A Counterfeiter's View of the Seattle Jail
A convicted woman, while en route to San Quentin, dismisses the Seattle jail as the 'poorest excuse' in the country.
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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.
The United States marshal left this morning for California, taking Mrs. Roeper, the convicted counterfeiter, with him. She has been sentenced to serve five years in the penitentiary at San Quentin. To one of the officers of the county jail, where she has been incarcerated for the last day or two, she stated that her reason for pleading guilty was to save her son, who otherwise would have received 15 or 20 years. The woman is Southern-bred and well-connected, but is a tough character personally. She has served time in many jails throughout the United States. In speaking of jails in general she remarked, 'But the Seattle jail is the poorest excuse for a jail in the bunch.' Her son is now in the penitentiary on McNeil Island.
“But the Seattle jail is the poorest excuse for a jail in the bunch.”
Public commentary on the quality and humanity of detention facilities remains a consistent thread in Tacoma's civic discourse. While Mrs. Roeper's complaint dates to 1904, contemporary debates regarding the state of local jails and the conditions of incarceration continue to mirror these early critiques.
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