5:00 PM: Standing count in the cells by both shifts of the lieutenants and the cell housemen.
8:00 PM: Count in the cells.
9:30 PM: Lights out count.
12:01 AM: Count by the lieutenants and the cell housemen of both shifts.
03:00 AM: Count in the cells.
05:00 AM: Count in the cells.
A total of thirteen official counts were made in a hour 24-hour period, with several other unscheduled and unofficial counts. In addition, the shop foremen made six verification counts during the scheduled workdays. Sunday and holiday routines required their own schedules, with time reserved for haircuts, showers, clothing changes, and recreation.
COUNT PROCEDURES
Warden Johnston drew up careful, detailed procedures for taking official counts and unlocking and locking cells in the morning, at noon, and at the end of the day.
1. The deputy warden is in command and gives the signals. He takes a position at the east end of the cellhouse, between blocks B and C.
2. The lieutenant of the watch takes a position at the west end of the cell house, between blocks B and C; there he receives reports of count from the guards.
3. The guards take their assigned positions, ready to take the count when the signal is given. On signal, the count is started on the south side of B Block and the north side of C Block.
4. As each guard completes his count he goes to the west end of the cellblock and reports to the lieutenant. The count must be accurate and the report must be made as soon as it is ready.
5. After his report of count, each guard returns quickly to his position. Upon the whistle signal guards open the cells in the same order of movement as when taking count. Example: Guard in position 1, Block B, lower east end, opens the cells controlled by Box 1C, then proceeds quickly to opening the cells controlled by Box 7.
6. After the prisoners have stepped out of their cells, the deputy warden and the lieutenant give hand signals for locking.
PROCEDURES FOR OPENING CELL DOORS
Work Area and Yard Turnouts:
1. This will be done by tiers, taking lower tier on “C” outside, working on the same side top to top. Then, coming over to “inside” of “C”, and working down to lower tier. Then proceed to “B” Block and starting on lower “inside” tier, working to the top. Then turn out other side of Block by starting on top and working down.
2. Officers operating doors will not be required to wait until line clears control box, as aisle will be covered by other officers.
3. Inmates should be let out in a steady stream, but overcrowding should be avoided. Note: East end officer must synchronize his opening with West end officer.
Main Line Dining Room Turnouts:
1. This will be done by blocks, beginning on lower tiers, either inside or outside, and working up to top tier as schedule calls for. Then proceeding to other block, beginning at the lower tier and working up to the top.
2. A weekly schedule should be prepared by cellhouse Lieutenant and Officers, verifying the turnouts as much as possible, but still beginning on the lower tiers, one block at a time.
3. Cellhouse officer will give signal when each tier is to be turned out.
4. Officers opening doors will check tiers immediately after inmates have left the tier, taking the number and locking up any inmate remaining in his cell.
Bath Turnouts:
1. Bath turnouts on Saturday mornings will be done by blocks as directed by the cellhouse Lieutenant.
Inmates were required to shave three times a week, with no exceptions. Men who refused to shave were immediately placed in solitary confinement, and they would be force-shaved with a dry razor by guard staff until they complied. No inmate was allowed to grow facial hair of any kind, including mustaches, sideburns, or beards. Each inmate was provided with a personal shaving mug, a shaving brush, and soap. The guard staff would pass out razors to a small number of inmates at a time, and then collect the blades from each person once they were finished. The inmates were allowed a three-hour window in which to shave, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Prisoners in B Block were assigned to shave on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and C Block inmates were assigned on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Period photographs showing the shower room in the cellhouse basement, and the clothing issue station located in the same area. All new inmates were processed in this area.
A present-day photograph showing the basement shower area.
General population inmates were required to shower twice a week, and the water temperatures were fully regulated by the on-duty correctional officers. The water was kept hotter than average to eliminate the possibility of inmates becoming acclimated to the temperature of the chilly bay waters. The showers were located in the basement area and were considered one of the more dangerous parts of the prison. There was a large community shower room with water pipe columns suspended from the ceiling above cement basins on the basement floor. Guards stood at the doorway, controlling the flow of inmates entering and exiting the room. The inmates were marched down to the basement in their bathrobes, and once they had finished showering, they were issued new underwear, socks, tooth powder, toilet paper, hand towels, bed linen, and a handkerchief.
The Rule of Silence and Strict Regimen
In the early years of Alcatraz, Warden Johnston employed a silence policy that most inmates considered to be the most unbearable punishment of all. Prisoners were not allowed to talk with each other while confined to their cells, walking in line formation through the cellhouse or during counts. They were only allowed to talk quietly in the Dining Room when seated; at their job assignments, and only if it didn’t interfere with their work. Exceptions were made during community events such as motion picture shows and church services; however, their voices were expected to remain at quiet levels.
In the early years, inmates were harshly disciplined for even the slightest violation of the silence rule. There were exaggerated reports that several inmates went slowly insane on Alcatraz because of the “severe order of silence.” Al Capone’s own granddaughter later made the claim that her family remained convinced decades later, his illness and mental deficit was a direct result of the harsh conditions employed on Alcatraz. One inmate, a former gangster and kidnapper named Rufe Persful, took a fire ax from the prison garage while working a garbage detail and chopped off three fingers from his left hand in order to win a transfer off the island. Rumors among the inmates indicated that Persful begged fellow inmate Homer Parker, who was assigned to the same job detail, to “finish the job” by cutting off his right hand. In later years several other inmates, including famed convict Henri Young, used similar tactics such as slashing their Achilles’ tendons, to protest the alleged harsh confinement practices and mental harassment they allegedly suffered while at Alcatraz.
Mug shots of Rufe Persful.
Edward Wutke – the first inmate to commit suicide at Alcatraz.
Another alleged casualty of the silent system was thirty-six year old inmate Edward Wutke. Prior to his imprisonment at Alcatraz, Wutke was an able seaman employed on the Steamship Yale. When a friendly drunken scuffle with his best friend turned into a serious fight, Wutke drew a small pocketknife and stabbed his friend in the groin area, fatally severing his femoral artery. The wounded man would bleed to death before the ship made it into port at San Diego. Wutke became panic-stricken upon realizing the gravity of his act and had to be shackled to a fixed object. Following his conviction for murder on the high seas, Wutke became withdrawn and was sent to Alcatraz because of what officials described as a “desperate disposition.”