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NEWPORT, ARKANSAS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1911. NUMBER 268.
I OF CONVICT FARM
tnd Jury Finds Condition There
Chill The Blood of Civilized
People.”
(ENDS CON- j.
BE CANCELLED
18 For Cruelty To
Reported to Have
Found By Jury. '
uger indictment of j
up the county farm i;
county has ever been
any convict camp,
made public Thursday
111 o’clock, when the (
I in its final report to
gave the result of its
ions at Ingleside,
convicts of this coun
ie report was made to
Judge Jeffery com
e jury for having per- i'
full duty and assured I
crs, that the court and !'
officials were willing |
duty in the enforce-1
5e law against such j
t also said that it
were as reported, in
should have been re
iit is reported that
been and that bench
of arrest will follow at
tilery said he felt sure
f's contract would be j
if these conditions j
and ordered that the
certified to the county
|
idge Coe will proceed j
is known to many, for
ware of the condi- J
dng. Prosecuting At
ade M. Erwin, who
ikown himpelf a fear- j
i states that in the J
slower court not act-1
11 ask the governor to I
kc contract. i
art of the inquisitorial (
* members visited the >
•cut notice to anyone i
Arraignment of condi
B»ebrutal treatment of
“d is published in full,
"g Pictures
Opera House
k CUTE OP ROM
ANY ,
^good Gypsy drama,
frank Dayton, Juani
^ Wnt. Bailey and
™ A 2-Reel fea
(S. & A_)
_
i night nurse
Billy Mason,
and Beverly
(8- & A.)
;0UT MOUNTAIN
« electric IN
I' CLINE.
Cresting scenic pic
(S. &. A)
^ 5c and 10c J
below. For more than a year j1
ex-Senator John H. Keel has I
had a contract with the county
for the working of its prisoners
and during that time, rumors
have been current that condi
tions were not what they should i
be, but few, if any, imagined j]
that they could be so bad as the
grand jury has reported,and the
members of that body, say that
their language is mild.
GRAND JURY REPORT. s
In the Jackson Circuit Court:
To the Honorable Judge of the j
Third Judicial Circuit of Ark- ,
ansas: ^
We the grand jury, empaneled ^
for the Winter Term, 1914, of (
the Jackson Circuit Court, beg j
leave to submit the following as
our report: (
We have investigated the > ^
cases of all parties confined in J
the county jail, the charges a
gainst all parties bound over to
await the action of the grand , ■
jury, and offenses and misde-, ■
meanors that have been brought (
to our notice, and in all cases '
where we were of the opinion j
that the evidence warranted an j
indictment, we have returned ,
true bills of indictment into the j
|
court. (
We have examined the reports i
of the various justices of the j
peace of the various townships
of the county, but find that C.
A. Arnett, who recently was ap-1
pointed justice of the peace for
Bryan township to succeed the
late J. H. Phillips, deceased, has
failed to make his report. We
recommend that the county
judge require that such report
be made as the law directs.
We have, by a committee, vis-1
ited the county hospital located
at Jacksonport and find 8 male
inmates and 1 female inmate.
We found the building in ‘gOdd j
shape, except two leaks in roof, i
The inmates appear to be in
good shape. The building is
clean and well kept. The in- j
mates say that they are well fed ^
and cared for.
We have visited the county j
jail in a body and find it clean ,
and in first-class shape. All in
mates report that they are well
fed and cared for. ,
We have examined the county
I court house building artd find it j
in good condition and well kept, i
We recommend that new and
proper furniture be purchased
to properly equip the offices of
the various county officials.
We have examined 144 wit
nesses and returned into the
court 64 true bills of indict
ments.
We the grand jury, by a com
mittee, have made an investi
gation of the condition existing
at present and recent past at
Jno. H. Keel’s farm, who has
the contract for working the
county convicts or prisoners. We
find conditions of such shocking
proportions that we. feel it our
duty to take notice of same m
lour report to this Honorable
j Court with the one view that for
the sake of suffering humanity t
and the protection of prisoners, ]
the conditions, if not abated, will 1
at least be remedied. That our }
report will not be termed a gen- \
era! criticism, we take the lib- s
erty of directing your Honor’s \
attention to the specific as well ^
as general conditions. The \
prisoners, white and black, are \
housed, or putting it more spe- j
eificallv, huddled together with a j
slight partition between the!,
whites and negroes. The bed- j
ding and sanitary conditions are jt
the very worst.
