Evening star., 1961-06-27
Riders Brutality ToIe Hit;
Not a Mark Sheriff Says
BY the Associated Press

IA yOu1l6 CICCuOu Gb40C1 .
story of brutal treatment in
flicted on riders at the MisSis-
sippi State Penitentiary
brought prompt comment from
Sheriff ]. r. Gilfoy that
they're all being treated well
and everybody knows it."
The sheriff at jackson serves
as custodian of riders convicted
on breach of peace charges in
connection with efforts to de-
segregate transportation IA
cilities in that Deep South
city. To date 1853 riders have
been found guilty.
Mr.. Gilfoy denied charges
made in a New York inter-
view yesterday by Kenneth
Shilman, an 18-year-old white
youth from Oceanside, N. Y.
"Shilman's whole story Is
exaggerated" he said. "The
facts in it are distorted and
colored up"
Refused to Leave Truck
Young Shilman said Chicago
riders Felix Singer. 80, and
Terry Sullivan, %, were
stripped naked and dragged so
yards along a concrete cor
ridor after they refused to take
off their clothing and walk
to their cells.
"The skin was tearing off
their bodies and the extreme
pain showed on their faces"
said young Shilman, who was
freed Saturday after posting
q $500 appeal bond.
The sheriff said the two first
refused to leave the truck
which took them from Jackson
to the penitentiary at Parch-
man, 130 miles to the north
west, then lay down at the
entrance to the maximum Sc
curity unit where they were
Jailed.
I'VE dragged them IS feet
along the concrete hallway in
side the building" the sheriff
said. THAT concrete is smooth
finished and couldn't tear
them. I saw them myself and
there wasn't q mark on them"
Meanwhile, Jackson City
Judge James Spencer sentenced
another % riders to four
AonthS in jail and fined them
5000 each for breach Of peace
to hike his total to 1853. The
Judge thus continued giving
maximum penalties to each
rider, a practice he has fol-
lowed since June 9.
PegIer Disputes Charge
Another statement by young
Shilman was disputed by Col
umnist WeStbrook Pegler in
New York.
The youth said after his
party was arrested June 2 in
Jackson. Mr.. Pegler asked
Heading questions" including
whether they thought Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was
Communist inclined.
"I never mentioned commu-
nism, at least not in connection
with Mrs. Roosevelt" Mr.. Peg
Ter said. The columnist said he
was allowed to interview some
of the riders but he didn't re-
call young Shilman being
among them.
Mr.. Pegler said he asked
some questions designed to
bring out that the riders had
been denied some basic edu-
cation" One Of the questions,
he said, was whether they
knew Mrs. Roosevelt had stated
in her autobiography that she
Segregated black and white
servants" in her Washington
home when her husband was
Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
While the Shilman inter-
view was being dicussed, Ne
groes went to court seeking in
functions designed to desegre-
gate airport restaurants at
Mobile and Tallahassee.
Park Holds Line
Out in Kansas City, Harold
Duncan, head of the privately
owned Fairyland Amusement
Park, said the park will con-
tinue its policy of not admitting
Negroes. He made the state
ment in reply to a petition
from the Kansas City Commis-
sion on Human Relations, ask
ing removal of racial barriers.
In another development, the
Freedom Ride Co-ordinating
Committee announced plans to
hold a strategy meeting in
jackson today.
The committee is made up
Of one representative each
from the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference and the
Student Nonviolent Co-ordinat-
ing Committee, both of Atlanta.
the Congress of Racial Equality
and the Nashville Christian
Leadership Council.