The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1869-01-28
BARBARTs1r IN DELAwARE
Old Men and Children whip
ped.

The pillory and whipping post,
remnants of dark ages, still exist in
Delaware. The people are too mean
to pay for penitentiary and prisons,
and brutal enough to enjoy whip
pings. There are in each of the
counties, at the capitals, a pillory and
whipping post, covered with the moss
of age and suffering from the wealth
er, and twice a year there are public
Epunishments. A correspondent of the
Philadelphia Bulletin gives an ac-
count of a recent public whipping at
New Castle. Seven victims suffered:
The ponderous gate of the Jail yard
swung open this morning at 10 o'clock
precisely, and admitted a crowd of
men and children. By actual count
there were one hundred and twenty
| five little girls and boys present, some
of them not more than four or five
years Of age. This was the saddest
sight of all.
Upon the walls were the sherifFs
proclamations headed with these
words: 'God save the StateH' An
excellent and most judicious prayer
The State needs Gods salvation more
than any other in the Union, that I
know of. H
William Jones had stolen store
goods worth thirty dollars, and
he was sentenced to return that
lamount of money; stand in the pillO-
Try for one hour; be whipped with
twenty lashes; be imprisoned for six
months, and wear eOnvict's dress for
six months after his release.
The criminal Wass taller than the
stock, and he was compelled to bend
down just enough 10 make his posi-
ton intensely painful. A keen,
piercing northeast wind swept in
from the broad expanse of the river,
and eempelled the spectators to blow
warmth upon their fingers. Mr.. Jones
had his circulation stopped, but he
could not plOw upon his bands.
j The jagged, splintered edge of the
wooden collar rasped his neck until
it lore the skin, and whenever he at
tempted to move his head to make
his position more easy, the bar would
catch the upper part Of his jaw bone,
and give him exquisite torture.
When taken out he had to be taken
to Jail to revive sufficiently to bear
the whipping. Next came the whip
lping,
The Sheriff came out with the acat"
in his hand. This venerable weapon
consists of a stout handle about two
feet long, with nine lashes of some
what greater length. The thongs are
made Of thick leather twisted togeth-
er, and as hard as wire. They had
been soaked with blood before this,
and it has dried upon them until
their edges are as sharp as knives.
Matthew Perry picked ups piece
of pig iron, said-improbabEyEtO be
worth seventy-five cents. Chief JUS
tice Gilpin and Judge Houston, two
venerable magistrates, backed by So
ciety, against one small child, declar-
ed that he should 'pay seventy-fve
cents restitution money, the costs of
his prosecution, be whipped with
twenty lashes on his bare back, be
imprisoned for six months, and be
compelled to wear, a convict's dress
in public for six months after his dis
charge"
/ When he had been whipped the
Ijailor brought out boy of II, who
was surrounded by running children,
gazing curiously upon him. He had
twenty lashes also, and, as each blow
descended, his muscles contracted and
he tried to dodge to avoid it.
"Why don't the Sheriff make it
swish ''2 asked an impatient Delawa-
rean spectator.
"He amt half doin' it." said an
other.
"He ought to cut into him" observ-
ed another man, who seemed to take
it to heart that "the outraged majesty
of the law" was not better vindicated.
He had taken five cents and a pair of
shoes!
Mr.. William MuIloney was the
next star actor in this ugly drama
He wanted drawers, and stole a pair
worth couple of dollars. His SEN
tence was, restitution money, costs,
20 lashes, months imprisonment,
and months OF convIct's costume.
Then there was a piteous sight. An
old man of seventy years, decrepid,
feeble and very lame, hObbled out
his gray hairs streaming in the wind.
He wanted a shirt, Heaven knows
badly enough this hitter winter wealth
er, and he had very wickedly stolen
it. He had none on now. The Jail
er, fastened him to the post, and
snatched the blanket from his back
His skin was yellow and wrinkled
and it had scars upon it. The lashes
fell, and the old mans whole frame
was convulsed with agony. He
writhed under each blow, as if it was
unendurable, and at last he put his
head down and cried like a child.
The last actor in this hideous trag
edy was the man who had stood in
the pillOry for an hour. He seemed
hardly recovered from his first tor
ture, and his face indicated keen suf
fering. He walked to the post will
ausair of melancholy resignation, plac
ed his blue hands through the mana
cles, and received his punishment
without any utterance but suppress
ed moan.
Up to 1855 women were publicly
/, whipped and their ears cut off for pet
Z ty crimes.
q In 1891, even English bigotry ant
2 conservatism agreed to stop fogginj
. females; in 1886 England demolished
= hef pillories, which had existed befOr
! the Conquest. France did the SAM
t virtuous thing in 1882. Delaware ha
S hers actively at work in this year o
. grace; and nearly three-quarters of (