Hooker’s First Corps in an attack on the Confederate left, in the area known as the East Woods. Almost immediately, Mansfield was shot in the chest and carried from the field, mortally wounded. He died the following day. Between 6,300 and 6,500 soldiers were killed or mortally wounded on that day, including six generals—three on each side.

Alfred R. Waud, The Battle of the Sharpsburg from the extreme right, drawing on paper, September 17, 1862 – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Mansfield’s body was brought back to Middletown for burial. He was interred in Mortimer Cemetery following a lavish funeral, attended by Governor Buckingham, the Governor’s Foot Guard, Horse Guard, and the Putnam Phalanx. His body was later moved to Indian Hill Cemetery.

Following the war, the G.A.R. post in Middletown was named in Mansfield’s honor. In 1899, the surviving veterans of this post arranged for a granite monument to be erected in memory of General Mansfield on the spot where he fell on the battlefield at Antietam.

Mansfield’s wife, Louisa, lived in the couple’s Middletown home until her death in 1880. The couple’s youngest daughter, Katherine, then lived in the house until 1918. Today, the General Mansfield House, one of the few surviving 19th-century houses on Middletown’s Main Street, is the headquarters of the Middlesex Historical Society.

Nancy Finlay grew up in Manchester, Connecticut. She has a BA from Smith College and an MFA and PhD from Princeton University. From 1998 to 2015, she was Curator of Graphics at the Connecticut Historical Society.

from Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project https://connecticuthistory.org/one-of-the-honored-dead-general-j-k-f-mansfield/

[bountyofbeads]

IRS whistleblower said to report Treasury political appointee might have tried to interfere in audit of Trump or Pence

By Jeff Stein, Tom Hamburger and Josh Dawsey | Published October 03 at 4:25 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted October 3, 2019 7:30 PM ET |

An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistleblower complaint reporting that he was told that at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president’s tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document.

Trump administration officials dismissed the whistleblower’s complaint as flimsy because it is based on conversations with other government officials. But congressional Democrats were alarmed by the complaint, now circulating on Capitol Hill, and flagged it in a federal court filing. They are also discussing whether to make it public.

The details of the IRS complaint follow news of a separate, explosive whistleblower complaint filed in August by a member of the intelligence community. That complaint revealed Trump’s request of Ukranian leaders to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, a political rival. It has spurred an impeachment probe on Capitol Hill.

The IRS complaint has come amid the escalating legal battle between the Treasury Department and House Democrats over the release of President Trump’s tax returns. Part of that inquiry from Democrats is over how the IRS conducts its annual audit of the president and vice president’s tax returns. That process is supposed to be walled off from political appointees and interference.

That was the focus of the whistleblower complaint. The people briefed on its contents said, for the first time, that the complaint pertained to allegations of interference in the audit process by at least one Treasury Department official. They also said, for the first time, that the complaint revealed that the whistleblower is a career IRS official.

The existence of a whistleblower complaint was revealed in a court filing several months ago, but little about it had become public.

The whistleblower’s account focuses on the integrity of the government’s system for auditing the president and vice president’s tax returns.

President Trump has broken decades of precedent by refusing to publicly release his tax returns. Democrats filed a lawsuit earlier this year demanding the disclosure of those filings, invoking a federal law designed to give Congress access to any tax return.

The IRS complaint has received less attention but has divided government officials.

Two administration officials have described the complaint as hearsay and suggested it was politically motivated, but they spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Democrats who have reviewed it regard it as a deeply significant allegation that, if true, suggests that political appointees may have tried to interfere with the government audit process, which was set up to be insulated from political pressures.

Key parts of the complaint remain under wraps in part because of strict privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of any details related to the filing of tax returns.

People who described the complaint spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee who received the whistleblower’s complaint in July, said in court filings this summer that the complaint contains credible evidence of “potential ‘inappropriate efforts to influence’ the audit program.” Neal has also said the complaint raises “serious and urgent concerns.”

The whistleblower, a career official at the IRS, confirmed in an interview with The Washington Post this week that he had filed a formal complaint and sent it to the tax committee chairs in both houses of Congress, including Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), and to the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration on July 29.

The whistleblower would not comment on the substance of the complaint itself but focused on the importance of protecting those who come forward to disclose problems in government.

Trump has closely guarded any details of his tax returns, refusing to release them during his presidential campaign and throughout his presidency. He has given a variety of reasons for refusing to release the returns, often saying they are under audit and therefore should remain private. Vice President Pence also has not made public any of his recent tax returns.

Neal has not revealed whether the whistleblower complaint is about Trump or Pence, but he said in an August court filing that the allegations “cast doubt” on the Trump administration’s contention that there is no reason for concern that IRS employees could face interference when auditing a president’s tax returns.

It is very unusual for political appointees at Treasury to ask IRS career staff about the status of an individual’s audit, according to legal experts and former IRS officials.

“Nobody at the Treasury Department should be calling to find out the status of anybody’s audit,” said John Koskinen, who served as IRS commissioner under both Trump and President Barack Obama. “For a Treasury official to call a career person — even just for information — seems to me highly inappropriate, even if it’s just checking in on how it’s going.”

The Post has been unable to verify the allegation in the whistleblower’s complaint of improper communication between Treasury and IRS on the tax audit program.