That all clothing given pris-1
oners are charged to them and
that they are forced to work out 1 j
the accounts charged.
That when medical attention^
was deemed necessary for the
prisoners it was sometimes fur
nished, but was charged to pris- j
oners and they were forced to i
work such accounts out. That in
one instance coming under our t
investigation a prisoner suffered ,
an injury to his hand which in
darned and swelled up, and said
prisoner begged for a lay-off and | r
medical attention, both of which I ‘
were denied him, and when he
failed on acount of physical a- (
hility to come up with his side .
of the stick, he was severely ^
beaten by one of the guards. ^
This prisoner has now been out ,
of the prison for two weeks and ‘
his hand is yet in a terrible con- ‘
clition. (
Prisoners are inhumanely 1
whipped on slightest provoca- 1
tion and frequently without i
cause, with a big leather strap.
That the guards maintained are
wicked, cruel and inhumane ini
their brutal treatment of pris
I
oners.
On one occasion one of such j
guards going into the stockade |
drinking, swearing and cursing..
sticking the muzzle of his pistol j
into the mouth of a sleeping!
prisoner (boy) and before leav
ing firing off said gun around the
feet of the prisoners.
Frequent complaints are made
about the length of time kept in ■
prison for the amount of fine and
costs assessed, it being claimed
that they are not given proper
credit for time worked. One in
stance deserving of mention, our
investigation discloses that a cer
tain woman was taken to the
house of the contractor work
ing as cook for wages; she
j shortly became dissatisfied with
the place and requested that
1 she be permitted to go her ways
: with the pay due her. She was
!paid, packed her suit case and
1_„• fnr limp fnr hnflt. to
VV CIO "1“
j leave to take her away. When
i she boarded the boat, she was
| arrested by one of the guards,
charged with larGeny of two
dresses, taken before a local
Justice of the Peace and fined
$25 and sixty days in jail. She
| is still working out her fine and
costs.
Investigation shows that two
trusty negro prisoners were di
! rected by the contractor to place
Jthese two dresses in said suit
jcase, and that in fact the negro
woman knew nothing of it what
ever. But cooks were scarce
and it is said she was a good one
and this in a state boasting of
' her laws against false imprison
1 ment and in a county boasting of
the amendment to the Constitu
tion of the United States. Per
haps slavery has become a vital
element in the social system.
This is a new brand of personal
liberty, but we wont call it the
“new freedom.”
On one occasion the story goes
that one of the guards was out
late one night and came to the
barn lot and while getting off
bis horse his pistol dropped to
he ground and fired, the ball
'truck a negro laborer who un
fortunately was standing at the
rate, the ball entering the arm
rrom rear going straight
ihrough the arm, shattering the
aone and coming out in front in
a straight line. How the ball
would take that kind of range
from the ground has not been
explained.
Two days after this the negro
disappeared, and at same time,
a big wagon gate was jerked off,
ihe post hinges and all and
dragged part of the way to the
river and part of the way rolled
an the edges and ends. The im
port was that the negro must
have done this making his es
cape down the river, which
would have been believed by
?ome if it had not been known
the negro had a number ten
foot and the tracks of the man
who was at the gate were about
a number seven. There is an
other story told in connection
• 1 1 11 l i*_ . /• xl. * _
VV1LII LI 1“ SUUULillg 1 UliO
that is not common rumor but
is too interesting to detail here,
but it is on ice for the proper
time and it will chill the blood of
any civilized person hearing it,
suffice it to say that we have en
deavored to find out what be
came of this negro but were
thrown off on a cold trail by an
alleged expression of one of the
guards who puts it this way, “if
we kills him, we eats him.” It
may be true that the negro did
not make his escape but we take
it for granted that it is true
that they did not eat him.
