CHILDREN IN MEXICAN JAILS.
Casimir Welch Says Hundreds Are
There With Mothers.
Some interesting information on Mexican jails has been gathered by Casimir J. Welch, chief jailer at the county jail. Mr. Welch has just returned from a trip to the City of Mexico and some of the other towns of that republic.
"There are Mexican jails which compare favorably with those in the United States," said Mr. Welch yesterday, "and then, again, there are others which are infinitely worse. The penitentiary at the City of Mexico is modern in many of its appointments, while the jail there reminds one of a pig pen. In the jail, which is only partly roofed, the prisoners are huddled together. In the daytime they are under the open sky, should they wish to leave their shelter. At night they get under a sort of shed, where they sleep as best they may. Of some 4,000 prisoners we saw, 700 were women, a third of them with small children in their care.
"In the penitentiary on the other hand, each convict is given a daily bath and calisthenic exercises. The men sent up for ten years or longer are put in solitary confinement for the first two years and may not even speak to the guards. In the penitentiary are workshops to keep the convicts busy and also a school which they must attend.
