Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-02-23

THE WHr,prno Posi- IN DELAWARE
The sheriff cams ont with the scat In MS
hand. This venerable weapon consists OF
stout handle about two feet long, with
nine lashes of somewb,.t greater length.
The thongs are made IF thick leatner,
twisted together, and as hard as wire.
They have been soaked with blood before
this. and it has!dried upou them until their
edges are as sharp as knives. The sheriff
has lust begun his term of Office, and this
was his first whipping. 81 would almost
az leave hang a man as this," said he.
The first candidate for the lash was the
boy who stole seventy cents worth of pig
iron. The iailer brought him out, fastened
him to the post, and removed rough
blanket from his shoulders. He was naked
to the waist. The thermometer was at
thirtv-fve degrees. Twenty lashes,
sheriff." said the lailer. The sheriff swung
his scat" up SLOWLY, and it descended on
the bare skin. "One." said the jailer,
1.-TWO, three" ETC., as the sheriff tenderly,
and with not half his seeming strength,
struck twenty blows. The skin was not
broken, and the boy, looking very sad,
was hurried off. This officer is too hu-
name for the law. Other sherifs that l
know of used to stand off and eye the vic
tim as a western drover would fly upon
his OK. and then measure the distance SO
nicely that the ends of the thongs would
cut bits of skin from the prisoners back,
and bring the blood forth in crimson
streams. That was what law and chief
| justices had calculated upon.
Out came the jailer with another boy,
6 E. ha of1rrnnpdo cd hp
running children gazing curiously upon
him. He had twenty lashes, also, and as
each blow descended his muscles contract
ed and he tried to dodge to avoid it.
"Why don't the sheriff make it Swish = u
"He amt half doin' it" said another.
'He ought to cut into him." observed
another man, who seemed to take 1t to
heart that "the outraged majesty of the
law" was not better indicated. When
the bow was released, he assumed the air
of bravo, and cracked his heels together
TO signify that he didn't care for such a
logging. All the little girls clapped their
hands and laughed at this. Mr.. William
Mullony was the next star actor in this
ugly drama He wanted drawers, and
stole pair worth a couple of dollars. His
sentence was, restitution money, cost,
twenty lashes, six months imprisonment
and six months of conviot's costume. Mr.
Mullony seemed calm, and when the lash
fell upon his white shoulders, he only
shrugged them, and drew himself up. He
went away shivering with cold, and with
welts of a fingers thickness ON his back
Then there was piteous sight. An old
man of 20, decrepid, feeble and very lame
hobbled out, his grey hairs streaming in the
wind. He wanted shirt, heaven knows
badly enough this winter weather, and the
had very wickedly stolen it. He had
a none on now. The jailer fastened him t.
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
at each blow as if it was uncomfortable
and at last he put his head down and
cried like child. Most of the spectators
were affected. I would like to have hat
the unjust judges and the Delaware Law
makers look at that poor, broken dowr
, old wretch in the face then. think they
were the great criminals, not he. TIL,
jsiler whispered in his ear very hurriedly
sit wasn't so very bad, George, was it.,
and then helped him to limp away to hi
six months home. The next was a fop
pish worshipper at st. Pillory's shrine
He wore fashionable trousers, tucked int,
aristooratic top boots of patent leather
But the upper portion of his fine fgur
was en- dishdbile. Charles Wheatley wa
his name, and the annexation of thos
identical patent leather boots, bis crime
He wore forced smile upon his face, an'
, tried TO assume a satisfied air: but wheI
the "cat" furrowed his buck into ug1,
crimson ridges, he squirmed and twisted
ss if he did not enjoy it hugely. HI
danced eff with effected gayety, and th
boys and girls rewarded him with cheer
and laughter.-Phalndelr,h Bulletin