The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1879-10-03
Padding IN PRISONS.

The man who yields the paddle at Clin-
ton prison, New York, is Hugh Fitzpater-
ick. He is about thirty-ive years of age,
and of immense size and strength. He looks
like prize OK. and certainly he seems to
enjoy the work. In the summer of 1877
some of the men, having been given bad
meat for dinner, carried parts of it out in
their hands, to throw it away. AS they
were going along the gallery one of them
threw peice down in to the hall, and John
Clabby, boy, who was walking behind
him, followed his example, and flung down
the peice he was carrying. AT that mo-
ment the kitchen keeper stepped out of his
room, and the piece Of meat struck him.
He saw Clabby throw it, and at once report
ed him. | think Clabby was the youngest
and smallest boy who was ever sent to a
State prison. He was only fifteen years of
but he was dragged into the guard room,
| ashed like a full-grown man over the block,
and that giant, Fitzpaterick, padded the
| little fellow nearly to death. l don't know
how many blows he got, but he was laid up
for several days after the fogging. When
he was able to come out cf his cell asked
him about the padding, and he told me
that when he felt the first blow he thought
it was not the paddle. 1t was so heavy and
gave him such shock, that he thought
it was rafter that had tumbed down on
him from the ceiling. He was greatly
frightened, and cried that the building was
falling; but Fitzpatrick only laughed and
glied his paddle more vigorously than be
FORE The warden OF Clinton Paisou had
one theory, and that was that convict was
only good or to be hogged or knocked down
Under his management the punishment Of
padding became shsmetully common
Sometimes it was administered to prisoner
because he was caught talking in work hour'
but unusually the first otfense of this kline
was punished by putting the mans heat
into an iron cage, which we was compelled
to wear at sll times--even in bed. Yol
may suppose that it is not possible to obtaiI
much sleep with the head confined in sucl
an apparatus, and have often seen mel
wearing them whose faces plainly showed
that they were utterly exhausted for want o
rest. If this treatment was found not t.
have the desired effect, and the men wer
again caught talking, the paddle wa
, brought into play, and the punishment,
need hardly say, was generally successful
= 4 remember that in the winter of 1876 tw
men working in the mines were caught tall
ing. Their heads were put into the iro
, cages, and they wore them for short timt
a but one of them in some way obtained Ike
3 which opened both cages, and they too
9 them off. They were wild, harum scaru
e fellows, and they thought it good joke
q put the two cages on the head of Deacy, Il
i keeper of the mine, and make him wa
d across the yard in view of the prisoner
n They waited until he came near them tn,
q rushed at him aud endeavored to force Il
s two cages on his mead, but he struggled vi
is orously and shouted for assistance. Anot
If er keeper went to the rescue with a draw
"a revolver, and the two convicts released De
:. cy, whose head was slightly cut in the.scu
"A tle. The two men were taken into t
l. guard room at once, lashed to the block, a
~ given fifty blows each with the padi
], They were then taken to their cells, a
IL chained by the feet to the floor. The ne
N day they were again taken into the guard roc
le and given i1rty strokes each After that tn
Ia were again chained to the floors of tn
" cells and were absolutely kept in that |
sition for several months, having nothi
to lie on except straw mattresses.