Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 61, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 July 1933 — Page 7

TTLY 21, 1032

EX GUARD VERIFIES STORIES OF PENAL FARM CRUELTY; TELLS OF‘HOLE'S’HORRORS Inmate? Placed in Dungeon When Suspected of Escape Plots; Club Was ‘Alarm Clock’ in Prison Dormitory. This is the ninth of a series on conditions at the Indiana penal farm. BV ARCH STEINEL Tune* -tafT Writer An old man droops" in line. Senilitv seizes him Hard work has cut him down A g , • r.'-e Indiana state farm orders Go over to the 'Wreck' hall 'recreation ha.l* A g . ■.:<* a; • ... i 'ailed. The old man is placed In the "flshroom" <room for new inmates). H u.s drag. He \.v- there No medical aid.

"I understand tha* Arment took him over to the f;>h room and made him stay thci” all da'- charge. Aif Williams fi .m.f r guard in No. 4 dormitory a T th< {aim. in an affidavit to Thf* Indianapolis Times. Th'-n. in the plain words of a plain man Aif Williams '.ls of nightfall and h< a in* aged man was s*r.* back '■< his dormitory. Awukend With ( luh The *n mates slept. Morning came Former Guard Aif Williams awoke hi prisoners with the dormitory alarm clock a cl.ib he kept in his d* k I hamej and for all the prisoners to get up He 'meaning the old man fell back dead across the bed. rbarges Williams in his sworn statement. Aif Williams has seen things at the Indiana state farm. Aif Williams shouldn't love prisoner- h*- guarded. Aif has a right, to hate them. For. in February, 1928 when Aif became a penal farm guard, he was beaten on tin- head with a piece of iron while guard m No. 2 dormitory when a Negro escaped. Scars from Attacks And on Aif s head is a scar from another escape attempt that succeeded and he was struck with a slingshot. They slipped up behind me and took mv gun away. All guards at the state farm carry guns at the present time or did before 1 left there, except the nigh: guards. The dormitory guards were forbidden guns after the last escape I had in No 2 dormitory, ' swears Williams in his statement. Theodore Luesse. "red" agitator, who related his experiences at the farm tn one of the series of stories in The Times, was an inmate in Williams’ dormitory. • He always was a perfeet gentleman declares Williams in his affidavit Had Advance Notice But Williams tells of the mysterious manner in which farm officials knew what was happening before it happened, in an incident surrounding Luesse. "One evening Arment 'he speaks of E. L Arment. assistant superintendent of the farm* came to me and said. 'Luesse is going to write a letter,' and he told me to bring him over the next morning and to be sure and get the letter. "I," continues Williams’ affidavit, "went over to Luesse and told him I wanted to see him after all the rest had gone to the mess hall. While my back was turned. Luesse ran and gave the letter to another fellow and I took them both over to Arments office." Sent to "Hole'’ Later I learned that they put the boy who got the letter in chains and Luesse went back to the hole.' Luesse had gotten out of the hole' only the day before." says the former guard's affidavit. I have been stationed as a guard during supper time m the hole.’ Sente were put there justly and some not justly.” charges Williams, in his sworn statement. The former keeper vouches for the reports m the affidavits of other former inmates that prisoners in the "hole" are fed but one sliv of bread as a meal and given water. I have heard that prisoners were beaten up after they’ve been liandruffed swears Williams under oath. Chained to Balk Escape “Sometimes a 'rat' ihe means n talebearer* would go and tell Armen 'E. L Arment, assistant superintendent, in charge of farm discipline* that some fellow was going jo escape and Arment would put the suspect in chains and sometimes in the holt " asert- Williams under oath He declares that Arment took the “rat s' word instead of the prisoners. on occasions of this kind. Snugin.ss of the fit cf chains on lo ts of some prisoners at the farm is told bv Williams with Tire chains lit pretty tolerable tight around the lee I have seen inmates wrap things around their legs to keep the chains from hurting Some chains or legbands are bigger than others, and. of course, some fellows have bigger legs

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Williams, in his affidavit, says that the Oregon boot." a much heavier shackle and of more brutal type, was used at the farm at one time, but was eliminated. He ;.s borne out in his declaration b- the assertion of Harry H. Wissel, acting superintendent of the farm, who admits, "These light chains have superseded the old heavy ball and chain which a man was forced to carry with him, as well as the Oregon boot. ” Charging his own former brother officers with seducing inmates into infractions of farm rules, Williams in h:s affidavit says, I have heard guard— would give them cigarets and then turn them in afterwards for it when he caught them tmoking another cigaret." Inmate Was Frail “A boy named Dan Shipper 'Shipper's story of suffering while in a tuberucuLir condition was related In earlier installments by The Times* acted all right when he was in my dormitory, i heard they beat up on him. He was pretty frail then," charges Williams. The former keeper bears out the fact as stated by former inmates that all guards carry blackjacks or canes, m his sworn statement. I had a club, as all dormories have clubs, and it was in my desk." Williams said. I used a club only once and that was when a fellow stole some tobacco from the other inmates and he struck at me when I was searching him. I hit him." confessed Williams. in his affaidavit. Bribery. Theft Charged He says he found $1 in tobacco and toothpaste on the fellow, a Negro. "Lots of officers bribed prisoners to get meat and stuff to them to take home," charges Williams in his affidavit. I have seen Captain Arment slap men but the ones I saw him slap I thought deserved it. I have seen men come in the dormitories with , knots on their heads and say that guards did it," accused Williams, in his notarized statement. Closeness of the recreational hall on Sundays when prisoners congregated there is related by Williams in his affidavit. "In No. 4 dormitory they some times had bedbugs—some times they , were pretty bad," declares Williams’ statement. One Bath a Week "Sometimes the dormitory linen wasn’t changed for new men. Linen was changed once a week. The men got a change of clothes and a bath once a week, no oftener. The in--1 mates who worked in th? shale pit and the coal heavers would get pretty dirty in a week's time," asserts Williams' sworn statement. Earlier affidavits to The Times told of a special jail cell ir> the hospital for inmates whom they feared might escape. "It's a regular cell in the basement." adds the affidavit of the former guard. Former Guard Williams tells of "one fellow in my dormitory called Cubic.' who claimed to be a Cuban, and he was really mean, but I don't think he was crazy. “Grapevine" Is Effective "They." continued Williams' statement. "sent him to the criminal insane ward at Michigan City. He was just a petty offender like the rest of the men. I never had any trouble with fhis Cuban." The ease with which tips got out at the state farm of probers, investigating committees, or the coming of the farm's board is explained by Williams' affidavit with: "One more thing. Whenever any one came out to look the state farm over, we always knew about their coming " concludes Williams in his affidavit. NEXT A baritone sings "The Prisoners' Song" ... of bribe charges, beatings, and what happened in the farm's office.) The Greeks believed turquoise could save the wearer from death, and this blue stone was said “never to be seen on the hands of or worn by a person killed."

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THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

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