A spokesman for the Treasury Department did not comment on details of the complaint. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin previously told Neal he forwarded the complaint to the inspector general’s office.

A spokesman for Neal refused to share any details about the substance of the complaint, citing taxpayer protection rules. Michael Zona, a spokesman for Grassley, also declined to comment, saying the senator does not discuss such confidential complaints.

However, the top Democrat on the committee Grassley leads called for the panel to look into the complaint immediately. “It would be negligent for the Finance Committee to fail to investigate a whistleblower’s allegations of political interference,” Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) said. “A bipartisan committee effort to get to the bottom of this should have been started months ago.”

James Jackson, a deputy inspector general at the Treasury Department, said in September when asked about the whistleblower complaint at a congressional hearing: “We can’t confirm or deny that we may or may not be doing anything. I can tell you, though, that anytime we get any kind of allegation in this world, in this realm, we investigate it aggressively.”

Jackson added: “We are not aware of any misconduct.”

In his interview with The Post, the whistleblower dismissed the contention of critics that the complaint was uncorroborated.

“That’s what investigations are for,” he said.

He also denied his action was politically motivated.

“Anyone who knows me knows I would not hesitate to do the same, as would most career IRS public servants, regardless of any political preference,” he said. “I take very seriously the duty of career civil servants to act with integrity and perform our duties impartially, even at the risk that someone will make a charge of bias.”

The whistleblower also castigated public officials who he said were making federal employees fearful of reporting wrongdoing. Trump has in recent days said he wants to know the identity of the whistleblower in the Ukraine case.

“I steadfastly refuse to discuss the substance or details of the complaint, but I have some legitimate concerns about reckless statements being made about whistleblowers,” he said. He said such statements “attack the messenger when the focus should be on the facts that were presented. I am concerned also by the relative silence of people who should be repudiating these dangerous attacks in the strongest terms.”

Neal told Bloomberg he is consulting with legal counsel about whether to release the whistleblower complaint.

The chairman has “been almost entirely silent about the whole matter” related to the whistleblower in private meetings of the Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee, according to one lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Legal experts and former government officials expressed alarm at the prospect of interference from political appointees with audits conducted by career IRS staff.

The tax returns of the president and vice president must be kept “at all times” in an orange folder and locked in a secure drawer or cabinet when the appointed IRS examiner is not with the documents, according to the IRS’s manual.

“It’s very important that enforcement matters, including audits, be handled independently by the IRS,” said Mark W. Everson, who served as IRS commissioner under President George W. Bush.

The mandatory audit program refers only to the audit of the president and vice president, said Mark E. Matthews, who was a deputy IRS commissioner under Bush and is now a partner at the firm Caplin & Drysdale. Those audits are viewed only by a small number of senior career IRS staff, Matthews said.

The president’s tax returns have already produced divisions between political appointees in the Treasury Department and officials at the IRS. In May, The Post obtained a 10-page memo written by an attorney in the IRS Office of the Chief Counsel finding the administration had to turn over a president’s returns if requested by Congress, unless the president invokes executive privilege. The Treasury Department has denied Congress’s request for the returns, but the White House has not invoked executive privilege.

In April, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin also revealed department attorneys consulted with the White House general counsel’s office about the potential release of Trump’s tax returns before they were formally requested by House Democrats.

Mnuchin, who said he was not involved in those conversations, said the communication between Treasury and White House attorneys was “informational” and that Treasury officials did not ask the White House for permission about whether to release the returns.

The whistleblower said that Treasury investigators, and presumably the inspector general, were aware of his complaint. “I brought my concerns to my supervisors, who advised me to report the matter to the appropriate people with investigatory authority,” he told The Post.

David Barnes, a spokesman for the Treasury inspector general, declined to comment.

The whistleblower complaint was first disclosed by Neal as part of his lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking six years of the president’s tax returns, which the administration refused to turn over despite a 1924 law explicitly giving Congress the authority to obtain them.

Neal told a federal court this summer that House Democrats had received an unsolicited message from a federal employee “setting forth credible allegations of ‘evidence of possible misconduct’ — specifically, potential ‘inappropriate efforts to influence’ the mandatory audit program.”

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"RANKS OF CONVICTS ON HUNGER STRIKE DWINDLE RAPIDLY," Toronto Globe. May 6, 1933. Page 1 & 2. ----- Prisoners Yield to Passive Methods of Portsmouth Guards ---- HOLD OUT TIN PLATES ---- (Canadian Press Despatch.) Kingston, May 5. - Guards and offcials of Portsmouth Penitentiary car-ried on their duties nonchalantly to-night, disregarding twenty-five or thirty convicts who refused to eat as part of a supposed "publicity stunt" hunger strike.

Led by Willard Müllich, youthful convict, allegedly a leader in the riots of last October, when several hundred convicts smashed machinery and property, 100 convicts in the new women's penitentiary some distance from the main building last night refused to accept meals. Gradually the strike dwindled until tonight there are few prisoners who did not hold out their tin plates for the evening meal.

According to Warden W. B. Megloughlin, "the convicts had the idea they have the public with them and have been quite frank in saying the entire affair was planned as a publicity stunt. They will be given their meals as usual, and if they don't want to eat - that's their own lookout."

