Hide Article Text (OCR)
hard as a guard can lay it on. Olio prisoner will beg for mercy under i this punishment whille another will defy the guard to do his worst. It is very improbable that a prisoner is ever unjustly whipped, for before a prisoner may be whipped application must be made to and aa order grunt* ing permission obtained from the penitentiary lt;ommissionerH, \\ homeet every Monday. When a prisoner is under official displeasure he is forced to wear striped trousers.Warden Miller, wno was appointed to take the place of Warden latulley, who resigned rather than electrocute the condemned of the state, is rather a picturesque type of man weighing about 1 90 pounds with dark curly hair, keen eyes and a modulated voice, lb* is very peasant to know and not at all the coarse hbered tyjm of a man that one might expect iu an “exiHUttoiler.** He is proving himself a very ethi ient warden and is liked by all connected with tin* institution, says Professor Urifflu,A little more than 51,000 prisonershave passed through the Huntsvillepenitentiary since it came into existence. Of this number, 1T0S were ' checked in the past Near. Of this « nrollnn nt, tO were Presbyterians, 155 M* thodists, 205 Catholic*, 519 liaptists and 1019 professed no i«*iigion. Hne of the comtmsii t ers r.i . ousiv remarked to tin* \e*o..aeducator that a study of man indi-cated tliui ‘’once a convict, always a cdnvict; once a railroad man, always a railroad man; once a preacher, always a preacher, and once a fisherman, always a liar. Yet, during the-on volts for four minutes. At the i end of this time the body is exam ined by the physicians and, if pronounced dead, is taken away from the chair. If not dead, the highvoltage current is again passed through the body.Contrary to a general opinion, there is apparently no suffering on the part of the condemned One. There is no twitching or muscular couvulsions. There is a barely perceptible stiffening of the body when the current is turned on. The bodies of two prisoners who were among the tirst to be electrocuted were severely burned by having the high voltage current on too long. Ewell M Orris, a negro from Victoria County who was given tin; death penalty fur killing a white man, was among the first prisoners to go' to the death chair. Twelve prisoners, eleven negroes and one Mexican, have been electrocuted since the chair was installed. The warden receives a fee of $25 for each electrocution.On Sunday morning the chaplain of the penitentiary has Sunday School (and religious services. The prisoners are not tompelled to attend but a majority of them do so. On many Sunduy afternoons the various or-1 xunuutio'ns of Huntsville give different entertainments for the prisoners. The prison baud, a most excellent organization, usually plays and the prisoners seem to get a great deal of enjoyment from these affairs, well stocked library consisting school texts, poetry, fiction, proves a veritable blessing to rnuuy of the prison inmates.aAv(• f• •
Newspaper Details
Victoria Daily Advocate
Victoria, Texas, US
Sun, Aug 31, 1924
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
TX, USA 18 Feb 2019
Other Publications Near Victoria, Texas
Victoria Advocate
Victoria Daily Advocate
Victoria Advocate
Daily Advocate
Victoria Weeky Advocate
