Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-12-17
orr PRISONS AND posT,
Az 'Fhey tppsar 10 the President of
she HarJ land Prisoners Aid Assoc
ciafI"n.

Hiui NA1hh 1 ilHhlitTS hlu AhSOclilliOl, re
!. Gently paid visit to the penal institu
tions OF Delaware, where the pillory ant
: whippi g-post still holdsa prominent posi-
tion, and also to the Cecil county jail AMI
alinshouse of Maryland. Speaking OF then
to I'm american reporter, he said; 18th,
New Castle Jail is large two-story build
ing, enclosed on one side by stone wall
1t has 40 cells facing each other on tive
tiers opening on common corridors, each
cell usually containing from one to three
occupants. There is one large double
cell, in which / found II prisoners The
officer stated that occasionally they were
compelled to put from 40 to 60 in this
cell. Most of these were for petty
offences, an I serving ont term OF SEN
tence from 80 to 60 days.
The prisoners seem to he reasonably
well cared for, MS well MS could he ex.
peeted under the existing sysbnl The
building was comfortably heated. and
each prisoner was supplied will. Il straw
mattress and blankets. Those serving
out life sentence were also furnished
with bedsteads. The prisoners nre kept
! in their cells. but are taken ont twice
every week for fresh air, and exercised in
the yard. The sanitary condition was
|
closets are placed in every cell, found
30 prisoners. Many were serving ont
| long terms or sentence. four being
prisoners for life; the saddest of these
cases was that of father and son, CON
yicted of murder. They both occupy
| the same cell. The old man was "a years
of age, the younger one 81. The other
two were colored men, one % years old
and the other So. Some of these
unfortunate convicts were mentally and
physically wasting away for want of EN-
ployment and exercise. One of the colored
men had already passed Is years of his
sentence, and looked pale, emaciated
and detected. It was pitiable to hear
their earnest cry for work, especially the
father and SOD. 1t is cruel and inhuman
to keep men imprisoned in their cells
without any kind of employment for 10,
20 and 30 years, and even for life time.
Such imposed Incidence can only en-
gender morose thoughts, injurious both to
health and morals, and often leads to i'm
becility and arrangement. No prison
system can be success without the pro-
per appliances, and daily labor is an i'm
portant one. Work conducted under
proper restrictions is healthful, and not
only inculcates habits of industry for the
future support of the convicts. but greatly
aids in maintaining the institution.
also saw in this Jail the professional
bank robber called Big Frank, who has
nearly served out his sentence of 10
years for robbing the Wilmington Bank.
He made his escape twice during his i'm
prisonment, but was recaptured. He is 40
years old, n man of some intelligence,a ,and
converses well and has determined will.
His features are prominent and striking,
but he is not as large as his name would
indicate, but is man of strong muscular
power, and is particularly noted for his
daring deeds. He formerly lived in New
York, where he was also imprisoned.
THE PuILoRY AND WHIPPING POST.
and the other officers / was conducted
through the entire building, and after
wards taken to the yard, in the centre of
which stands that monster of civilization,
the pillory and whipping post, which is
only used on Saturdays, when from two
to six a,e generally punished in this harsh
and barbarous manner. On such occa-
sions the large gate leading outside the
wall is thrown open to the public, and
crowds OF spectators congregate to wit
ness the revolving sight. II often swells
to such mass that the curious can
scarcely find standing room within the
enclosure.
Prisoners sentenced on a serious charge
are first taken to the pillory. This is a
round uncovered platform from 10 to 10
feet high, and must be reached by lad
der. Here they are compelled to stand
on their toes, with their neck in yoke
and their arms pinioned in n most un-
natural end strained position, which soon
becomes positive torture, and is said to
be equal in severity to that of the whip.
ping g-post, which Immediately follows the
hour of standing in the pillory. They
generally receive from 10 to 40 lashes
we'll laid on the bare back with a cat o.
nine tails, which. often draws blood. For
petty offences they sre only whipped,
without being placed in the pill
lory. / asked the officer who
attended me what he thought of
this mode of punishment. He said
that he did not like it; that the practical
result did not seem favorable; the punish
ment was too degrading, and caused those
who endured it not only to lose what little
self-respect they still possessed, but made
them more desperate, and he had known
instances where this punishment was re-
peated several times on the same prisoner
without any salutary effect. 1t is also
very demoralizing to the men, women and
children who are miscellane ously per-
mitted to witness this disgraeeful sight.
In order to show how very disgusting
such scenes are, will relate the follow
ing incident, which occurred some years
ago and was told me by reliable
gentleman of Delaware; "a colored
woman, mother of very young
infant, was convicted for trifling
larceny, was brought to the whipping
post, made bare to the waist, and tEen
lashed with cat -nine-tails until every
cut drew blood and caused the milk to
gush from her breast, which revolving
sight was hailed by the shouts and
laughter of the vulgar crowd. lfDelaware
desires to minimize her prison popula-
| ton, she must pull down her pillory and
| whipping post and substitute daily eni-
| ployment, proper classification and moral
and religious instruction, which can cle-
vate and not tend to cast them down to
the lowest scale of humanity.
THE PRISONS AT WILMINGTON.
/ visited the prison at Wilmington and
also the lookup for tramps in the old city
hall, and ON this occasion was introduced
TO a number of their prominent officials.
among whom were Hon. Calvin h. iihoads,
the mayor, and Mr.. John Dougherty
chief of the police. In conversation
with Mr.. Dougherty, 1 enquircd how
many arrests had been made since last
january. He said that he could not posi-.
lively state, but supposed the number
would reach as high as 1000. That morn
ing l read the police report in the daily
paper, which stated that $50 arrests had
been made during the month of Novem
Der. asked what he thought of theil
penal system, the pillory and the whipping
post, realizing that his experience a'
chief of the police would enable him tt
judge correctly of its effect. He an
swered that he did not applove of it, an,
thought that il failed to reach its aim anf
purpose, especially upon young offenders
who scarcely ever recovered from III,
disgraceful exposure and blot upol
their characters necessarily attend
ing public lashing. II onl!
seemed to harden them. This viey
was also boldly spoken by others. On
of their public officers said that they onl,
had 80 policemen in Wilmington, whicj
number was insufficient to meet the de
| maud of the CITY therefore il WINS necos