Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1890-01-28
GAN THESE THINGS BEp
A Shameful State Of Affairs Said
to Exist iii the Pcnitentihfy,
convicts Poorly Fed and Cruelty
Treated.

Inc lnVeSugatlon OF the state It's
: on at Frankfort is developing some
D thing of a scandal rs it progresses
Warden Taylor, who is on the best oil
: terms with the lessees, the Mason
D Foard Co., stated that the food fur,
: nished for the convicts was often I'm.
: fit for q man to eat. He had repeat
, eddy complained to both the Commits
/ sioners and the lessees. The houi
, was of low grade and often smelled
bad, while he had reported tainted
meat four times since November. He
stated that an estimate of the cost OF
feeding the prisoners showed it to be
one mill less than nine cents day.
j. S. Marratta, a guard, testified
that "stuff" had been fed to the con-
victs that was injurious to their health.
The bread was sour and black and
like putty, the molasses bad, the meat
sometimes smelled like dead horse
and the coffee was weak and sloppy.
"The men would often refuse to eat
until forced to by hunger. Many OF
the men were sick from the tainted
meat" A great deal of this sort of
testimony was given, which if true
shows a state of affairs that is a dis
grace to the state.
Chas. Sayre, 20-year old boy of,
Oldham county, just out of prison,
told of the treatment of men in con-
Wet camps. The bosses would beat
them over the head with the swab-
poles, and kick them. The mems
shirts would be taken off and they
would be whipped on the bare back
till the blood came. He had seen one
man, named Helm, beaten till his back
was like piece of raw beef. The
men were compelled to work in the
rain and then get up the next day and
put on their wet clothing, sometimes
when it was frozen stiff. Three men
were badly hurt ten days ago. A dy-
Mantle charge had failed to 90 of,
and these men had been set to drill
out the hole, In doing SO they had
struck the cartridge and it exploded,
badly injuring all three of them, one
of them SO badly that the doctor said
he could not get well. They were Or
dered to drill the holeb by the foreman,
Donelson. They didn't object because
they knew better. The men are al
ways beaten for that.
He said the fare was bad. They
had for breakfast two little pieces Of
fat bacon, some colored water, called
coffee, bread made up with only water
and without salt or soda, and with
Jumps of dry -four in it as large as
your thumb. At dinner they had the
same kind of bread and meat, and
some soup. AT night they had more
fat meat and molasses and potatoes.
If man asked for more meat or bread
he was cursed for it. The bread and
meat were always cold.
He said there were 125 mon in the
camp, all of whom slept on hunks or
blankets in one small log shanty. 1t
was never well cleaned, and was full
of vermin. 1t had one stove in it,
and when the men came in after work
ing in the rain only seven or eight OF
them could get to it to warm. The
men had to go, most of them, two Or
three weeks without change of clot.-
ing. They had to work in the rain.
When man was sick he was kept
with the other men.
He had seen man knocked down
with a swab-polc, and afterward tied
up and whipped, because he couldn't
do the work given him. The boss who
did this was named Jim Palmer.
There is not a day passes without
somebody being whipped. He said
one boy was whipped every night for
while, because he couldn't get
around. His feet were frost-bitten.
No socks were given the men in camp.
He said that while in the walls he had
always as much as he could eat. The
lessees gave him $275 when he was
discharged, with which to get from
the camp to Frankfort. The State
gave him S.. This only brought him
to Lexington, and he beat his way on
to Frankfort. They gave him the old
suit of clothes he had on.
Sayre was followed by another, and
smaller boy, named William Evans,
IS years old, who had been discharged
from the camp with. Sayre. He was
sent to the penitentiary with Sayre
for an offense which they committed
together. He was sent to the camp
in April. His story agreed with that
of Sayre. He was sick several months
in the camp. Before they allowed
him to quit work on account of being
sick he several times fell in faint while
at work, and the boss, named Jeffries,
kicked and beat and cursed him to
make him get up and go to work
again. After he got well he worked
in the kitchen, and his story about the
food and brutal treatment agreed
with Sayres'.
Auditor Norman also testified about
the bad meat sent to the prison and
said he ordered the cooks to send all
such TO the gate. Some discussion of
the contract OF the lessees followed
and the committee adjourned till to-
day.
90 r. r, MI ...,. ~ A. l.ozoo,