Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-04-15
PRISON BRUTALITY.


me Whlpping-P0et In the Mlssouri StoHn
POnitent1ary.
A correspondent of the st. Louis Re-
public, who has been there. tells Of
prison punishment in Missouri. He
says: ..-.
1.-THE use of the lash in the prison II
common-too common to be Of any pos
sible benefit in keeping order. A man
goes to the whipping-post, not with tho
feeling that he is being punished for
some infraction Of the rules, but to graf
ny the iI-feeling Of some guard whose
enm1ty he has incurred. Deputy War
den Bradbury is the one whose duty it is
10 WELD the raw-hide. In the middle of
the room stand the whipping-post and
stocks. The men stand facing the in
strument Of torture, and the guards re-
port the conduct of their men to the war
den. One complains that ono Of his
men neglected his work or was talking
to fellow-prisoner; perhaps prisoner
was caught carrying bread to his cell
from tho kitchen. Deputy Warden
bradbury stops up to the whippirg-post,
pulls of his coat, rolls up his sleeves,
and In caressing way picks up a raw
hide, which he intently examines to sec
If it is all right.
"The culprit is brought up to the
post. His hands are tied to the post
near tho ground, leaving him in stoop-
ing position. His neck is placed under
the stocks, which are then fastened so
that he can not jerk his head away. The
deputy warden steps up, and selling the
mans shirt. pulls 1t up around his neck,
leaving tho bare back exposed. The
prisoner receives from one to twenty
i've lashes, according to the offense and
the number Of times he has been at the
post. The warden tucks his shirt
sleeves carefully above his elbow, takes
the raw-hide in his hand, plants his
foot firmly, and with a full swing of his
powerful arm down comes the
whip with swish and a crack upon the
bare back of the prisoner. Swishi comes
the whip again, and the prisoner bits
his lip to keep from crying out with
pain, as such thing only increases the
punishment. Crack! the whip again
and again strikes the quivering flesh,
leaving thick volt along the skin,
and as the force of tho blows increases
as the Deputy Warden warns up to his
work, the welts assume first red, then
blue hue, and finally the blood
triokles down over his back in little
streams. Again and again the lash,
soft and pliable with the warm blood,
curls around the naked form of the
crouching and shrinking prisoner until
either the allotted punishment has been
inflicted or else the prisoner faints from
the pain and torture.
He is then given over to the care Of
the doctors. From long practice the
whipping master can mako the whip
ping more severe in given number Of
strokes on the person of one prisoner
than another. In case he wishes to
make the pain more intense, after one
half the strokes have been given he
goes to the other side Of tho prisoner
and makes series Of cross-cuts, making
number Of bloody KS on the back.
have seen a prisoner faint from the
severity Of the punishment and from
loss of blood. After the whipping is
over the prisoner is cared for, the blood
on the rawhide is carefully wiped of,
and it is ready for the next culprit.
When tho whipping was done by an
official who was Intoxicated or under
the influence Of liquor, the punishment
was always moro severe. have seen
one Of the officials stagger as he walked
up to tho whipping post, and know he
was greatly under the influence Of
liolor"