, 1874-01-14
PRISON INVESTIGATION.
The Prison Physician Charged with
Neglect Of Duty.


Tho C0!Q"balH PUNISHMENT ueclarEu u
Be Cruel and Hazardous.
s,<cia1 Dispatch to The Chicago Tribune.
,o7nr. jan l3.-seuato7 Heury called ths Com
,n..s to order Ut 9:l5. Present, Henry, Reynolds'
crna1,ch. Shepard, Ferreli, Wilcox, williamson
~ moved that tae Committee proceed to inquire
-.st,. carse Of the dea,h Of the convict Will
i1rns.
DE- c. RICHARDS, COUNTY CORONER,
Ao hid m inquest over the remains ct Convict
rr;,;ans was present. and, by resolution, asked to
+.et,f7. He stated, without being sworn, that the
s.h NJ Williams first to Ills notice through tie
-s.s He received communication from Warden
un,m. asking an investigation into the nffatr. He
,..4.1 iury Of the best men-meu whom he would
..t his life in the hands Of. 1t was two weeks after
-c,i.m.' de1th that the post-mo1tem was
hid. BE mny have come to his death
fon rupture Of the heart, induced by excitement at
+,,djnr the bath Tho body WIS examined In my Of
e. Found the organs in good order, except the
ha,,4 which IVES In fatty condition. and ruptured.
ahe nca1t h4d two openings in it when presented to
he iurr Tho upper third OF Of the openings #as
+n1ic with lai1e-so the lower third. The centre
Of he aperture may have been rupture. From the
sTidence before the inquest believe Wiliams death
VIZ produced hy rupture Of the heart. don't teeve
he died from straugulation- The resistance Of the
.oue. to the bath might have produced the rupture
tad he runture uis deah The violent muscular e1-
ertion and the sho1k OF the bath must hare pro
dnced his death. The man WAS not dfoEEel.
The mans general health must have been good. It
spreared il evidence before however, that he WAS
injured somewhat before he to the Pcnitentary,
M meier with feuow-prisonern. I understood that
fle bath for puushneu: Ind been abolished, but tho
F.on Physician instructed by the Commissioners
IN administer baths in certain cases. Such batls
would not be dangerous to man in good health.
h;d ordered such bath to such nj a, should have
feu nzrseat+ II I'd becu Physician should have
and would not administered
Tue 54,h. Tho Thysci4n ought to have been present
when the b.th waa administered Do not think the
Prison Physician did his duty either before or after the
hath. TIE symptoms Of diseased heart ire weak
seton Of the pulse. Tie walls Of his heart we're thin.
in.tiou. The body WAS in good condition when e1-
a,ed It, {uere the Doctor went into recounting the
evidence before tie Cosonar's Juzy.) The rupture
mus: haye becu produced when he w.s being bathed-
Dr.. Mason is an aiorarhic phyAisian; graau4ted in
Vermont, IL lie Castelton School Have no knowi-
ejce of liz p1actice-1now nothing Of his ability.
Wills us w.s diseased. 1t a1asous duty To have
thoroughly eza1.ined lin Such bathinE Is never
eouaueive Of health-neSer Unsuitable. che symp-
MI opinion aud that Of scve7cl physicians that Will
lains' condition could hive been determined. He hero
presented ths testimony attiueed before To coroners
Jury, which tho Committee tool charge of.
MAI. VILLAIN, WARDEN,
next appeared before the Committee. Said the bath
WIS no part Ct ths punihhmen:s of the prison. On
the 9Th Of July tue hath as punishment Was abol-
Ins " since til.t the bath waa still being 3D.
1Sis Wilisnss' dea.h. was away 1t the time When
came home Deputy Han told me OF Nillans' death
Ea:d he had reported the affair to the
nhtn thought nothing more CT 1t. Hall has been at
the Ereou three or four years. When entered the
rz.on, found the discipline good, and my aim WAS to
1anl-in 1t. Que difficulty discovered however. was
that there was no Of appeal on the part Of con-
r;c:s from the Keepers to the Warden or Com
.ctssonerz vent to work to correct ms eFi!: ana
d blaIks, ETC., by which appeal could bo hAd.J The
plan adopted works WELL aud has been strictly observ
Ell by tie Eutordnutts, SO far as can learn. Mr.