Guards Take No Notice. The convicts, or at least some of them who face trial for rioting and tumultuous conduct, had planned the strike to be in a position to tell the courts at their trials "they had been locked up for several days and had no food, exercise or work," according to information received outside the prison.

When the men - moved to the new prison because the old one was over-crowded at the time of the riots - refused their meals, the guards took no action but simply walked away. The guards' passive methods apparently brought results. for nearly all the prisoners accepted their meal tonight.

The leader of the strike told the other prisoners, it is said, that "the public is with us," and declared publicity would keep the penitentiary be-fore the public eye and produce more sympathy for the men.

Even more startling evidence than that already heard in trials of penitentiary convicts charged with rioting may be heard next week when the sessions are resumed. Convict Murray Kirkland, on trial before Judge G. E. Deroche, when court adjourned ten days ago, may take the stand in his own behalf Monday, while there are reports ex-Warden J. C. Ponsford will give evidence.

Reliable information indicated General W. S. Hughes, former Superintendent of Penitentiarles; E. R. Jackson, former Penitentiary Inspector and Warden of Collins Bay Penitentiary until last year; ex-Inspector Gilbert Smith, and other former officials of the penitentiary would be called to testify.

Ponsford Not Subpoenaed. St. Thomas, May 5. - Captain J. C.Ponsford of this city, former Warden of Kingston Penitentiary, said this evening that he has received no subpoenae to give evidence at the trial of the prison rloters next week.

A press despatch from Kingston to-day said that Captain Ponsford will likely be called.

Cannot Be Deported. Ottawa, May 5. - Prisoners who have not served their sentence and are confined in the penitentiary cannot be deported, it was stated at the Department of Immigration today. The attention of the department was drawn to a despatch from Kingston saying that Convict Sam Cohen, Toronto, would be deported. The despatch added that his term of imprisonment was not yet up. Presumably, if his prison term was shortened for some reason that would change the situation, but the department, it is stated, does not take men out of jail to deport them.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Fine Pure Bred Holstein Herd For Prison Farm,” Kingston Whig-Standard. April 1, 1931. Page 02. ---- Thirty-two Head Arrived at the Preferred Class Penitentiary ---- BUILDING WORK --- Thirty-two head of pure Holstein cattle arrived at the Preferred Class Penitentiary yesterday. The herd was purchased by Inspector E. R. Jackson, who is in charge of the work at the Preferred Class Pen. General St. Pierre Hughes, Superintendent of Penitentiaries,, and a representative from the Dominion Governing Experimental Farm. They are tuberculin tested and form the nucleus of the herd which will be built up at the P.C.P.

Six horses also arrived yesterday. This brings the total number of horses at the institution up to 9 head, all of which are selected, matched teams. In the shipment yesterday was a team of grays of the heavy draft type of exceptional beauty.

Several pure bred pigs from St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary have also been imported for the P.C.P. and they will also be used as a start for the stock farm.

Work was in progress yesterday getting the stable ready for the cattle. It is of the most modern type of construction, with concrete floors and steel pipe divisions for each animal. An addition is to be built to the present structure to take care of the increases in the herd.

Half Foundations In Half of the concrete for the foundation of the Administration building is poured and the forms are being erected to pour the balance. With the mild weather everything is being pushed forward in the work and Inspector Jackson is exceptionally pleased, as all progress is two weeks ahead of the schedule laid out.

The rebuilding of one of the houses on the prison reserve for the Inspector’s residence is also in hand and will be completed for occupancy very shortly. Although a great deal of the work that has been done does into show to the casual passer-by, wonderful progress has been made and those in charge have high hopes of having the walls up and the roof on the Administration Building this summer.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Returns to Duties,” Toronto Globe. September 1, 1930. Page 10. ---- Kingston, Aug. 31. - (Special.) - Warden J. C. Ponsford, who has been on three months leave of absence, took over the administration of Kingston Penitentiary on Saturday afternoon. Inspector E. R. Jackson of Ottawa has been directing the penitentiary during his absence.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Buildings of the new Collins’ Bay penitentiary where discipline is more like that of construction camp than a prison. This group includes sleeping quarters, mess hall, hospital, and other such departments and the whole surrounded by a 14-foot-wire fence. When the prisoners leave here to work they do so under escort Inspector Jackson, warden of preferred penitentiary, where prisoners are led forth each day to work under the open skies at construction work and other out-of-door jobs.

Stone crusher at the new ‘prison without walls,’ the body of which was said to have been built by a Toronto broker now serving his time in the preferred prison.

Pen cattle on the front road on one of the farms purchased by the new prison. Here, no doubt, will come the wholesome milk for the prisoners’ consumption after a hard day on construction.” - from the Kingston Whig-Standard. June 16, 1931. Page 06.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“No Privileges Are Given to Toronto Brokers in Prison,” Kingston Whig-Standard. June 11, 1931. Page 01 & 07. ---- Warden Jackson Says All Well-behaved Prisoners in Preferred Class Penitentiary Treated Alike. ---- AID TO DISCIPLINE --- Brokers Are Regarded as Good Influence Among Other Prisoners, Warden Jackson Tells Newspaper ---- In view of the publicity that has been given to the preferred class penitentiary by the Toronto Globe, a representative of The Whig-Standard visited the penitentiary yesterday afternoon, and was courteously received by Warden Jackson.

