Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 20

Ghosts of Jailed Men Now Inhabit Empty Ccllblocks This Is Alcatraz, The Rock in San Francisco Bay End ofAtcatraz-Maven For Tourists or Pelicans 1 Ignored by the Spaniards snd Mexicans, Alcatraz as a habitat for man started with erection of a lighthouse in 1854. It became a U.S. Army fort In ISM. Confederate sympathizers who tried to seize the foil in the Civil war became Instead is first prisoners. In 28118 it officially became an Army prison, holding, among others, fierce Indian chiefs captured on the great plains.

In the Army quit th island, and In June, 1931, the first civilian convicts arrived. there were 269 prisoners on the Island now there are only 34. Warden Olin G. Blackwell, who probably will be the last at Alcatraz, says the erosion wrought by thet salt air and the bay's rough weather doomed the prison long ago. He implies that the escapes would not have been possible if money had been made available to maitain the physical structure.

WITH THE abandonment of AUatraz as a penitentiary, the latest chapter in a long, lurid history will draw to a close. :5 tic light house. The pelicans for which it was named could take over again. Leaving Alcatraz for the birds, however, has no place in the imagination of Mayor George Christopher of San Francisco. He has asked California's congressional delegation to Introduce a bill for a special study commission on Alcatraz' future.

It is his idea to send tourists by the boatload from Fisherman's wharf, just a mile and a quarter away. "I BKMKVE hundreds of thousands of people would pay a dollar apiece to see the prison as it was, to rub elbows with the ghosts of Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and all the others," the mayor said. "Then, after interest died clown, I would want to see something truly magnificent SAN FRANCISCO, Mar. 1S-Pi Picture, if you can, sightseeing running to and from Alcatraz island every hour on the hour. Imagine tourists crawling all over "the rock," oohing and ah-ing at such information as, "and here, ladies and genie-men, is where Al Capone slept in isolation." The glowering rock in San Francisco bay has a history, mostly grim, that dates back to 3S54.

For the past 29 years jt has been the nation's toughest prison, the tanlalizing lockup for gangland's most hardened criminals, but by July 1 it will be closed and abandoned. WHA TO DO with it is a topic of great speculation. If something isn't done soon, the 20-aere island could become a deserted crag, crowned by decayed buildings and an automa- and roamed in and out at night, probably for months. THEY ARE presumed officially to have drowned, but thgir exploits underlined what Director Bennett himself called Alcatraz' rundown and eroded condition. Then last December John Paul Scott and Darl Dee Parker, two more bank robbers, finished what Morris and the Anglins had started.

Scotit used kitchen cleaner and a banjo string to saw through a bar. Parker happened to be there and went along. Parker was picked up on a rock 100 yards from the island, but Scott swam to the mainland. SCOTT WAS near death when found, but he had proved that a convict could survive the swift tides and 50-degree water. Alcatraz' awesome reputation was irreparably damaged.

Now operation phraseout went into high gear. In June, 19G2, put there. A hug statue like New York's statue of liberty big enough so you could climb right into the fingers." The Justice department decision to abandon Alcatraz prison followed two sensational breaks last year, although the connection is not acknowledged. JAMES V. BENNETT, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, told congress that Alcatraz would have to be rebuilt or a new prison should replace it.

An estimate that renovation would cost about $5 million brought the announcement that Alcatraz would be "phased out" in 1963. A break by three daring bank robbers brought matters to a head. Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin made for shore the night of June 11-12. 1962, equipped wth prison-made raft, paddles and water-wings. It developed that they had chipped through decaying I 1 JIIAYTOX DAILY 4 ft' '4 GEOKGE C'HRISTOrHEK Maybe Later a Statue AL CAPON Most Famous Prisoner XEWS concrete with spoons, set up a workshop atop their cellblock, MONDAY, MARCH 18, 10(13 PAGE 1G DAYTON GEM CITY OF OHIO New Library Symbol of Renewal im iftm rim iZT 7 zl r- yfmtrntPLr i mmr: ma i t-j SAA.b i -ar Old Library (Iuicffiound) IJcfore IJeing Torn Down For New InuiRC of Mother Scton Above Tope's Throne in St.

Peter's 9 By WILLIAM SANDERS The new library, opened Mar. 26, 1962, is more than a beautiful and efficient center for cultural Thirty-Xinth of a Series growth. It is a symbol of the renewal that makes Dayton and Montgomery county a fascinating area in whjch to reside and work. It is another reminder of the city's determination to keep abreast of the tremendous national and international developments. Local interest in a library goes back to 1805 when a Bmall group of Daytonians obtained from the legislature incorporation papers, the first issued to any city In Ohio.

There was no public support and eventually private funds dwindled. An advertisement in the Dayton Journal. Sept. 8, 1835, revealed the plight of the organization "LIBRARY at auction. The books and bookrasps belonging to the Dayton Library association will be sold at auction in the clerk's office at 2 p.m.

Saturday, the 12th inst." Of that library, John W. Van Cleve said, "The number of books is small, but they sre well selected, being principally useful standard works." Van Cleve's father, Benjamin Van Cleve, was the first librarian. Inasmuch as he was also the first postmaster, he kept the books in the post office (his home) at the southeast corner of First and St. Clair Streets. At his death in 1821, the books were moved to the East First Street office of Justice John Folkerth, who later was elected thr city's first mayor.

Sale of the first library did not kill public interest. Twelve years thereafter a new assoriation was formed. On Jan. 12, 1817, at a meeting in the mayor's office, the group elected officers and directors. Milo 0.

