Penal treadmill
Device in Victorian British prisons / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A penal treadmill (penal treadwheel or everlasting staircase) was a treadwheel or treadmill with steps set into two cast iron wheels. These drove a shaft that could be used to mill corn, pump water, or connect to a large fan for resistance.[1]
Penal treadmills were used in prisons during the 19th Century in both Britain and the United States.[2] In early Victorian Britain the treadmill was used as a method of exerting hard labour, a form of punishment prescribed in the prisoner's sentence.[lower-alpha 1]