Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-04-12
OUR INSTITUTIONS.
An Interesting History Of the West vir.
ginia Penitentiary.

Ouh lNS INSTITUTIONS.
An Interesting History OF the West Viz
:. ginia ~Penitentiary.
u CHATTER /.
Special ors.poAdenee Of he Sunday Register.
MoUSDsuLLE, ". Va, April s.-A his
tory Of the public institutions Of q Stat
ID is always interesting, particularly to th,
citizens OF that State. In beginning a his
tory of the public institutions of West Vir
ginia, your correspondent begins at tn.
penitentiary, as that happens to have beer
the first visited and examined in all of it
details.
This State institution is situated in Mar
shall county, in the town of Moundsville
under the shadow of an Indian mound, the
monument of an aboriginal race, long
Ence extinct.
Q The main building is four stories in
9 height. 1t is, like the aanking buildings,
Q built of heavy cut stone. Upon each cor.
ner q tall tower o'ertops the buildings all
. about, which with ~embrazures, battlements
and lattice works of iron, lends an appear.
ance Of massive strength, stern, forbidding
and soul chilling. On each side of the
main building q long, one-story ediice Of
t like character stretches away to the right
and left q distance Of $50 feet in each
direction.
THE PRISON.
A heavy stone wall, IS feet high and 4
feet wide surrounds the yard. At each
angle of this wall stands q round turret or
gusrd-house, from whose windows the alert
and active guardsman, armed with l6 shoot
ing Winchesters, keeps watch and ward
upon the movements OF human beings be-
low.
The front part Of the main building is
occupied by the officers and family of the
Superintendent. The long room to the
left is. the dining room Of the c~onvicts
and that on the right is the hall, within
which stands the tour tiers of cells, which
contain the sleeping apartments Of the
prisoners.
THE OFFICERS.
One day not long since your correspon,
dent called at the State Prison and sent in
bis card to the superintendent. he was
ushered into the office and there formed
the Acquaintance OF Col. John b Peck, Of
Logan county, W. Va. Alter a few min
utes' conversation Capt. Wilkinson, As
~sistsnt Superintendent, came in. They
are both genial intelligent gentlemen, firm,
but Just in their management OF the prison.
To these gentlemen the people OF West
Virginia owe the fact that they have the
c~leanest and one of the best conducted
State prisons in this country. Everything
in and about the prison is kept clean and
fresh. There is rome Of that prison smell,
which is 80 sickening 10 the olfactcries OF
even stalwart men. The prisoners are also
required to keep their persons and cells
clean.
There are 800 prisoners confined within
these four chilly walls, and every morning
600 eyes glare with hopeless dependency 10
ward the light which brightens the outer
world.
These men, l3 of whom will spend their
lives within the walls, came from different
parts of the State, Ksnawha furnishing
more than any other county.
Capt. ] R. Mehep, o Deputy U. s.
Marshal, has in his experience as civil Off.
Ger sent 50 prisoners to this prison, prin-
cipally from the county OF Wood, while
Capt. ALI. Burnett, chief of Eureka Detec-
tives, has sent perhaps 100 in his long ex'
p~erience as q detective from Kanawhs and
other counties in the State. These two
men have run down, captured and consign-
ed more men to this institution than any
dozen officers in the State.
Employment is found necessary, not
only for the safety of the officers and
guards, but for the health OF the prisoners,
who, if idle, would plot and plan a revolt
10 O very short space Of time. They are
employed in three different vacations, prin-
cipally making wagons, brooms and whips.
The Webster wagon works. Weaver Il
Bsrdalls whip and broom factories are
well.known throughout the country.
The c~onyicts arc OF every nationality.
No distinction is made, for white, black,
red, old and young, are here prisoners
alike, and treated as the law demands.
q OF PUN, sHMENT
The methods of punishment in State
prisons have caused a great deal Of discus
sion in almost every State, and have been
changed a great many times. The pad.
ding machine, with its pulleys and inhu.
man punishment, is not used. Neither is
that horror of State prisons, the weighing
machine" Although something similar
to it was in use tWo years ago. The fol
lowing is a description OF that instrument
aud its uses: 1t is merely q solid oak
plank set in q groove frame, so that it
could readily be moved up or down to any
height. When it was high enough two
iron pins were pushed into the holes in the
grooved pieces, and the plank was held
fast. A hook was fastened in
The centre Of the plank, to which
Was fastened q chain connection with a pair
Of handouts. When Q prisoner was brought
up to be punished 10 this machine, be
would FIRST be handcuGsd to the chain.
The cross piece was then elevated until
the prisoners toes barely touched the floor
of the cell. Thirty seconds Of agony IS as
much az any man in any OF the State
prisons have been able to bear. Before
that time the blood seems to burst from the
finger ends, and the nails seem ready TO
CIV from their places. The convict, be he
ever 80 stubborn, shrieks and cries from
pain. He is then let down and sent to o
cell, often 10 remain there for weeks and
months with swollen wrists and liberated
wounds. which seem slmoct impossible 10
cure, There 10 now in the West Virginia
penitentiary one convict, q negro man, who
was punished in this horrible manner several
years ago. When your correspondent under
the guidance OF Superintendent Peck
| ,zaa. tbrnurh tho Dfia0n ha fnnn1
this man in the diniaa room.
Upon making inquiry IS to how he came
to he 90 badly crippled, his wrigts were
covered with gfea. suppuNtins serea-he
learned that he he'd several years ago, be.
fore the new regime, been strapped up and
weighed" That poor devil will never en-.
tirely recover from the effects oil bis pun
ishment and may at any time die Of blood
poisoning.
This class of punishment still continues