Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-07
Under THE LASH.
HOW IT FEELS TO CATCH THE
CAT-O-NlNE TAILS.
What Scientific FIogging Contests Of
Experience of a Reformed Convict A
Case OF Heroic Physical In
duranCe- e->tubbornness


Wet and influential member of the Chicago
Prisoners And sp'Irty.
six times. but only twice since | be-
came a man | was hogged four times III
the Manchester Jail before | was Il years
old. once in Van Dicmen's lind, and once
on the American man-of war
What does scientific fiogging con
siSt ufH
The victim was stripped Ia his waist
and his hands were ti,rl to a gun-carriagt
or something ,.ls'. sometimes together. but
generally stretched apart, and above his
head Thr hn-Giug was done in the army
hv professional hagellaturS, Om ship boar.
hv the ls,llNwaiu, and in Van Dicmcn'S
land and Gibraltar bv SrrgrantS and other
officials who did nothing else, and whOSs
constant effort it was /" reduce 1t Ia a fine
art The instrument of torture was cat
/ O'-nint-tail>. which WAS u whip-handle with
nine la>h.~ Of "at-gut or hide, each Of
which had nine knots in il. one at the end.
The blows were aimed at the region Of the
shuulder-hlados though when the tiagella
tors h,pam" unusually vicious they would
- lash the much trnderer places on the small
Of IN" back
In order To reach hotrh shoulder blades.
there wer,. rmp"v,-l both right handed and
left-hanird Hacr!latorS The right-handeh
hagellator would lash the right she Culder-
blade. and then give way to the left l,anded
operator, who would lash the left st oulder-
blade The usual number of blows was
from $50 t. 2sl. but sometimes as many as
~ were given remember well that il
was 3DO lashn> that NV father got when he
was d.umn,,d out Of the English army
The fagrlat"r> affected great style in Civ
ing thu blows. and would flourish the cat
over their heads in fantastic way At
. Gibraltar. thev covered the floor. first with
glitrrrlng white sand from the beach and
I,et"r" each blow the cat flnurished in
such II way A. to iray in and become GOV
cred with the sand, a to add little
to the torment Of the victim
EFFECT OF THE BLOWS
"W'hat WAS the effect Of th,~s,' blows on
the hack -
Every hInr- hrokr the skin and drew the
blood In Van Di"mnu, land the 1agella-
tors when ~" hn-Eiu- was going on, would
20 ont into the wnnd~ together and lash
the trr-S, to >,-- which could tear off the
largest pie"c> Of hark II they could whip
all the bark off a free Won may imagine the
effect ON a mans back The last time was
hnggod got only eighteen la>hes. hut the
blood ran down Ia my very heels. | have
known men t" receive :inO laShes and to he
taken -ht To- the hospital and die the
next dav.
How much fo-ging was done in the
penal colonies
An immense quantity Of ii, assure you.
In Van Dirurn's land. every Wednesday
was fogginS day. and there We're generally
ten or fifteen victims \ harrelful of strong
hrine was provided and as fast aS the men
were hoE-el a large coarSe towel was dipped
into the lTine and laid on their backs This
WAS the most painful part of it. but it was
surpassed tn promote healing. At Gibraltar
two days i'll the week We're devoted to fog
ging. At both places the worst characters
among the r"nvict> We're required to be pres
ent and witness the sufferinass of their com
rades
How does it feel To I've fiogCedr'
We'll. the first blow is terrific hut the
pain is less You go along with it 1t
seems As if the nerves become numbed and
deadenesi The most noticeable sensation Is
one Of fullneSs and oppression around the
heart
''DiI the men dread it muchr'
Il can't Say they did. They made
practire # putting a piece Of stone or lead
into their mouths to bite on when the pain
was greatest and with that bit of comfort
they imagined that they did not suffer
much. 1t was point Of honor with them
not 10 utter the slightest cry of pain The
rule was the same among the boy ConviCtS
AT Point Pure ANY man or boy who should
gTOan or cry. though ne received 30 laShes.
was ridiCuled and prosecuted by his com
rades forever afterward. | never knew of
ulcre than four or five who did it. In some
instances there was a rivalry among them
as Ia who should he floggcd the nftenest,
and endure the greatest number Of lashes.
Two men would get Jealous Of each other on
account Of theS,' honorS and each one would
go TO committing crime right and left just
10 incur iugging and receive more lashes
than the other. When the authorities found
out what was going on they would have To
g.up hogging them i'll order to make them
ehaVe themselves
CASE OF HEROIC ENDURANCE.
But the most surprising ease of heroic
endurance | ever witnessed occurred at
Gibraltar. Among the convicts there was
a very thin, sickly man named John Brown
He struck one of his keepers over the shin
with shovel handle, and was condemned
to be fio-ged When it was known, many
bets were made that he would cry out But
10 lllt bi lSt VI Olt. Just dS lllt ~
blow was struck, he began 10 sing the then
new and popular air. I'm Sitting on the
Stile, Mary! As the tiogging progressed he
continued singing very afteI verse until he
had sung the song through without missing
/ "A syllable or a note: and il happened that
the song and the fiogging ended at the same
instant The fagellators then dressed him
off with brine and bade him take himself off
. IN Rrrt aSS,,raJ than,
that he desired TO return 10 work at once
and sure enough took up his wheelbarrow,
and wheeled stone all day as if nothing had
happened. need not say that after that
Brown was a sort of deity with us"
''Did YOU Use TO cry out much when you
were floSged.'
"Not l. had as stubborn will as anv
Of them. When | was stripped for fogging
on the receiving ship, the boatswain fal
tered. and the commodore swOre at him that
if he wouldn't do his duty, he would find
some one who would. | also shouted TO him
'lay if on, man; YOU can't hurt me- Hear
ing this, the bnatSwain' embarrassment CAV,
place to a feeling of anger and he laid it on
sure enough with all his might But | never
fiinched. though the blood ran down at
every blow; and when, at the end Of it, thp
commodore, who stood by, asked me heart
leSSly how | liked it, | laughed in his face
and told him that my mother had often
given me a greater licking than that, i'll
Liverpool, with dish cloth For thai
>aury remark, he ordered me TO be placed i'll
irons. -
A New Yorker's Luxurious Bathroom.
A New Yorker, Henry Marquand, has
modelled his bath after the luxurious room in
Jerome Bonaparte's superb house in Paris.
In this the bath Is sunk, Pompeiian fashion,
in the floor, and above the ceiling is a beasti-
ful summer sky Mr.. Marquand has had his
walls wainscUted with cream-cOlored tiles.
Above these is a painted frieze, representing
flowers Springing from hedgerow; the arch
of the ceiling springs from this frieBe. This
Is given the srmblanCe of the sky, across
which birds are skimming. The marble bath
is sunk several feet in the floor, and is reached
by descent of several steps. 1t is said that
exclusive Of the artists work. Mr. Mar
quand's bath hroom cost ,OOO.-Chicago
Herald