New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-01-19

heavy thong, d.
Weighing from two .e,
leather about the b1.
narrowing at the end, al4, s.~,~& n.....-
two feet long. The place ust
Petersburg for the public inh.
knout is an open muddy plain, neal
Seya, and the execution ia always -
with military guard Of Cossacks and 0.
troops. As sosn as the cuIprit arrives at th-
platform, d paper is read aloud which contains
q description Of his crime, and the sentence of
the court before which he has been tried In
ordinary cases, the criminals, each In their
turn, are fastened to an inclined post, having q
ring. at the tsp, to which the head is so tigatlg
liked, by means Of rope, as to prevent the pa
tent frem crying out. The hands are then
closely tied on either side, at the bottom the
feet are secured by means of two rings; the
back is then barred to the waist. and the execn-
toner commences his duty. The Able Chappe
q Auteroehe relates an execution of female in
the reign of Elizabeth. He states that Madame
Lapookin, who was one of the most beautiful
women belonging to the court Of that empress,
had been indiscreet enough to mention some of
the endless amours Of her imperial mistress, and
WAS therefore condemned to undergo the knout.
The beautiful culprit mounted the scaffold IN
an elegant undress She was surrounded by
the executoners, on whom she gazed with
establishment, and seemed to doubt that she
was the object Of such preparation One OF
the executioners pulled off cloak (which COW
ered her bosom, at which she modestlF took
alarm; sne started back, turned pale, and burst
INTO Tears Her clothes were soon stripped off,
ana she was naked to the waist, before the eager
eyes OF an Immense coneourso Of people, pro-
foundly silent. Two Of the executioaers thei,
| took her by the hands. and turning her half
| round, raised her on their backs, inclininr for
| wards, AID lifting her a little from the ground
| upon which anotiler ezecutioner adjusted her
on the backs Of his coadjutors and placed her
| in the most proper posture for receiyins Tho
punishment. He then retreated few steps,
measuring the proper distance with a steady
| eye, and leaning backwards, he gave stroke
| with the knout so as to carry piece Of skin
| from the knock to the bottom Of the back strik-
ing his feet against the gronnd, he made second
blow parallelto the former, and in few minutes
| all the skin Of the back was cut away in small
slips, most Of which remained hanging down
her tongue vas cut out Immediately after, and
she was banished to Siberia. In the time Of
the early Cars, the performers Of the horrid
task we're regarded with so much respect that
they were admitted into the best society. NAY,
it is even said that In those days, merchants,
thinking it honorable thus to pass into ranks
above them, paid large sums Of money to be al
lowed to perform the murderous duty When
their ambition was satisfied, they sold the
vocation at an enormous profit, So expert are
the executioners Of the present day that they
can handle the knout with much more readiness
than our coachmen their whips. AS proof of
their dexterity, wager was laid by two Rus
sian noblemen relative to the professional tall
ents Of two of them, and an eyewitness relates
the following to be the result. The person who
won the bet gained it by the following feat
He placed his companion at arms length from
him, and undertook to strike two hundred
times with his knout, though he should not
touch or injure his person, at each blow he
promised to bring away a narrow strip
, Of his friends shirt, which he actually per-
formed without infieting even the merest scratch
on his body By way of expressing his grati-
tude for the patience his companions had elicit
ed when he had finished the specified number Of
! blows, he lifted up his weapon, and in playful
manner appeared to give slight flip towards
the man on whom his skill had been exhibited
he hardly seemed to touch his body, but on ar
/ inspection, wound at least foot and q half il
= length was perceived, bearing an exact resem
|, hlance to one which might have been given by
i razor or other sharp instrument. The one wht
: received the blow seemed to take it in good par
:. as q joke, eoolly remarking that he should no
q be long in embracing an opportunity Of return
II ing an equivalent TO the favor received. Til
two men positively asserted that they could
without any remarkable effort on their part
= kill the strongest man with only three blows o
4 this simple though dreadful instrument-THl
:, KNoUT.