The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1867-06-22
THE HORRORS OF NUREMBERG
CASTLE.
It's Dungeons and Instruments Of
Torture -FrightfuI Evidence Of Cru
city

1 from = uremDufg, bavaria:
Come with me TO this old town, enter some
of these edifces and look upon the admins
.ration Of government as it was In the i65i
and. 7th centuries. We enter one of tht
towers of the castle, descend five steps anl
find ourselves in museum, where are pre-
/ served the books of records giving US his
tory of the past; and not only books, bur Ia
plements and instruments wiIich show more
clearly than written words the administra-
tIOn OF those days, with which the govern.
ment of the United States is now compared
Here is post four feet high in the center If
! the room, with two curious fixtures on the
/ top, having some resemblance TO gun-locks.
/ What Is this The girl VINO acts as our
usher raises the hammers, which come np
with a click She touches spring and down
/ they 90, with a snap thatstartles you-forced
/ down by strong springs, with whack that
/ would have mashed your fingers to a Jelly
! had they been under the hammer This is a
! finger crusher, a delicate little instrument
used to extOrt confessions from reluctant
witnesses or suspected criminals Here are
bracelets for the wrists, not of gold or silver,
but Of iron,- and the parts which touch the
wrists are set with needles Put them on
your arms and turn screw and they close
upon the flesh, the needles piercing through
cords, tendOns flesh and bones 1t is one
degree more excrutiating than crushing the
fingers
Here is a head-dress-a crown which has
been worn by many men and women 1t
has sharp knives which cut through the scalD
to the skull Here are chains and weights,
locks and keys, handouts and clasps for the
ankles, stocks for the feet, weights to hold
your feet to the floor, and pulleys to draw
your head at the same time to the ceiling
Here Is q bench Of solid oak, with a CORFU
ffaFia
laid, held down by cords, to undergo the
kneadiLg process, and that rolling pin, knotty
and knObby, also of oak, which lies upon
the table, has been rolled backward and for
ward over the naked forms OF men and wn-
men, kneading live flesh to bloody dough
Time and space would fail me were to enum-
crate the instruments of torture here, or to
set forth their uses. We can only look at
the cradle-a huge trough of oak on rockers
the bottom and sides thickly set with pins,
in which many victims have been rocked to
death. Think of lying on bed Of oaken
pins, rolling to the right to the left-aiways
against pins-t1lI the flesh becomes livid
Jelly Here is string Of Oaken beads, each
bead sixteen sided, about as large hickory
nuts. This was lor saving off legs and arms.
Here is an instrument shaped like Il pear.
Il Is of iron, but to all appearance 4 harm
less thing. But just take it for a moment
into your mouth, and let ne give gentle
pull at the string attached to the stem Of the
pear, and 1t viii be 40 longer pear, but
full blown liliy-an iron lilly unfolding its
leaves so suddenly and violently that your
jaws are forced open till the joints crack in
the sockets, while the delicate petals become
pincers, which grasp your tongue No out
cry now. No utterancs of words No
screaming to raise the neighbOrbood Means
and signs only from the sufferer One
twitch Of the string and the tongue is torn
out by the roots.
We must leave this museum without men
tioning the hundreds of curiosities We
go into the court yard, stopping moment
10 pluck 4 Leaf from lime tree which was
in lulI vigor seven hundred years ago, and
then we entei another door, descend a long
flight Of steps, to dark dismal dungeons,
where no light ever falls except through
narrow, iron grated windows Here are
ladders, with wlndlasses and pulleys on which
victims were stretched till bones snapped
and joints leaped from their sockets, and
cords and tenduns were oru-asunder. Here
are racks and wheels, pillOre5 and stocks,
whips and manacles. This was Ehe place of
torture. We leave these anfcreep through
a narrow passage, through doorway after
doorway, and reach at last, far under ground,
far beneath ali sight or sound Of the world,
a darker dungeon. This is the room OF the
Iron Maiden
Here is the statue of image maiden
with a hood upon her head, an iron raifle
around the neck, enveoped in an iron cloak
Suddenly the folds of the cloak are thrown
apart, and by the dim light Of the candle
you see that the lining Of the garment is set
with sharp spikes. Take one step forward
and the folds enclose you. Iron spikes
pierce your body, and into your eve balls,
oil IN oh
Not quick embrace, but slowly you are
enfolded, one turn of the screw, just enough
to penetrate the flesh, just enough to touch
/ the apple OF the quIveTIug eye; then, after
an aye OF anguish another turn and a nun
dred spikes reach little nearer to the ner-
yes and then as heat, as thirst and fever
rack the body, another gentle turn and
another age OF torture; and then one more
advance of the spikes toward the yitaIs till
death comes On, and the maiden unfolding
her arms, drops her victim through "a trap
door, down down, down in.o unknown
depths We drop pebble and hear the
] faint plash Of water far beneath
/ Here is a skull. Auatomists say it is the
/ skull Of a female. You may put your I'm
I gers into the holes where the spikes which
! entered the eyes come through No name
/ on record. God ouly mas the book Of re-
memberance.
/ W EuiUk OF JI4s dungeon as connected
with the barbarism Of the middle ages but
we are not removed from those days Of rigor-
( Gus administration of law Till Napoleon
with his legions Of France came across the
/ Rhine overthrowing all obstacles this iron
maiden held cut her arms to receive offend
ers against the law. on tue approach of the
/ French army in 1893, the Virgin, as It IS
F called, with other instruments OF torture
were thrown into a cart, and dispatched ia
haste out Of the town, but fell into the hands
1 of the victorious army. Not till then did
the'world know what sort Of punishmen5s
were me ed out to offenders of the law
We are to remember thas Nuremberg was
a free city. About thirty patriciaBs lami-
lies for a long time monopolized authoity,
and choose q Council Of State consisting oi
eight persons who formed the Executive
This Executive was gn irresponsible body
The world knew uo5hing of their secret ud
miuistration Of affairs Ai.n disappeared
and no one knew what became Of them
Another Virgin exists IN Austria at Eeustadt
There are other horrors, enough 60 curdie
the blood, not Of the Roman Inauistion bu