![]() In the early 1800s, a New York prison guard saw things a bit differently, opining that the device was quite punishing indeed, and specifically that it was tread-wheel’s “monotonous steadiness, and not its severity, which constitutes its terror.” Over time, many wardens transitioned to other, more labor-intensive tasks like breaking rocks and building structures. Its inventor argued that the device could be useful in “reforming offenders by teaching them habits of industry.” Prisons across Britain and the United States bought the sales pitch and the machines. As the inmates hiked for eight-hour stretches effectively scaling thousands of feet per shift, the mechanism could pump water or crush grain. At the same time, it was not strictly punitive. ![]() It was engineered to occupy and exhaust prisoners who were forced to endlessly walk over a cylindrical device. English engineer Sir William Cubitt’s “tread-wheel” was not exactly a new invention, but its dark application was novel.
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