‘I suppose you have noticed the stories in The Globe, and the discussion in Parliament regarding this penitentiary?’ said The Whig-Standard representative.

‘I noticed the one in yesterday’s Globe but I have not seen today’s paper,’ answered the Warden.

‘Have you anything to say in reply to them?’ he was asked.

‘No,’ said Mr. Jackson. ‘That is a matter for the Minister to deal with. I do not take part in newspaper controversy. My job is to run this prison.’ 

‘Was a representative of The Globe here?’ the Warden was asked.

‘Well,’ smiled the Warden, ‘if he was I did not see him.’

‘Perhaps, if you had,’ hazarded the scribe, ‘he might have written a somewhat different story.’

‘Possibly,’ said Mr. Jackson, in his usual guarded manner.

‘Can I ask you a few questions,’ said the reporter, ‘quite aside from whether The Globe story is true or untrue?’

‘Certainly,’ said Mr. Jackson. ‘I do not think we have anything to hide here. You can see for yourself what is going.’

‘How many men are in this prison at the present time?’

Would Show Work ‘I do ot know that I would care to be questioned,’ said Mr. Jackson, ‘but I do not mind showing you over the work here, and would also be glad to have you inspect the mens quarters. My job is to build this penitentiary, and we are making good progress. When I started I had only three men who had ever handled a hammer and saw, and yet,’ he said, pointing to a long, neat looking building,  ‘that was erected in three days and the roof on.’ As the reporter and the Warden walked around, they passed men busy at all sorts of work. Some were wheeling cement, some were mixing it, others pumping water, and still others were digging foundations. There were a number at work in the truck garden and about six or eight in the carpenter shop. Everybody seemed to be working ard, and so far as the reporter could see, none were idly basking in shady dells, or lazily listening to the ripple of Little Cataraqui Creek. Everybody seemed to be working hard, and under strict discipline.

;There is just one question. I would like to ask,’ said The Whig-Standard man, ‘and that is whether any preferential treatment is given to the Toronto brokers, as is charged?’

Give No Trouble ‘I can only answer you in this way,’ said Mr. Jackson. ‘I am trying to build a large prison here in a specified time. I try to make the very best use of the men sent to me, and with that end in view, use men where I think they will be the most value. All men, who behave themselves, are treated exactly alike. You have seen their beds, and their dining hall. I will say this, however, that the Toronto brokers are all well behaved and have not give me a moment’s trouble. In fact I think they are a good influence among the others, and help to maintain discipline. I have a big job here,’ said the Warden, ‘and I have not time to bother about what people say, who are unfamiliar with the prison. My duty is to the Minister and the Superintendent, and until they express dissatisfaction with my work and the way I am handling my job, I shall not worry.

The work on the new penitentiary is progressing fast. The foundation for the administration building are in and waiting for the steel. The carpenter shop and machine sjop are erected and equipped with the latest machinery, and the farm and truck garden work is making headway under competent supervisors.

Inspector Jackson, who is acting Warden, has had a wide experience in the prison service and has been singularly successful. In the latest report of the superintendent of penitentiary he is very highly commended by the Warden of the British Columbia penitentiary for the splendid work he did out there, and he is generally looked upon as an efficient officer.

Minister of Justice The statement made in Parliament by the Minister of Justice, touching on conditions at the Preferred Class Pen., was as follows:

‘There are ten former Toronto brokers confined in the preferred class penitentiary. The Superintendent has seen all of these men at work at times. He has personally interviewed each one of them. He has seen them employed on cement mixers, digging ditches, assisting in installing an intake pipe for water system, building a stone wall, painting buildings, building two pump-houses, farming, gardening, unloading material at railway siding, cataloging library books, assisting in the checking of stores, assisting in the checking of stores, and storing of goods as received; several employed at carpenter work, washing and repairing inmates’ clothing, assisting the accountant, the store-keeper, the engineer. One of the oldest inmates is steadily employed as a clerk in the Deputy Warden’s office. They are treated in exactly similar manner to all the other inmates. One is employed part time in the hospital and part time at other work. In fact, they are employed wherever their abilities can be utilized.

Method of Selection. ‘There are 200 inmates at the preferred class institution. These men are all short-timers, and selected because they are short-timers, whose offenses have not been brutal or vicious, and whose employment under existing conditions is considered safe. There are no walls, and only wire fence around the dormitories where they sleep.

‘A philanthropic gentleman, no friend of the ex-brokers, presented the institution with a gramophone and a number of records. This has been the only music provided in the institution.

‘A nucleus of a library of carefully selected books has been secured. It is the intention that this shall be added to another year.’

Mr. Guthrie continued with the following comment: ‘This is all in conformity with the discussion which took place in the House when the vote for a preferred class penitentiary was being passed by the House. This is not an ordinary penitentiary, but one for the purpose of giving men an opportunity to reform. It is for short-time men, the definition of that being a sentence up to four years, for first offenders, and for men whose conduct in the penitentiary has justified their removal to the preferred class. There are now 200 in the preferred class penitentiary, which has been constructed almost entirely by prison labor.’

