The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-01-25
Our Brothers Merciless
Keeper

| each with a name and date on IT, buS
under ell OF them lsy all that remained
on earth of prison tragedies; lot even
if prisoner die natural death IN
prison, he dies with broken heart
aud poisoned mind, abandoned, IN gray
despair, friendless, shut out from sky
and freedom, hearing with dulled ears
the changing of steel gates, seeing the
blank walls. deprived Of the sympa'
thetic words and glances OF friends
miserable. unknown death. Silence and
| obliteration close over him; and here
he lies.
On one of the headstones | read the
name of Ed Richmond, and the date OF
his end. He had not died natural
death, but there WAS nothing on his
tombstone TO show it. l already knew
his story, having heard it from several
eyewitnesses.
On the day above mentioned, the
guard had granted his request; but aft
or the man had been absent few MN
utes, he called to him to come out.
Richmond did not at once respond. The
guard called to him again, more per-
emptorily, and advanced toward the
place where he was, outside the stone
shed building. Richmond, as the guard
came nearer, mumbled something; the
guard seemed angered, and stepped up
to him, raising his club to strike. Rich
tuoUu pun up al w
ward the blow, and as it descended he
caught the end of the club in his hand.
This was the head and front Of has Of
Tending, and for this he was to die.
The guard dropped the club, drew
his revolver, and shot Richmond four
times in the body. He also fired another
shot, the bullet going through wooden
partition into part OF the shed where
some prisoners were working, barely
thA, oh, and oil In
dropped where he stood and lay hud
dlod on the ground the guard stood
looking coolly ut him. One Of the pris-
oners, a negro, ran up and took the dy
ing mans head on his knee; others
looked on. After while an official
came up and ordered the man taken to
the hospital. But his hurts were NOR
tai, and in few minutes he was dead
The men in the stone shed continued
their work.
An investigation within the walls
was held, the guard was eXonerated
and was still on duty when was in
the prison. The officials who had dis
liked Richmond were relieved of the
annoyance of his presence. There were
no inconvenient newspaper reporters
about. If the dead man had friends
outside, they never were able to do any
thing, It seems unlikely that the guard
who killed him would have done it had
he not felt confident that the higher
officials would condone the deed. Per"
haps, had he been arrested and in
dicted, he might have uttered some
names; but he was exonerated, and he
has kept his mouth shut. This hap
pened before the date of Attorney Cen
eral Wickersham S visit to the prison.
and therefore the change in Warden
Meyers ideas as to the expediency of
severe measures in the handling of CON
victs. We're the thing to be done again
In the open air and sunshine, with per-
sons looking on, but under circum-
stances of decent seclusion. The outside
public is becoming a little squeamish
about prison killings.
But in Russia there is no public
opinion, or none that is audible, and
the prison guards there are not ham
pered in their work by the necessity OF
doing it under cover. as they are here
1t is a question which method is prefer
able. ] believe some of our prisoners
would vote for the open way OF killing
and tortnring. 1t is exasperating to be
done up' in secret, in the dark, sti-
fled and gagged, with no chance to die
fighting / have no comparative statis-
tics as between us and Russia, but it
would not be surprising if our record Of
men beaten, starved, poisoned, hung up
in chains in dark cells and killed by
neglect and cruelties. were to size up
fairly we'll against what Russia has to
show. Considering the restrictions put
upon them, our prison autocrats Ger.
taiuly do well.
Some doubt has been created in the
public mind as to whether there really
are dark cells in the Atlanta penitcn-
tiary. or, If there be, whether their use
has not been long discontinued. / never
heard any categorical statement in de-
nial of it from any of the officials,
though / have read something to that
effect in local newspapers. Visitors
never see them. and 7 know Of no pris.
on inspectors who have done so: they
are shown instead the light cells on an
upper floor, which are habitablo enough,
with windows admitting daylight. and
cot bed. But the dark cells are an
other story altogether, aud their exist
ence can no more be denied successful
| ly than that of the prison itself
A man named H. B. Rich was EN-
ployed in tho prison for nine years as
| foreman of the blacksmith shop; he
| says that he helped build two dark cells
IN the basement, and often riveted
chained to the door, he goes on,
hanging by their hands, sometimes for
| twenty -four hours. Often they were
thus chained up during the day, but at
night The chain attached TO the frame
of the door was loosened; the other
! chain was attached to vertical rod,
the ring sliding up and down, so that
the man was able to lie on .tho bare
cement floor. There were no cots. The
food was generally one slice of bread
and cup of water a day, sometimes
two or three. Men were often kept
thus for weeks at a time, and would
come out so pallid and weak that they
could scarcely walk, and blinded from,
long confinement in darkness A con.
vict named $. was kept in the dark
hole two weeks; / was often called To
| chain him, as he was powerful man;
but when he would come out he was SO
weakened that he could scarcely move. y
| | may add mere that | have often
talked with the convict here mentioned
and he told me details of his experi.
enees. ! would print his name nnd
story, but he is still in confinement
he has lived two and twenty continuous
years in prison-and he might be made
10 suffer for his revelations. Amono
other things, he said that he had been
in the punishment cells, in the appre,