Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-04-12
YOUNCBLOOD DENIES
STORY Of CONV|CTS
BUY|NG FREEDOM

II UIIVU | IlELUUtNg
QUITMAN, Ga, April 1O.-Cap-
tain F. NJ. Youngblood, county SUI
perintendent, expressed amazement
' his morning when Atlanta papers
brought the charge that convicts
have bought therr freedom from the
Brooks county chaingang.
This is the first intimation," said
Captain Youngblood, that L have
. lad anything irregular i'm the county
chaingang. 1t is not necessary for
me to deny any knowledge of the
escapes referred to, for people OF
Brooks county and south Georgia
know me too we'll to believe for a
moment that 1 am in any way in
volved.
Il court any investigation, and will
see that the matter is sifted to the
very bottom. If any one, either
connected with the chainganS or
from the outside, has aided any pris-
oner in escaping, l certainly want
TO know it. l am starting an inves-
tlgation of my own accord, and will
rot stop until the investigation is
complete and sweeping"
Claude West, who is mentioned in
the newspaper stories, is former
secretary under Governors Harris,
Slaton and Dorsey, and is serving
an indeterminate sentence. He is
d trusty and is the accountant of
the county farm, and according to
the authorities, he is rendering val
liable assistance to the officers OF
the county. His service and his
spirit has made him many friends,
and his conduct has been above re-
proach, county officers say.
County Clerk w. r. knight who
is clerk of the board of county COM
missioners, states that he. is in such
intimate touch with the conduct of
the county farm and chaingarg that
he would certainly have known if
there is any system of buying lib
erty, such as has been suggested
in the charge furnished to the AT
lanta newspapers.
Captain Youngblood is regarded
as a man of the highest type, and
is popular throughout the entire
south Georgia section. His conduct
of the county farm and convict sys-'
tenn has given general satisfaction.
He and his family live on the farm,
and the convicts are we'll treated.
PRISON COMMISSION
MAY INVESTIGATE CHARGE
Charges by Mason Owens, an es-
capped convict from the Brooks
county chaingang, that he and
negro life-termer paid Charles
Youngblood, son of WaEAlen Young
blood, to aid them to escape, and
that numerous other conVicts lad
bought their way out, and that sup
plies of the convict camp are De-
ing stolen in large quantities, await
the attention of the prison commits
sion when the members of that body
return to the state capitol.
A copy Of the Owens affidavit
was sent Monday night by Grover
Bell, chief clerk of the commission,
to Judge Il. r. Patterson at st.
Ma~ys, where he was scheduled to
make a convict camp inspection on
Tuesday. It was thought likely
that he would go at once to Brooks
county to investigate the charges
contained in the affidavit.
Commissioners Rainey and David
son were out of the city Tuesday,
in different parts of the state, and
they and Judge Patterson were ex-
pected to be back by Wednesday or
Thursday.
$25 Price of Freedom
Owens affidavit is as follows:
Il am of legal age and a resident,
when at home, with, members Of my
family in Whigham, Ga.
II, Mason Owens, and Albriston
Edwards, were, on or about Novem-
Der 90, 1922, convicted at Quitman,
Brooks county, Georgia. of the crime
of burglary, and sentenced to six
(6) years imprisonment. We were
received at the Brooks county farm,
to begin our sentence, on or about
November %, 1922. and were assign
ed varied classes of hard labor.
ITO the best of my knowledge and
belief, Albriston Edwards escaped
from the Brooks county farm. To-
Gated near QuisTlart, Ga, on or about
January IS. 1923.
1--WE had been in confinement at
the Brooks county farm only a few
DAYS, when we met a man by the
name of Will Rogers, giving his
home address as Dixie, Ga, and who
had been committed to said farm
as punishment for some crime which
he had committed. Will Rogers
stated to me that he had been there
long enough to know and understand
the ropes, and that if we wanted to
leave, that it could be arranged for
the sum of twenty-five $3.50 dollars.
I gave no thought to such a propo
sition because I had made up my
mind to do. my time and then
straighten UP and make an honor
able and upright citizen Of myself.
II made every effort to content
myself with conditions then and
there existing and surrounding the
Brooks county farm, always deter
mined to do my time. After Albris-