Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-11-29
EX-GUARD TELLS
Of HORRORS IN
j. 8. PRISON

place where the air is so foul as to
almost nauseating.
Visitors Never Hear of II.


Visitors Never Hear of II.
You never hear of the hole when
you visit the prison. The first in
structIon a guard gets is that he
must not talk Of the hole and the
prisoners can't talk until they are re-
leased-and then nobody believes
them. And I believe every word ut
tered by the men who have been tell
Ing these almost unbelievable tales IS
true for I've been there and I've help
ed chain the poor evils to the wall
I've unlocked the shaCkles ana seen
them fall to the floor like a plummet,
asleep before their bodies struck the
cement
The ordinary man couldn't even
find the hole, unless he knew where IL
was It's away off IN corner or inc
basement of the isolation building,
where no visitors are allowed. When
you inspect the prison, you are shown
the clean dining rooms, the Chap2l
where they pray for mems souls on
Sunday-and then on Monday the
same men take the prisoners into me
hole and subject them to the tortures
Of the damned
when you start to the hole, you've
got TO follow a winding passagewdY,
barred by iron doors which have TO
be unlocked and locked again when
you 20 through. Then you come to
final door, solid iron and more than a
foot thick. On the inside Is the hole,
where silence and absolute darkness
reign. You could stand on the ou--
side OF the door 10 the hole and shoot
a. gun-and you couldn't hear 1t II
the hole. Entering the door, you are
in a narrow passageway, fianked on
either side by half a dozen narrow
cells not more than FIVE by seven feet,
and the ceilings are barely high
enough for a man to stand erect
Air Fearfully Foul.
There are no windows. no place
where ray of sunlight can enter
The air in the hole Is the same that
has been there for years, and it is
unbelevably foul A man can hardly
stay in the place five minutes without
getting a splitting headache. The cells
or stalls slto which the prisoners are
thrown are built of brick, with a cs-
ment floor, bare. All the lights are in
the passageway and are controlled by
a switch outside of the hole. p.
In each cell, " inches higher
than a mans head, are stapled rusty
handouts We'd take our prisoner
throw him into tie cell, make him
stand facing the wa clamp his legs
with irons and then force him to
stretch his arms out while we locked
the handouts on his wrists. Then we
turned out the lights and left him
alone in a solitude that was terrible,
in darkness that can hardly be pic
tured. breathing air that Slapped his
strength every second. He couldn't
hear sound, for the hole is soun1-
proof I've known men to stay In the
hole for eight and ten and fifteen
days at a time We'd shackle them
un in the morning al o'clock and
leave them alone until noon, when
-szG SO 6swS ara loosen one arm.
The poor devil would be given a glass
of water and a thin slice of bread, all
the food he had for "a hours. He was
allowed a few minutes 20 eat-in the
Oakland then he'd be strung up
again. At 9 o'clock at night the irons
were unlocked and h was allowed to
rest. He got hts rest on hard &c
ment foor-and some idea OF the Sc
verify of the punishment can ne
gained when ! tell you that lots OF
times I've released men from the irons
and seen them fall asleep before their
bodies struck the concrete.
Men Came Out Maniacs.
II don't think III ever forget tho
hole or the things I've seen out there.
I've seen strong men go INTO the
hole and come out maniacs, with
white faces, drawn and haggard I've
seen good natured men, prisoners
whose only offense had been trying
10 get something TO eat, thrust into
the hole and come out desperate and
with no other thought than to kill
I've heard men curse the warden OF
that penitentiary with the most ter
rible oaths that were ever conceived
in the minds Of men, and I've seen
men attempt suicide after spending
few hours shackled and chained n
the hole.
Il took short-te prisoner down
in the hole one day and strung him
up. He had always been a mild man.
nered man. pleasant and affable. |
strung him up at 6 o'clock and fif-
teen hours later when let him down
he was a physical wreck and glib
herring maniac. left him lying on the
floor. cursing ard frothng at the
mouth. After I had gone he reached
through the bars of the door with his
shoe and knocked the electric light
globe down, Somewhere he had got
hold OF a rusty nail and had Snug
gled it. into the hole. He gathered up
the fragments of the light globe and
raked them into his cell. Then he
took the nail--a great, rusty spike
and tore a Jagged hole in the muscles
OF his side. Then he Crammed the
hole with particles of broken glass
] found him the next morning lyiag
In pool of blood, screaming and
tearing at the hole in his side with a
piece OF glass We took him to the
hospital and he recovered, but he was
crazy
Then there was n Young white
man from Mississippi a shortter
man, who was killed by confinement
in the solitary He was left In the
hole for eight davs because a woman
double crossed him and he wouldn't
tell on a friend There was a young
woman who came to the prison every
Sunday afternoon and played hymns