Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1884-12-05
FLOGGING.
How Punishment il Administered
in Winnipeg.
The Horrible scene which Took Place n
Far Northern Jail, and Which 80
Unmistakabiy Excited Popular
Indignation.
(winnepeg Tines.l

The following is the description of the
fogging of prisoner in the Winnepeg jail,
which led to the burning in effigy of At
torney General Miller and threats Of
vengeance against him.
This morning, about 12:45 o'clock, a
scene took place in the Jail yard which
very seldom occurs in Canada, 1t was the
flogging of the prisoner Mccormack.
who yesterday escaped from the jail, in
which he was working, and was recap
tured. Last night he was shackled and
slowed away in the dark cell, and early
this morning the Attorney General issued
an order for the fiogging. At the time
mentioned all the prisoners, twenty-five IN
number, were mustered in the yard, the
guards standing over them armed with
rifles, and Mccormack was then brought
out. Up TO this time he had no intimation
whatever of the intended punishment, and
at first was at a loss To understand what
ceremony was about to be performed. The
siglt of the triangle in the corner of the
yard, however, speedily dispersed any
doubts that may have existed IN his mind,
and he was noticed TO tremble all over
with fear. The Sheriff then called him by
name and proceeded to read the order is
sued by the Attorney General for his pun
ishment. The order directed that twelve
lashes be given him now and twelve more
one month before the expiration of his term
of imprisonment. This, however, is made
subject to his conduct during his stay in
jail. The prisoner listened to the reading
of the document in a dazed manner and
paid little attention to it. After the reading
was finished he simply said that he did not
understand the rules of the Jail. He was
then seized by two turnkeys and stripped
to the waist, and bound to the triangle,
which stood in the southeast corner of the
yard. While the straps were being adjusted
he whined pitifully and pleaded for mercy.
A turnkey seized the cat, a barbarous ma
chine, with handle about foot long, to
which were attached a number of whip
cords with the ends knotted. After testing
it he stepped back, and, suddenly swing
ing it around his head, it descended whist
ling through the air upon the back of the
unfortunate man, who literally beloved
under the influence of pain. "My God,"
he cried, do you mean to kill me?" and
Immediately after the lash descended a
cCScho eAiiCf iOA'ih6 Aol6S Oo oCoi . "hCi .
ever it touched, which almost instantly
turned to black. The knots at the end o.
the tails did wonderful execution, raising
hideous- looking blood-blisters. McCor-
mick was by this time writhing terribly
under the pain, and his contortions were
terrible. At the fifth lash the blood began
to flow, and before the whole punishment
had been administered his back was one
mass of lacerated flesh, from which the
gore trickled in streams down his back.
During the last few strokes, which were
laid on severely, his agony was painful to
witness. He kept crying: MY God! My
God' until released from the frame, when
he tainted, but was soon brought to his
senses by an application of snow. He was
then placed in cell and the wounds bathed
in brine. He lay on the floor of the cell
sobbing like child. He was terribly ex-
hausted, and the opinion was expressed by
medical men that he could not have stood
much more.