193
Inclosure 3 in No. 41.
RETURN showing the Accommodation for Prisoners at the Jail at
192
Inclosure 2 in No. 41.
Rules for the Guidance of Officers in Charge of Guols.
Overcrowding. The minimum allowance of space for each prisoner in a gaol is 36 square feet (9 by 4) of ground area, and 300 cubic feet of breathing space; when it is possible to do so the ground area is to be increased to 54 square feet (9 by 6).
Over the door of each ward is to placed a board showing the superficial area and cubical contents of the ward, and the number of prisoners it is capable of containing, thus:-
Length,
Superficial area
Cubic contents
Breadth,
Superficial area of ventilation
Number of prisoners
·
Height,
1.
Ward or Cell,
Ward or Cell.
Letter of
Length.
Breadth.
Superficial
Area.
2.
3.
4.
5,
Mean Height o
6.
7
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Space in Cubic
Ventilation Feet only.
Space in
Square Inches.
No. of such
bold Prisoners.
Certified to
Class of
Prisonera.
Remarka
No increase in the height of a ward shall justify any diminution of the ground arca, nor shall any emergency justify any reduction in the cubic space prescribed for each prisoner.
No more than one prisoner shall, under any circumstances, be placed in any cell the capacity of which is less than 1,500 cubic feet, with a ground area of 100 square fect.
The want of sufficient accommodation in prisons, and the practice of allowing prisoners to sleep in overcrowded wards and in unhealthy proximity to each other, is most injurious. The daily attention of the officer in charge of the prison and the medical officer is, therefore, to be, given to prevent overcrowding; and immediately any overcrowding does occur, it is to be reported to the Inspector-General of Prisons.
A greater number of prisoners than the prison is licensed for shall not be admitted on any account (with immediate report of the circumstance to the Governor for his sanction).
In the event of a prison being full, the officer in charge shall provide accommo- dation outside the prison for any other prisoners who may be sent, reporting the circumstances inmediately to the Inspector-General of Prisons.
Ventilation. The special attention of the officer in charge of the prison and of the medical officer shall be paid to the ventilation of the sleeping wards, to insure a constant supply of fresh air, while an exit for the foul air is also provided for by roof and lateral ventilation. As the condition of the atmosphere breathed by prisoners at night can only be judged of by entering the sleeping ward several hours after the prisoners have been locked up, the officer in charge of the gaol and the medical officer shall at uncertain intervals enter the gaol at night, in order to satisfy themselves as to the adequacy of the ventilation arrangements, and shall enter the results of their inspection in the Minute Book.
·
The sleeping wards shall be kept empty during the day, so that the free circulation of air may be allowed to remove the organic matter which was exhaled by the prisoners
at night, and which adheres to the wards and bedclothes, and is but slowly oxidized,
Weather permitting, the bedclothes shall, on the prisoners leaving the barracks, be spread out in the yard to be sunned and aired,
If, however, this cannot be done, they shall be spread in the wards or corridors, and, if it is fair, aired for a short time in the yard; but under no circumstances shall the hedding be rolled up and piled in a corner of the ward.
Inclosure 4 in No. 41.
RETURN showing the Number of Prisoners (according to Class) in Jails of Ceylon, on the 1st day of each Quarter of 1873.
No, in Jail on the-
Class of Prisoners.
1st Jan. 1st April 1st July. 1st Oct.
In penal stage (six months) In 2nd stage In 3rd stage
759
769
863
776
441
513
600
660
71
94
109
136
1,271
1,376
1,572
1,672
(Signed)
Sir,
Inclosure 5 in No. 41,
Remarks.
The general increase in number is owing
to the stoppage of transportation.
The large increase between 1st April and 1st July is owing to the return of 113 con- victs to the Island in the month of May.
F. R. SAUNDERS.
Principal Civil Medical Officer's Office, Colombo, January 8, 1874.
IN forwarding you the information as to the mortality within the jails of Ceylon during last year, called for by your letter of the 6th instant, I have the honour to express my regret that the shortness of time given me before the mail leaves precludes my making any observations on the accompanying Returns.
In addition to the Table affording the required information, I have drawn up an abstract, showing the mortality in proportion to the numbers treated in all the jails in the island during the last five years, and another with the same particulars with reference to the Welikada prison alone.
These Tables would be much more complete if the prison population during the year were added, but I do not possess this information.
Of the improved health of the Ceylon prisons in general, and of the Welikada prison in particular, these Tables afford ample proof.
The mortality of 1873 has been the lowest on record, but it is to be observed that, while the number of deaths were unprecedentedly low, discipline was, from circum- stances to which it is unnecessary here to allude, very imperfectly maintained in all the prisons.
It may, I believe, be accepted as an axiom in Indian jails, that the higher the discipline maintained the higher will be the mortality.
The Hon. the Colonial Secretary.
I have, &c. (Signed) W. P. CHARSLEY,
Principal Civil Medical Officer, and Inspector- -General of Hospitals.
(128)
3 D
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
T། ། T ། །
Reference
C.O.885
3 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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