The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-05-31
"A HE'LL UPON EARTH"
Said to be u Mild Description ofthe
Wcst Virginia Pen.
I'LL WHO HAVE BEEN THERE NGREE
In Charging Gross Cruelty, Insum.
Client and Improper Food, aud n
State OF Affairs In General Which ia
Disgrace to CiviiIzatlom-ThcI iycs
OF Convicts Observation-Disclosures OF
the Pen do not Dare to Complain.

Tho management OF a priaon Ia tho
hardest thing In the world to cot ut.
Convicts arc at tho mercy OF tho super.
intendcnt aud guards, und tho word OF
an ~ex.Convict Is naturally d~iscreditcd to
some extent. But when unusually in.
telliGent mon, Nth no personal griey.
ance, agree in certain statements, after
observation for several years, it must DO
considered that thero Is some founda.
ton for these stories.
Recently, it will DO remembered,
Capt. Jamos II. Pine was released from
tho Moundsville penitontiary after serv.
inga shortterm as an United States pris.
oncr. Hc had n comparatively easy
time OF 1t. being most OF his term tench.
or OF the prison school. 10 Ia an cdu-
Gated man, n keen obsGrvOr, and had nc.
cess TO sources OF information beyond
the reach OF tho ordinary convict. lIo
told tho lNTELLIGESCER come horrible
stories OF cruel treatment OF prisoners
and OF other dIscrcditablc facts about
the administration OF the prison,
Ills successor as teacher in thd school
| was q man known as J. ". Holmes.
serving twenty months for forgery.
llolnca 10 a highly educated man, a
keen observer, and he, too, had tho
best facilities for observing the conduct
Of affairs by Superintendent Van pslt
and his subotdinates.
, NJ 1J,1Innnk' fn.,' :.I -
day. Yesterday no was in WheClinE:
and an IHTELLlGENCER reporter had u
long talk with him. IIo confirms aud
emphasizes all that Capt Pine said, and
Gays much more in the same line.
Mr.. Holmes said that the expression
Hell upon EARTH would be mild ms nm.
piled to the Moundsvillo penitentiary.
The treatment OF inmates ia cruel, tho
food is insufficient and bad, and tho
management generally weak and incoul.
potent. There are guards who canno,
read or write, and who get cony,cts 10
write letters-ovcn love lotters-for
them.
llo Gays the weak aud sickly prisoners
arc put in the shops and given the
worat jobs, while a~ble-bodied colorel
mon arc allowed to lounge about tho
idle roon." Ono man who had hemor-
rhages and WAS splitting blood was
ordered to work, and Holmes interfered,
when the guard, knowing his term
would shortly end, let the sick man re-.
man of duty. Holmes says he himself
was nearly dead with rheumatism be-
fore he was allowed to stop work, and
no physician ever saw him.
Az to tho food, lo says tho beans
actually ratified, they were 30 badly
cooked. The meat was often wormv.
Once, a convict took a wormy piece 10
the superintendent. who said 1t was all
right aud ordered the cook TO serve it
again ior supper. The food for the sick
is as bad, only differing In that they cet
less OF it.
A minister, an old friend Of Holiness.
sont him a large lot OF books and maya.
zines. NanPelt refused to allow himto
receive them unless he would present
them to the library, and rs he declined.
they were sent back. When the minis.
ter wrote about it Vnnpelt denied all
knowledge Of the affair.
The supply OF books, slates, and pen
ellis for tho prison scaool is so made.
quato as TO make tho school u farce.
But these were minor charges. rs
Holmes tolls his story. lie tells OF Il
man named johnson who was bucked
and gagged till his eyes actually bulycd
out and ho fell in a faint. When bc
came back to his cell his neck was raw
and bleeding. Another man was kept
in the dark cell seventeen mornings in
succession, and told if he offended again
no would DO killed. His otfense was be.
ing unable to finish tho task assigned
him, sewing eight dozen brooms q day.
Frank Bush was kept in solitary con.
finement, Holmes says. for eleven
months, never being let out except to
battle. A colored prisoner who resented
the treatment Of q guard had been kept
in solitary confinement over a year
when Holmes left.
Van Bakers case has been spoken OF
before. Holmes says he was in the
office as an assistant, and detected some
"clerical errors," to which he very in
discreetly called the attention OF the
board Of directors. Ho was sentenced
to ten days solitary confinement on
DIchu III "ateip Dut III Lue Gnu OF
eight days had to be sent to the hos.
pital, which no never left alive.
An effort was being made at ouo
time to seCure a pardon for Mike Lee, OF
Logan county. who took part in ono OF
the outbreaks OF the Hatfield Mccoy
feud. His brother, 4 county official OF
Logan county, wrote to Van Pelt for
his prison record, and it was refused,
When Holmes entered the peni,en-
tiary he had a good watch and a yory
valuable fountain pen, which he had
made to order. When he came out his
watch was restored, but tho pen could
not be found, and there was no record
OF it.
The brief account here given Of the
charges Holmes makes is but q fragment
OF the sickcning story he tells, which
makes ont n state OF Affairs which is q
disgrace to the state and IN outrage on
humanity.
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Will be OF value to the world by illus.
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