The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1879-12-03
The conVicts may have been

but ordinarily they have not beer
ovcrworked and have oftene1
worked less than ten hours a day
than they have worked the full
ten hours. AS a rule they have
never had less than an hour fol
dinner and rest in winter, anC
from two to four hours in summer
according to length of the day OF
the heat Of the weather. The su.
perintendent, overseers and guards
have never abused the convicts
habitually or even in particular
instances to our collective or in.
dividual knowledge, and some one
or more of the directors, who re-
side at short intervals all along
the line Of road, have almost daily,
and frequently several times a
day, either visited the stockade
whore the convicts were kept for
the time or the railroad where
they were at work. No one but
the superintendent or head over
seer has been permitted to infict
punishment, and then only with a
strap, and ifscars are to be found
On the heads or persons Of any Of
the convicts we have mad in
charge, Gas is alleged by some of
the newspapers,) we unquali6edly
deny that they have been inflicted
by our employees, except, perhaps,
in one or two instances for an at
tempt to revolt or escape. Yet,
although such has been our gener-
al treatment, the sickness and
mortality, as before stated, has
been very great, especially during
last summer and spring. That
scurvy was the most fatal disease
hardly admits Of doubt, and al
though we had the best medical
attention in the neighborhood Of
each stockade, and although nu-
merous country physicians visited
each of the stockades Nos. 3, 4 and
5, where nearly all the deaths
have occurred, yet we were not
informed Of the presence Of sour
Wy until the 18th Of August last,
when it was discovered in most
Of the convicts by a medical COM
mittee, consisting Of Drs. j.. G.
Maxwell, g. NJ. Burkhalter and S.
q. Meriwether. That it was sour
w which produced most Of the
mortality is proven by the fact
that as soon as the prisoners were
treated and dieted for scurvy,
there was an almost instantane-
Gus change for the better, and on
ly one death has occurred from
disease a. this stockade during
the last month, and only two 9th
er deaths, as we are informed,
have happened among the twen-
ty-fve convicts returned by US to
the Penitentiary on the 26th Of
September, nearly all which twen-
ty-6ve were rapidly convalescirg
at the time of their departure for
Columbia.
The scurvy of course was great
ly aggravated during the past
summer by the almost universal
and protracted droughtin this part
of the State, preventing US from
the convicts with the
fresh vegetables they would have
otherwise received. On the 9th
day OF April last our company re-
ceived seventy-fve convicts from
the Peniten tiary without any
medical examination by our sur
geon, and many Of those convicts,
as we are informed, were afflicted
with syphilis, dropsy, general de-
bility Or other constitutional dis
eases, which rendered them unfit
for grading railroad and made
them easy victims for the ravages
of disease. Although our written
contract called for seventy-fve
sable bodied" convicts, yet we re-
ceived seven under fifteen years
of age and others having philis,
epilepsy, &c. We do not charge
that those convicts were the pick
ed invalids Of the Penitentiary,
but it is not reasonable that the
most able bodied or healthy were
selected by the o7erseers in the
Penitentiary, to be sent to us,
particularly when we were 80 glad
TO get any, that we took all who
we're offered Without inspection or
examination. Among them were
undoubtedly several who had been
returned to the Penitentiary as