Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-21
ATTACK IS MADE
ON j. s. PRISON
Julian Hawthorne, Freed, Says
Men Are Starved in Name of
Economy.

Julian Hawthorne, the novelist, Il
free man Wednesday, after serving
q term in the Atlanta Federal Peni-
tertiary, told a startling story of his
life as a convict, in which he called
the Atlanta prison living hell, and
said Warden Meyer was unfit
With all the emphasis at his COM
mand, Hawthorne arraigned condi-
tons in the penitentiary as repres-
sive. cruel, and the equal OF the most
lurid descriptions in fiction.
~They are starving men in the
name Of economy" he said.
And DIR. w. J. Morton, of New
York his friend and fellow prisoner,
nodded his head in confederation.
prisoners are subjected to treat
men that is nothing more than slow
murder" said DIR. Morton, who is "a
practicing physician. There is never
enough to eat The warden attempts
to feed strong men on 9 cents day,
and when he succeeds he braks
about it."
In the short time they remained in
Atlanta after their release, Haw-
Of conditions at the penitentiary.
jumping from one detail to the other
with a dramatic sWiftnesS that made
the story narrowing.
"Oh, yes you hear Of the clean
cells in which the prisoners Sleep,
said Hawthorne. But you never
hear of the hole, do you? For the
slightest fault, sometimes for break
ing a plate, sometimes for little
more or less, prisoner is sent to the
hole a place under the main build
ing, for solitary confinement.
There the heat Is terrific at
times and the stencil is bad. There
some prisoners are chained by their
wrists. and held thus with arms up
stretched for hours. And sometimes
confinement in the hole Is Tor days.
Scores Prison Fare.
"But the element Of hell is in the
feeding" he continued, his eyes
flashing. ''There was never a man
goes into the prison but who under
goes a steady deterioration. maybe
SLOW but always sure. The doctor
will tell you that"
He waved at DR.. Morton, who nod
ded acquiescence.
Men are put in prison to be cared
for" said DR.. Morton, mot to be sub
jected to slow murder"
The two accepted the invitation OF
a Georgian reporter to ride about At
lanta. But once in the automobile,
they forgot the city, and forgot to
ask Of one place after another Haw-
thorne gripped the sides of his seat,
and vowed vengeance on the system
which he described.
"And the treatment Is always that
of beasts or criminals" he went on.
'"There are always the guards and the
rifles, giving the public the impress
sion that the men in prison are wild
men, or desperadoes And now and
then men are dubbed for little or
nothing There is guard named
Dean whom I have seen strike
prisoner over the head, and for no
justiflable offense."
Escaped Harsh Treatment.
The reporter wondered II Haw-
thorne himself had come in for such
treatment, and asked him.
no" said the novelist, 81 have
nothing at which to complain as to
my treatment. But DR.. Morton and
I were given pleasant work, and were
well treated otherwise. But there is
the system, bringing misery to hum
dreds Of other poor fellows.
81 got along all right, because l
didn't eat the food, nothing but bread
and milk And I got outdoors every
day. Just let me get outdoors and
Til take care of myself, in spite OF
food and everything else. Feel this"
He fixed his right arm, and held
1t out for the reporter to feel. 1t was
as hard as iron.
'But even with that, / am not at
my BEST" he said.