The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1913-06-03
SING SING A TORTURE HOUSE
CLAIMED MEDIEVAL BARBARA
TIES TAME BY COMPARISON.
Governors Investigator Asserts That
Men Are Crippled for Life and
Cells Tested nWith Vermin.

| Men are OflppIeu lOF LhS anu
Cells Tested nWith Vermin.
Albany.-"Sto of torture of pris-
| Oners in the middle ages sound like de-
scriptions of Injuries in comparison to
the tales that have been told me of the
lives that some of the prisoners in Sing
Sing live"
This indictment of New York states
oldest penal institution is embodied In
the report made by George W. Blake
of New York, special commissioner
appointed by Governor Sulzer to inves-
tigate prison affairs.
The worst feature-that dealing with
the morals of the convicts-Mr. Blake
says cannot be discussed in a public
document, but should be called to the
immediate attention Of those compe-
tent to deal with the situation.
The investigator describes conditions
as "frightful" The prison cells. he
says, are dark, small, damp, filthy and
infested with vermin. In them men
contract rheumatism and go out Grip
pied for life. Into none Of the cells on
the lower tiers has a ray of sunshine
entered for eighty years
The report opens with bitter attack
on Warden Kennedy and on Colonel
Joseph f. Scott, who was removed as
superintendent of state prisons by Gov
ernor SulZer after he had refused to
appoint Charles f. Ratigan warden Of
Auburn prison Colonel Scott was ap-
pointed superintendent of prisons after
a successful administration, covering
more than ten years, of the affairs OF
the Elmira reformatory. He was con-
sidered one of the foremost penOlog1sts
in the country. President Taft sum-
mOned Colonel Scott to Washington to
preside over the International confer
ence on prison reform held there two
years ago. Mr.. Blake in his report as
sails Colonel Scott bitterly and says
fatty that ne has done nothing to earn
his reputation.
Mr. Blake asserts that because of In
fuence exerted by men well known in
various walks of life money has been
wrung from persons seeking clemency
for prisoners, but in some cases the
favors bought were mot delivered"
The cOmmissary department of the
prison, according to Mr. Blake, sis run
along incompetent if not dishonest
lines. There is criminal carelessness If
not downright grating. Signs that this
is the case stick out as plentifully as
uuills on the back of a frightened por-
cupine."
John S. Kennedy, warden of Sing
Sing, is charged by Mr.. Blake with
having violated the law. "He has per
mitted the creation and continuance Of
unbusinesslilze methods" says the re-
port. "and has caused the state to lose
thousands of dollars in a way that
points directly to graft. He has made
no attempt to protect the inmates from
disease and vice nor any effort to pro-
duce better conditions in this prison"
Mr. Blake says he was told stories,
amply corroborated, of such frightful
character as to appeal to the most I'M
feeling person. The cells on the ground
floor, lie says, drip with moisture, so
that the inmates in many cases have
become victims of chronic rheumatism.
Many pages of the report are devoted
to a criticism Of the industrial depart
ment of the prison. Mr.. Blake says
that there has been a constant de-
crease in the profits, which have drop
ped from SIG 749 in the first six months
of 1910 to $3O,O52 in the first six
months of 1912.
In the course of his investigation of
the commissary department of the pris-
on Mr.. Blake says that, according to
the records. 1859 pounds of beef went to
Warden Kennedy's table during the
month of March. Commenting gener-
ally on the conduct of this department
of the prison. Mr.. Blake says he found
enormous waste, while the prisoners,
as a rule, were underfed.