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Show THE DARK AGES. Inhuman Treatment of Prisoners Prison-ers Gross Abuse of Power. A few centuriee ago the keepers ot jails and prisons racked their brains for new and cruel devices with which to torture and punish those committtd to their keeping. In this generation the rack, the thumb screw, iroo boot, sweat box, and other equally barbarous barbar-ous implements of that character have been done away with by civilized countries; but it seems the keepers ol the Utah penitentiary are reviving them. The organ of the United States marshal and his "pen' aa it facetiously calls the penitentiary, gave a long account of that institution yesterday, and took evident delight in describing the sufleringa of the convicts con-victs in the "sweat box," a barbarous device gotten up by the keepers for torturing prisoners. The Bweat box consists of an iron cage, enclosed in a tight board box, placed where, Uie aun shines full upon it. We are told that a pr'soner is "placed in the sweat box, where he is allowed to remain re-main without food or water to sweat and fume himself into a better frame of mind. It is a powerful hot place, the sweat rolls off the incarcerated jail bird in torrents; he boo a gets a little thirsty, but keeps right on sweat ing. The cage ii large enough to allow the prisoner to move about, but change of position does not relieve him of the beat. He gets awful thirsty in about six hours, and usually at the conclusion of a ten hours' sweat he 'squeals.'" - We read ot such treatment in ancient history, but everyone who posaesea humane feelings cannot help but denounce it aa cruel in the extreme ex-treme and unwarrantable. The ao-couut ao-couut in the Tribune yesterday was the subject of much comment, and Marshal Nelaon and his employe at the penitentiary were objects of severe criticism and censure. Their conduct was openly denounced in all quarters. The marshal may not be aware of thia torturing of prisoners, but if he i is, and justifies it, he ia unfit to longer j hold a position which gives him control con-trol over tha persons of his fellow meu ; and his removal lrom office should be at once brought about. The United States govern ment cannot afiord to keep in bo important im-portant an ofBce a representative of the dark ages. |