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Excellent Progress Being Made at the New Prison,” Kingston Whig-Standard. June 9, 1931. Page 02. --- Temporary Tailor Shop and Shoe Shop Erected - Steel Arriving for Main Building - Splendid Livestock ---- The tailor shop and shoe shop have been erected at the Preferred Class Penitentiary on the Bath Road about three miles west of Kingston. This is another of the temporary buildings which will be occupied by the inmates of the prison until the permanent structure is completed. The new building followed the same type as the previous temporary quarters erected. Built on a concrete base, with a concrete floor, the super-structure of the building is of wood. The men working on this shop set up a new record.

Work on pouring the foundation was begun on Thursday morning. The excavations for the foundations had been completed before this. At noon on Friday he foundation was completed and the floor was poured. The frame work was started at once and when knocking off time came Saturday afternoon, the framework was up and the outside sheeting on, leaving only the interior sheeting and the roofing to be finished and the windows to be installed. This works in progress at the present time and the building will be ready for use about the end of the week.

Steel Arriving Steel for the Administration Building will be on hand thsi week and work on this building will be rushed. At the present time the foundation is in and the floor for the basement has been poured.. The footings for the steel are ready and as soon as the girders arrive they can be set in place. Trenches were left in the concrete for the sewer pipe, which were also delayed, and these are to be pu in at once and cemented over.

The sidewalks of the communicating tunnel have also been poured for some distance and the work on this section will be pushed ahead until it is completed. Built behind the Administration Building and connected by the tunnel, will be the workshops and cell blocks of the new prison. Water connections, electric wiring, heating and other appliances will also be carried through the tunnel, which will be entirely underground and guarded at intervals by steel gates.

Stonework The stonework on the Administration Building will be started as soon as the steel is erected and it is hoped that the roo will be on before winter sets in. The copper for the roof is on hand, and once the roof is on the interior work will go on throughout the cold weather. it is expectation of Inspector Jackson that the offices of the new prison will be in the Administration Building early next year and that the balance of the work will be directed from there.

The stone for the stonework of the prison buildings, is being quarried and out at the present time. Two quarries are in operation, one at the junction of the Bath Road and the Mowat Road, and the other a little west of the site of the Administration Building. An exceptionally fine ledge of rock was uncovered at the second quarry and large blocks of stone, varying from 6 to 9 inches and more in depth, are being taken out and cut.

Use Compressed Air All stone cutting is being done by compressed air, the same compressor operating not only the drills in the quarry but also the stone cutters’ machines. The stones are finished by hand and piled in reading for use as soon as the mason work starts. With the gang working on the quarry, it is planned to have sufficient stone cut to keep the masons going without delay. This will mean that the construction work will be greatly speeded up as there will be no waits for stone.

Additions to Livestock Sixteen purebread Holdstein calves and forty little pigs have been added to the livestock heards at the new prison. The officers in charge of the livestock have had exceptionally good fortune with their charges and have not lost a animal. Over three hundred acres of the penitentiary reserve has been sown to feed grains and roots and every effort is being made to grow sufficient feed to keep the stock during the winter.

The new dairy and milk house, to take care of the milk produced by the cows, is nearly finished. The interior is being lined with white faced brick and the refigreeration system is almost ready. This structure will be permanent and is being built and equipped along the most modern lines.

The gardens are also showing fine progress. Between the road and the present temporary Administration offices, onions, lettuce, peas, and other small vegetables have been planted and are in the care of three of three inmates. These three men are proud of their garden and are working hard to produce a big crop. The garden is weeded and tended carefully every day and shows the result of the care it is given.

Fire Protection The fire hose and fire protection for the temporary quarters is now in readiness for use and every safeguard has been installed to prevent any trouble from this source. The grounds around the hutments in the enclosure have also been improved. The land has been levelled, walks put in, and grass sown and the temporary quarters look like anything  but a prison. The only indications that any restraint is imposed is the high wire fence which runs around the sleeping quarters.

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“Prison Inmate Was So Interested in Job He Wanted to Finish,” Kingston Whig-Standard. December 1, 1930. Page 08. ---- An interesting story of the way the prisoners work at the Preferred Class Penitentiary is told by Inspector E. R. Jackson, who is in charge of the work. The incident occurred when one of the walls under construction was nearing completion. When time came to knock off for the day, the guards were rounding up the prisoners and the following conversation took place between the guard and the man working on the wall:

‘Knocking off time.’

‘Can I work a little later tonight, officer?’

‘I’m afraid not. I’m taking all the men in.’

‘I would appreciate it if I could go on until I get this job finished.’

‘We will finish the job tomorrow, I’ll have to take you in with the rest of the men.’

‘I’d like to finish, sir.’

‘Why are you so anxious to finish this job tonight?’

‘Well, sir, I’m going out to-morrow, and I’d like to get it done.’

Inspector Jackson was consulted on the matter and the man was allowed to finish that night. The Inspector uses this instance to show the general spirit of interest and enthusiasm which pervades the men working on the new prison. [AL: Another entry in what I call ‘carceral propaganda’ which was pushed out heavily by the Kingston, Ontario, papers in this era to buttress the public image of the federal prisons in the area, especially the new low-security institution being built at Collin’s Bay, which was more like a construction camp than a prison at this time.]

