The Jailer's Hospitality
Skagit County prisoners find their incarceration is surprisingly comfortable.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
La Conner can boast of one thing, at least, and that is the largest jail in the world. At the last term of the District Court in our town, several unfortunates were found guilty and in default of their payment were handed over to the iron grip of the Sheriff to be boarded at the McGlenn House until such fines were worked out. The mercy of His Honor knows no bounds; he would not have a poor prisoner board at a place where he himself would not board, but sends his erring wards to La Conner's best hotel. A person not acquainted with the particulars would naturally ask why the prisoners do not take French leave of Skagit county, but anyone who has ever been a guest of the McGlenn House would never ask such foolish questions, for Mrs. McGlenn has the reputation of being the best cook in town.
“The boat of La Conner is a big one, but no larger than it is just.”
This tongue-in-cheek account of the Skagit County justice system highlights the intersection of public punishment and private hospitality. It serves as a stark reminder of how resource management, even in the 19th century, was often a source of dry, local irony rather than pure punitive administration.
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