These are just some of the in
stances we take the trouble to
report. We assure you there are
others of interest.
We recommend that this re
port be certified to the County
Court which has jurisdiction to
cancel this contract and that
said contract for the lease of
county prisoners be cancelled at
once. If the county can’t work
its own prisoners under proper
conditions, then it should jail
them and care for them; rather
than have them mistreated. We
(Continued on laat page.)
The “Wets” Now
Have Inning
Begin Presentation <xf Their
Case In County Court Friday
Morning.
Bad weather has no effect up
on the crowds that are attending
the fight for license, for the us
ual number of men and women
disregarded the elements with
out and were on hand at 9
o’clock to hear the other side of
the evidence in the application
for saloon license in Newport.
They found the doors of the
lodge hall locked and it was not
until the court arrived that
members of the Odd Fellows
lodge produced the ke:, to the
room where the proceedings are
held in the Board building. A
dance had taken place the night
before and all the chairs and
tables had been piled into one of
he ante-rooms. They were
soon arranged however and the
hall took on its court appear
ance.
The attorneys for petitioners,
who are investigating the pro
hiWtinn ppnsus were not. readv
to open their case and by agree
ment of counsel on both sides,
the hearing was adjourned until
1:30, when the “wets” again
asked and secured a continuance
until Friday morning.
Mr. Grant in asking more
tim/e to prepare their evidence,
stated that only about 2*4 hours
would be consumed by them,
but the court in granting his re
! quest intimated that he would
need more time than that to re
'fute the testimony presented
and proposed to give them Fri
day. Judge Coe said that he
was getting tired of the case
and hoped to conclude the hear
ing as early as possible.
' REMONSTRANTS CLOSE.
The features of Wednesday
afternoon’s proceedings in court
were the testimony introduced
relative to insufficient and illegal
signatures charged by remon
strants and the filing of the pro
hibitionists’ census of the city.
G. A. Williams testified that
Lincolnfelt had moved to Clar
endon.
W. R. Chastain and T. S. Ste
phens were also used as charac
ter witnesses who pronounced
the reputation of Joe Nickeus
and Ira Marshall as bad and wit
nesses would not believe them on
oath.
Judge Boyce, attorney for re
monstrants, then attacked &
number of the signatures to tin
petit ion alleging their illegality
because the handwriting indicat
ed they were written by the
same party, such as J. W.
Sehloss and John W. Sehloss; J.
E. Edwards and S. J. Edwards;
A. L. and Dora Ferguson; W
O. Simmons and Mrs. E. Dunk
ins; C. A. Mason and Nettie
Mason; W. S. Sanders and H.
Sanders; Charles Hare and
George Neldon ; M. E. Dyer and
W. II. Dyer; Mrs. Bud Stanley
and Mrs. James Martin; Laura
James and Della Adams; Mrs..
Grace Paul and Fred E. Paul; E.
Melvin and Mrs. Melvin; F. V„
Richter and K. Kirkland; Mrs.
S. E. Massey and S. E. Massey.
Judge Boyce for remonstrants
offered to exchange the prohibi
tion census for that taken by
Mr. Martin, but Mr. Grant re
plied that remonstrants could,
introduce what evidence they
saw fit and reserved for his side
the same privilege.
W. M. Dunaway was introduc
ed as an expert on signatures
and compared the signatures
questioned above ns being made
by the same parties, but in his
opinion only a few of the contest
ed names were sighed by the
same party. Mr. C. G. Henry
also qualified in the same line
and testified that in his opin
ion, about one-third of the
names were written by the same
; party or either iwo names each
by the same parties.
L. S. Arnold of Elmo testified
that Rosa Griffin lives on the
Hurt farm 5l/> miles out in Oil.
Trough, moved first week in Jan
uary, but was not positive and
that Lizzie Starnes lives in Oil
j Trough.
T. P. Umsted was placed on
j the stand and testified that he
had a census of 1460 names,
'which he then xriade a court pa
per by offering it in evidence.
, Witness found 372 names upon
petition not found upon remon
(Continued on last page.)
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Benjamin-Washington Tango Tuxec
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