Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-08-18
From The LiJerator.
THE CHARLESTON WORCESTERSHIRE
CURTAIN RAISED.
PHrLAprDpHrA, July 21st, 1919.
WIN. LLOYD GARRISON:

Dear Sir,-I presume that before this reach
es you. you will have read a partial account
Of a late insurrection in the charleston Work
House, as published in the papers of that ci-
ty-Of you have not, see slips enclosed. y
My object at present is TO give a candid state
ment OF facts, which can be relied upon for
their truthfulness, as well as 10 show the do
ings of the sons of chivalry in the sunny
South.
First, then, it seems necessary that you
should understand what is meant by the
Charleston Work House, Let me say that
it is not a house of industry; neither is it
a house Of confinement for obstreperous
youths, nor a place in which Migrants are Ia
ken care of; but, alas it is a house of blood.
of cruelties and of murders an institution
erected and licensed by the city authorities,
solely for the Imprisonment and corporal pun
iShment of the poor degraded slave. The
: Charleston Work House is far more horri-
BILE than any Spanish Inquisition that you
have read of-deeds are enacted there which
are a disgrace, a reproach. an everlasting
stigma upon the dignity of man.
1t is in this abominable place that the ty-
rannical master, for the most trivial fault or
for the hellish purposes of lust-or the jeal-
Gus and termagant mistress, for a mere dis
like, or something saucy which she p%erceives
10 the countenance of the abused slave, is al
lowed, at will and pleasure, 10 send their
slaves, of either SEX, age, or condition., TO be
: corrected And how ? in what manher!-
Before high Heaven, | speak truly this is
the mode. Iron rings for the feet are fixed
in the floor, through which the foot passes 10
the instep; the hands are tied together, and
by a block and tackle raised over the head,
and drawn up 10 the ceiling of The ROOM
During this operation, the joints of the victim
,-o oct,, hood O., or,nI. .. fr kn - ~ ~ ~
ed, the victims are in a state of nudity when
thus prepared. The whipping-mas,er-a
strong, athletic fellow-deals out twenty
lashes with a cowhide three feet long, and
about one-quarteT of an inch in %circumfer-
ence at the smallest end, each blow upon the
: flesh Of the poor stretched slave causing the
blood TO flow, for an incision is invariably
made upon the skin. After the whipping,
; the wounds are washed with salt and water
= to prevent modification, and the slave sent
= back to the owner. This is no fancy sketch,
: but stern reality. For each slave thus han
{ died, the institution receives the sum of fifty
. cenis-twenty-fve cents turnkey fee, and
twenty-five cents whipping fee.
Formerly, until within the last ten years,
this Work House was let out al 81, 900 per
: annum but the city fathers having discover
, ed that the lessee was making a fortune by
. the shedding of blood, taking in annually up
> wards Of So, 900, refused leasing, and hired a
j master or sup superintendent, at a salary Of 50, 900
per annum, thereby securing the profits 10
the city. 1t was also formerly customary 10
!, publish the monthly report Of the income,
and number Of slaves whipped and otherwise
- punished, q had a copy of this report, but il
y is somehow misplaced,) in the papers Of the
} city; but it has been thought prudent, since
1886, to omit this publication, lest those i'm
- ,nr,inapt al,p1itippistS. WOulI pnmmpnt unOn
it. And be it known, that reverend gentle
~ men also p%atronise this house of cruelty, tho
= in a cowardly manner. For instance when
n' ever a master or mistress wishes a servan
v, corrected, G. constable is called, who takes hit
s. prisoner publicly TO the Work House, and re
lS turns him or her TO the master or mistress
~ for which he receives a fee Of one dollar
" But not so with the reverend gentlemen
IN they take their slaves into their private coach
u, es early in the morning, have them whipped
and coolly return TO their prayers and break
fast, as if doing God service. O., what by
nd p%ocrisy!
ly assert this as a fact, from twenty years
mt observation, and | do not feel backward il
TO-. stating that the Rev. WIN. Capers, now Bish
tie on OF the Methodist Episcopal Church
.ce South, at Charleston, S. c., Rev. DR.. Bach
he man, Of The German Lutheran, Rev. Mr.. Fol
Use rest, of the Presbyterian, Rev. Benz. Glider
We sleeve, Of the Congregational, Rev. Nj
we Hanckel, of the Episcopal, Rev. Vim II
~ Barnwell, Of the Episcopal, and Rev. J. |
ST. Campbell, have and do now patronize til
is house Of blood and that the last namet
he Rev. ]. b. Campbell, had a female slave mo-
10 cruelty whipped about two yeas ago, for NJ
,rs. cleaning his horse properly.
of 1t was in this abominable house that Ii
ID; brave Nicholas was confined; it was am
-t 1900 A., L. Ityol n Vronlar IN