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“New Prison Near City Will Be One of the Most Up-To-Date On This Continent When Finished,” Kingston Whig-Standard. March 15, 1930. Page 03. --- Inspector E. R. Jackson Is in Charge of Construction – Work Has Started and Will Take Five Years – Wire Fences Will Enclose Buildings Rather Than Stone Wall – New Staff Has Been Appointed ---- The work on the new penitentiary for preferred cases, which is to be erected in the Township of Kingston, has already commenced. On Tuesday Inspector of Penitentiaries E. R. Jackson arrived and took complete charge. Inspector Jackson has just returned to Ontario after spending nineteen months reorganising the British Columbia Penitentiary where he did excellent work. The fact that he has been given complete charge of the work at the new prison here, indicates the confidence which the Government has in his ability, and it is his intention to rush the work with all possible speed. The new prison will front on the Bath Road. It will be situated on a block of land, the boundaries of which are the Cataraqui Creek on the east, the Forty Foot Road west of Cataraqui Creek as the west, the Bath Road on the north and the Front Road on the south. There are one or two farms in this block which are not taken in, but in the main these are the boundary lines. The Buildings The plans for the buildings are very elaborate and when this new group is completed, it will be the finest prison plant in Canada, if not on the American continent. The main administration building will be situated about seven hundred yards west of Cataraqui Creek, on the Bath Road, and about three hundred and fifty feet back from the road. In the immediate rear of the administration building will be erected up-to-date shops. In the rear of the shops on the highest point of land the main cell wings, dome, etc., will be placed. This main building will be 1,065 feet in length and will have four cell tiers, all cells facing south. This cell block will accommodate four hundred men. At the east end of this wing will be situated the Roman Catholic chapel and the hospital. At the west end will be placed the Protestant chapel and the school room. All the buildings will be heated from a central heating plant and will be connected with a 4-foot concrete underground duct which will carry all steam inside, electric light wires, telephone wires, sewers and water lines. The foundation of the building will be of concrete to the ground level. Above the level of the ground there, will be five feet of cut stone. The balance of the buildings will be constructed of concrete bricks with cut stone corners. The stone will be all cut and supplied by the Kingston Penitentiary. This program will take, it is expected, in the neighborhood of five years to complete. Each building will be occupied as soon as it is completed. Construction Work It is the intention of the Department to vigorously prosecute the work, and a start will be made at once on the foundation of the administration building and cell block. Already three carloads of cement have been unloaded on the site. Temporary buildings will be erected at once in the form of wooden hutments and a commissary building. Each hutment will hold fifty men. In approximately five weeks’ time it is expected to have one hundred inmates housed on the new prison site. All the work will be done by prison labor. Mr. Jackson will be in charge. V. K. Harraway, of British Columbia, who was chief assistant to Inspector Jackson during the reorganisation of the British Columbia Penitentiary will come here as Acting Deputy Warden. Chief Trade Instructor W. Grant will also be brought here from British Columbia to take charge of all building operations. Keeper West of the Kingston Penitentiary has been appointed Chief Keeper, and Harold Keetch, who was on the office staff of the Kingston Penitentiary, will be acting storekeeper and accountant. There Will Be No Walls Contrary to the generally accepted idea of a prison this new group of buildings will not be surrounded by walls. It will instead be fenced with non-climbable wire fencing ten feet high, with forty foot ornamental towers at each corner.

The new prison will be operated along lines which General Hughes, Superintendent of Penitentiaries, has been working out for many years. As everyone knows General Hughes has made a most exhaustive study of the operation, and administration of penitentiaries, and this new prison is very largely the outcome of his desire to differentiate between the hardened criminal and the first offender who has, perhaps in a moment of weakness, made a serious mistake. With that idea in view the prison will be operated largely as a technical school, coupled with intensified scientific farming. The idea behind the project is to try, if possible, to rehabilitate first offenders as respectable and useful citizens, rather than allow them to mix with hardened criminals and thus run a chance of becoming contaminated. When completed, it is expected that this prison or detention home, as it might better be called, will be a model of architectural design and will provide the most up-to-date equipment in every respect.

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“Is Making All Preliminary Arrangements for Building,” Kingston Whig-Standard. March 12, 1930. Page 12. ---- Inspector E. Jackson of the penitentiaries branch, Department of Justice, is in the city at present making preliminary arrangements for the building of the new penitentiary which it is proposed to erect on tract of land between the Front Road and the Bath Road, a few miles west of the city. Inspector Jackson will be in charge of the entire building program and will make Kingston his headquarters for some months.

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”Convicts Will Face Murder Attempt Charge,” Winnipeg Tribune. April 18, 1932. Page 1 & 2. ---- OFFICIAL HERE TO DECIDE DATE OF ARRAIGNMENT ---- Chief Penitentiary Keeper is Seriously Injured --- JONES HAD ONLY SIX MONTHS MORE TO SERVE ---- Gorda Insubordinate Prisoner Ever Since Entering Stony Mountain === Charges of attempted murder will be laid against Thomas Jones, of Minnedosa, and William Gorda, of Fort William, the two prisoners who attacked their guards in the yard of Stony Mountain penitentiary, Friday afternoon. 

E. R. Jackson, Dominion gov ernment penitentiary inspector, arrived in Winnipeg today to confer with Colonel Meighen, warden of the prison, and decided when the prisoners will be arraigned. 

