Convict Farm in Arkansas Condemned.—Here are some of the conditions alleged by Officer W. M. Rankin of the Arkansas Humane Society to exist at the Monroe County convict farm. Mr. Rankin made the following charges:
That when the prisoners were brought in from their work at six o’clock in the afternoon, they were chained to a long chain which extended the length of their room and that they were thus kept chained all night. They were kept chained thus from six o’clock Saturday night until they went to work Monday morning, being released only to take baths. Mr. Rankin states, however, that he was told by the prisoners and by one of the guards that the chaining was discontinued about a week before he visited the place.
That he found eight white men confined in a room about twelve feet square. That he found ten negro prisoners in a room 12 by 14 feet.
That the bed for the white prisoners consisted of some straw mattresses placed on planks that had been nailed to the wall, four comforts and no pillows. That the bedding for the ten negro prisoners consisted of two straw mattresses and a few comforts, all of which were covered with vermin.
That all clothing given the prisoners was charged to them and that they were forced to work out the amounts charged except for rubber boots furnished them.
That the food furnished the prisoners was insufficient; that they were furnished with neither knives nor forks nor a table and were compelled to stand or sit on their bunks while eating.
That prisoners were whipped on their naked flesh with a heavy piece of leather about four and three inches in width.
That sanitary conditions were awful.
Mr. Rankin further charges that he found men working on the farm who had been convicted in the court of the mayor of Brinkley and also that he found that many of the negro convicts had been detained for a considerable period after their terms had expired, according to the records of the mayor’s court.
Three white men are mentioned as being illegally detained. One was Claude McKinnon, and Mr. Rankin said that he has in his possession a certified copy of the docket of the court of Mayor Camerone of Brinkley, which shows that McKinnon was tried January 13, on a charge of loitering and discharged, despite which fact, he was found confined at the county farm.