Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-07-12
Alefal0ria 0az&tte
THURSDAY EVENING. JULY
A Visit to tho TIrturc Chamber a.
katisbOn.

| katisbOn.
| A correspondent recently travelling iu Europe
| writes:
connection with sucl. places as these. Well.
here it is, in its HeIl known form--wcll known.
at least, by pictures 10 old volumes, with which
| most people used to be familiar. 1t is kind oi
| wooden bench; at one cud are the ropes 10 81
cure the feet Of the victim. at the other
windlaas TO tighten another rope fastened to
! the arms The body is stretched BY these
! means, more and more at each turo. The
question is repeated, and the answer perhaps
siven-a word, wall, curse-Who can won
der? If this is not enough, another instrument
is added; roller with bIuntel spikes is tbrusi
beneath the agoDized being and upon this be i,
rolled UP aud down.
We have all read at least OF the strappado--
Shakespeare has made lis name familiar. Well.
there il also here vertical rack, and thus was
it used The arms of the prisoner were tied be-
hind his back, and fastened to a rope, which,
working 10 pulley 10 the roof suddenly drew
him upward, and then. as suddenly slackenlng.
let him fall almost TO the ground But. to make
the shock greater, and the dislocation to his
limbs more complete, the two heavy stones
which even DOW lie ready at hand--one. we art
told, weighing l25 pounds were first fastened
to the feet Of tho victim, and with these drag
gng on him he rose to the root, snd With their
momentum added to his own he fell, to be
Jared as imagination can hardly conceive.
Even upon this there was an improvement.
or, at any rate, variety, for the poor creature
could be fastened by his feet to the ground, and
the strain Of the rope could tug at him until
the Trail body yielded while the heart was yet
firm. In TRUTH We slckcn at our task; but We
must mention one or two more items "a this
terrible collection, for it is study what men
could devise and put in practice against the!
fellow men. There is chair here, like the one
we have seen at Munich, but here it looks
very different thiDg from what We laughed st
n the bright and cheerful hall Of the National
Museum. Here, like all the rest 10 this real
chamber Of horrors, X is at home, where men
sat and suffered. 1t is tall armchair, every
part Of which that can be used for torture is so
contrivcd The scat is stuck full Of sharp wood
cn spikes--woOdeD, Dot iron, for the torture Is
very slow.
The arms arc studded 10 tho same way, and
80 is the high back and front logs. Bands OF
wood, also, spiked. are then tied over tho arms,
legs and body, that every spike may tell. Here,
as 10 most cases. the work IS gradual lhe
bands can be drawo tighter, while the question:
log goes on, and the surgeon judges how
much more can be endured. There IS an lnno-
cent looking ladder against the wall, but upon
closer inspection there arc rounds n 1t OF unusual
shape-triangular, sharp edged blocks, which
turn freely on their axes. Here hangs a ropo
over puly 10 which criminal is TIED, land bylt
is he drawn up and let down again quickly, while
the sharp rou.is roll beneath his bare body
and do their work o! torture. We Will not
dwell upon the lesser instrumcnts-thc spiked
collars, the iron masks, the boot and thumb
gcrcws-lh0ugh it must be confessed We fingered
long over each and all OF them.
Somehow they grow to exercise KIND OIL las
cination over enc. Description slckens, but not
SO the sight and handling of such things.
morbid taste, an absolute liking for the examl
patton develops itself, aud seems to give one
king Of insight iuto the frame Of mud which
sustained the uucstiOners aud assistants at Suoh
scenes as the torture chamber must have Wit
1csscd We begin io some measure TO uuder'
staud how people, at least as good and gentle.
as kind end ChristianIz,d ed as those OF the pre-"
ent day, could yet not only 5aEction, but take
official part 10 Wha. seems to Us 80 brutal. Mcn
! were terribly in earnest IN those times
They had stern sense OF justice which Ne
can hardly realize. The warlikc spirit which
mado them capable of enduring so much ren.
dered them equally fierce in the administration
| of tue law 1t was hand.to-hand conflict, in
which quarter was neither asked nor given. So
VIC need not wonder that when torture be.
came part Of the recognized law Of the land
human ingenuity should be employed iu making
it most effective; that, indeed, it should grow
into kind Of science, and have its votsrles ITS
dscovcrers, aud its outer world Of admirers.