City Jail Expands Capacity for Homeless
With winter's chill settling in, Tacoma installs bunks to replace cold cement floors for the indigent.
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.
Work on twenty-four canvas bunks was commenced at the city jail this morning and will be completed in a few days. The bunks are to be installed in the lodgers' room of the jail and will serve as permanent fixtures. Heretofore, all persons seeking free lodging have been forced to sleep on the hard cement floor of the cell. Last night, sixty-seven homeless men were given shelter at the jail, and two were turned out this morning after being furnished with a substantial breakfast. Officials expect the number of those seeking shelter to decrease with the coming of warmer weather.
“Heretofore, all persons seeking free lodging have been forced to sleep on the cement floor of the cell.”
The practice of using the city jail as the primary response to homelessness is a precursor to modern debates over the criminalization of poverty and the lack of dedicated public shelters.
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