Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-05
SIX CAMPS INSPECTED
IN ONLY FOUR HOURS

was so per cent better than 4 usually
is
Mitchell, B. ]. Patterson, John by.
Frank Jones, John Beaseley and 9TH
ers told tales OF cruelty on the part Of
the guards, and Mitchell shed lit
tie new light on the shooting OF Con-
Wet Harris.
THE stick these people say Harris
had in his hand when he was shot, "
Mitchell said, "is not the one he car
ried. This stick is a big bludgeon.
The one that Harris had was little
limb broken from a bush, and 1t
wasn't over a foot long, and no big
ger around than a broom handle. ]
don't know what became of 1t, but
the one that is on exhibition came
from the camp woodpile after the
shooting
Frank Jones. 26 years old, who has
served nine years oe a life sentence
for murder, said that he and half a
dozen other men were whipped be-
cause they asked about the dinner
hour, which the rules say they have a
right to do. Among the other men
were Walt Blackman, John Beaseley,
George Brady and Jim Brown.
Beaseley, an old man, said they gave
him eighteen lashes. The others got
IiOHl seven 10 eleven.
Jones said that everybody who
tells of the brutality of the guards
gets whipped.
Objected to Vile Name.
Charley Wood, the guard, drew his
gun on me last summer because l OBJ
1ected when he called me vile name
and threatened TO shoot me. told
MIN he didn't have the nerve, and he
reported me for a whipping The
'Jackman, however, wouldn't do It"
the men at Adamsville declare that
the new warden, Bob Clark, is a good
man, and treats them better than did
captain Thomson Aaron. Isom. a
new guard, they declare, is the best
man VINO ever held gun over them,
''Isom treats us like we are hu-
man" said RUDE Mitchell, "and he
gets more work out of us than any
other guards. I'd get up at midnight
10 90 lsom favor and sometimes I
feel ike I'd get UP at midnight to
beat some of the other guards"
|. Nothing was Learned of conditions
at Oakland, where the probers
lunched. Commissioner Waters stat
ed during dinner that he thought NOT
more than two camps ought to be
visited each day, &c the probers could
go to the works and talk to the men.
Didn't Want to Hear Men.
They don't want to talk to the
men," interrupted Captain Donald
son. IF we hurry we can take them
around and show them all the camps
to- day"
Living conditions are what we
want to see" remarked Judge Pat
terson of the State Commission. I've
h vi tI1t 81,
food; want to find out if there are.
1t is not necessary to talk to the
men"
Just before leaving Adamsvil!e
some of the probers went up on a
hill and found 19-year old boy
named Nash, who has been there one
month. He was crying. They asked
him what was the matter, and the
boy showed them a finger that had
about withered away through some
disease. He said it had been sore
two weeks and no physician had
looked at it The guard said he did
not know it, but under pressure ad-
mitted that he did know 1t.
81 haven't known it for more than
two weeks, though" he explained.
At Rosalind Camp, where % whip
pings were recorded in January,
Perry Praig, a negro, showed wells
on his body. He said he was whip
ped twice in three weeks, but he did
not know why. Praig said they gave
him eleven lashes; the record book
showed that he got five. Ten min
utes was spent at Rosalind Camp.
Eighteen Minutes at Wieuca.
Nothing was learned during the
six minutes the probers spent at
Miner Camp.
More time-all of eighteen minutes
was spent at Wieuca Camp, for
Chairman Dawson said:
Lets go arouL- and interview
these men just a little bit"
The record of this camp showed 30
whippings in January. Will Bird
well, one of the convicts, said he had
been whipped three times in one ev-
ening.
Said they whipped him because,
when they toll him to bring some
thing from the kitchen, he didn't I'M
derstand and brought something else.
He said they gave him fifteen lashes
each time. The book showed that he
had been whipped three times, but on
different occasions, With a total OF
twenty lashes for the three.