The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-12-11
Hangmen and the GallOws.

Formerly hangmen were of the best
families. Froissart says that the Earl
of Arundel was hung by his son-tn-law,
the Earl of Marshal. The hangman's
dress was peculiar. He wore clean
white apron, and if he beheaded state
criminal, was dubbed "esqulre all the
rest of his life. So it was no small
honor in olden times to be hangman;
and there is a recorded instance OF q
certain lady, wife of hangman, who
said, "that any bungler might put q
man to death, but her husband alone
knew how to make man die sweetly. |"
This lady died shortly after. The Ro-
mans, however, as we'll as the Germans,
did not esteem that official in such high
repute, as they did not allow him to re-
side in town, although the gallows were
always within the city limits. The gal
lows is very old institution. It dates
back to the days of Constantine the
Great, who abolished crncif1ion. It is
not pleasant thing for man to have
in his household, yet Gun the Great, an
italian lord of the fourteenth century,
had one erected in the front of his
house, and repaired it each year and in
France gallows used to stand before the
houses of the territorial seigneurs, and
as of single, double or triple frame, 30
they indicated the rank of their owner
to be that of a gentleman, knight or
baron. In early days, gsllows, especi-
ally those in English vogue, had hooks
attached for the purpose of eviscerating
and quartering the bodies Of the crimi-
nails. Those barbarous appendages
have long since been abolished, and the
gallows of to-day is very simple sort
of an affair. Two upright posts with
cross-beam make the framework {; two
cross-pieces, fastened into the principal
posts, and receiving the hinges, which
fold horizontally, make the platform.
The traps are generally supported by a
center prop constructed on the princi-
pie of the carpenters rule. And gen.
orally to secure the safety of the plat
form, two temporary props are arranged
near the outer edge Of the trap. The
step ladder rests upon the left side as
you are in front of the gallows. A
moose rope bangles from the cross-beam
over head, and small cord near the
center prop. This is the picture, then,
of the much dreaded instrument of tor.
ture. In the fifteenth century the top
of the gallows moved up and down like
pair Of scales. At one end the halter,
the other a weight. The halter was
drawn down and placed around the
criminals neck, and the weight at the
other end lifted him from the ground.
Sometimes an iron hoop with strong
chain was fastened around the body, but
the chain was no longer than the halter,
so that when the latter was cut the hoop
slipped to the arm pits and left the
criminal exposed if a murderer he
hung three days. Stone gallows were
formerly used in Spain, and sometimes
ornamented with knife cut in the GEN.
ter of the cross beam. The Roman
gallows were very. simple, and called
furca. But innovations and new-fangled
notions have even crept into the gal
lows business. DR.. Sam johnson told
Sir Walter Scott "that men were to
hang in new way; that Tyburn itself
was not even safe from innovation"
Goetz and Shea, who were hung in Gin
cinnati in 1869, were hung from patent
gallows, consisting OF platform with
double trap, which fell upon the touch
of pedal communicating with lever
below.