River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1876-02-17

most interesting chamber is that where
the imperial diet 60 long sat, a vacant hall
with decorated ceiling, and stiff arm.
chair for its sole furniture, which may
have been sat in by an emperor. In one
OF the apartmeI 3 hangs some remarkable
Gobelin tapesty and needle.work of the
fourteenth century. | have never seen
any tapestry so interesting The nearer
the Gobeiin approaches to the finish and
resemblance of picture the less | care
Tor 1t; 1t then suggests the still vast diff.
terence between IL and the real thing.
But these pieces are not intended to ie.
ceivo. They were done In the stiff sin.
oerity Of the middle ages; tho figures are
quaint even to comicaiity. and the stu.
atoms are naive in the extreme, full of
heartiness and humor.
But the interest OF the Rath house TO a
0loody'minded person is in its lower
apartments, the so.called dungeons and
chambers of torture. There IS nothing
that people like more to read about than
torture The damsel who acted as my
guide lighted candle, and, taking hand.
iul OF loose papers, conducted me to the
ground floor am ashamed to confess
that 1t was not as bad as hoped ii would
be- for the dungeon floor was not damp,
but quite dry. and think not below the
level oil the ground. At least | seemed
to be passing through series Of lumber
rooms. The first dungeon | entered was
a specimen Of all. l backed into low
and narrow door, and found myself in a
dark apartment Of thick walls of wood.
I fnot -, II \ 4
not stand upright. Here Count Schafl.
gotsch, one of Wallenstein's associates.
was confined, and if he ever talked TO
himself, his remarks were conveyed
by means of a pipe to the room directly
above. He had no light and very little
air, and his food was thrust in 10 him
through small CRATE. Across one end
OF the cell was wooden beam. which
served him for pillow.
Before the door of this room | noticed
small square hole in the pavement
covered with movable crate. The
guide lighted wisp Of paper and threw
1t down; the brief illumination disclosed n
dungeon perhaps twelve feet deep and
SIX broad. The prisoner who was destm.
ed to occupy it was lowered through the
whole, and left there till he starved TO
death. can imagine how he must have
listened, for four or FIVE days, for the
steps OF the keeper who walked over head
Passing through several narrow pas
sagcs, closed by stout door. we came to
the torture-chamber. where the m3li.
mcnts of persuasion Of the inquistion or
Of private tyranny she still preserved.
Outside the entrance OF the narrow cham
Der is "a bench upon which the victim was
seated in ordor that he might reflect
whether he would confess before the tor.
ture or after One side OF the room is
lattice screen behind which the secretary
sat a. table to take down any exclam.
alton wrung from the sufferer Within
are seats for the judge and the surgeon
who attended from motives OF inhumanity,
in order that the victim should not he too
soon released from his sufFerings by
death.
| find It Impossible 10 believe what
trustworthy records tell us went on in
these and like chambers in Christian
age. You can comprehend how men can
issue cruel order, but how they can look
calmly upon the agonies OF fel.
low-being and delight in increasing them.
in cold blood, surpasses my conception.
scarcely wonder tina: travellers take on
tone Of levitc in such cases: il is simply
want of power to believe the cruelty that
was perpetrated
This room looks n little like the lum-
Der room attached to a farmers wood.
shed, or rather like u cheaply fitted up
- -.
with an iron band for the neck, that once
stood in the public square. Lying on 1t
were two pieces Of board two feet long,
each piei ced with three round holes. one
for the neck and one for each wrist.
rney were put, said my guide, upon base
women. Two of them yoked with this
ensignia of their disgrace. were coupled
together and let 60 in the street. a
warning to all frail and imperfect beings
nfthcir SEA. saw no such badges for
men.
One Of the instruments used to teach
men the beauty Of holiness was ladder,
the rounds CT which are sharply trisngu.
lar sticks of wood which revolye. The
recusant was drawn up and down this
ladder by pully, his back abradrd by
the revolving prsms Of wood. Another
machine is a stretcher, upon which the
condemned was laid, his feet fastened to
one end ard his arms tied to a rope
which passed over a windlsss. Under
his back was roller armed with blunt
spikes, over which his vertebra was
drawn backward and forward. The
playful inquisitors called this machine
the -'larded hare There is also frame
with windlass and crane for hosting
man up by his arms. Two big stones.
which weigh over a hundred pounds
each. were tied TO HIS feet and when he
was drawn up to the ceiling, he was sud.
denly let drop, and hejerk would dslo.
cate every socket. Sometimes his feet
were secured to rings in the floor, and he
was drawn up TIL all his joints cracked.
The stone weights were also used in a
different way. There is chair called
"The Maiden's Lap, the scat OF which Is
studded with hundred wooden pins
the victim sat on this, with the stone
weights in his lap, "The Spanish ASS"
is simple board fifteen inches wide set
upright in standard. The upper end is
sharpened. Upon this the patient sat
astride, with, the big stones attached