Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-07-31
TAR AND FEATHERS.
RecOLlECTIONS OF A COLD NIGHT
IN A COLORADO CAMP.
Furnishing a Brute-Tar, Cold Weather
and q Fatal Result-Why
Coat Of Tar Will Cause
Death.
Icor s. Louis Globe.pemocrat.l

lCor. St Louis Globe Democrat
One of the very few respectable" womeI
IN the Carbonville camp was a Mrs. Jak.
Cory, who ran q little lunch-room and res
taurant She was sweet faced AMI sweet
tempered, and had an abiding funi of pa
tiencs that enabled her to put up with thu
vagaries Of one of the worst husbands in The
world. We in the camp thought that Jaki
Cory was absolutely the worst on tho face al
the earth. He was drunken foul-mouthed
brutal Scandinavian, who divi lei his time
between the gambli * houses and worse re
sorts. At these place he scent every dollar
his wife earned an all he couli borrow OF
her good name. He ono. went so far as T.
pawn her furniture down TO the cooking
stove over which h suppo To him l men.
ton these things to show that TIE seque
was not altogether unprovokei
One evening Cory came into the r,staur
ant drunk and struck his wife sava,eI- in
the face. He escaped through the back door
OF the kitchen, and she cam. in. scared and
bleeding, and told the story to some OF the
boarders An impromptu n1i mat. o meet
ing was held among tue boy AMI it was
decided to tar and feather the fellow and
run him out OF town. The phra SCUM led
well in the mouth of the man no sugce te /
1t, and everybody agreed that 1t was the
correct thing TO do.
No time was lost. A couple OF men ran
over to the rsfininc-wor AMI got a big iron
bucket o. pitcn. and other procured an 81
feather tick from a Iodgins-h e Then a
started out to get Cory.
They found him a-loep in a alopn and
hustled him over to a vacant lot in the rear
Of some buildings. He wa half daze an 1
confused with drink, and thought the affair
was joke, until the men began t. stri, OH
his clothes Then he fought like a mai
man In truth, believe ne was mad with
terror. His shirt and underclothes had to
be literally torn of of him, and it was u
good fifteen minu.es work before he too /.
and stark naked, in the moon
light
APPLYING THE TAR.
can see him now-his blearei eyes d.
ated and his shock of yellow hair bri ting
IN his head. His nude body stood out in
,old relief against the group that sur
-ounded him, and the chill, penetrating air
must have struck the wretch to the bone.
At any rate he couched down ami somebody
,ailei out: "Givs it to him nowl- At the
anne instant the bucket Of tar was lifted,
md about a gallon thrown with a swash
over his bare shoulders He sprans erect at
he cold touch of the pitch, AMI whirled
around just in time to receive the rest Of it
IN the head, face and chest
For moment he stood petrified, the
black stuff trickling down his body and
legs, and uniting with great puddle of it
on the ground Then he slowly raised his
hands to his eyes and tried to brush them
clear, but as his fingers had received good
hare OF the pitch he only made matters
worse, and dropped his arms again. He did
not seem to be able to realizs what had hap
,ened. and wasged his head blindly from
ide to side.
As he stood thus one of the men took the
upper edge Of the tick and inverted it over
lin. suppose it was as complete job of
he sort as was ever undertaken; at least
nothing was overlooked to make it a sue
'ess. Cory looked like nothing human but
ONE strange specie OF monster blotchei all
,ver with fluffy white. His head seemed
bout the size and shape of bushel la ,ket.
md his features were obliterated in tine gen.
raj blacknesS
1T WAS A COLD NIGHT.
When the work was done lie was given
fifteen minutes to get out OF camp. He was
made TO understand with difficulty. but wa,
inally started on the trail and the crowd
dispersed.
Early next morning some miners, going
o work, found Cory back OF a bull ling
ying on the ground and moaning. The tar
iad by this time rubbed all over him and
,arfly solidified. As it grew hard it coz
racted, and every contraction ha draw
with it the thousands of micr oscopic hairs
with which the b DIV is covers
N places it had broken the skin,
md the men who carried him
into she found bio d on tier hands. A
then located there, and now liv-
NC at Greeley, Col, was call Il in AMI at
emrted TO remove this stuff with benzins
It was an utter failure. "a was everything
Use tried. from grease 10 ammonia
i saw him in the cour~e OF the mornin-.
The lower portion Of his body was covered
With blanket, but his face was a spectacle
lot ca>ily forgotten. The harI p.tch wa
racket all over it. Ike alligator skin. and
hat cakei so solidly ar'und one ey that il
vas impossible TO remove it. the other eye
vas opened, but dread FULLY iuiiam Il an
uppurating. At places over the surface
we're sodden splotcbe Of feather
Busine $ called me away from Carbon
Tiile FOR about two weeks. and a few dav-
lfter l returned Cory died. Meantime m ST
Il the tar had been removed by successive
washes, but his skin was Covered with min
lie black specks like the shaved chin o a
nan who has heavy beard They we're the
pores OF the skin. and thu, was
rxtf n kIv the Yr,ai of 81,
hort time after the punishment he had teen
aken with q raging fever. ami then synp-
oms of O singular blooi disorder set in The
kin over ths chest, neck, cheeks ami out
ide the arms ros, in hard ridges. totally de-
old Of feeling. These rapidly ,loughei off
,aving open ulcers.
l shall not enlarge upon these details.
rhich would only perhaps interest medical
nan. further than TO say that the symptoms
we're in ali save one respect identicai with
,prosy. This sole difference was the fright
III rapidity Of their development The dis
nrted remains were hurriad into 8 coffin
nd hurried into the ground
THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
A wise physician of Denver told me after
'ard that this closing up OF the pores pre-
ented the system from throwing of it, I'M
Impurities, and when the poison that every
,stAnt escapes in Preparation is held back
: uflSen inWAfu the ciood Is vi,iafet with
swiftness. He took down q
ook and showed me a case quoted
rom French government report
l162, where the College Of Sur
cons. as an experiment, covered .
oy with gold leaf In six hours he was
eixed with fever. then q torpor. and then
ned The principle. he said, was identical
man could no more live with his pores
losst than he could with his mouth and
ostrils Dramatically sealed and il any con-
idsrable number were stopped up blood dis
riders Of the most dreadful character were
certain 10 ensue
! had seen enough, however. without the
ID Of science or history, TO tell me that
overing . man with tar ~as one Of the
sost horrible panishments that cruelty
rs ever devised / have no Impulse
o laugh when l hear Of a case II II.
ut rather TO walk away with Sicture
eating before my eyes OF hiieously gro
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