The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-18
HARRIS HAD TO Be WHIPPED
THE CORONER TRYING To FIND OUT
H WHIPPING KILLED HIN.
NO PROOF so FAR THAT 1T DID.

=
Testimony of the County officers
in Charge of the Chuingang and 81
COnvfctS and ex-ConVictS-IIarris
Was an UnruIy Prisoner anG Was
Frequently Punishcd-sIis Assault
on Guard and "a Fellow Convict
who Attempted 10 Hold Him-Nesy
Rules for Furnishing Convicts
Issued.
The investigation into the cause Of the
death Of Joe Harris at convict camp No.
is drawing out to a weary length.
Almost the entire day yesterday was
consumed in hearing evidence and th>
hearing was adjourned until $50 O'CLOCK
this morning. There are a number of wit
uesses TO be heard and another day may
be occupied in hearing the case.
The jury is composed Of s. =. Theus.
foreman; a. y. O'Keefe. r. II. HoyIe. i.
J. Kennedy. James MulIigan and T. j..
AIcNalIy. Coroner Goette had some dtfIl-
Guilty in getting a jury. A number Of the
first jury announced begged off on one
ground and another and the coroner was
compelled to iii in at a late hour. The
1nonious one. and has frequent differ
ences Of opinion on minor points. It Is
pretty generally talked that the verdict
will not be a unanimous one, whatever il
may be-
Harris, it viii be remembered, was sent
to the poor farm on a short sentence FOR
larceny. He was q hard case and had
been there before. Judging by the cv;-
6ence brought out so far. Harris was oh
streperous and obstinate and made up mis-
mind when sent out 10 the camp that Le
would not work. AS a result he was
given frequent beatings. but without ef-
feet. When he was really taken sick tho
guards took no stock in his pretense OF
sickness on account OF his previous be-
havior and he was undoubtedly beaten
several times after he was really sick.
A most remarkable thing about he
evidence was the remarkable unanimi;y
with which The cenvicts who were brought
il as witnesses testified to the consider
ate treatment Of Harris by the guards
All testified 10 the same number of whip
pings with the minimum number of lashes
in each case. Strange TO say, too. all OF
these convicts had been kindly treated.
The jury caught on to this after awhile
and began to express their disapproval
and doubt CT the statements of the con-
victs. To offset these statements, an eX-
convict testified to seeing Harris receive
four very severe beatings the hrst morris
ing he was put to work on the canal
bank His testimony was unsupported,
however, and he evidently overdid il.
DR.. T. Il. Chisholm, county physician,
was the first witness. Last Tuesday" he
said, Il was notified by my hospital stew
ard, about or o'clock that Joe Harris
had died. / went out the next morning
and investigated the case. l was some
what in doubt as to the cause Of death,
and reported to Dir. Charlton. chairman of
the chaingang committee. After consulta-
ton, We decided TO have The body brought
in, which was DONE and an autopsy was
held. 1t was our opinion that the man died
from malarial fever. There was no doubt
that he had been whipped, but there We're
no internal marks. 1 don't know how
often he was whipped. No or
gan could be discovered that
showed death by whipping. I never
saw any whipping at the camp. I have
nothing TO do with the camp except in
the hospital, and only visit the camp
twice a week. My opinion is that Harris
might have had fever and was whipped,
the guards not knowing Of his sickness.
Convicts often play OF sick
Or. T. J. Charlton was the second wit
ness. DR.. Charlton is chairman of the
Changing committee of the board OF
county commissioners. He talked at
some length. II was reported to him by
DR.. Chisholm that Harris had died and
that there would probably be some talk
about it and he directed that the convicts
body be brought in for examination
which was done. There were some marks
al ba eh
about the size Of the hand slight abrasions
which had dried. Lower down were abra-
sions where the upper skin had been brok-
en-. There was mark also on the right
thigh. He examined the body internally,
and concluded that death was caused by
malarial fever The external injuries were
not such as to cause death. There were no
injuries to the chest or about the head
and no signs Of the man having been struck
with anything, There We're no signs of a
whip, the whippings probably having been
done with strap.
"None of these people are cleanly," said
Dr. Charlton. and the tendency is where
there is an abrasion of the skin to scratch
# and the result is that the skin testers.
do not think that the skin should be
abraded in whipping the convicts. but it
seems that it viii happen. / intended call
ing on Mr.. Goette in the first instance to
investigate the case, but knowing that it
would cause talk, / decided to find out
first for myself if there We're any ground
for belief that the man had been whipped
TO death. This was not the case. There
was no evidence, in my opinion, that the
man had been beaten to death. The breaks
in the skin were irregular, and had evil
IDENTIFY been caused by whippings some
days before"
What is the system of Furnishing pris-
oners?" DR.. Charlton was asked.
1.-THE system of Furnishing prisoners is
that when a man will not work to give
him ten or twelve ticks with strap, and
put him back to work. The men are q
very bad lot loafers and dishonest, and the
guards have a great deal to contend with.
1t is probable that a man who is really
deserving of sympathy and attention viii
not get it on account of the general dis
position of the convicts to malinger. The
whipping is regulated by rules and every
whipping given can be ascertained. Only
one man at each camp has
the right to whip and the
whipping must be done in the presence
of the convicts. A record is kept of the
time of the whipping, the number of
lashes and the condition of the man after
the whipping.