The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-07-14

e blazons the areaway to a cell
thinner daylight.
! It's the hole" A feared
place for the beatings which
former inmates charge have
taken place there, feared for
the hours when a prisoner
stands handcuffed to a cell
door on a diet of bread and
water.
With only ten more days of his
sentence to serve, Armett (ArmenO
and Craig came into the hole where
I also was a prisoner to curse and
abuse him. He resisted the club
bing they began to give him."
vouches the sworn statement of one
man who knew that hole every
bar of it, every freshet of air, every
sunlight shadow that peeped into it.
Record Precedes Luesse
The man was Theodore Luesse,
Indiana's political prisoner, refer
ring to another prisoners experience
in the hole"
Placed there by Criminal Judge
Frank P. Baker with the judgment
of "a menace to society,"" for inter-
fering with an eviction in Indian
apolis, Luesse found that his record
of Communistic activities and at
tempts at gaining converts to radi-
calism had preceded him to the
farm.
80 you're Communist, are you?
Well, we know how to handle fellows
like you Well take that out of
you" Luesse's affidavit charges he
was told by E. L. Arment, assistant
superintendent of the farm in charge
of discipline during the illness Of
Clifford w. Craig, superintendent.
He served tWenty-one months at
the state farm. Many prisoners sent
to the state reformatory for major
offenses are released before that
period OF time.
Nine Days in Hole
He served nine days in the hole"
at one stretch and was handcuffed
daily from a. m. to p. m. to the
bars of his cell. he declares.
No brief for Luesse's record as a
conscientious objector, and the long
police record he made in clashing
with the law over his right of free
speech, in protest Of evictions, is
made.
He became the citys byword for
Red" He carried that to the state
farm.
L arrived at the farm May
25, 1881. Next day 1 was put on the
No 10 flying squad, removing dirt
from a bed of rock and carrying
it up to thirty-foot embankment,"
says LueSse's sworn statement.
Ran at Work
eve had to run up and down all
day long, with a guard and three
TRUSTEES carrying clubs, forcing us
to hurry. The first day two pris-
oners were knocked down, dubbed
and kicked, one named Fisher, from
South Bend, and the other named
Albert Mueller, Indianapolis.
These two men were beaten be-
cause they didn't go fast enough.
Fisher was beaten so badly that he
was injured internally
1.-The work, running up and down
-. was exhausting and the first five
of us fell down and pretended TO be
unconscious. The guard threatened
to club and kick us, but didn't.
Il was weak. We were taken to
the hospital long enough to get a
dose of salts. Then we were taken
to the captains Office and I COM
planned about the work and the
clubbing
Warned by Captain"
He warned me not to start any,
thing. Later, he issued orders to
the guards and prisoner TRUSTEES to
throw away their pick handles and
he would take care of the prisoner
in his private Office" the sworn
statement Of LuesSe says.
He did not touch me. He tried
grabbing my hair. but I squared of
at him and he drew back
About six months after I arrived
e. was refused a meal because I
had gotten piece of bread from a
fellow prisoner who gave it to me.
Armett refused TO let me go into
dinner
While reading aloud one Sunday,
the guard snatched the book away
from me and told me to report to
the office. Armett (Arment) threat
ened to hit and kick me and again
I squared off and kept him of me.
He took the book away. The book
was a history of the human race,
Struggle for Existence by Miles.
Watched for Reading Matter
"Armett allowed me no reading
matter that might improve me
Just detective magazines and pulp
love stories. He instructed guards
TO watch me very closely for any
reading matter" the affidavit de-
| clares.
Luesse recites how he was
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