there he gets only bread and water once in twenty-four hours. This
is a great inducement to work; it certainly prevents criminals from
shirking their labor, and soon converts a lazy tramp into a rustling
coal miner. There is one thing, however, that is connected with this
system of punishment that I will criticise. The officer under whose
immediate control the prisoner is placed fixes the period of his
confinement in the dungeon. It gives the officer a good opportunity to
abuse a prisoner he may dislike. These subordinate officers are not all
angels. Some of them are lacking in sympathy. They have become hardened,
and frequently treat their men like beasts. These persons should not
possess such a dangerous power. The warden or deputy warden should
decide the character as well as the period of punishment.

If in this dark cell ten days and nights is insufficient to subdue the
rebellious spirit of the convict, he is taken out and placed in the
solitary cell. This is similar to the ordinary cell, with the exception
that it contains no furniture. Here the convict remains on bread and
water until he is starved almost to death, or until he is willing to
submit and do his work as ordered.

Another mode of punishment resorted to in a few cases, is even more
brutal than the dark cell. The obdurate prisoner is stripped naked and
tied to a post. The hose which is connected with the water-works is
turned upon his naked body. The water pressure is sixty pounds to
the square inch. As the water strikes the nude body the suffering
is intense. This mode of punishment is but rarely resorted to. It is
exceedingly wicked and barbarous. It is a shame to treat a human being
in such a manner. There are many hardened criminals and desperate
characters in the penitentiary, and it may sometimes be necessary to
resort to extreme measures, but there have been many instances when, as
it seemed to me, these excessive punishments might have been avoided
and still the good discipline of the prison maintained. "Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." But the author would have you
recollect that the punishments of the Kansas penitentiary are not as
severe as the discipline in her sister institutions. Many of the
inmates of this prison who have formerly served terms in others of like
character, have shown him the scars and marks of brutal punishment. One
of these poor unfortunates showed me his back, which is covered with
great furrows i