Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1920 — CHARGE IRREGULARITIES AT THE STATE PENAL FARM [ARTICLE]

CHARGE IRREGULARITIES AT THE STATE PENAL FARM

Indianapolis, April 17.—Mistreatment of prisoners at the state farm at Putnamyille is charged in a letter received here by Dr. J. N. Hurty, secretary of the state board of health, from Charles O. McNulty, formerly an Indianapolis saloonkeeper, who was paroled from the farm recently while serving a sentence for alleged operation of a “blind tiger.” Conditions on the farm, according to McNulty, are similar to alleged conditions at the Marion county jail, which are under investigation in the federal court and by the Marion county grand jury. McNulty’s charges included poor food, insanitary . conditions and cruelty. “Some of the paid guards are insulting and cruel, especially to cripples and weaklings, using loaded canes to beat them,” McNulty’s letter avers. “I was told by a prisoner named Leroy that for a violation of a rule he was handcuffed to a ring in the wall six feet above the floor and compelled to stand in this position for 24 hours,” •C. E. Talkington, superintendent of the farm, when informed of the charges by long distance telephone last night said “there is not a word of truth in it.” He said that he would welcome an investigation of the institution and declared that the charges were made by former prisoners with the I. W. W. spirit. An investigation of the farm was made by the State board of charities in January as a result of the charges of brutality to prisoners which were brought to the attention of Governor Goodrich. Their reports said: “In general, we can say that statements made may be classified as either untrue, misleading or exaggerated.”