Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-04

charge him
That is substantially what the 9TH
er three probers said, Mr.. Patterson
| remarking that the principal idea OF
putting a man in prison is not to re-
form him. but TO punish him.
Punish Rather Than Reform"
The iGea Of punishment should
| take precedence over the idea Of ref
| ormation," he said.
MIR. Smith said he is willing to do
anything he can TO relieve the con
oition OF the convicts.
IT. seemed to be the consensus OF
opinion that, inasmueh as the lnves-
! tigation Lad proved beyond the shad-
ow OLA doubt that the living quarters
and the entire camps, for that mat
ter, are exceedingly clean and san
itary. the matter Of fogging prison
ers Is but a secondary consideration,
and the less said about IL the better
b, A every camp the newspaper men in
! the party were cordially invited to
notice how clean and sanitary the
| living quarters and the kitchens and
/ oommissary departments were And
! there Is no doubt that the camps are
clean and the food good. The inves
! tigators were fed on collards. eggs
corn bread. biscuits, beefSteak. cot
fee and other things at the Oakland
| camp, and ii was eXcellently pre-
| pared and excellently served Better
! food OF the sort could not be secured
anywhere in Atlanta.
The most fastidious person could
rot have found any thing in the way
| of dirt in the yards or the buildings
OF the camp. Even the yards were
swept clean. Everything was spick
| and span Convicts at all the camps
Il haa N
| ed I'D in anticipation Of the investiga
| ton, but every man who was ques
! toned aid the camps were kept very
clean.
Evidence OF Drinking.
The thorough search that failed to
unearth any dirt, however, unearthed
several bottles q the Adamsville
camp that smelled very strong-and
some OF them tasted strong-of Wnis-
ky.
Convicts in this camp said drunk
enness among the guards-men
armed with shotguns-is common
occurrence.
The probers were met at the
Adamsvlle camp by a delegation of
guards and started down toward the
bunkhouse While passing in front
OF the commissary the vanguard of
the investigators ran into an old man,
gray haired and bent, who stood
leaning on broom The crowd,
numbering probably dozen persons,
stopped to talk to the first convict
of the day,
How long have you been here?"
asked Commissioner Tull Waters.
No Complaint Before Guards.
"A life time, ! guess he tried to
smile. but he couldn't
Have you any complaint to
maker" Mr.. Waters asked.
The old man glanced around with
the furtive quickness acquired only
by men who are watched constantly.
Three or four guards were in the
crowd
No" he said "Everything's all
right"
Then he told his story.
His name is J. NJ. jolly, and he
was sent up for life from DeKalb
| County in 1880 for murder. He has
wife and three children and in 81
years has seen only one member of
his family-a daughter who came to
visit him years ago. Her name is
Mrs. Della Henderson and she lives
in Atlanta He said he hadn't been
whipped in 80 years and has been
without chains for "a years. He said
the convicts we're treated we'll under
Captain Thomson, and no man was
whipped unless he deserved it. The
food, he said. was good, and the liv-
ing conditions could not be improved
upon.
After a half hour spent investigat-
ing the clubhouse. the kitchen and
dining room. and the other buildings
about the camp, which were found
to be very clean, the County Com
missioners and the State Commits
sion went into secret session in the
clubhouse with dozen or more of
the convicts.
Testimony Kept Secret.
The session lasted between ten and
fifteen minutes. The probers refused
to make public the stories told by
the convicts but one of them. H. ID.
Flemings. whose sentence will expire
in twelve days, told the newspaper
men his story when he came out.
Here 1t is:
81 am serving my first term" he
said, Il was sent up for assault to
murder, We are treated little better
than dogs here although the new
warden, MIR. Clark, appears to want
to do the right thing. Guards have
cursed me and applied vile epithets
TO my mother and IL | objected
was whipped. | was fiogged on my
bare skin in June, and to this day |
don't know what / was whipped for.
I've seensguards come into the camp
staggering under the influence OF
whisky, and once | saw a guard
drinking. He offered me a drink and
cursed me when | refused.
Made to Work While ~.
"One day last summer I got sick
during the work and Charley Wood,
guard who is a brute, wouldn't let me
sit down. The next day | laid in, be-
cause | was sick, and the jack man
Captain Thomson, came and cursed
me and said there was nothing the
matter with me.
"On another occasion Charley Wood
made me climb down off the bank,
where had fallen because l was so
sick, and made me get into the cut
and so to work. could hardly stand
and so couldn't see, but he held me
under the gun and made me swing a
shovel
The day ! was whipped-for what
reason | do not kpoN-other men
were hogged for the same reason.
Among them were Guy Forester, Joe
owens, John Lively and a man we
call Fifteen Cents" whose real name
DO not know. ! worked all the day