The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1888-06-30
TORTURE OF FL0GGING.
A FEATURE OF THE OLD SYSTEM or
PENAL SERvITUDE IN SIBERIA.

thoAhN ~ 40 oulDoHtu 70 Dte DAl III lfldl llLlb
running the gauntlet, beating with stick
and birch rods were of everyday occurs
renee. Prisoners were not only beaten to
enforce discipline, but as part of their
punishment, convicts being sentenced to SO
any years hard labor and to receive so
hany strokes-sometime 1900. No man,
bowever, could receive 1000 strokes and
I've When the victim had been beaten lit
srally within an inch Of his life and tho
surgeon who stood by on these occasions
testified that the man could stand no more,
he was released, taken to the hospital, and
when strong enough received the balance
sf his sentence, or so much OF it as he could
Dear Political prisoners and men Of gentle
birth sere exempt from corporal punish.
tAeht, the victims being invariably murder
As and other malefaotors
As may be supposed, convicts have
great horror of being fiogged; they gcner-
Aly contrive to get half-drunk before under
going the ordeal, and will do almost any
thing to obtain a few days grace. Dosto-
Jevsky mentions one poor wretch who feared
his punishment so much that on the eve OF
the fatal day he swallowed a tumbler oil
brandy mixed with snuff. Seized at once
with violent vomiting and hemorrhage, the
miserable man was taken to the hospital,
which he never left again. He died six
months later Of consumption. But not all
prisoners are pusillanimous Some display
Spartan-like fortitude, and it is said tina,
after several beatings a mans back gets
hardened and he suffers much less than
those whose hides are more susceptible TO
first impressions. do not suppose though,
that use so far becomes n second nature that
Siberian convicts find flogging enjoyable.
TOOK 1000 STROKES WITHOUT FLINcHING.
Dostojevsky tel of one fellow, named
Orlof who took 1000 strokes without
fiinching. But be was an altogether phenom-
email creature--a monster in human form.
Perhaps under other circumstances he might
have been Napoleon and fought battles
for his own pleasure; as it was he had been
brigand, and murdered old men and
young children TO crafty his thirst for
blood
Three sorts of corporal punishment were
in vogue in Dostojevslky's time, as l have
already mentioned, but whereas the pains
of the stick and the birch rod were inflicted
as part Of the culprits sentence running the
gauntlet was a penalty for violation Of
prison discipline, ordered at the discretion
and depending on the caprice Of the prison
director, who, whatever might be his rank,
was invariably known as the major Strange
to say, the worst of these punishments was
the birching. A very strong man (Orloff was
slightly built could stand, on occasion,
1000 blows of the stick, yet nobody could
stand more than 500 strokes with the
birch rod; not such rod as was welded by
our grandmothers but formidable weapon
Piled by convict chosen for his strength Of
arm The difference in the effects Of the
rod and the stick was nevertheless not so
much owing TO the way in which they were
/ nc N, lao ~ ba IN, ba
nervous centers. The bundle Of twigs
might not hurt so much at the time, but
every twig that came in contact with the
flesh inflicted a separate blow theraby i'm
plicating far greater number Of nerves
| 1t may be mentioned that the victims of
both sorts OF punishment were logged while
| lying on the ground
Running the gauntlet, or the green
lane, as the convicts called it, was also
/ terrible punishment Two rows of soldiers
each of whom was armed with a stick, were
formed, and the culprits hands being fast
ened to two muskets, he was slowly
dragged between the ranks, and every sol
der had to give blow with all his
strength on the wretch's bare back An
officer stood by carefully watching, and
woe bctide the man who did not strike with
sufficient vigor. He was himself made to
! AAldlAh hONAA AhN blt@AA Attlt
DECElViN3 a MISERABLE WRETCH.
1t was the custom for convict, when the
half-naked and trembling wretch was about
to be dragged down the green lane, to i'm
plore the officer u have mercy OH him-not
to let the soldiers ueAt him too severely; aud
when certain Lieut.. Jerebjatnikof was in
command he would pretend to listen favor
ably TO the petition and promise to be as
tender as he could, consistently with his
duty to the stats He would even go further
and Pre-; - that, albeit he was SHINING
against lhs law, he would not be hard, if
the cull nit on his honor would undertake "a
behave better for the future
"Most high-born," cries the wretch, ~
promise with all my heart l swear before
the Creator
"Well well; think l may trust you
You seem truly repentant"
May the Almighty strike me down dead
and may be eternally-'
"Hush, hush don't swear / only wan
your promise Your word is quite enough
You do promise, don't you"
II do, most high-born. Heaven bles
youW weeping
"Well, l forgive you for the sake of you
tears and your mother, You have one
have you not''
"No. have neither father nor mother
am an orphan"
II forgive you because you are an orphan
then. But mind it is for the last time
you Offend again Here, soldiers take hin
away
Then follows pause, aud the miserabl
man fully believes lie has been let off bu
, the next moment the drum beats, tho terri
bic procession starts and the officer burst
A ing into a loud laugh that shows how tho
oughly Ia enjoys the sport, shouts; TAX
s hiIl away Flog him Hit him again Strik
h harder harder, harder! Flog the orphan
n Leather the scoundrell Lay on, men, lay OF
\ Give ii t. him hot Faster, faster, faster
}. The blows fall oil the unfortunate thick
/, hail He howls and shrieks for mercy, Will
the lieutenant runs down the line benin
him, holding his sides and hent double wit
laughter. 1t is such fun, don't you see, t
It take a fellow in like that First of al
z make him believe he is going 10 be let OF
z ami then fog him within an inch of h
' life
s. These We're the scenes amid which IL
is future great Russian nov eist was forced fC
"a four years to live No wonder that he wro
u with terrible realistic power and inteni
le sympathy for the suffering and the aiiiictet
t and that his stories are the most thrillin
of tragedies. William Westall in San Fra
cisco Chronicle