r two, that he may recuperate. He throws himself
down on his "bunk," and remains there for hours, the blood still flowing
from his lacerated back. Often the blanket on which he lies, sticks to
his bleeding back, and a fellow convict is asked, often, to assist in
removing it. Many a poor fellow carries with him through life the scars
which were made while a convict in this prison. One day while I was
working in the coal mines of the Kansas penitentiary, a fellow-convict
showed me his scarred back. He had served a term in the Missouri
penitentiary, and while there had been severely whipped. His back told
the story too plainly that his whipping had been a severe and cruel one.
It would seem that the day of the whipping-post had passed away; that
the doors of our advanced civilization were shut against it.

Many of the prison officials claim that it is the most healthy mode of
inflicting punishment; that to place a convict in a dungeon and to feed
him on bread and, water is far more injurious to his health than to give
him a good "paddling," and it don't require so long to do the work.
The same results are reached more quickly. Others claim that it is
impossible to have good prison discipline without resorting to the lash.
This statement is not correct. There is no better discipline to be found
in any penal institution, than that in the Kansas penitentiary, where
no prisoner ever receives a stroke from a whip. The laws of that State
forbid it. In our humble judgment it would be the best thing that the
Missouri Legislature could do at its next session, to prohibit any
further use of the lash. Sometimes a paddle is used, with small holes
bored in the end, and every time this paddle strikes the nude flesh,
blisters are raised. Again, another instrument of punishment in use is a
thick, broad, leather strap, fastened in a wooden handle, at the end of
which lateral incisions are made that give it the appearance of a
saw. There is no trouble in raising huge blisters "with this engine
of warfare." All these modes are barbarous, and should be forbidden.
Whenever severe punishment becomes essential, let the prisoner remain in
the dungeon, living on bread and water until he promises, in good faith,
to behave himself. A great deal of useless punishment can be avoided
if the officer in charge of the prison discipline is a humane man and
a good judge of human nature, and no other should be permitted to
fill this important position. We mus