The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-06-25
THE CONVICT QUESTION.
TESTIMONY WHICH GOES TO SHOW
8 THAT THEY WERE BADLY TREATED

Z ~OosA..AshV
Rejects Gravel5 on the Penitentiary
AuthoritIes--An Investigation in Order,
: GoLUNIBIA, S. c., June 13.-The State
,fthis morning publishes the following
etter: AS the convict question is up,
please give space in your valuable
columns to few words l have to say
about the treatment of convicts at nv
different railroad camps under Super
intendent LipscOmb and under Superin-
Talbert. l have had charge of
convicts camps under both Of them.
/ hope The States correspondent at
Sumter will not implicate me with Su-
perintendent Talbert as denials Of his
report. They only point ] corrected
was that of the dead convict. and what
/ hal to say was to the Board of Direc-
tors. never denied that the convicts
were barefOoted. l never disputed the
TACT that the conVictS starved all day at
Sumter. After starving all day in Sum.
teri was almost certain,that they would
be offered something to eat that night
after arriving at the penitcntiary But
was not so. They were lockedup with
out morsel of bread till the next morn
ing. What hour they were fed the next
morning, can't Say-abOut 30 O'clOck
l suppose.
l have managed convict camps under
Col. Lipscomb on the Georgia, Corolina
and Northern itailroad, in Chester
County; OH the Wilson short Cut, in
Marion County: and on the Eutawville
Railroad, in Clarendon County. | man.
aged 2l5 convicts in the phosphate fields
of Colleton County.
On August 13. 1890, | left Columbia
in charge Of 1O3 convicts; got off the
cars at MayeSville and marched out to
the stockade on the Charleston, Sumter
and Northern Railroad. While my
camp was located at Lamar, Col. Lips
comb turned over the penitentiary to
w. j. Talbert.
Under Col Lipscomb's management
say, unhesitatingly, the convicts at my
camps were always given just what each
of them could eat, and that they were
never rationed, like under Supcrinten-
dent Talbert.
Under Col. Lipscomb, my convicts in
camp were fed on bacon. meal, gritS,
"half-rice," Irish potatoes by the barrel,
caDbege and onions by the barrel and
crates every two weeks. | also got about
$50 pounds Of beef Il week for cOnvicts.
and several times | remember they got
pork, while the guards got everything
they wanted to eat. TaIbert gave me
orders to stop the beef, Irish potatoes,
cabbage, onions, pork and "half-rice."
About two months Superintendent
Talbert had the ratiOns sent from Col
umbia. The small sack of small rice
that he would send for the guards was
of the very same quality that fed my
convicts with under Col. LipscOmb, and |
would not last the guards more than |
eighteen or twenty days, though it was
sent as 4 months ration. Sugar and |
coffee were likewise.
lnder Superintendent TalDert nv
conVictS got no change Of diet at ALL
The small amount of beef allowed by
him the guards would nearly consume.
Col. LipScOmb would leave some money
with me i'll case of any mishaps. | re-
member once | was moving with q de-
tail OF convicts. My cooked ration gave
out OH account Of not making connec-
tions as expected. | had money for in
cidental purposes from Col. I.ipscomb,
and things moved on with the usual
smOothness. w. j. Talbert has never
furnished Il cent ahead for incidentals.
Now, lis to the dead convict. | pull
ed my own money out of my pocket and
adXancetiit for Mr.. Talbert. Suppose
j had refused to advance the 81 to have
this offensive dead body buried. could |
not stop my cOnVictS to d0 the work, |
because it would put us too long after
dark going into Darlington, and con-
dark.
Now, right here, will Superintendent
Talbert answer what preparation, if
any, did he make for anything of the
kind? | will suggest the only place
superintendent ralhert had for the
poor dead convict was an open stump
hole, to be illed in with straw or other
stuff that would not cost anything.
"Economy! If this is what Supt. Tai
bert means for economy, | say, God
have mercy upon South Carolina con-
vlcts as human beings.
If superintendent Talbert mad sent
me money, as Col. Lipscomb did, the
SiXty-seVen conVictS had ut Sumter on
June 2 would not have any occasion to |
say anything about something to eat. I
7OiTed I'UiGert t1Oice rei0tire to the c07a-
6itiOn OF the deiuU ut Sumter, and, he |
being absent from his post of duty, l |
did not get an answer. If he had been |
at his Office he could have wired some |
store in Sumter to furnish me with |
enough to feed the cOnyicts.
One of the guards, a. Ulman, called |
me to him while on duty. atSumter. and |
said that If he could not get something |
to cat he would starve. | have good |
reason to believe that the young, man
was telling the truth. ! remarked that |
| was sorry for the condition of affairs,
but that l had done all that | could do.
tlman, however, soon got hold of a
bucket, belonging to some lucky con-
Wet who had happened up on it, and the
last seen of the bucket of rice and bacon
the guard was carefully putting it into
his mouth.
During the month of May 1891, there
were lost in hospital 533 days. | fully
believe that the large number being in
the hospital is due to Talbert's taking
away the changes of diet, as / have al
reaHy stated. Physicians are powerless
where changes of diet can't be had.
My sick cOnvicts in the hospital under |
&ol. Lipscomb. were fed far better than |
We guards were under Superintendent
,falbert.
Mr.. Rowland Hill, my sergeant, spent
81 in Sumter for something for some of |
the guards to eat. was standi ag pres
ent when Mr.. Hill stepped in the super.
intendent's Office and claimed that the
office owed him the money. and fully
explained the matter, thought, to
superintendent Talbert, but he refused
IN no OF