St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-14
HORRIBLE BRUTALITY.
Terrible Cruelty of a Warden on
the Persons of the COnyicts in
His Charge.

His Charge.
ST. LOUIS, March 13.-LaSt Tuesday
and Wednesday the coroner's jury be-
gan an investigation at Coal Hill, Ark,
of the cause of the death of a convict,
one Charles Williams. Warden Gafford
hindered the investigation in every way
in his power, but the facts of such hOr-
rible brutality were revealed that he
was compelled to seek safety in flight,
as it appears that punishment was the
cause of Williams death. The Shout
ders of the convict had beens completely
stripped of its cuticle by the deadly
lash. The skull, near the right temple,
was fractured, the result, it is supposed,
of blow. The right side of the body
contained series of bruises, being the
vicinity of the kidneys, there was
bruise about six inches square, an evil
dence of further application of the boot.
The testimony given by witnesses and
the examination of the body showed
that the man had received about 400
lashes, any ten of which would have
been considered severe punishment.
This was not all the testimony obtained
by the c0rOner'S jury concerning the
cruelties practiced in the Coal Hill
camp. Witnesses testified that about
week ago Gafford permitted two negro
convictS, Nose Harvey and Marsh
Bailey, to engage in desperate fight.
The result is too shocking to admit of
any extended description. The lower
part of Harney's
SPINAL COLUMN WAS BROKEN
by a terrible kick that Bailey gave him,
and by the same means he crushed into
a Jelly the genital organs of his antag-
onist, who lay upon the ground with
ing in pain. He was kicked in the head
and in the stomach, One-fourth of which
punishment was sufficient to cause his
death. Harvey was not killed outright
but died last Friday, after a week of
fearful suffering. Another case of
brutal treatment was that of Nose
Elder, a white convict, who recently
died at the camp. 1t was over the body
of this man that the warden refused to
permit the coroner to hold an inveSti-
cation. His remains were buried in q
marsh about One-quarter of a mile from
the camp. An examination of his body
revealed thirty-fOur scars, which caused
the prisoner great suffering, but not
sufficient of itself to have caused death.
During the investigation, j. 3. Walker,
a guard at the camp, was put upon the
stand. He was asked if a convict was
not chained to post last summer and
whipped to death. The witness said he
had not been summoned to testify in
that case, and refused to give any evil
dence about it. The belief at Coal Hill
is that last summer convict was
CHAINED TO A POST,
10 of +rx,o l.
When the warden returned he gave him
were taken off the convict he was dead.
Another was at that time warden of the
camp. After he resigned Gafford was
appointed his successor, and the latter
had the position about three months.
There are ten or twelve new graves in
the camp yard, and no one seems to
know anything about them, as no in
quests were held on the bodies buried
there. Among the other charges pre-
ferred against the managers of the camp
is that the colOred cOnvictS were COM
PEELED to work during the winter with
out shoes. Coal Hill is in prohibition
community, but trustee was indicted
not long ago by the grand jury for sell
ing liquor, and was acquitted because
he vas convict. The coroner arrived
i'm Little Rock to-day and informed Gov.
Hughes of the result of the investiga-
ton at Coal Hill, and at his request his
excellency offered a reward of 5000 for
the arrest and delivery of Gafford to the
sheriff of johnson county. The condi-
ton of affairs at the camp appeared to
the governor to be in such bad shape
that he called special meeting of the
penitentiary commissioners, and it was
nearly 10 O'Clock when the meeting adj
journed.