Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-02-04

THE Torture CHAMBER II TIE RATH-HoUsE
AT BATIsBoN through several mar
row passages, closed by stout doors. we
came to the torture chamber, where the
implements Of persuasion of the inquisi-
ton or of private tyranny are still preserv-
ed Outside the entrance of the narrow
chamber Is bench upon which the victim
was seated in order that he might reflect
whether he would confess before torture or
alter One side of the room Is q lattice
screen, behind which the secretary sat at a
table TO take down any ordinations wrung
from the sufferer Within are seats for the
Judge and surgeon. who attended from mo-
tives OF inhumanity. IN order that the We
tim should not be teO soon released from his
st fferings by death. This room looks like
the lumber room attached to a farmer 5
woodshed. or rather like a cheaply fitted
up gymnasium. At one end is pillory
with AN iron band tor the neck, that once
stood in the public square. Lying on 1t
were twO pieces of board, two feet long,
each pierced with three round holes. one
for the neck, and one for each wrist. They
were put. said my guide. upon base women.
Two OF them. yokcd with this Insignia Of
their disgrace, were coupled together and
let 20 IN the street, a warning 10 al irall
and imperfect beings OF their sex. | saw
no such badges for men. One OF the IN
s;rnments used to teach men the beauty OF
holiness was a ladder, the rounds OF which
are sharply. triangular sticks of wood which
revolye. The recu-ant was drawn up and
down this latter by a pulley, his back
abraded by the revolving prlsms of wood.
Another machinel Is stretcher, upon which
the condemned was laid, his feet fastened
to one end and his arms tied to rope
which passed over windlass. Under his
back WAS roller armed with blunt spikes,
over which his vertebr;e were drawn back
ward and forward. The playful inquisi-
tors called this machine the "larded hare.
There is also frame with a windlass and
crane for h0isting man up by his arms.
Two big stones. which weigh over 100
pounds each were tied to his feet and
when ne was drawn up to the ceiling, he
was suddenly let drop, and the jerk would
dislocate every socket. Sometimes his feet
were secured TO rings in the floor, and he
was drawn up till his joints cracked. The
stone weights were also used in different
way. There is a chair called the Maiden S
| Lap" " the seat of which is studded with u
hundred wooden pins - the victim sat on
this with the stone weights in his lap. The
/ Spanish ASS Is simple board ID inches
wide set upright in standard. Inc upper
end is sharpened. Upon this the patient
sat astride, with the big stones attached to
1 his feet. On one side of the room Is re-
cess in the thick wall, before it a screen of
masonry with fireplace in 1t. The con-
| demued stood 10 the recess. which has no
opening above. and was slowly or quickly
sufiOca,ed or roasted by the smoke and heat
Any New England boy, who has been pro-
perly brought up on Fox's Book of Martyrs,
understands all sbout the rack and The
thumb-screw and the regular appliances oil
torture. But | confess until | saw these
machines that had no idea OF the devilish
ingenuity of the old masters. What espe.
cially impresses you about their instrument.
is that they are intended to hurt. They ara
rude. unpublished, the chamber is mean. Il
is not even mysterious the whole thing i.
vulgar and disgusting Charles d. Wdr.
ner in Hartford CouTdnt.