Women leaving the Missouri penitentiary are well provided for by the state they have served under duress, says the St. Louis Post Dispatch. To one woman is assigned the task of preparing the "going out" costumes. Sometimes she prepares her own. ... A young negress from St. Louis finished a lot of garments for the other women, after completing her own, and two days later she was free.
Each woman is given ten yards of muslin, which is made up into underwear. She is also given a dahlia-colored serge dress, made with a plain skirt and with the latest style Russian blouse, trimmed with black braid and lined with black cloth. In addition to this she has a black cloth cape and a black hat of late style and good quality.
With this outfit and the blessings of the matron. Miss McGee, she emerges from the prison door and goes forth to face the world.
In some respects she has a great advantage over a man who has just been released.
The suits given to the men by the state are of a peculiar quality and an experienced detective or policeman can tell one at a glance. ... Many a man has been arrested "on suspicion" for no other reason than that he was wearing a penitentiary suit.
Although the Missouri penitentiary is the second largest in the United States there are only 55 women convicts. ...
The woman's department is more like a home than a prison although the discipline is strict and unchanging.