ALIMONY CLUB.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13071, 10 May 1913, Page 9

ALIMONY CLUB.

HUSBAND'S LIFE IN A PRISON HOTEL. NEW YORK, March 20. In an amusing report presented' to-day to Mr Gaynor, Mayor of New York,: the Commissioners of Accounts call att*n.ie__ Ito the existence m New Y*rtk «f "tie most luxurious gaol m the world." Each of th© prisoners incarcerated In this prison, it is stated, costs the city on an average £735 a year. They liv« •on a scale that could not easily be improved upon m the finest hotels, their personal wants being attended to by numerous warders who act as -valets, while four skilled and highly paid cooks provide them with an exoelient cUisine. Ludlow street Gaol ia the iname of this curious penal institution, but it popu-' larly known. as "the Alimony Club, because the greater number of its inmates are recalcitrant husbands convicted for c non-payment of alimony. .Insolvent debtors and "militiamen who have neg- - lected to pay their regimental fees are v also confined m "the Alimony Club," Each prisoner is provided with a suite of comfortable cells. None of them want to leave. "The atmosphere of the Ludlow street gaol," says one report, "i* akin to that of mediaeval monasteries, where the monks lived care-free a retired life far from the maddening struggle for" existence." Baths, a library, and even an organ are provided for the prisoners.They pass the time reading, writing, or playing cards. BETTER THAN THE MAURETANIA. One prisoner described life m the resort as a rest cure. "The only restrictions," he said, "are those which obtain m any good sanatorium. "I'd rather live here than m the Mauretania. We have long sleeping hours, plenty of exercise m the open air, no mental, or physical strain, ahd an abundance of good, nourishing food magnificently prepared." Another prisoner deolared that lie had been m hotels all over the world, and added : "Fve never found one where 1 get such prompt, painstaking attention. The keepers are mora like^the orderlies of an officers' mess or the stewards of V first-class club than turnkeys." As an illustration of the attractions «f "the Alimony Club," Sheriff Harburgw narrates that he recently secured the re* lease of a woman who had refused to pay £200 damages for alienating th* affections of another woman's husband. She reproached him bitterly, saying that she had never been so comfortably housed and fed m her life. The Commissioners recommend radical changes m the administration of New York's "gaol de luxe."