Page image

H.—2o.

Wellington Prison. (Superintendent, Mr. J. Down.) I have the honour to submit my annual report on the Wellington Prison for the year ended 31st December, 1933. There were in custody at the commencement of the year 157 males. During the year 916 males were received and 944 were discharged, leaving m custody at 31st December, 129. -The discharges were as follows :On expiration of sentence—Hard labour or simple imprisonment, 458 ; special remission hard labour 25, imprisonment 2, reformative detention 2 (total 29) ; executed, 2 ; released on the recommendation of the Prisons Board—hard labour 23, reformative detention 15 ; debtors 29 ; transferred to Mental hospital, 3 ; acquitted after remand, 20 ; transferred to another prison or to the police and on probation, 358 ; released on bail, 7 : total, 944. The greatest number in confinement at any one time during the year was 163 and the least 116. The daily average number in prison during the year was 139-09. The number of cases of sickness, greatest at any one time was 19, and the number of admissions to the public hospital during the year was 7. ... The officer in charge of the clinic reports as follows : t-wenty-l wo men were received suffering from venereal disease. The syphilis cases were taken to the clinic at the public hospital and received injections once a week. The gonorrhoea patients were treated at the prison clinic and were taken to the public hospital" once a month for examination by the Medical Officer and in some instances for a blood-test. One gonorrhoea patient was transferred to the public hospital with badly affected eyes. Thanks are due to the Medical Superintendent of the Public Hospital for Ms assistance in dealing with prisoners when transferred to that institution, also to the mental hospital authorities. The conduct of the prisoners on the whole has been very good. Owing to the necessity for strict economy, all work when possible is carried oat by our own staff. The electrical work has grown to some extent on account of more electrical plant being needed. A considerable quantity of repairs and rewiring was done at the Borstal Institution at Point Halswell, also repairs to the pumping-plant and the hydro-extractor. The extractor requires attention twice a week. Throughout the year the various denominations held their services. Our thanks are due to the ministers and laymen, Salvation Army officers, and the Roman Catholic clergy for their ministrations. Concerts have been given by the Presbyterian Women's Social Service, the Salvation Army, the Justices Association, and Mrs. Chatfield, J.P., which were thoroughly appreciated by the men. _ Each of these different organizations also gave Christmas cheer. The following also gave Christmas contributions : Mrs. Chatfield, Mr. W. P. Sommerville, Mr. Norman Aitken. A Christmas allowance of tobacco was granted by the Department. Many thanks are due to Mr. W. P. Sommerville for giving concessions in dental services to inmates. With the extensive dry season the crops of mangolds are light and the hay will not be so plentifixl this year, but with careful management we should have sufficient to carry on. With regard to the vegetable garden the dry weather has had a bad effect on these. Several sales were made at the auction and to the staff. The dairy cows are doing well and keeping up a fair supply of milk. Our method of disposing of our produce is as follows : Milk to the prison, Borstal Institution, and staff. All surplus cream is made into butter and disposed of to the prison, Borstal Institution, staff, and the balance sold at auction. The pig-breeding industry has been carried on successfully during the past year. Ihe prisoners who are employed on the farm section take considerable interest in their work, and are attentive to the live-stock under their care. . Many improvements have been made to the grounds at the Massey Memorial, 450 yards ot terrace has been formed, and the banks built up in the form of rockeries and planted with different The printing and bookbinding industry has been continued with satisfactory results. With the new printing-machine a better class of work is now produced and a greatei number of men are employed in the work. . Breadmaking by prison labour is being carried on and the product is ot a high standard. Other industries are as follows: Floor-polish, staples, tin containers for floor-polish, sandsoap; manufacture of soap for sandsoap and common soap for laundry purposes, &c., lead-headed nail making. The galvanizing of nails for lead-head nail making was found expensive on account of a second machine being required to put on the lead head. To get over this difficulty and to have good results we have galvanized a portion by dipping the nails in a mixture of oils during the process of making and a splendid result is maintained and a much cheaper job is effected. ■ r ■ j On my inspection of the brickworks and machinery at Wi Tako, I found the buildings in fair order. There were indications that there were a few leaks in the brick sheds. The brick machines were m good order, all well oiled, also the engine. The conduct of the staff has been excellent and the prison routine work has been carried on as smoothly as possible. The clerical work has also been carried out in a satisfactory manner. Wi Tako Prison, Heretaunga. (Superintendent, Mr. D. Blain.) At the commencement of the year the muster at this institution was 76. The muster at the end of the year was 74, comprising 52 hard-labour and 22 reformative-detention prisoners. The general health of the prisoners has been good, there having been no really serious cases of sickness and only one admission to hospital on account of accident. No venereal disease cases have been reported at this institution during the year.

3 —H. 20.

17

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert