Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-06-12
F1END1sH nDIsCIPItNE."
Attother Boy Tortured, Blt,tded and Matsted
il for LIFE at Phtladetphta's House Of Ref

New York World Philadelphia Letter.
Poor Henry Ackley il not the only victim
Ct the tnaumanity practicsd sat the Philadel--.
phia house Of refuge. To-day an operation
was performed At the Philadelphia hospital
1pon William Christman, the doctors having
decided that, by taking out one eye, there is
= possibility Of saving the other, which is now
almost gone. William Christman Was loft
an orphan at an early age, and finally drifted
into the northern home for friendless chill
dren, where heEremained until he was &C.
cused, in company with other inmates of this
charitable institution, of having upset the
donation box. He was hurried before mag
istrate, and within few hours found himself
in the house of refuge. He was % stout and
healthy boy, and stood we'll with the officers
until Mr.. Bulkley assumed Charge. He was
soon after that marked as black sheep, and
when an attempt was made to set fire to the
building in July, 1873, he was at once &C.
oused Of completely in the attempt.
In spite of his strenuous denials, and as
far as can be learned without any evidence
against him, he was placed in solitary con-
fnement. The cell was low, dark and close,
and there was not single article of furni-
ture in it. A window, barred by an iron
PA0VOS o04 VCu OAly ao q AVCAOAy W 6AO" Uuhi
light might come through it if it were let in,
and terrible stencil, due to defective venti-
lation, made it q yeritable Black Hole. Here
he remained fol: week, compelled to lie
down with his mouth close to the cell door
and subsisting on bread and water, while
the thermometer frequently touched 100 de-
grees. He was at last led, weak and totter
ing, to the lower floor (he had been confined
in the top of the building where the heat of
the sun had the most effeet) and asked by
Superintendent Buckley: =
swell, will you confess now?''
GIVE nothing to confess replied he, 81
"Will you confess at once?'' interrupted
his inquisitor.
81 have nothing he began again, when
at signal he was taken by an attendant and
laid naked over the steam generator while
the superintendent beat him oyer the back
with cane, bringing the blood at almost
every stroke. He shrieked aloud and then a
bundle of rattans was used upon his bare
back until he tainted. When be came to he
was again in his dark cell, SO weak from
long confinement and loss of blood that he
could hardly move.
Two weeks longer he remained in this
horrible place until late one night he was
told that he was to be sent to farmer in the
country. he was taken outside the wall,
thinly clad, the cold night air striking
through to his bones after his long, sufocat-
ing confinement, and told to wait on the
corner until the farmer came. The guide
hardly disappeared in the distance when a
policeman came up with ~ want you" It
was not a simple order to 'move on,' but
he "wanted'' him. He took him to the
station and the next day careless magis-
trate sent him to the house of correction as
q vagrant-a boy, who had not been free to
60 where he pleased for years.
The exposure had done its work, however.
His eyes began to fail, all sense of hearing
in one ear was lost and slender, unatten-
uated form that six months later was turned
adrift from the house of correction bore no
semblance to the stout and healthy boy that
had been taken out of the streets years be-
fore. He walked back to the city q wreck.
He found some friends who found him lit
| tie work, but it WIS more than his feeble
hands could do, and without eyes and with
partial sense of hearing he was of no use to
| himself or any one else.
To-day the body of Harry Ackley was
| buried in the Cathedral cemetery, and to-
morrow the executive committee of the So
ciety for the prevention of cruelty to chill
dren will discuss the case and see what they
can do about it. The mayor has done some
thing by severely reprimanding Lieut.. Jor-
dan, who was in charge of the Ninth dis
trict station, for not reporting the case and
giving an early opportunity for complete
investigation. The Christman case fortu-
nately is in the hands of an attorney, and
the system of management in this institu-
ton will be investigated in court of justice
in suit for damages.