The Oskaloosa herald., 1893-06-15
A DENIAL FROM BARR.
The ec- Warden of 4AfaGaosG Pe1li
teSltiary Replies to RObt. Ken
1ley'S Charges His Record at
AradnaOsd Contains Nothing
of Witch he Is ashamed.


Of Witch he Is ashamed.
Dubuque Daily Telegraph, June ).
0sKALoosA, La, June 1, 1893.
EDITOR TELEGRAPH:-DEAR SIR
Ny attention has just been called to an
article in the Telegraph entitled, "Rob-
ert tKinney-Interestin Interview With
a Former Well Known Resident of Du-
buque. He Denounces Madden's Sian
derer and Upholds His Administra-
tion. A Number of the Prisoners in the
AnamOsa Penitentiary Made Crazy I'm
der the Barr Regime"
feel that in justice to myself it would
not be out of place for me to reply TO
that part of the interview that reflects
on me and my management of the pen
itentiary. Robert says: "Mr. Barr held
the Office for three terms-six years
previous to the appointment of MI. Mad
den, but he left the active management
of the institution in the hands of his
brother and this man Passwater and
they ran things to suit themselves ire
spective of discipline or the wants of
the prisoners" In reply to this will
say that my brother, c. L. Barr, was my
deputy, and T. w. Passwater was assist
ant deputy. The deputy by law has
charge of the discipline and the assist
ent deputy is subject to the orders of
the deputy. 1t is the duty of these two
officers to carry out the warden's orders
and see that the rules of the prison are
obeyed, and will say right here that
| they did this to my entire satisfaction.
/ was present most all the time and
knew who was in punishment and what
for, and if any crime and inhuman pun
ishments were inflicted, was to blame
and not my brother and Mr.. Passwater.
He further says: "On one occasion a
prisoner named Jack Reynolds was hung
up by the wrists for % days, etc. The
| result of this inhuman treatment was
just what might have been expected, a
dethronement of the prisoners reason,
and he is to-day raVing maniac in the
insane department. He is so dangerous
that he has to be hand-cuffed all the
time" Now why did not Robert tell
the whole truth? This man Jack Rey-
nolds is an insane man. He was trans
ferred from the penitentiary at Fort
Madison, in January, 1899, to the insane
department of the penitentiary at Ana
mOsa as insane. Heis the man that shot
Sheriff McCOrd, of Marshalltowni in 1884.
He is desperate man, and has no re-
gard for human life, sane or insane. In
the summer of 1891, while in the insane
department, he assaulted his keeper, J.
| S. Outerland, and almost killed him. He
was so badly injured that his life hung
on very slender thread for more than
two weeks, being wholly unconscious
| during the whole of that time. His in
| juries were such that he will never fully
recover. Reynolds was desperately in
1 hoI 70 10 ka rrix
kind of liberty. l ordered him confined
in his cell and i'll order to subdue him
caused him to be handcuffed and part
of the time fastened to the cell door in
position he could not sit down. He
was taken down to receive his meals
and for other purposes and was always
day until | left, April l, 1892, he was
taken out in the prison yard for his
am reliably informed that he is still
it is we'll he is. If given an opportunity
some one would certainly suffer at his
| hands. He is no more insane now than
he was before the alleged "inhuman
| punishment" was inflicted. If Robert
wanted to be fair why did he not tell
the whole truth. Reynolds is insane
now, was insane before he came to An
amosa, and the punishment had nothing
to do with it and Robert Kinney knows
| it.
He further says: "On another occa-
| sion Passwater had trouble with a
prisoner regarding some trivial matter.
The prisoner, who was of very excit-
able and nervous disposition, drew a
small knife and made a jab at Pass
water, who ordered one of the guards,
a fellow named McC Carthy, to shoot, and
the next instant the poor fellow fell
dead with bullet in his breast" Now
| the facts are that the convict mention
ed refused to work and the deputy mot
/ PasSwater) told him he would have to
comply with the rules or go in punish
ment, and the convict swOre he would
do neither. The deputy started to go
to him and the convict started for the
deputy with sharp knife and had it
not been for the timely shot from the
guard on the wall Martin Mccarthy
there is no doubt but the deputy would
| have been the victim of the convict s
| knife. n o one ordered Mccarthy to shoot
there was no time to wait for orders.
He knew his duty and did it without
orders. The law provides that it is the
duty of the gun guards to shoot to pro-
tect the lives of the officers in charge of
the men or even to enforce discipline.
The whole transaction was reported to
Governor Larrabee who investigated
the matter and said the guard had done
his duty, and the grand jury of Jones
county said the same. Conyicts as a
rule do not like an officer who is willing
to do his duty and especially if he is a
gun guard. Guns in the hands of good
officers are the means of keeping them
in prison. Take them away or put
them in the hands of men who will not
use them and our prison population
will be materially reduced
Robert explains the provision of the
law that authorizes the warden to
charge visitors % cents, and says that
not less than $500 people visit the
prison during the year and that he had
been told that Barr had not purchased
more than $3.50 worth of books during
his six years, while at least $500 worth
have been added during Madden's ser
vice something over one year. Now [
ask who told him so? If that be true,