Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-09-13
HORRIBLE DEATH OF 8 CONV|CTS
PLACED IN DARK CELL FOR INSU6-
ORDINATION AND SURROGATE.
Only Four Survive Horrible Fate.
Lack of Oxygen Cause Of Death.
Governor to investigate.

Richmond, TeX-A dark cell, de-
signed and used for purposes of pun
ishment of unruly convicts, claimed a
toll of eight lives at the Harlem state
farm, in Fort Bend County, Sunday
morning
OF six convicts placed in the cell at
| o'clock Saturday afternoon and six
more at 6 o'clock in the evening as
punishment for laziness in the cotton
fields, eight were taken out dead at
$50 o'clock Sunday morning. All
were negroes. The four who escaped
death did so by sheer brute force,
fighting their smaller and weaker fel-
lows away from the air vents.
The dead men, the terms of service
and county from which each was sent
are as follows:
Miles Berry, Kaufman County, three
years for violation of local option
laws.
Carlton Brandt, GraysOn County,
two years for burglary.
Robert Carpenter, Harrison County,
two years for horse theft
William Campbell. McLennan Coun-
ty, two years for burglary.
Jesse Cox, Travis County, two years
for burglary.
Calvin jefferson Harris County, five
years for robbery with firearms.
Tom Read, Trinity County, two
years for burglary.
Phillip Pine, Kaufman County, two
years for violating local option laws.
The dark cell in which the eight
men died during the night is the ex-
treme punishment at the Harlem
state farm for an unruly convict since
the abolition OF the bat" 1t is a
cell without light and with just such
air as can filter through small open
ihgs. It is eight feet long by ten feet
wide, and it's walls are seven feet
high. 1t Is mostly underground, all
of it being beneath the surface of
the soil but two and one-half feet
Four vent pipes bisect the punishment
cell
Saturday afternoon the sergeant in
charge of subcamp No. 3, located near
one of the large Harlem cotton fields,
reported to Captain Calvin Blakely.
manager of the Harlem state farm,
that some negro convicts had been
lazy in the cotton fields and needed
punishment. He reported that these
men had picked 40 per cent less cot.
ton than the other fifty-eight at the
camp.
Captain Blakely agreed that the
men should be punished, and. he gave
an order to the sergeant that the men
should be confined in the dark cell
for. a period of twelve hours. =: The
laws of the state allow a maximum
confinement of forty-eight hours
From s o'clock Saturday night, the
hour guard unlocked the door to
slip in two buckets of water, until
$50 o'clock Sunday morning the door
was not opened. 1t was during this
interval that the struggles of the men
for air and the terrific fight for places
at the air hole occurred. Just exactly
what occurred, within the cell can be
told only by the survivors, From
the circumstances surrounding the
finding of the bodies it. must have
been the survival of the fittest, with
a mans ability to survive measured
entirely by his physical ability to hold
his place at the air hole.
When the door was opened Sunday
and the order to come out was given,
the bodies Of the eight men, corded
into mass. were found on the floor.
Here and there in the mass was a
survivor, too weak to move or talk.
These four quickly revived with the
return OF fresh air.
Dr.. J. NJ. O'FarrelI of Richmond,
who examined the bodies Immediately
after they had been taken out of the
cell, declared the deaths had been
caused by carbon dioxfde poisoning, a
lack of oxygen in the cell. Governor
Colquitt says he win make every eff
fort to place blame where it belongs.
Huerta Made Good His Offer.