Williams, principal of the Dayton academy, was named president'; Dr. John V. Steele, vice president: Valrntine Winters, treasurer, and Robert W. Steele, secretary. The directors were Charles G.

Swain, Ehenezer Thresher. Daniel Deckel, James McDaniel and John G. Lowe. Chartered Jan. 21.

1817, the new library occupied two rooms on the second floor of the Steele building, 12 N. Main St. Attorney M. K. Cut-wen assumed the office of librarian as an extra-curricular activity.

IIUHIIN 18(7 and there were 13 librarians, most of them local attorneys. A few were Pope John Hails Spiritual Progress of United States teachers! Meanwhile, the library moved to the new Phillips building at the southeast corner of Main and Second Streets. There the first reading room was opened. The Ohio legislature in 1853 authorized a one-tenth of a mill tax for library purposes with a view to establishing school district libraries. The Dayton Library association, however, was deter-minpd not to distribute its books among the several schools but to maintain a central library.

The tax was repealed in 1856. Until 1800 when the school library was merged with that of the Library ns.soriation, the institution was kept alive by the Hoard of Kducation from its contingent fund. In 1SS7, the Hoard of Kducation obtained from the legislature power to set up an independent library board to provide! more stable management. A board was authorized, with the president of the Board of Education as ex-officio chairman. Later the number was changej to seven, the-number now responsible for the Institution's operation.

When the library moved into Its new Cooper Tark building In January, 18, It boasted volumes and l.d"0 pamphlets. This compares with Son.OOO volumes now available. On its shelves are magazines, n-wpnpris, pamphlets, films, recordings, pictures, direct the library in 1896, she cs tabliRhed her own training school. It was the second such school in the country. IX 1f)0," she resigned to become director of the library school at Western Reserve university in Cleveland.

She relumed to Dayton following the flood to rebuild the library services and continued as librarian until hpr death in 1927. Commented the Dayton Daily News: "For 30 years she has stood for culture, education and idealism in a community where most of us lived for Paul North Ricp of the New York Public Library surreedrd Miss Dorcn. When he resigned in 10.15 to become director of libraries for New York university, William J. Hamilton of Cary, assumed the post in 10H6 and continued expansion activities until his retirement in 1056. William Chait.

Hamilton's successor, had sparked a drive for new library in Kalamazoo, Mich. His comment on Dayton's library: "You have a wonderful book collection, an excellent staff and a wide range of services de-spite bad physical facilities." Opening of the new main library and five new branches In loss tnin six years after be took office h.is put Dayton deeply in his debt. lOMOIIKON: Itajtou Art In. ftlitute. maps and a variety of documents.

LIKE OTHER Dayton Institutions, the library suffered some irreparable losses in the 1913 flood. Water in the basement and on the first floor took a toll of 46,000 volumes, including bound volumes of early Dayton newspapers, many of them irreplaceable. Today there are 12 branch libraries open six days a week. There are also two in city schools and four in county communities open two or three days a week. Three bookmobiles make regular trips to areas not near a branch library.

In the annals of the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Li. brary, there are names never to be forgotten. To those already noted, that of the Hon. Roy 0. Fitzgerald must be added.

The interest and labor of this Dayton attorney and former Third District congressman can never be adequately assessed. A member of the trustees for 36 years. Fitzgerald envisaged the new building long before the community knew that a new library was needed. In a very real sense, the magnificent new structure is a memorial to his vision, vigor and fidelity. Among the many librarians who have had a hand In the develop, nr-nt of (his institution, Miss Elect ra C.

Dorrn is remembered with special gratitude. Named to I mm tion to us to pay such a tribute to that illustrious nation, a an augury for further advance In spiritual progress For the first time there has appeared in clry above the altar of the chair of St. Peter a heroine of the I'nited States of America," Francis Oudinat Sprllman, arc hhihop of New York, translated the pnrw's Italian words Into Kn'rlish as the Pone paused alter every few paragraphs. Joseph Flmcr Cardinal P.itter, archbishop of St. Iiis knelt to listen.

mm.i.mw aNn cabled his diocese that a lady rlripcl honoring Mother Setnn will be built near the site of her onetime home, across fmm New Yoik City's TViMrry natk. Il uill he added to the liimih fif Out Lady of the notary. According to nitim. the pnpn did not ailend the lo hour beatification rrrrinonv In I morning. Canon tr.

Ftcillo Huffinl read (hr derrre of bratifiration, VATICAN CITY. Mar. 1S-CTi Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Scton has become the first natlve-lmm Ameriran beatified by the Roman Catholic church, bringing her to the of sainthood. Watching the jm.Mis rere-niony In St. Fetor's b.isilica yesterday was Anne Thcrc-p O'Neil, lj, of Hallurmip, uh'" cure from leukemia (blood cancrrl was attributed to the miraculous Intercession of the HMIi century mm.

The Maryland leen.iter. who snapped the climax of the morning rites with a tiny camera, finished her day by kiting Hie ring of pope John XXIII, who came later In the for Hi lust public veneration of Mother Semn. "I.l.lAMIH fcEfON it officially i-frogmH flower of am'li'y Hie I'mic'l States of Afwrira offer to Wv Wot Id." the M-rar-ilf told the 6.M) jTfn at the light nervier, "It Is a sourer of ic rtii As He rrajed It awarded Mother Scton the "hlesved," granted per-iniikinn fur ir IkmIv and relics to be rmsed for public en-nation hut nt fir woiship, f-n her Imagf to bear a halo and fr nnniial masses to be cclcbra'rd in her honor. i I.