The New York herald., 1870-05-22

How truly poor Jim had pr0phesicd
from natural causes had seen men hanged by the
neck TILL dead, and men shot under military SEN
tence fairly riddled with bullets; but none = them
affected me SO much as poor Jim Marlln's desoate
death; none called up such melancholy train OF
thoughts sncn saa upon enc m,seres anG
or buried in the so-called poorhouses Poorhouses
indeed But seldom houses for the poor; seldom
ought to be the real objects OF the charity
OF tine world In Jim Martins cell, while
and thoughtful and respectful, even though
IL was only dead pauper that was there, these re-
scons lion ss crowded s upon u.s. Of o. least upon one Of
there was not something wrong In our social econ
oiny after ai-whether, with all our boasted civil
care OF the poor and needy2 Here was poor fe-
Tow tossed from an almshouse to prison. No crime
sr s IN his aav He TS %s Simply n =, aaa % ds
prison, IN the fellowship or convicts. instead of
surrounded by the comforts and goo1 cheer which
needy should afford.
But all this mas nothing to do with the whipping
post and pii0ryonly far as IL IL an incident OF
my second visit 10 Newcastle.
FORTY LASHEs FOR SIX TURKEYS.
from jim Martins cell Wild conducted me to Ben
Harmon's-an Old cOlOred man. with hair almost
gray-a very good natired fellow, whose crime was
the larceny oI Blk turkeys. Bea was asserting rags
In reply to question as TO whether he was pre-
pared for to-mofrow's work, he said, 1--WE muss Try
..Why did you steal the turkeys, HARMONY Were
you in wanri' inquired.
al steal EN- 'cluse Misser - done put me up to
II. He t0le me for to go and git 'em, he did. He
wanted de tuikeys, and put in my poor ole head to
"W6o i MIR. 10y, asked ais he white p,
"ies, Sir; Oh he's white un. never wants to
take um III nc puts me up 10 It, ana den he go back
on me. ! never thlak he go back on me- Dis oe
biz mistake said Ben Harmon.
why did not you expose the white man, Ben ~
wall, dis ole ngaer fake whip himself fore blow
on him. Dat's lnstit. now"
Whether Ben's story about the white tempter is
1.-The truth and the whole truthn or not / am not
aware. Perhaps Ben has the African facility for
counting ior ms troubles IL the best way Tor himself
Perhaps not.
Mr.. Wild next took me 10 see another victim OF
Tomorrow whose name forget. lie appeared
forward, iInpudent a irky
"You are 20 be whipped tomorrow % sad wii.
eyes, and Pm d---d glad OF IL, too," said tbs phi
"Yoa are enY, said wild.
"Yes I've beea here four months now, and Pm
Sex OF ~
Here the prisoner produced the stump OF u cigar
and cool!y aske The tirnSey for ii9t which was
granted. aail the criminal. sticsng the stump on
long piece or wiic ana putting IL to il proceeded to
pun nway with the utmost sang Jroid.
That the way we do tt IN stylcr said the fellow,
with leer. Evidently he had some idea that he
was an Important m mbec OF society, whose merits
were generally appreciated.
THE FINE ARTS IN PRISON.
In my TO nds 0i the cells again to-day came 10
one the " alls OF whl n which were decorated with
lancy pictures and Inscriptions. There were Ike
ne SEES OF ben Butler. PreSdent Grant General Nc
Clean AND other famous people, executed IN capital
STYLE Pictures OF she's, aud houses and fantastic
Chinese figures dot ed tie walls all over. Mr.. Wild
informed me that the alt.st was coored convict,
VINO displayed quite a genus for painting. asked
where he got his material or co ors Wild declared
that the prisoner had Knacx OF his own OF extract
Ig colois irom Old carpet rags-an operation which
he performed with extraordinary skill and eXpe-
dti0n.
The Horse Thieves Piiioried-Thc Tedious
Punishment Of tho Stoclks-One Hours
BroiIing Under u Hot san in the New
Castle Pill0ries.
New CASTLE, Del. May 21, 1870.
All last night dreamed OF the fellows to be lashei
and ploried, and OF poor, dead Jim Martin the pau.
per. had horrible visions OF Brow0 and Mac Heard
the horse thieves, lighting with Snerifr Richardson
and pounding Two or three Of the jail keepers to
ely fancied old Jim came to lie again just as he
was about TO he tumbled into Potters Field, and
grinning savagey at the fright and conservation of
his prison keepers over his resurrection, so much
did the occurrences Of the day impress themse YES
upon my slumbers at night.
When visited the prison shortly before ten this
morning, found everything as quiet as usual inside
and outside. There was no crowd without the walls
any more than there was week ago, when gave
you q full account OF what saw and heard con-
corning the whipping Of six criminals. need not
therefore, 60 into minute details again. These
scenes are pretty much the same take it, every
time, and propose. therefore, to conine myself in
the present letter mainly to account of the cases
In the p!tllory.
THE THIEVES IN THE PILLCRY.
When strolled into the prison yard found the
only addition to the penitental apparatus to con-
slst OF a ladder placed against the platform below
the pilcry. This was to give the criminals J1ciis
ascensus apern or an easy method Of getting them
selves into limbo.
AS the prison clock struck the hour OF ten
Mr. Albert vnng, the night watchman. led
forth the prisoners, Brown and Mac Heard,
dressed in their usual manner, that is in
ragged coats, pants and shirts, and wearing
cloth caps that might have been new some time be-
fore the Revolutionary War. Vlnlng sent the con-
victs up the ladder and followed Immediately MIN.
self placing one Of them on the right ana the other
on the LETT Of the whipping post. That done he un-
hooked the frame and raised the upper sections to
enable the criminals to place their necks and wrists
in the hobs "for such purposes made and pro-
vided" For the better understanding Of
the operation by your readers l may briefly
repeat what l stated last week by way
Of description Of the piory. 1t consists simply
Of piece OF board about four feet long, one foot
high and one ncn thick. In this board are cut six
holes, two OF them large enough for the neck and
four OF sufficient capacity 10 hold securely an ordi-
nary mans wrist. This board, thus provided with
holes is fastened on the upper part OF the whipping
post at right angles, and In such way that at each
side Of the post there are two small holes with
large hole between them. The board Is cut in two,
so that the upper parts may be raised up and when
put down may be fastened at the outer ends by an
ordinary iron hook.
AS was explaining, Mr.: vining raised the upper
sections or the frame and first fixed prisoner Brown
in the curious trap. Brown is very small man, his
neck only just about reaching the pillory in safe
way, to prevent straining. When the frame was
closed upon him. imprisoning neck and wrists he
looked down upon u.s. smiling dismally, as one who
would whistle to- keep his courage up. Mac Heard
contemplated his companions position In gloomy
silence but was not left many seconds to travel
along with whatever train Of thoughts was rushing
through his mind No sooner was the frame adjusted
over Brown than Vlning turned his attention to the
big Mac Heard, who beside his keeper looked. like
giant. Mac Heard was soon fixed like Brown, and
rolling his large eyes right and lett finally settled
them on one Of the prison cell windows out of
which all the convcts on that side were gazing with
interest, some OF them looking solemn, but by far
the greater number laughing and jbing at the pill