Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-04-12
A RED HOT ROAST
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COMMIT
TEE OF THE CONVICT
FARM.
Conditions Said to Be Bad. and Pun
ishment of Convicts Severely
Condemned.
Conditions Said to Be Bad. and Pun
COMBINATIONS ARE MAD-

Ii was foretoId in me Graphic Tues.
day afternoon th&l the l"@islatiye
ccmmitteo 10 investigate the convicr
farm Wouu!d make Il cinlstfc report
and The following. which is 1he repol
in full. bears cut the statements
made:
"On the 2>th day Of March we Wis,
tied and inspected he state convict
farm in Lincoln county
"M'e found the convicts in the
stcckades and bad Il coed oDportunity
to examine them and to ascertain the
condition Of affairs. Al TWO Of the
stocE&des we caused the wardens.
guards and TRUSTEES. 10 yCav6 he build
ing, and took the statements of the
convicts We found three stockades
on the farm under the management
Oh Hugh Nichols. the warden.
Al one OF these stockaelcs VIC
found forty white men and eighteen
about twenty fce' wide aud thirty fee,
long We found tha, these convicts
We're very poorly clothed and the san
iary condition was Very bad: the
beds or hunks being very dirty. There
was no way for bathing Ga condition
that exists at all the stCCkadesl. eN-
cept in the open. and We found thar
these convicts had n0t been given an
opportunity tc batlr fer weeks. Most .
if not all cf them only hal one suit
Of clothes. and nany of the whites
We're required to wear suits formerly
worn by negroes. The whites an}
blacks ate and slept together and
wore the same clothes. Their food
consisted Of the regular penil"nt iarv
regulation-hulk pGrk. molasses. rice.
beans and coffee. noi all ct which
We're given AT anS one meaf. This
stockade was III the worst condition
OF any en- the farm.
We found that the prineipai medi-
cal attention tha- the convicts on
the farm receive i al the hands III t
cenSict. who makes ih@ rounds every
day. That conHic1 has been coutinpd
il the penitentlarY -'oCut tW0 and one
tor at the tine ot his ccnviction amt
knows absolutely nothing about medi
cine. except wha7 ne has learned dut-
iug his confinement from DR.. Witt
tht regular penttruTiary physician.
The hospital is a 10y small room IN
which all are kepE together. incluiirZ
thr ccnsumptlves. and is wholly ina,
equate.
There was mo- ajssatisfa action az
sting a. 'Nnc thr crnvicts Oh the { s,n
th.N at all thu other camps IL Tie
state together. ana @-a think juSfl. Sc.
Whipping of eonvicts Condemned.
We can not c0l.!emn in language
to9 strong the punishment administer
ri to the conyict, on the farm IN
many instances they have been whip
pAt two or three times a day. the
whipping varying trrm FIVE TO thirty
tHo icks with the regular peniten-
ttary. whip. which is 4 leather strap
fHo inches wide and sone two feet
long, fastened t. a strong wooden
handle. At the head stockade, out Of
a5out one hundred men several are
Sadly whipped almosf every day, and
rDon slight prov Ccdtion. In one in
s.ance we found that d coIored con-
vet BOY had beer whipped twice by
fba same nan ne-;, he was uncon.
scjous. in which cendition IA one r.
NAMED for tweuts-51ur hours.
Warden Nicbois 5 an able man -
, farmer. and haS protected tha
state's interests. bit he has been cen
nacfpd with the penitentiary more or
lass for thirty years and undoubtedly
thinks the whip s the only remedy,
bnt some of his s:.Ncrdinates haTe adj
niostered a cru All 'nhumane sEs.
fenl Of punishment
@The prayer O. -aeSe eonx:cts @as
f1r change in t&a management. ana
with that idea b=t5e= US we made I