The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1913-09-12
IIIlIaE DEATH OF 5 cONV|cTS
n-ntN DARK CELL FOR lNsue-
gse'Sns,nATloN AND SURROGATE.
eour Survive Horrible Fate.
Qs ) - oxygen Cause of Death.
s' governor to Investigate.

..oond TeX.--A dark cell, de-
W., and used for purposes of pun
s I'M Of unruly convicts, claimed a
l'ap,Ss' oigbt lives al the Harlem state
s. " IN Fort Bend County, Sunday
I! naning- n
..'aet Saturday afternoon and six
q It 6 o'clock in the evening as
Nu ,.hmout for Iaziness in the cotton
I'll gl. y. eight were taken out dead at
4 as = o'clock Sunday morning. All
by s. neproes. The four who escaped
III s a.s did SO by sheer brute force,
vi s es.lng their smaller and weaker fell
q AVS away from the air vents
Il rno dead men, the terms of service
- county from which each was sent
&c as follows;
wes Berry, Kaufman County, three
IL - for violation of local option
hEs. :. c cou+,,
Ii ,ro years for burglary
M pobert Carpenter, Harrison County,
b 80 wears for horse theft.
b J" william Campbell, McLennan Coun-
4 two years for burglary
Jesse Cox, Travis County, two years
z ln burglary.
y calvin Jefferson Harris County, five
vars for robbery with firearms.
b Tom Read, Trinity County, two
y.ars for burglary.
Il phillip Pine, Kaufman County, two
q rs,rs for violating local option laws.
The dark cell in which the eight
men died during the night is the ex-
/. heue punishment at the Harlem
= .sle farm for an unruly convict since
A. abolition Of the bat" 1t is a
All without light and with just such
3 ,r as can filter through small open
1 iugs 1t is eight feet long by ten feet
Z vide, and its walls are seven feet
1 high. 1t is mostly underground, all
! a Il being beneath the surface of
I ihe soil but two and one-half feet.
|. Four vent pipes bisect the punishment
i ell.
Saturday afternoon the sergeant in
charge of subcamp No. 3, located near
one Of the large Harlem cotton fields,
pported to Captain Calvin Blakely,
manager of the Harlem state farm,
that some negro conyicts had been
hgy in the cotton fields and needed
enlistment. He reported that these
men had picked 40 per cent less cot
Ton tb2n 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
loF a period Of twelve hours. The
laws Of the state allow maximum
confinement of forty-eight hours.
From o'clock Saturday night, the
hour guard unlocked the door to
Clip in two buckets of water, until
4 $50 O'clock Sunday morning the door
vas 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
shat occurred within the cell can be
tod only by the survivors. From
he circumstances surrounding the
finding of the bodies it must have
been the survival of the fittest, with
mans ability to survive measured
entirely by his physical ability to hold
bis place at the air hole.
When the door was opened Sunday
and the order to come out was given,
me bodies of the eight men, corded
lllQ a mass, were found on the floor.
here and there in the mass was a
survivor, too weak to move or talk.
hese four quickly revived with the
return Of fresh air.
Df. ]. NJ. 0'Farrell of Richmond,
VINO examined the bodies Immediately
amer they had been taken out of the
eell declared the deaths had been
caused by carbon dioxide poisoning,
sek Of oxygen in the cell. Governor
WlQultt says ne will make every eff
ets 70 place blame where it belongs.