Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-11-27
AT THE WHIPPING-POsT.

Correspondence Detroit Free Press.1
''Did you ever see public whipping'
mo"
'Well, let's ride over to Glendale. Ole
Turner is going to peel q victim thi:
afternoon"
l was at Malvern Hill, and Glendale il
hamlet about four miles away As we
rode along the highway we found our
selves in the company of quite number
of negro men and women who were
bound to the same place, and had the same
object in view. 1t was known for circuit
of ten miles around that Lish Taylor, a
negro, had been sentenced to thirty lashes
for theft, and there was general desire
on the part of the colored population ''to
hear him holler." The theft was the
taking of hoe or shovel forget which
from farmer, and the prisoner would
doubtless have been let down easy if this
had not been his second offense.
Arriving at Glendale we found half a
dozen white people and about seventy-five
colored citizens on hand. Among the
latter were about thirty women.
"How far did you waikiki we asked
one of them.
"'Bout fo' miles, sah.''
And you came to see the whippingl"
- Yes, sah."
Il shouldn't think you would want to
see man whipped
Deed, sab, but doan' keer so VERY
much about it, but my ole man am lame
an couldn't come hisself lie got to tell
him all bout it when git home"
Some of the crowd had walked several
miles, and nearly all of them over two,
and it was plain to see that q whipping
was a sort of a circus parade to them.
There was much speculation as to whether
Old Turner would lay it on hard or not,
and as to how the prisoner would bear
the punishment; out all dispute was final
" settled by a little, old squint-eyed
darby, wearing a stovepipe hat with the
crown caved in.
"Who's dom dis talkin?" he demand
ed, as he mounted the steps and overlook
ed the crowd 'What you uns sayin'
dis an dat fur when We doan' know L
tell We dat whip am gwlne to draw blood,
an TAYLOR am gwine TO heller like calf
lie bin right dar myself, an dat Mass'r
Taylor he doan' go light on nobodyn'
have seen hundreds of petty offend
erS sent to the jail or workhouse without
a change of countenance. One of the
half hundred murderers and burglars l
have heard sentenced. | never saw one
of them ''take on as Taylor did when
brought down to the post. He was
strapping big fellow, able to knock an
OK down at blow, and yet he begged
and whined and acted like baby, and
was on the point Of having a real
good cry when the boots and Kisses Of
the cOlored people around him acted as a.
brace. Still. he trembled and cringed,
and exhibited actual fear. If he had
been going to jail for for three months
his face would have worn grin Of salts
faction, and he would have felt himself g,
hero. A large share Of the crowd looked
startled and ANXIOUS, showing that an
impression had been made, and heard
one man whisper to another:
go de Lawd, William, but l wouldn't
be dar fur de bes' fam in Virginny!"
Old Turner, as everybody called him,
has done all the whipping at Glendale for
years. HIS face is neither refined or bru-
tai, and could not see any change in it
from first to last. He proceeded to bust
ness in matter of-fact, methodical man.
ner. The prisoner was ordered to s'peel,"
and, as he slowly and reluctantly removed
his coat Turner leaned against the whip
the whip he was going to use. This whip
was small rawhide, about like those
used with a saddle-horse, and had sus-
piciously red color for half Its length
The prisoner was slow about re-
moving his garments, and the exc
eutioner finally took hold to assist
him. Coat and vest and shirt were at
length removed, and Taylor stood with
only his pants on. The thermometer
marked 80 degrees where he stood, and
yet he shivered and shook like a man
freezing to death. His arms were drawn
around the post and his hands made fast
at the wrists, and then his pluck was all
gone. If this sentence could have been
changed to five years in state prison he
would have jumped for Joy.
Old Turner wore the same neutral ex-
preston of countenance as he took his
station and swung his whip for the first
blow. 1t was pretty hard cut, and Tay-
lor yelled at the top OF his voice:
''Ohl Cod OH for de Lawd but some
body save me? OH Mass'r Turner, if you'll
let me off I'll die for you!''
Had prisoner shouted this in police
court in the North. the spectators would
have roared with laughter. There wasn't
a smile to be seen. in the crowd around
the whipping post. It was a warning
which made men tremble and women
wipe their eyes.
ree-four-fve-fell the
blows, and boy 10 years cid would not
have exhibited more cowardice. [ think
he got it worse for taking on as he did
After the twelfth blow l saw blood on
the prisoners back, but when the thir-
teenth had fallen there was nothing re-
voting in a close inspection of the flesh
There were wells and ridges and some
blood, but the simplest remedy would
heal the wounds within week When
the last blow fell the prisoner, who had
kept a true count all through despite his
excitement, was overcome with Joy, and,
raising his voice to its highest pitch, he
shouted:
"Ohf yan't L happy! Obi doan' l feel
blessed OH fo' de Lawd! but I'ze de
giaddest niger in de hull world"
Every person in the crowd looked upon
the prisoner as a disgraced man Thirty
days in jail might have made hero of
him. but to be publicly whipped was
quite another thing Virginia has few
jails, and some Of those are always empty.
Michigan has to increase her prison room
year by year. The idea of the law is to
punish. In Virginia the Detty thief rets