Crank machine
{{short description|Device for penal labour}}
File:Cell, with Prisoner at Crank-Labour, In the Surrey House of Correction.jpg
File:Crank machine.jpg museum.]]
The crank machine was a penal labour device used in England in the 19th century. It consisted of a hand-turned crank which forced four large cups or ladles through sand inside a drum, doing nothing useful.
The prisoner would typically be forced to do 6,000–14,400 revolutions over the period of six hours per day (1.5–3.6 seconds per revolution). The prison warden could make the task harder by tightening an adjusting screw.
In 1895, there were 29 crank machines in use, but by 1901 there were only 5.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Britannica on the treadmill|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Britannica-on-the-treadmill-1998450#ref1205851|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=19 September 2016|ref={{sfnref|Britannica|1926}}|location=13th edition|date=1926}}
See also
References
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Bibliography
- {{cite web|url=http://www.inverarayjail.co.uk/the-jails-story/life-in-jail.aspx|title=Inveraray Jail and County Court, Life in Jail|date=2016|access-date=23 September 2016|ref={{sfnref|Inverarary|2016}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212220425/http://www.inverarayjail.co.uk/the-jails-story/life-in-jail.aspx|archive-date=12 February 2015|url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web|title=BBC - A History of the World - The Crank|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/04G2X6rXSsiAvbotujleew|date=2014|accessdate=1 December 2018|ref={{sfnref|BBC|2014}}}}
- {{cite web|title=Prison Treadmills|url=http://www.notechmagazine.com/2009/05/prison-treadmills.html|website=No tech|publisher=Low-tech magazine|accessdate=19 September 2016|ref={{sfnref|No tech|2009}}}}
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