Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-02-14
GABRBL BoAArAKrE JouNsoN.
FIOgging GarrOters in am English
Jail.

An English paper gives the following
description of whipping administered at
the Jail in Leeds to the garroters who had
been sentenced to receive two strokes Of
the cat-o'-nine-tails each, in addition to
five years penal servitude:
"The delinquent first fastened to the
triangle was Thomas Beaumont, aged AZ,
who had been sentenced to five years pc
nal servitude for garroting and robblng
Abraham Dickinson, at Battey, near
Dewsbury. The Scat" was new one,
which bore at the end of the handle the
seal of the Home Office. The length of
the lashes was nearly yard, and at the
extremity of each one were three hard
knots. The prisoner was fastened TO the
triangle by straps at his ankles, knees and
hands, and leather band was placed
round the neck to prevent the lash hitting
the victim in that part of his body. The
operators upon the occasion were two
warders of the goal, who administered in
each instance dozen strokes in success
sion. Beaumont received the first stroke
in silence, but the second extorted from
him an exclamation Of pain, and at the
third he cried aloud, "Oh dear me-" At
the fifth cut he writhed a good deal, and
at the tenth, showed that he was undergo
ing intense agony.
After the twelfth stroke, and while the
8 cat was being transferred to the hands
of more rapid executIoner, the naksd
back was seen to present plain marks Ct
! the severity of the castigation. The blows
given by the new whipper fell more rap
idly than those which had preceded, and
the whole of Beaumont'5 punishment was
completed in about minute and half.
He was then released from the triangle
and taken back to his cell nan exhausted
state. The laceration of the flesh was OBJ
vious enough, and the "weals might
easily have been counted. The man next
brought out for corporal punishment was
low set but muscular Young man, named
Michael Guirtay, who had been sentenced
to penal servitude for ten years for Il gar
rote robbery at Bradford. He was out
on a ticket-of- leave when he committed
this offence, having all h, life been in
prison.
At his trial the Judge sad he had been
committed no less than fifteen times, and
his last sentence was five years penal sery-
itude. The first descent Of the whip made
him cry Cob" in piteouS tone; at the
second he cried out "Oh dear" after the
fourth he begged and was supplied with
glass of water, and at the ninth be re-
sisted so strongly, though without the least
avail, that the framework to which ne was
bound was moved slightly from its origi-
nal stand point. As the blows followed
each other in quick succession his cries of
suffering were louder and more frequent.
1t was in vain he asked for mercy, Or in
dreadful psraxysm of pain, promised that
he would "never do so again"
A cessation of his bowling showed that
the fogging had been duly inflicted "ac-
cording to the law and he was taken
away apparently in stronger state than
the wretched man who had preceded him.
| His back was more cut up than that of
Beaumont had been, and, though ne blood
followed the strokes given in either case,
there were sufficient evidences in both of
the severity of the chastsement. The
surgeon of the goal (Mr. W. N. PRICE,,
and Mr.. Keene, the Governor, superin-
tended the castigation. Eight or nine of
369 inmates of the goal, who had been re-
fractory, were purposely made spectators
of what passed, with view of lettering
them from lawless acts, for which the Wis
iting justices have power to order the use
Of the whip.