The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-06 00:00:00

FLOGGING GAROTTERS.

Three men, who had been convicted at the Leeds gaol
delivery of garotte robberies, received twenty-five lashes
each with the cat-o'nine-tails in the central hall of the
borough gaol, Leeds, on Tuesday afternoon. A new triangle,
much stronger than the one hitherto in use, was employed,
and the prisoners were secured to it so firmly that the
struggles of two of them scarcely availed to cause the
least vibration of the solid timbers. The punishment was
inflicted by two of the gaolers. There were present the
governor, the surgeon and his assistant, the town clerk
of Leeds, three of the borough prosecutors, several repre-
sentatives of the press, and one or two private persons,
besides about a dozen of the more refractory among
the ordinary prisoners, who by way of warning were
made close spectators of the scene. The oldest delin-
quent was brought out first to the triangle. He
had had no previous notice that the time had arrived,
which for more than a fortnight he must have been
gloomily anticipating. His name was John Edwards,
aged 36, who, along with Solomon Robinson, aged 19, had
been convicted of seizing David Naylor by the throat
in a passage off East-street, Leeds, and robbing him of six
shillings. Besides flogging, each was sentenced by Mr.
Justice Brett to seven years' penal servitude. He stripped
to the waist coolly, and with no outward sign of dread.
Having been bound band and foot, the first and second
stripes alighted close to the neck, and after receiving
the second, Edwards, with wonderful coolness, exclaimed,
"Don't flog me on the head." The stripes afterwards
fell right between the shoulders and the middle of the back.
The fourth elicited a scream of " Oh !" and dreadful groans
and howling proceeded from the wretched man until he
had received seventeen of the whole twenty-five lashes. At
the end of twelve strokes a second goaler handled the cat.
For the last half dozen lashes he was perfectly quiet, and
when loosed from his bonds be walked firmly back to his cell.
Joseph Robinson was the next delinquent brought to the
whipping-post. He was full of fear from the first. He had
been one of two men who, at Bradford, had roughly used
David Popplewell, and robbed him of a silver watch. He
was sentenced by Mr. Justice Brett to ten years' penal ser-
vitude, as well as this whipping, having before been con-
victed of a burglary and several minor offences. His cries
of pain were soon loud and frequent. Not only did he groan
deeply, but he exclaimed despairingly, " Stop off,"
" Murder," " Pull me off," and more frequently than any-
thing else his plea for mercy was, " I'll never do it again."
He showed throughout more feeling than either of his
fellow-garotters. When he was unloosed he fell into the
arms of the attendants, and crawled back to his cell.
The next prisoner was, from the callous way in which
he received his punishment, quite a contrast to the other
two. It was Solomon Robinson, the accomplice of
Edwards, the first man who was subjected to this punish-
ment. It was expected of him that he would be hardened
where others had writhed and screamed through unutter-
able torture, and he did not disappoint that expectation.
He went to the fearful ordeal with evident determination
to put on an appearance of bravado. Though the youngest
of the victims, he was infinitely the most self-possessed.
He never uttered a sound from his lips from the descent
of the first stroke to the last. When liberated from the
triangle he went away with considerable buoyancy. At
his trial, when he heard the sentence of seven years' penal
servitude, he shouted out, " You'd better put seven to it,
and that'll make fourteen, and I hope the cat will kill
you."

WINTER IN RIISSIA.—Snow fell in such abun-
dance in St. Petersburgh and its suburbs in the latter
half of the month just closed, that in several streets it
rose to twelve feet in height. Accounts from the provinces
state that whole villages are buried under the drift.

THE ISLE OF MAN.—The Lords Commissioners
of her Majesty's Treasury having been pleased to extend
the bonded privileges of this port to all goods subject to
duty in the island, except corn and grain, proper premises
have been provided and fitted up in accordance with the
established regulations, and approved by the Board of
Customs on the 22nd December, 1868.—Manx Sun.

Vaccination was introduced into Russia 100
years ago by the Empress Catherine 11., and the anniver.
sary of that event is to be celebrated in a few days at St.
Petersburg. The Government has offered a prize of
3,000 roubles (£400) for the best history of vaccination.
The competition is open to all Europe, and the history
may be written in any modern European language.
FALL OF A RAILWAY EMBANKMENT.—On Mon-
day night, at the western end of the Exeter tunnel on the
London and South-Western Railway, several tons of earth
and rock fell upon the up line. The disaster was not
unexpected, the embankment having been constantly
watched for some time previously, as, owing to the late
heavy rains, the soil had in several places shown indica-
tions of falling down. A large body of men were engaged
all night in clearing the line, and the traffic was not much
delayed, the up trains being shunted for a short distance
on to the down line.

ATTEMPTED MURDER. —An extraordinary attempt
at murder is reported from Kilmarnock. On New Year's
Day a man named James Drummond bought half a pound
of gunpowder. He went home, told his wife he would
give her three minutes in which to prepare for death, and
at the expiration of that time he threw the gunpowder into
the fire. The consequent explosion threw Mrs. Drum-
mond to the other side of the room, and severely burnt
her. The man escaped with only a slight scorching. Mrs.
Drummond is now recovering. Her husband is in custody.
—Scotsman.

SINGULAR ACCIDENT IN THE HUNTING FIELD.
Mr. We. P. Burra lost a valuable hunter on Monday last,
while out with the Mersham harriers. He had crossed an
arable field, bounded on one side by a hedge and ditch,
which separated it from a pasture field on a rather lower
level. Mr. Burra probably had had his attention directed
away from the leap, and consequently did not prepare his
horse for it soon enough. The animal cleared the hedge,
hut its hind legs came in the ditch, while its fore legs
rested on the top of the bank. The shock of the rider's
weight was so great in this position that the horse's back
was broken, and it fell. Mr. Burra, however, got off
without injury, except a slight scratch in the face.
Mr. Fordham, veterinary surgeon, of Willesborough, was
sent for, and on examining the horse he saw at once
the extent of the injury, and pronounced it to be dying,
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