The New York herald., 1920-01-04
OFFICER Tells Of
'sTR|NCINC' G|LS
At REF0RMAT0RY
Discipline Necessary, bur
Never Brutal, Miss Minogue
Tells Inquiry.
erscrAr DrsrAro TO THE HERALD


BEDFORD HILLS, n. ", Saturday.
Miss Julia Minogue, disciplinary officer
at the State Reformatory for Women
here. tonight took the stand In the investi-
CATION being conducted by John S, Ken
nedy, vice president of the State Prison
Commission. into the alleged brutality
toward girls which has been charged by
institution.
Miss Minogue denied absolutely that any
cruelty had been imposed upon the girls.
She specifically said that none of them
ever had been actually strung up" as
some of the inmates charged She frankly
admitted that when girls became unruly
naturally they were punished. This con-
sisted in teing the girls hands behind
her back and then fastening her TO the
grating in her cell. In some cases the
water treatment" was resorted to. but
this was nothing more than the merest
ducking of a girls head into a pail of
water. None of them ever had suffered
any ills from this treatment.
Miss Minogue's testimony was the most
important brought out at the hearing. she
very plainly explained that when she first
came to the institution about three years
ago there was no discipline. The girls
used to act in shocking manner not only
towards the prison officers but towards
any visitor who might chance to enter the
place or pass across the campus She in
dicated that the girls had pretty much
their own way.
started Demonstration.
One day, soon after she arrived, she
said, one hundred of the girls started a
demonstration against Mrs. Mary Moore,
the superintendent, because they had no
jam The jam was provided and the
trouble ceased. Going into thefmatter OF
"stringing up" the girls, Miss Minogue
said
'Since I have been in the Bedford Re-
formatory no girls feet ever have been
raised off the floor when they were hand
cuffed-unless the girls raised themselves.
I never. never kept n girl handcuffed
when she agreed to be quiet. 1t was neces-
sary to handcuff n girl in many cases to
prevent her from doing injury to hersef
or to others. About two years ago hand
cuffed Miss Helen Cobb, the superintend-
ent to the grating in cell to let her see
how IL felt Then Miss Cobb handcuffed
me. There was absolutely no pain, and
could have been no pain unless the girl
attempted to raise herself on tiptoe. Two
weeks ago we did the same thing. There
Is no cruelty in this method
When asked about the water treat
ment" Miss Minogue said:
1--WE Just put the girls head into the
water and up again. Sometimes It would
be two or three times. No girl ever faint
ed, smothered or suffocated.
Matrons Deny Brutality.
The only punishment i ever ad-
ministered was in depriving girls of their
privileges and putting them on bread and
water. The use of the handcuffs and the
water-dip was only for restraint
Miss Cobb, then took the stand and cor
roborated Miss Minogue in almost every
particular.
Earlier in the day four rnatrons of the
institution empha tically denied the stories
Of brutal treatment. They were Miss Jes-
sic Macandie, Mrs. Lillian Il. Murdock.
Miss Mary Sweeney and Mrs. Emma
Everetson, who had served In the institu-
ton variously from three to seventeen
years. They all testified that Miss Copp,
the superintendent and Miss Minogue,
were patient and kind to the women and
treated them justly. They also testified
that conditions were better now than they
were before Miss Cobb and Miss Minogue
came.
DR.. Mary Conant, resident physician
at rhe reforrnatory was asked II she
would approve ducking girl In cold
water II she had n weak heart without
first making an examination.
NO" responded the physician, but any
girl that breaks windows and swears the
way they do up here hasn't got weak
heart"