Rock Island Argus., 1902-09-23
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Prison Ghost.


When 1 was warden's secretary at
"model prison." supposed to be made
perfect by new warden put i'll to
abolish cruelty, had no doubt that he
was doing as he pretended. There
was convict, No. S224, down on the
books as James *. Jones, serving
term for burglary. One day, nOtwith-
standing the abolition of such punish
mentS, he was fogged.
The warden had been appointed on
the recommendation of IL hundred in
fiuentiaI men, several of whom were
clergymen, for the express purpose of
reforming the prison, yet here was
case of f1Ogging.
Jones' record consisted of naught
but black marks. He was reported as
lazy, defiant, impudent and dangerous,
and for a portion of the time he had
been in chains and OH bread and wa
ter. There were no reports against
him under the new warden, and yet
he had received Il cruel fiOgging.
1 could not make 1t out and dared
not ask my chief for an eXplana-
tion. 1t was none of my affair, but
/ determined to have Il talk with Jones
himself, and after three or four days
the opportunity came. l found him to
be Il physical wreck. He told me that
when he entered the prison he was
man of thirty, in the best of health
and had a magnificent physique. At
thirty-SiX his hair was gray, his back
bent, and he looked like Il man of six
ty. He had been padded or flogged
over thirty times. He had been struck.
kicked and cuffed times without num-
ber. He had lain in the dark cells for
months at time, and for months his
diet had been only bread and water.
Jones was ready enough to give the
reason. He denied the burglary and
declared that he had been wrongfully
convicted. He was n man Of hot tenn
per, and when he arrived at the prison
he was rebcllious. He was fiogged on
the second day, and from that time on
all the officials were down on him. He
declared that he was deliberately nag
ged and provoked into defiance and
that the idea seemed to be to hound
him to his death. When the new ward
en- came. Jones hoped for fair treat
ment, but was disappointed. The new
head was down on him from the first
day and sought for preteXtS to admin
lister punishment. If the cOnvict's
statements were to be believed, then
the warden had Il streak of cruelty I'm
his nature unsuspectcd by his friends.
and 1 made up my mind to watch and
wait and say nothing.
l never got to speak with Jones
again. but L knew what happened.
Without a single report being entered
against him he was fOgged. douched
with cold water, loaded with chains
and confined in the dark cell. The
guards naggcd and provoked and
bounded him, and the warden himself
handled the eat o. nine tails and de-
lighted in the punishment. l knew
this only after the conVictS death or 1
should have left my situation and re-
ported the facts to the governor.
One day 1 was ordered to fill I'm and
record n report OF Jones death. The
blank bore the report and signature of
the prison doctor. He gave the cause
of death as heart trouble, but l came
to know afterward that Jones had
died under his last flOgging. Not half
a dozen men in the prison knew of his
demise though 1t brought about great
changes. Two nights after the death
the warden was aroused from his sleep
to see Jones standing before him load
ed down with chains. He sprang out
of bed and clutched at space. On the
next night as the two guards who had
pounded the convict were on duty in
the wing Jones walked out of his
open cell and paced up and down the
corridor for ten minutes in full sight
% I'm fUhf hn OH
promenaded around the prison yard,
and on the fourth he appeared in the
prison kitchen and drove the bakers
out.
More pains were taken to suppress
knowledge of this ghost from reaching
the public than 1 can tell you of, and
only Il few things leaked out, but for Il
month or more the prison was upset.
Every night the thing" walked
abroad. 1t entered the warden's bed
room, it sauntered up and down the
corridors, it promenaded the yards
and passed through iron gates as If
they had been paper. The guards fired
at it and clutched at it and turned the
hose OH it, but it could not be
squelched. BY and by the story that
the warden had fiogged Jones to death
with his own hand was known to
every convict, and there were 2,S90 of
them. Each one believed it, and each
one believed that the ghost would seek
an awful vengeance. This fear bred
a panic and a mutiny. At last word
was sent to the warden that if he did
not resign and take the two particular
guards with him every convict would
refuse to leave his cell. Such an event |
would have caused public excitement
all over the state in q day, and an in
vestigation might have resulted disas-
trously. The warden hadn't the back |
bone to stand up to it. He returned |
word that he would give up his place, |
and as a matter of fact he resigned |