New-York tribune., 1905-12-10
Tales of Gross Cruelty
from an Indiana In
dustriaI School.

r,sss,syolis Dec 9 (Specia). There nave
sasn many investigations Of Indiana lhsu.u
tions IN the last twenty years. l0iio
charges of rnismanagement ana lhcoiNPOeAy'
hut in none have there been developed SUI"
stories Of seemingly unnet essary rlgor as 'iOaO
,u4,ich have been told on the witness s'eiiu -
the investigation of the management o1 li-e
Uomaa's Prison and Industrial 0clioOt
c.srIs In many cases the recitals have prousiiI
- +,,. ives Of members of the State Board
If Charities. who are holding the inVesIe0',oi4
- tho General public has been sensibly shockeo
- 4,e aevelopments as given in the newspaper
-anorts II the superintendent OF the lHsu'u
Hon were a man instead OF aowoman lhe SUi
mise would not be so general. but II mas ap
-earad tnconcefvable to many that MISS r1iiS
d Rboades could be guilty of such cruelty a0
many of the witnesses have related 1heSe WI
resses with a few exceptions. were FORMER EN-
oloyes in the institution, end one OF tIieii1 ~
an ofT1oar and woman of the highest chaTacIer'
--ttIa. nona OF them could be successfully i'm
,..obe6 Soree of the inmates have come 10 the
zea,,a IF +he superintendent ard have denleo
s,,.+ tha1y were ruistreated but these are girls
zzho have yet many years before 1henn III INC
institution. and there may be reason why
+bev would not wish TO be numbered among
4t. roanv who have given testimony against
Miss Rkoades- -,u.
F25E all the witnesses agreed tnaI Inero "S-
cells under the prison which had received tne
name of China" from the inmates ana sum
o4bor cells which were called Japan" These
cells wers under the basement Of the bulIolng anu
the only ventilation came from little by ~
z-indovv at one end They were Just large enough
70 admit q cot. and rats and mice made them
terror 10 the girls, to say nothing Of the oread
IF being alone in such a place The steam
pipes which heated the building passed tnroush
the narrow hallway in front of the doors TO the
.us and made them insuferably hot. The dis
+ine,,ishiug names OF China" and Japan
grew out Of the fact that the cells bearing tne
latter name were further away and hotter thah
those bearing the name of China" but to the
refractory girl a sentence to the dungeon was
ike sending her through the deeps Of the eart2s
81 another world The place was the dread OF
the inmates and it was shown by the testimony
that sentence TO this confinement was always
resisted and it frequently required the strength
of several employees TO force girl into the
basement and into cell. Sometimes the girls
tins sent into solitary confinement were shac-
Jsle6 with their hands behind them and IN thls
condition could not lie down in any KIND OF
comfort
The case of :. runaway girl who was captured
at Detroit was related by Miss Jenner' a Tor
rner ennploye cf the institution She went after
+te girl and when she returned to the institution
she was ordered to put handouts on the child
and nut her in Japan" When she went to the
cell there was no furniture in it, but a woman
on the prison side. who was in an adjoining
cell. offered to lend her blanket Judge Davis
questioned the witness and brought out the fact
that the girls hands we're handcuffed behind
her back and she could not lie down during the
night The witness said that Miss Rhoades
knew the condition Of the cell and that when
the girl was handcuffed and put in Japan It
was by orders of the superintendent.
Jennie Bowers, a, former inmate, told OF being
dragged upstairs by the hair by Miss Rhoades
when on one occasion she refused TO obey the
superintendent, and Of being placed in Japan
for two days and nights with her hands and
ankles shackled. She said that she could not lie
down with any comfort and stood Up most of the
time. She also testified that she had been
under the care of physician as a result Of in
5uries received by being knocked downstairs by
Miss Rhoades. Relating other incidents that
had come under her observation, she said she
saw one girl forced 70 stand in the hall till she
tainted; another was knocked down stairs
another had her head bumped against the wall
by Miss Rhoades; another girl was tied for sew
eraI hours TO iron bars in attic window, and
one girl was struck in the face by Miss Rhoades
Josephine Stafford, Of age and free, said
that she was sent to the institution because she
was a homeless girl She was then eight years
Of age. On one OCCASION she said, Miss Rhoaoes
seized her by the hair and jerked her to the
floor. She said she confined in Japan
for eleven days and had nothing to eat but
bread and water. There were rats and mice in
the cell at times, and she badly frightened
at first. She felt them running over her feet
day and night
Important testimony was given by Mrs
Charles E Coffin, for several years one of the
members Of the board Of trustees She said
that she had seen inmates OF the school chloro-
formed in order to keep them from screaming
and she had ordered the practice stopped. On
one occasion she was told by officer that
Miss Rhoades was keeping delicate little girl
in the bathroom and she and Mrs. Mintern,
another member of the board investigated and
had the girl released. Governor Hanly asked
who the officer that reported the case was, but
Mrs. Coffin refused to give her name, saying
that she would doubtless be discharged. The
Governor promised to protect the officer but
that her experience showed that Miss Rhoades
would be informed Of the fact and the officer
would be discharged. She then told Of finding a
young girl in q cell in China" She had been
put there for screaming, having been first
drugged with chlo-oform.
Miss Flora Kerr. officer Of the institution
from 1901 TO 1900. detailed a number Of cases
OF cruelty. One OF them was Of a little girl
whom Miss Rhoades had the floor her knees
on the childs back She was twisting one arm
ana ordered Miss Kerr to twist the other. The
witness said that Miss Rhoades ordered her to
twist the harder. but she was afraid to do
so as she might dislocate it Other witnesses
testified TO numerous cases in which the girls
Ssd been violently struck on the head thrown
20 the floor and their heads bumped on the
Etones, and then dragged away 70 Japan" or
q time on bread and water. Many of the girls,
the officers testified. were sent to the school
eirnriy that their parents might be rid OF them,
and net because Of any offence they had COM
Ynftfsd while others were Of criminal tendencies,
and sEfu others tncorrigfble
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