The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-08-26
What? No Cake on the Chain Gang?

gang squad, from which material for
the State Road Camps is recruited.
Every physically fit man lives in
constant dread that any day he may
be shipped out to a road camp. Your
working partner of today may be
gone tomorrow.
A Typical Case.
Harold Bradley, curly-haired boy
Of sunny disposition, from Pennsyl-
vania, made a trip Of adventure to
the sunshine state. Broke, the gaso-
line tank Of his flivver dry, he drove
away from a filling station without
paying For this crime Judge Petite
way Of Hillsboro County sentenced
him to three years. He came to the
chain gang at Raiford, which is cal
led the "eight-spot". For time he
was my working partner. He was
strong and ambitious and insistent
on doing the work of two men. He
had been converted" in the Hills
boro County Jail at Tampa and set
about on crusade to convert all the
convicts on the squad to christianity.
For this they called him preacher.
Suddenly he disappeared and we
knew he had gone to a road camp.
Then the grapevine began to work.
The continuous shifting of pris-
oners and the returning Of men from
the camps who are physically wreck
ed, coupled with the intense interest
in all matters of prison life. the onlv
world we knew, kept us informed Of
all that happened throughout The
seventy road camps and the two
prison farms and the various fac
tories.
Bradley was at Indiantown", said
the report. Bradley was in the
sweat box for two weeks; Bradley
was beaten and kicked by guards;
Bradley was in the box again. Brad
ley had tried to escape and was
brought down with a load of buck
shot in the back; Bradley was killed"
Brutality of Guards.
Three specimens of wrecked hui
manity were brought into the peni-
Tertiary from the road camp now
located at Brooksvil1e, the one where
the "cake-riot" occurred on July 4th.
They we're Jimmie Dennison, Allen
Foster and Barney Morris. Dennison
was shot down with a load Of buck
shot when he tried to run away.
AFTER I felp', he said, "the guard
came up to where I lay, and stood
over me and shot me again through
the hip with As calibre Colts.
I saw the frightful wound in his
leg and also number of buck shot
in his body. Morris had several buck
shot in his body and legs.
IT was unable to lift one end of
the heavy cypress logs we were drag
ing out of the Homasassa Swamp to
clear right-of-way and spent near
ly all of the winter in the sweat
box" Allen Foster told me. Now
I'm all bent up with rheumatism
and the cough has me. could
handle the logs all right where the
water was deep enough to float then,
but simply couldn't make it in the
shallow water and mud Every time
fell out the guards beat me and
then put me in the box naked. They
put me in the box naked. They
would smear molasses all over in
side so that ants and bugs by the
million would come in on me. After
twelve or fourteen days of this the
captain would come and open the
door and ask me if had my mind
right. I would say Yes, sir, captain,
got my mind right Well; 1 amt
got mine right, yet,' he would say,
and slam the door. After few more
days they would take me out again
and after two or three days rest I'd
have to tackle those logs again. We
were all starved to death all the
time, we used to even cook and eat
moccasins we'd kill in the water
where We worked. I got weaker all
the time, and the last time I was
boxed they had to carry me out"
mo cake for fourth Of July dinner
starts riot in prison camp, read the
head lines In the rTayopa Trihuva