The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1860-11-21

him to the shower bath. Half do
zen men, armed to the teeth, condnc-
ted him to the scene Of his sufferings,
where were waiting half a dozen more
to conquer him, should he make the
slightest demonstration of resistance.
Kelly came into the room pale and
livid. The lips were compressed, the
eyes sunken and half closed, and the
cheek bones projected more prominent
ly than ordinary, from ethe compress
sion of the jaws.
"Take off your clothes, sir !" said
the keeper.
The mandate was obeyed without
a reply, and he stripped himself naked
and entered the bath AS soon as he
was placed under it, while no one was
looking, he shook his head as much as
to say, Ive got to suffer- The wa
ter was allowed to tric&le down his
face and warm body for a few min
utes before the bath fell upon his head
At length it fell Tom bore it. well,
not shiver Of the legs, not muscu-
lar movement of the hands or fingers,
not single cry of distress, although
he was actually being drowned for
abo it five minutes.
You bear it we'll Tom" said one
of the keepers, after the first five min
utes had elapsed, and time had been
given him to recupcrate.
It's awful, was Toms reply, but
[ can't ask for mercy
Down came the water again. and
for five minutes longer the gurgling
sounds of a strangulated man, were
audible, and when he was exhausted
the cord was let up and the water
stopped. A few minutes release were
granted, and down came the water
again, and the scene was more terrible
than the worst execution we had ever
witnessed. At length congestion Of
the brain was threatened, and a hiss
from the physician brought the third
scene to a close Several minutes were
allowed the unfortunate man to recov-
er, but the punishment was too terri
bic to witness 30 the end, and we left.
He had been fifteen minutes under
the shower, and had twenty min
utes more of suffering to endure after
| left and for the next forty days
the same punishment will be melted
out to him, unless he dies under the
hands Of the keeper.
1t was an awful spectacle to wit
ness this man under the bath. Every
muscle contracted and became corded,
sometimes the hands would become
eonvulsed, and every nerve strained,
when there would follow a relaxation.
Then the water would cease to pour,
and then would appear the sufferings
of the culprit; the retching, the vom-
iting, and, Hanging is moth
ing to the torture of the shower bath.
The man subjected to the bath for
half an hour suffers ten times the
amount of pain, caused by strangula-
ton, for the simple reason that just
as consciousness is about leaving, and
when he would be happy to die, he is
brought back to a full realization of
his sufferings
Now we respectfully remind the
Governor Of New York, and the State
Prison Inspectors, that the age of the
Spanish lnquisition is comonly sup
posed to have passed away, and that
the eruelties Of the rack, the pincers,
the thumb screw, and the vice, are
commonly supposed to have passed
away with it. To what Christian end
therefor, are they revived in this State
Prison by the introduction of a new
torture, equally ingenious and equally
terrible with the old ?
The same mode Of punishment, in
fiicted on negro in the Auburn
| Prison put him to death The fall of
water on the bare skull, as is well
known, not only to those who suffer
it, but to those who inhict it, stuns
the brain, quenches the nervous ener-
gy, destroyes the power of the will
over the muscles, produces emascula-
ton, fever, and an inevitable tendency
to wildness of mind, resulting often in
partial, and sometimes complete in
sanity. 1t is greater barbarity than
the use of the scalping knife among
the Indians 1t reduces man to
within one gasp of death, and ouly
brings him back to life after he has
wished and tried to die.
The Juggernaut itself is less cruel,
because, though it fortunes it's victims
it does not refuse to Stay them. The
cat-o'-nine was long since abolished
from our Navy, and from our State
Prisons, in obedience to a public SEN
timent which decried it as brutal. =
But here, substituted in its place, hid
in small dark closet, is an instru-
ment which, at the pull Of a string,
will more nearly kill n man in two