 Thomas Clayton, chief keeper, who was knocked down by a blow on the head with a sledge hammer, delivered by one of the prisoners, was reported this morning to be resting easily in General hospital. An X-Ray examination revealed that his skull was not fractured by the blow, but pressure of a depressed bone on the optic nerve has deprived him of the sight of one eye. 

Condition Not Serious The other guard who was attacked, Alfred Fisher, is at his home, near the penitentiary, suffering from a four-inch scalp wound, but his condition is not serious. Gorda and Jones, with bullet wounds in their legs, are in the prison hospital. 

Jackson will conduct a full inquiry into the small uprising. the first asuch occurrence in the penitentiary. Everything was quiet about the institution today. inquiry, which Mr. Jackson will conduct, was asked for by Colonel Meighen, warden. 

The body of Mike Bihun, killed by a deflected bullet when three guards on the prison wall fired their rifles at Jones and Gorda, was brought to Winnipeg for burial, and is at Zawidoski's undertaking establishment, Selkirk Funeral arrangements will be made today. 

Convicted of robbing the Bank of Montreal, Logan ave. branch. In December, 1930, Bihun was serving a ten-year sentence, and had received ten lashes. 

Willing to Assist Gorda, an insubordinate prisoner ever since he was transferred to Stony Mountain from Ontario, had only six months to serve of his three-year sentence. 

Jones and Gorda had been confined in penal cells prior to the attack. Both had been troublesome prisoners throughout their stay in the penitentiary and Jones, about a year ago, had "squared up" to an officer and threatened him. They had frequently been heard to threaten what they would do to officers when they got the chance. 

On Friday they had been taken from the cells for a bath and it was on the way back that the trouble occurred. There were four prisoners in the party, which was under the charge of Thomas Clayton, chief keeper, Clayton is described by Colonel Meighen as "a splendid officer, one of those Englishmen who are absolutely fearless." He had often been warned by brother officers that he was "taking chances." 

Became Suspicious On the way from the baths, which are in a building near the east wall of the penitentiary, Clayton was made suspicious by some thing in the behavior of the two unruly prisoners. Passing another keeper, Alfred Fisher, he asked him to come along. 

Half-way across the yard the party had to round the north wing of the prison buildings, which approaches at this point fairly close to the outside wall. Just around this corner there was a heap of quarried stone, on which a heavy 12-pound sledge was lying. Clayton noticed one of the prisoners making a dash for the hammer and tried to forestall him but was too late. Brushing his arm aside the prisoner brought the sledge down with a glancing blow on the keeper's skull, knocking him out. 

A second blow Iaid Fisher low also and a third keeper who rushed up was thrown down and the prisoners made a dash for the penal celle, which are in a small stone building apart from the main prison. Shouting, "I'll get you, you the man with a hammer rushed up the steps to attack the keeper in the cells, but a prisoner, seeing him coming, slammed the gate and kept him out. 

Ran to West Wall The two prisoners then ran across to the west wall of the penitentiary, part of which had been demolished and replaced by a high wooden stockade pending extension of the prison yard. At the foot of the stockade a gang of prisonera were working on quarried stone and another gang was also nearby. 

Between the quarried stone and the wall there is a deep hollow, which concealed most of the working prisoners and the officer in charge, Keeper Allison. Hearing the noise Allison rushed up and was attacked. He managed to brush the blow aside, however, and with a blow of hia truncheon made the attacker drop his weapon. 

The affair had now caught the attention of all the prisoners in the vicinity and of the guards posted on the walls. There was a movement among the prisoners to come to the assistance of the guards in the yard, but those on the wall called to them to keep back as they were going to fire. The men crouched back into a gateway, but eagerness to see what was happening made one or two edge forward a little. Among these was Mike Bihun.

Most Trying Time Colonel Meighen stated on Saturday that this time of the year was always the most trying time in the penitentiary as the coming of the spring made the prisoners restless. There had been nothing, however. to indicate that such an occurrence was coming, though threats had been heard. The officers were too much accustomed to threats to pay much attention to them. 

It is a rule in penitentiaries that no officers except those on the walls carry firearms in the prison. If the officers attacked had had guns there might have been serious loss of life, the Warden says, as the prisoners would have grabbed the weapons at once. 

The other two prisoners in the party under Keeper Clayton took no part in the disturbance. One of them, a youngster, was found later waiting by a stone pile almost in tears. "I didn't do anything," he told the guard. All the other prisoners in the yard remained steady, the only movement being to come to the help of the guards.

INJURED IN RIOT THOMAS CLAYTON Struck over the head with a hammer when two prisoners, Thomas Jones and William Gorda, rebelled at Stony Mountain penitentiary, Friday, Mr. Clayton, chief keeper, is now in the General Hospital in a serious condition. Although his skull was not fractured, the keeper has lost the sight of one eye.

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“E. R. Jackson Gives Opinion of Report On the Penitentiary,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 8, 1933. Page 1. ---- OTTAWA, Feb. 8 — “Gen. D. M. Ormond (Superintendent of Penitentiaries) is, like anyone else, entitled to his own opinion, but anyone reading his report with knowledge of prison work will not pay much attention to it.” 