Whaus here presented comparison OF punishment w.
tween the present and the past, which showed tiat the
punishment had been lnnerialy decreased under the
new management He believed that whipping was
The best punishment TIM: could be administered. 1t
WIS better for the heAlth Whipping might have IT,
dueed Williams des'h h hers read the rules OF the
On motion, Messrs. Williamson and Gundach were
s1Io!nted Committee to examine the written testi-
tnouy before the late Coruncr's jury.
De. AAsos, PRISON PHYSICIAN,
Wis present. weu the Committee proceeded with his
examination.
Wien WiIiams died WIS advised by tbs Commits
1ioue.s to make pos. no=tem examination. When l
removed the heart, found it Iuptured hid back
lue ecap, but dill not look to the brain, because my
too dull to cut the Eku was SO well satisfied
that the died from rupture OF the heart thn after
e1smaing 4 did not prosecute seen The c,s;asas cram,
. give it mieroscopical examination. I ordered
Sleeper to bath. Williams. Was not present when the
than the eo,asy, and therefore ordered it. Was IS
sisted In the Io5t-orte1n by the Hospital Steward
belie'e Wilkins came to his death from rupture Of
the heart Do not think the bath produced Williams
death. never order ha.hs for punishment. usu-
ally g1vo written orders for baths when deem them
necessary health measure The bath Is not used
rs punishment, and in tie case Of Williams
dered BY me tecause he fedaaed sickness. he here
cited other baths he had ordered and their beneficial
tathing under my notice is that Of Will
LINE. The hath, or violent exercise in bath
iag may have produced his death: There
E2s attempt to cover up the affair. had nothing
to do with the calling Of Coroncfa inquest, but WAS
ordered to mike rtst-mortem by the Commissioners
disease Of the teart IL Williams Il il my duty to
Frrson7uy supeyintend al baths. / have practiced
to.n medicine Ind dentistry for tFenty-three years-
plo;ed sometimes repair teeth Of convics- HIVE
tiled teeth for convicts and have charged them the
t.ast oest of material Some %oss nsSe aesS1 m nefa n
doctor teeth The work have done is one Of charity,
which didn't want to have anything to do With.
ii the time the heart Of Williams was
t-ken out by nc the Hospital Stewards were
!resent. The Stewards are employees, not conv1cts.
1he examination Of Dr Mason being completed the
Committee adjourned to meet again at ~ O'Clock.
THE coRoSERs JURY.
During the recess the COMMITTEES took dinner, alter
Proceeded to IN examination Of the evidence Of the
coroners jury, which has already been published In
AFTERNOON SESSION.
DE-. J. 4. CASEY,
The Committee met ut O'clock Dr. J. r Casey,
one Of the physicians who assisted in the CoroneEs
TostmoTtem examination Of Williams body was
called. After repeating part Of his testimony before
1he ooroner's Jury. he stated that h. did
not know what was the Of WEhams
death. It might have been = rupture
the heart but he could not speaE positively, for be
tAa not made mcroscopical examination was
onee Prison pl:EiciSn- Was sometimes present IN I'D
1aai5tesng bath at ny order. consider the bath
aEstle hazardous in many instances. Once had man
- dc t5om fatJ degeneration Of the heart, when
thought be suffering from den.ent=d mind It Is
Eey difficult to I.ter1ine By Al examination - to
te salary It used to take INC the forenoon Of
t:ca day to fn6u my lutes. Don't think the health
Q. The prisoners requires physician In eonstant
1.tendancs
CHAPLA1S RnIsCoE
eas then called. LIE knew nothing Of the baths. Ho
fss Ut tAe prison when Williams died. l was
aong my usual duties, when I entered the
clubhouse and found Williams lying on table dead