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The
providing of useful work for prisoners was always a problem. Road
work and work in quarries was not possible in wet and rainy weather,
and even on foggy days the prisoners were confined to the area of the
prison that was surrounded by walls. At the beginning there was a
brick yard that proved profitable to the men who held the prison franchise.
In
the early years of the prison a factory was built to construct
window sash and blinds and some furniture. Organized labor objected
to this as "free" convict labor was competing with outside
labor. Eventually they made their objections felt politically and the
factory was abandoned. In recent years a furniture factory was
re-established to make furniture for sale to state institutions.
California
had a real demand for burlap bags, especially as the farmers were
using them to market wheat, barley, corn, milo, rice and beans. The
supply of bags was mostly imported from India and there was
practically no competition in America. In
1881, under Warden J. O. Ames, the legislature authorized an
appropriation of $219,000 for the erection of a jute mill, machinery
equipment, etc. The latter was imported from Leeds, England; raw jute
came from India. It
was a large factory containing hundreds of individual looms and
spinning and sack making equipment.
The
famed mill was the scene of harsh Task system
for many years. Operations frequently went on a 24 hour schedule.
Products: burlap cloth, grain and bean sacks were shipped everywhere.
Jute
was imported from India and Indonesia, and brought to San Francisco,
and from there to San Quentin by a paddle wheel steamer called The
Caroline. Often large shipments came by barge from San Francisco.
The
jute was spun into fine twine which was woven into burlap. One man
was assigned to each loom, and he was assigned a daily task of
weaving at least 100 yards of burlap everyday. This was not a
difficult task for the average person who could quickly learn how to
operate a loom. Some operators would build up an overage of his task
and be given credit for the extra amount. Thus a man who would weave
150 yards in one day could quit when he wove 50 yards the next day if
he wanted to. This gave some operators a lot of free time which they
would use to play baseball or hand ball or just loaf around.
In
spite of this advantage, the work in the Mill was the least
desirable assignment in the whole prison. The mill was very noisy and
the handling of the jute created a dust that was not only
uncomfortable but unhealthy. So the job in the Mill was not popular
and most men aimed to be promoted to a better environment.
In
later years, Ernest Zubler was the superintendent of the Jute Mill,
between 1919 and 1945, for some 26 years. Ernest was a very efficient
manager of the mill. Also, for several years, our William Duffy was a
Sack Inspector. All sacks had to pass rigid inspection before being
sold to the public.
Author:
William J. Duffy, Jr.
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