The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-06-06

BOW an English Criminal Feigned
Paralysis.
IT is dreadful thing to pass sem
tence upon q man in such state ~
said the Judge at the Wiltshire As
sizes on Friday last. His Lordship
seemed moved almost to distress at the
pitiable object, who, with an injured
spine, was brought into court lying
helplessly on stretcher, and who
could only feebly plead "guilty" to
the charge alleged against him. "The
iniliction you are suffering under"
said the Judge, "surpasses any pun
ishment can give your Had Ncalc
been in ordinary health he would UNI
doubleday have had penal servitudc,
for it was not his first act of felony;
but who could find the heart to carry
out the extreme rigor of the law in the
case of poor soul who would, to all
appearance, never again be able to
rise from the pallet on which he lay,
writhing in all the agony of an injured
spine. So much did His Lordship feel
this that, having first sentenced him to
eighteen months, his conscience seemed
to have smitten him, and he reduced it
to twelve. 1t appears that in October
last Neale was apprehendcd for steal
ing mare, the property of Mr.. John
Smith. of Luckington, and was lodged
in Malmesbury Lookup, previous to
his transmission to Devices. On the
following morning, when the police
visited his cell. they found him lying
on the floor unable to move. His
statement was that he had got up to
look out of the window, when he fell
backward across the corner of the bed
stead, and injured his spine. Medical
advice was obtained, and his sad con-
dition at once appreciated. In fact, he
appeared to be almost irretrievably in
jured, and to be suffering the greatest
agony-and to remove a man dis
lance of twenty miles under such cir
cumstances would have been the height
of cruelty. He accordingly remained
at Malmesbury for nine weeks, during
which time everything which humanity
could suggest to mitigate his suf-
ferings was reso1ted to. A person
was Kept in constant attendance upon
him; all kinds of nutritious things were
ordered for him, such as roast fowl,
grog, etc., and his comfort was studied
with the utmost sOlicitude. At the end
of nine weeks it was thought that he
might bear the journey to Devices, and
in January last conveyance was OBJ
tanned belonging to Mr.. Walter Pow
ell, M. P.), long enough to hold bed,
and. with great care and no little
anxiety, he was brought to the County
Jail, and was at once carried to the in
Urinary. Two men were specially de-
tailed to attend to his necessities and
minister to his comfort; for the medical
officer and another doctor he brought
with him to see the case" were like
the medical gentleman at Malmesbury)
both of opinion that the Door fellow $
spine was seriously if not permanently
injured. In this melancholy state he
was brought before the Judge on Fri
day last, and a general murmur of pity,
amounting almost to a shudder, ran
through the Court rs those present be-
held the pallet with the injured man
lying helplessly upon it. A breathlcss
silence prevailed Is the poor fellow was
sentenced to twelve months imprisOn-
ment, and the pallet, with its occupant,
was carried back to the Prison. And
now comes the sequel. To prove a
former conviction the Deputy Governor
of Gloucester Jail had been summoned
to Devices, and, on going over the Jail,
close inspection enabled him to recog-
nize in Ncale an old "invalid'' with
whom he formerly had to deal. "Hal-
lOa," said the Deputy Governor, as he
| scanned the cOuntenance of the cripple.
"Halloa! what, at your old game?''
"That fellow" said he, "is an impos-
ter. There is no more the matter with
his spine than there is with NINE" I'm.
possible, it was thought. The Deputy
Governor must be deceived. How
ever, DIR. Chaplain, the medical
officer, thought it worth while
to communicate with the surgeon OF
Gloucester Jail, and the reply he re-
ccived so entirely confirmed the Deputy
Governors statement that he deter
| mined to test the point in such a way
as should put it beyond doubt that
Neale was really the great sufferer he
appeared to be or an arrant knave.
Taking with him DIR. Carless and Mr..
Waylcn, he went to the prison on Sun
day last, and, having put the man
through severe examination, the pre-
viously formed opinion of the doctor
| began to waver. Still the man pro-
tested that his sufferings and his in.
juries were real, and he seemed totally
unable to move. TO put the matter to
q further test a galvanic battery was
introduced, and the "shocks'' were
turned on pretty strong. All, however,
failed to produce the expected result.
The man was no more able to move
during and after the IS shock than he
was before. So the doctors left. The
morrow came, and as it came, SO il
found Neale lying in the same position
as he had lain for the six previous
months-if possible, in greater pain
than ever. Regardless, however, of all
demonstrations of suffering, the electric
machine was again set to work, and SO
sharp was the effect that the leg which
appeared most affected by the spinal
injury began to move, until at last, un-
able to stand the shocks any longer,
the fellow jumped out of bed, and in a
few minutes afterward walked across
the courtyard to obtain his prison
clothes, as 1.-the and agile on his pins
as any man in the prison walls. A
clever scoundrel! Electricity has pro-
duced many wonderful results, but
none more wonderful than its effect
upon Charles Nealc. 1t is too late to
give him the desert (of penal servitude)
which would inevitably have awaited
him but for his "pitiablc condition. y
London TELEGRAPH.
Horrible Incidents OF the Chinese
Famine.