The Washington herald., 1916-11-24
STRUCK IS TIMES
WITH WIRED HOSE
Boy Tells Probers of Training
School Floggings.

Brutal and inhuman treatment of boys
Of Il years and older. was charged to
officers Of the National Training School
by former inmates, at the hearing be-
fore the committee of the Chamber Of
Commerce yesterday.
That boys Of IL years and upward,
stripped to the waist, were mercilessly
beaten by guards with rubber hose; that
slight offenders were forced to kneel
on their knees for hours at time, and
that other forms Of punishment were in
daily practice at the school were some
Of the stories told to the committee by
boys who are now out of the institution.
The guards enjoyed II" was the way
Joseph McFarlane. of l1E Union avenue,
described the beatings he received.
Later on McFarlane told how he was
struck sixteen times with a hose in which
wire had been wound to increase the pain
It inflicted.
According to his testimony. McFarlane
was struck In the face and knocked down
by a guard because he stepped out Of
line In a march. when taken sick, he
said, he would have to wait until noon
the next day to visit the hospital physi-
clan, no matter how much suffering he
was In. -.. ....
McFarIane was in the school from 1919
to 1916. He was sent up for shooting
craps. During that time he said he was
given twelve floggings with a rubber hose
three-quarters Of an inch in diameter.
Five were given with reports" while
seven were administered. he asserted, at
the pleasure of the furnishing officer. He
said 1t Is customary to file a report
with the superintendent of the school
when boy Is whipped.
with Outstretched Hands.
Standing against a wall with out
stretched hands for hours at a time was
his punishment for being caught reading
a newspaper and having money in his
possession. testified Harry C. King, Of
1902 Four-and-a-HaIf street southwest.
King was in the institution in 1907 and
Police Court he said. for refusing to go
to school
Whenever I was punished by being
made to stand against a wall" King
said, "a guard stood over me to strike
my knuckles with a stick should lower
them for rest. 1 couldn't keep my arms
up long at time. was struck about
fifteen times this way on one occasion.
when they wouldn't let me go home
to attend the funeral of my brother,
ran away" was his concluding statement
to the committee.
King was 13 years old when sent to
the school He charged that the whip
pings began as soon as he entered the
school and were kept up until he left.
He charged further that at one time
guard struck him thirty-two Hcks for
a minor infraction Of the rules. He was
forced once, he said, to kneel on his
knees for three hours when he dIso-
beyed the rules.
Starved Him Two Days,
For two days, King charged. he was
forced to so without anything to eat,
because he made a noise at supper table
in arranging his chair.
Boys were not allowed to read news
Papers, have money or tobacco on their
person. or speak aloud while eating, he
asserted. For the slightest mistake in
school. whippings were administered, he
declared.
In. administering these whippings, ac-
cording to the testimony of McFarlane,
guards or officers, as they are known at
the school. made the boys stoop forward
until their hands touched their knees.
Any blows that struck on the legs were
counted as fouls" and repeated, he testi-
ied.N
ID. ]. CARRIER, formerly a clerk at the
school, was questioned by Chairman
Capers. He said boys were whipped often,
and always by the officers, who preferred
charges against them. Asked IL he
thought boys were ever struck by guards
with their fists, he said he couldn't re-
member any cause of this kind, but that
he wouldn't question such a charge, how
ever. He said he thought the inmates
ought to be punished in some way.
All the five members of the committee
we're present-William NJ. Dove. Chaplin
Brown, James F. Oyster, DR.. Lewis ].
Battle, and John Capers. Chairman
Capers announced that he would take up
with the board of trustees OF the school
the matter Of the committee visiting the
institution In the near future.