Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-11-25

W
Ter. I asked what Teller? He said that Teller
spoke about yesterday. said / had not said
anything about seeing any Teller. What !
wanted was to see priest. as was dying: he
again ridiculed my request, and said ne kne"
what needed better than any of those fellows,
here couple of weeks longer, treating me as
you have been doing, and will need coffin:
He replied, 'That's just what you will need
and off he went. Fortunately couple OF COM
rades, one a negro, got some medicine and food
to me, and my life was saved.
RUBBING IN cRoToN OIL.
Another time when was in the painting
room, Hall put me in the dungeon for nine
days, four days without anything to eat the
regular bread and water ration being furnished
the other five days. After my release / was al
lowed one day in my cell to recuperate. The
next day Hall came to my cell. I was lying in
bed. He said, 'Get up.' sat up. BE caught
me by the hair of the head and jerked me off
the cot and put me on q stool with my back to
the door. He then pulled my
shirt up over nv head and began rub
bine with feather, what I afterwards
ascertained to be croton oil, all over my back,
shoulders and neck. Not knowing what the
preparation was, and it feeling cool and sooth-
ing when being applied I Gid not think any
thing wrong. Hall finished his work without
saying a word, and having finished, turned,
shut the door and left. In about 10 or ~ min
utes the parts of my person to which the oil
had been applied began to grow warm, and in a
short time felt as if was burning up. | was
in terrible agony, and could do nothing for my
relief. While thus suffering VIM. Hennigen
passed along and / called him to look at my
back and tell me what had been done to me.
He looked at it and stepped back horrifed at
L I. I, <1ora III n fnr
me and walked away. I was in such misery
that I walked my cell all night, and the
next morning my back was one great
fostering sore. sent for Reed and showed him
what Hall had done, but nothing came OF it
further than he ordered soothing lotion to
apply.
PETTY STEAL.
might enumerate good many other acts of
brutality like the above, but these will answer
to show how prisoners are treated by Reed and
Hall. must, however mention petty steal
upon the convicts. As you know, the convicts
are given credits for good conduct, and time
money. The amount of money thus earned by
one convict is small in itself, but when there
are nearly three hundred in the institution, as
is the case now, the aggregate of the time
money amounts to a very comfortable sum.
This account is kept by the warden, and con-
victs are allowed to draw upon 1T from time to
time for the purpose of buying little delicacIes,
ETC., not in the prison fare. In the case of
married men, this time money is used for the
benefit of their families, but single men-and
most of the convicts are single men-have the
money stand to their credit as a kind of stake
when they come to be discharged. Under the
rule made by Reed and Hall, a convict wanting
a dollar for any purpose is obliged to sign a
voucher for $40, $12 or $15, which the warden
takes possession of, and whatever sum he gets
is charged against him. The convict himself
does not see the account, but has to take Reeds
or Halls word for the way it stands, and the
complaint is general that having got voucher
in their possession, they will only pay out a
half or two-thrds of it's face, when they tell the
convict he has used up the amount and compel
him to sign another voucher before he can get
any more money. One time I got but
So on $15 voucher and have heard of other
similar steals, and the impression is general in
the prison that both Reed and Hall are making
4 good thing from this source.
I ought to state also that while the con-
tractors are supposed to furnish all needed
medical supplies, was forced by the circum-
stances to pay out over $50 for such articles
during my term of service. The fact is, tell
you, the Minnesota penitentiary now man.
aged is Stumbling hell.
INVESTIGATION NEEDED.
Both Reed and Hall are appointers of til
contractors, and both are interested in the con-
tractors profits, and they manage the institu-
ton solely for the benefit Of the contractors.
A convict is graded according to the amount of
work that can be got out Of him, and no slave
driver ever lived that used his power
more brutally to get work done than
does this man Hall. The legislative visits and
visits of inspectors are the greatest farces pos
sible. The contractors know long beforehand
when they are to take place, and everything is
arranged and by system of surveillance, car
ried to perfection under Halls management,
the very possibility of anything unpleasant
coming to the attention of the visitors is pre-
vented. A thorough and honest investigation
would develop a condition of things that would
horrify the community. Until such an inves-
tigation is made the facts as to the manage
ment of Minnesota's penitentiary cannot he
known. The incidents of inhuman treatment
l have given but family outline the real facts.