So stated E. R. Jackson, retired last month as Inspector of the Penitentiaries Branch, when speaking today of the report of Gen. Ormond tabled in the House of Commons on Monday by Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice. The report dealt with the riots last fall at Kingston Penitentiary. 

“It is a known fact," Mr. Jackson said “with men acquainted with prison work, that if you start giving favors or granting exceptional requests to inmates they will be nice inmates and obey the regulations, so long as you can hand out the favors.

"The prisons of this country are second to none. Proof of the pudding is that under Gen. St. Pierre Hughes (former Superintendent of Penitentiaries) the prisoners are kept quiet, irrespective of what Gen. Ormond who has been in office since August 1 only, may say the proof is there. 

At the time Gen. Ormond made his report. he had only visited three prisons (Kingston. St. Vincent de Paul, Que., and Dorchester, N.B.) and there has been a riot in everyone of these prisons." 

Jackson was retired on January 14 last. He was formerly connected with the Collins Bay prison near Kingston and was returned to Ottawa headquarters a year before.

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SASKATCHEWAN PENITENTIARY Warden’s Office November 19, 1929

My Dear Sir;

Re: Disturbance Saskatchewan Penitentiary. Relative to the above I wish to make a preliminary report which is as follows;

Mr. Allan and myself arrive at Prince Albert 9.45 P.M Monday evening and proceeded to the Penitentiary. After a few minutes talk with Deputy Warden Wyllie who has been Acting Warden with the exception of one or two days; continuously for past two months, I came to the conclusion that there was no serious condition at this Institution in so far as a break for liberty as far as the inmates are concerned or serious attempt to gain control by them of the Institution.

After asking a few questions of the Deputy Warden I was very much surprised at the lack of initiative in him. for example he told me that Inmate 1796 came to Court on Thursday the 14th inst., and told him:

"The inmates were organizing another strike to take place at noon tomorrow." 

I then asked the Deputy Warden the following question: 

“DID YOU ASK INMATE 1796 WHO WERE ORGANIZING THE STRIKE?” 

Mr. Wyllie replied to my question: 

"NO, I DID NOT.”

With this flimsy information at hand he called up Warden Macleod and told him the inmates were going on strike and asked him what would he do. Warden Macleod replied "If you can not handle the situation wire the Superintendent and ask him to send somebody to take charge ".

I might say here that Warden Macleod's health is in such a condition that Dr. Chisholm had given instructions that he should not be bothered by business of the Institution.

Reverting to the questioning of the Deputy Warden I asked him in what gang the trouble was to start. He replied that he had fifty men working west of the Warden's Residence just to the north of Main Roadway, cutting brush and grading the bank. He then asked me "If the men refused to come in what could I do".

This seems to me a very absurd questioned from the point of view of any Senior Penitentiary Officer, more especially in view of the fact that there were with the two innate gangs which the fifty inmates comprised and both gangs were working within short distance of each other. Five dismounted officers and two mounted scouts. The whole being within six or seven hundred yards of the Prison Main Entrance. The gang also being in a most favorable situation as far as Safety and Supervision were concerned, as any inmate attempting to make a break could be readily seen for 15 or 20 minutes after making attempt to gain liberty. This would give the mounted scouts any amount of leisure time to ride the refractory inmate down.

Even if the whole fifty men were seriously thinking of muntinying Mr. Wyllie could have marched them into their cells and saved the ridiculous situation of locking the whole Prison up on such flimsy and unreliable information which he had at hand.

I also beg to report that I found Mr. Wyllie in it a nervous condition and he seemed to be in a funk. After reading to him your letter of authority for me to take charge of the Institution, with R.M. Allan to be my assistant, he said "Well Inspector, I guessI am through". I replied to that statement that I did not understand what he meant, further explaining to him that myself taking over the Institution was in accord with what he asked for and that as far as Mr. Allan was concerned he was not taking over the duties of Deputy Warden but was solely acting as my assistant in getting the Penitentiary back on its proper basis. That he, Mr. Wyllie, would revert to his duties as Deputy Warden and Mr. Doolan assume his duties as Chief Keeper.

I regret to report that on making the preliminary inspection of the Penitentiary and noting the lack of discipline I can only place it to the lack of efficiency and initiative displayed by Mr. Wyllie while Acting Warden of the Institution.

In his dealing with the inmates (on looking over reports against inmates during the present month) I find in his awarding of punishments a lack of decision and decisiveness. The punishments awarded by him are such as would cause inmates to gloat over and ridicule the officers who make the reports against them. For crimes of fighting he warned them. For crimes of indecent language and insolence he also warned them, in fact his dealings with all violations of the rules seemed to be a case of warning.

Thus the handling of Court caused a feeling among the officers that there was no use of reporting the inmates and things moved forward during the past two months until discipline practically became unknown.

I regret to report that as far as the situation now it would be fatal to the Institution to allow Mr. Wyllie to ever take complete charge again and in fact unless there is placed over him in charge a very strong man I gravely doubt whether he should continue as Deputy-Warden.

I am going carefully into the situation and will make a complete report accompanied by copy of evidence that I will take.

Yours very sincerely,

E. R. JACKSON Inspector, Acting Warden To:  Superintendent of Penitentiaries, Department of Justice, Ottawa, Ont.