United labor bulletin., 1913-10-25

one am about to relate" and here he
hestiates and says, "Oh, God. my pen
almost fails me-"
at was in the year 1881, Frank
Stanton, convict, small in stature,
claimed he was unable to perform the
task assigned to him. He had been
severely lashed several times. Re-
ceiving at one time 81 blows on the
bare back, leaving it one mass of
purifying sores. One evening after
failing to get his task done, and
knowing he would be whipped, he
armed himself with shoe knife, de-
claring he would die before he would
again submit to the lash. Bradbury
| (prison superintendent, or head pri-
son keeper) determined to take him
out of his cell by force and take the
knife from him and whip him. He
tried to get him to come out by
threats, but he refused unless Brad
bury promised not to whip him, saying,
| My back is one complete mass OF
lacerated flesh and l will die before
| will submit to such punishment, and
for that which l am unable to do
This had no effect on Bradbury; he
only continued to threaten to take the
knife from him by force and then
whip him. Stanton would not come
nor give up the knife. Then the cell
door was locked, and he was confined
there three days without food or wa
ter. At the end of the three days,
Bradbury found him with spirit still
unbroken, and determined not to come
out unless the promise was given he
would not be whipped. Falling upon
his knees in his cell, he begged to be
allowed to go back to his work and
he would do the best he could to
complete his task. Bradbury refused
to promise and resolved to take him
out, but how did they do it? Think of
it, They waited until the dark shades
of night yelled all in inky blackness.
and then with stealthy footsteps en-
tered the cell house, locking the door
behind them All the convicts were
in their cells except one trusty Ia
brother convict whose name was
Siphus, and from whom learned the
awful story) This trusty was used to
open the cell door. Bradbury and
Todd (his assistant) led the way to
Stanton's cell, followed by three other
guards with long iron rods used in the
power house, at the furnace doors to
stir up coal, and about ten feet in
length, with hooked claws on the end
to rake the fire. Taking these iron
hooks they stuck them into large
coal stove, leaving them there until
| they were a bright red Then Siphus
was ordered to open the cell door.
Then they rushed at Stanton (who
had not tasted food nor drop of wa
ter for three days. with their fire
weapons, like Satan with his trident,
endeavoring to catch the hooks in his
! flesh sufficient to drag him out. Stan
ton fought with desperation with odds
against him. In a few moments his
clothes were nearly all torn and
burned off: while the flesh on his
hands was burned to the bone. and
the flesh on his legs was torn and
hanging in strips; a hole was stabbed
| in his breast, and his sides were
scared and raw. By this time the
guards were in frenzied state of
beastly excitement, and ran to the
door and again heated the hooks, then
renewed the attack. The smell of
burning flesh, combined with the agon-
izing screams of Stanton caused John
Gates. one of the guards, to clasp his
hands to his ears and rush from the
hall. While the other guards con-
tinued to claw and pull their fiery
weapons, tearing a hole in his side,
and the muscles of one arm hung by
small tendons. At last the hook
caught him around the neck, burning
| itself deep into the flesh, and with
jerk he was pulled out onto the floor
of the cell house, where he made
feeble effort to end his terrible suf-
fering by cutting his throat. and died
| in a few minutes. A coroner was
called and rendered verdict of sui
eide, without examining the body,
taking the testimony of the guards"
| Stanton is dead and at peace, but
| Stantons cries are not hushed on that
| fearful night of agony, but are being
heard today with a wonderful force,
all over this fair. land of ours, we call
civilized and christian.
You, who do not believe this IS the
spirit existing in our penal institu-
tions in our city, state and national
government, go out in a shoulder to
shoulder conflict with the downtrodden
and oppressed of our nation, for even
a short time, and you will not have to
be appealed to, to believe, for you will
know the truth by your own exper-
fences.
Coming back directly to our sub
ject. the punishment cell, let US ask,
is it legal? The Constitution of the
United States says that mo cruel or
unjust punishment shall be inflicted
| upon any man. Second, is it econ
| nmY2 At nresent In the limited States