The true northerner., 1883-01-05
KEELHAULlNG.
An Atrociously Cruel and Barbarous Pun
ishment.

| For untamed and disgusting cruelty
'keelhauling" is about the most horri-
BILE punishment that the depraved mind
of man could invent. 1t is described as
follows by correspondent at Alexan-
dria, Egypt:
just before noon the men were
brought on deck pinioned with their
arms behind their backs, their hands
before them, and ankle irons confning
their feet, SO that they ceuld barely
walk. The crew of the ship had been
called on deck. The officers stood on
the starboard side, the crew on the port,
the victims Mt the mainmast. The of
icers were in the hounting drC IS OF
their service, the men wore the.r cut
lasses An officer read the find ngs-
that is at least what we supposed they
were-of the court martial This was
o long and protracted ceremony. When
he had done some seamen went aloft
and made fast to the mainstay near the
mast two blocks. From this they rove
two stout lines in different directions.
These were carried over the side of the
ship and weighted with sounding lead
about forty feet from the end. Then
the lines were carried around the stern
of the ship and brought forward, the
leads sinking them under the keel. After
that they were hauled on board, the
leads detached. the two men were tied
side by side, and both ropes made fast
to them, one rope being tied to the
waist of one, the other rope around the
shoulders of the other. The arrange
ment of the tackles was to drag the men
under the ship from either side 10y haul
ing on the fall or running end of the
rope that fell from the leading blocks on
the mainstay. These ropes, 10 enable
the hauling parties to walk away were
led through q snatch block on the deck.
The crew were then divided, half of
them put to each rope, and the two
wretches, being led to the side, were
showed overheard. They both screamed
as they fell into the water, and as the
distance from the gangway to the sur
face was quite fourteen feet, they must
have been more or less hurt.
But this was only the beginning of
their miseries. The men on one side
hauled taunt the rope underneath the
ship, and then the order to walk away
was given. The band played solemn
tune, something like the Carnival of
Venice" in movement, except the tune
was changed, and stamp, stamp, stamp,
went the men. We saw the two wretches
90 under, and then the only movement
was the ropes going through their
blocks, one side paying out the other
coming in, but slowly. We had no
measurement of the ship, but as the
rope acted directly-that is, there were
no moving blocks-the distance around
the bottom was exactly that covered by
the men as they walked the deck draw
ing the rope behind them. Thus
we were able to make some estimate of
the distance, and we calculated it at
fifty feet from surface to surface.
Presently the two victims appeared on
the other side They were hauled quite
out of the water, and the rope by which
they were hoisted was made fast and
coiled up ready to pay out again. An
officer-probably a doctor-went down
and examined them. The one upon
whom the strain of the rope had fallen
was apparently lifeless His face was
turned toward us; it was bleeding and
torn; his clothes were hanging in
shreds, and his hands were dripping
with blood. His eyes were opened, but
they seemed to be filled with blood,
The ships bottom, covered with bar
nacles, rasped upon the poor devils like
nails. The other man seemed to be
conscious. His back, rs he hung in the
air, was toward us, but he moved his
head, we thought, and apparently to beg
for mercy. Evidently the officer re-
| ta1 he, ~ fN,. ha ho,l
come on deck again the two men were
lowered into the water, and the crew
manning the rope that led up from the
other side marched away with it, and
once more the victims disappeared.
From the time they went under the sur
face of the water until they reappeared
at the other side of the ship, was just
twenty-four seconds. 1t seemed to us
to have been an hour. The first fright
full journey had terminated by their be-
ing scratched and torn; at the end of
the second they were mutilated The
nose Of one wretch was torn almost
away, one ear was gone, and the shreds
OF the clothing he had worn clung to
him only where they were held by his
bonds. He was blood literally from
head to foot. His companions condi-
ton was equally horrible. This time
they were hoisted up to the rail and
swung on board. Then we could see
something of the action of this barbar-
GUS punishment, for they were not held
off the side, but were scraped up along
the ship, striking against the ringbolts.
the chains, and every cruel obstruction
until they swung in clear over the deck
Then they were lowered down and re-
leased. They were both unconscious,
probably even then dead. 1t may be
hoped they were. Death must have
been welcome release. An inquiry as
to the facts made on board the ship
elected the reply that it was not a mat
ter of public concern. Nevertheless we
were offered coffee and cigarettes. 1t is
needless to say that we did not accept
either. For my part, 1 should have
rather seen the entire ships company
shot than accepted any hospitality at
the hands of its officers
A PRoDIGAL son of the late Commo-
dorc Thompson ID. Shaw, of the United
States navy. recently died in the poor