Omaha daily bee., 1884-05-10
STATE-PRIsoN HORRORS,
An EN.Convict Exposes Some of the
Brutalitics of h Iowa rcnt-
Tertiary at Fort Madison.
10 tho Editor OF The Bee.

bolts and bars into the interior of the
state prison or p~enitentiary at Foit Mad.
ison. In the minds 2ye let us look ur,or
The unfortunate as we'll as crir .inal con
Wet as they toll and suffer, as they liv,
and die, in this boz sted model prison
where the dearest rights of helpless hu
mainly are crushed beneath the iron hee
of a cruel and corrupt administration.
In this age of free thought and pro
gression, | believe l have a right to b.
heard, ex-convict though l BIO, and her
to .day-treading the free soil, and, thanl
God, breathing the free air of my adopted
state, Nebraska, | shall speak the trutl
without fear or favor, as regards tn,
workings of hat sheol on earth, that hot
bed of crime, where, despite the boastet
philanthropy of this the nineteenth cen
fury, brutality reigns rampant amid thu
greans of despairing humanity.
But enough To come to the point. J
am not lecturing but pen-picturing,
There are to-day, las during the year past,
about four hundred inmrtes confined III
this prison representing all ages and con.
ditions, from the youthful murderer OF
fourteen to the grey headed rapist.
The ordinary visitor unless he be a close
observer sees little to remark as he en-
ters tho arched gateway and goes the
rounds of the prison. Being hustled from
one department to another in short or
der, he notes the strict discipline and
| fatters himself with the vain thought
that here at least crime is being checked
and that the criminal is becoming re-
formed.
After entering the walls the first place
submitted to the inspection ofthe stranger
Is the cell house, along, gloomy, building
or corridor, whose whitewashed walls en-
close the cells which rise tier upon tier
three stories high; there are three hun
dred cells. In the solitude of these dun
geons the inmate ponders on the evil err
rors of his way or as inclination may
prompt him plans new schemes of devil
ment. AS the visitor casts but a glance
on this bastile his attention is called by
the guard and the line of march takes
him to the bell house. Here he is bland
ly introduced to the deputy, an alleged
Capt. Jack Townsend" if you please,
who graciously opens the books of record
and shows the astonished visitor that this
is not only a self-supporting institution,
but during the three years past has re-
turned to the treasury of the state nine
thousand dollars. Nine thousand dol.
lars! forsooth does he tell you at what a
terrible cost this grand achievement has
been accomplished; does he speak of the
corrupt, soul-destreying convict contract
system, say nothing of the wounds, cuts,
bruises and hunger gnawing at the vitalt
of his victims. But enough, l will speak
of him when l describe the punishments
Passing to the real of the Hill House
through the dining room we enter thu
kitchen where the guard explains thu
steam arrangement by which the food o
the convicts is cooked-tasting a morse
of good bread always on hand, a sampl,
for the occasion. We again take up tn,
line of march and enter the Iowa Too
Company's shops, where one hundred ant
fifty convicts are employed in the manu-
~facture of hoes, rakes, pitchforks ant
such like hand instruments for use in tn,
garden or on the farm. Amid the dus
and smoke begrimed with SCOT let IL
look at the convicts who forge the steel
which eventually bright and clear come
to the citizens hand as a sample of TIL,
useful trades to which the criminal i
supposed to be educated. But alas, tn,
greed for gold is great and the stern shy
lockism of the ages, represented by
grasping contractor, knows no mercy an,
mocks at reform. For instance machine
ry takes the place of ingenuity and tn
poor convict young or old becomes al
instrument a necessary brute force with
out which it would be impossible to fat
ten the wallet of ye Gods the contractors
Hence it is tina. the convict under tn
contract system learns no trade, but sim
ply a branch; for instance, some draw o
the molten metal, Others place it unde
the trip hammers, others temper an
polish, and on his release what does you
criminal know of a useful trade or branc
of industry? Absolutely nothing. III
is behind the age, 30 to speak. He can
not eater a shop and compete with tn
workmen on the outside without friend
and without money. He again become
o criminal inmate of some institutio
and yet your blatant philanthrop isti
legislators point to the politicians figure
calls it a paying institution. Still ther
are mutterings Oh the night air, murder
and arson. Crime increases and tn
bursting bubble of reform leaves but a
empty name to mark its progress.
Thesame description as regards the ben
eft derived from his work sbop exneri
ence may be SAID of the toiler in tn
the shoe shop, the chair shop &c. The,
learn but a branch of a trade and to b
plain they do not learn hat thoroughly
They are slaves sold for a dollar, tn,
bond of the contractor like Shylock q
Venice, is good, ah! so good, that thei
hearts bleed with grief that is born O
despair, when they realize as the write
has often done, that his strength was no
equal to the task imposed upon him, an,
the punishment that followed rev,yes II
this free country the deep dark memor,
of the inquisltion.
In the rear of the cell house under tn
east stairway there a rope and pulle,
simple in design, but terrible in signifi
canoe. This, good people of Iowa, 18th
modern thumb screw. Here the poo
convict who mas broken perhaps only
simple rule is dragged, hi
thumbs are placed in tw
leather coverings. A steel clamp is the
screwed around the middle Joint of eacl