The other room was extremely repulsive. It was dark and a foul odor
rising from a hole in the wooden floor demonstrated the truth of the
guide's remark that there was no outhouse for the use of the
prisoners. Along one side of this room lay two long square-cut beams,
one on the other, scalloped out so as to form a number of round holes
along their juncture. It was evident they were used as stocks and my
guide stated that he had seen a whole row of men sitting along the log
with their feet thus confined. One or two of the holes were a little
larger and it was explained that they were for the purpose of
confining not the feet but the neck of the delinquent, and that this
punishment was much worse, producing especial pain in the case of
short-necked persons. The severest pain was produced, so the guide
stated, when the delinquent was seated on the beam and his feet placed
crosswise through the holes: he could bear the agony of this position
for only a short time.
The American authorities have made great improvements in the prisons
and prison discipline.
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