A prisoner in Sing Sing Prison, New York, having water poured over him by a guard as a punishment, while restrained at the ankles and wrists: he dies. Wood engraving, 1869.

"If one key event triggered the implementation of the reformation movement's agenda, it was the riot at Sing Sing Prison in late March 1869. The revolt, involving several hundred prisoners, arose in reaction to the death of a convict from the severe administration of a cold-water shower bath. Several convicts and one prison officer were killed in the insurrection, and the Legislature immediately began an investigation."-- Reich, loc. cit.