The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-30
DELAwARE's WHIPPING POST.
The Grotesque Court that Condemns
Men to the Lash-The Pillory.
From the Chjcaqo Mail.


this old town, that seems to be the connect
ing link between the last century and the
present time, is aroused a little from its
lethargy by the Sheriff throwing open the
heavy wooden gates of the old jail yard.
These four times are upon the occasions OF
the quarterly Nwhippings Of petty criminals
who have been sentenced by the court to
stand IN the pillOry and to be struck upon
the barred back by a cat-o'nine-tails in
the hands of the Sheriff. These
whlpplngs are the outcome OF court
OF quarter sessions of the peace
and Jail delivery. To the natives
of this sleepy old place the whippingS have
lost most of their attraction, and the audi
ence that gathered in the jailyard upon such
occasions is made up principally OF
chlidren-sometines little tots hardly able
to walk-and loafers of the village, few
curious mon from Wilmington, and three
or four reporters The offense for which
prisoners are sentenced to the whipping post
are the various grades OF stealing, from
petty larceny to highway robbery and bur
glary, and the punishment is according to
the offence The pillory sentence accompa-
mes higher grade offenses, and the number
OF lashes is larger to those who aspire to
lead IN the profession of stealing
The most celebrated whippings in New
Castle took place about 1871. when several
celebrated bank burglars, who attempted
to rob Wilmington bank, were made to
stand in the pillory for an hour and were
afterward given forty lashes. Tue punish
ment is the most severe in winter, when it
is not an unusual thing for the victims to
stand for one hour in a cold rain and be
literally covered with ice before taken
down and logged. Five lashes is the mini
mum and forty the maximum number.
The court that dispoSes of these criminals
and imp ses the sentences sits in Whining
ton although this place is the county seaO,
and is very austere body. The Chief
Justice is - years OF age Judge Houston,
one of mis- assistants, is "a years
of age, and mas been on the
bench for thirty three years. The other
Judge, Paynter, appointed two years ago,
is as deaf as post. These three old Judges
sit and hear argument before a jury in case
after case that should be settled before
Justice of the Peace Most of the offenders
are poor, miserable blacks, and it looks to an
outsider as travesty of justice to watch
the process. A black boy, for instance, is
brought into thecourt in charge of a deputy
sheriff. The Clerk of the Peace clerk of
the courts who resembles Napoleon Bona
parte, then in 2 loud, sinz-song voice reads
the indictment of the grand jury. This
copied after the old English, as is
everything connected with the court,
and charges the defendant with stealing
two chickens of the value of 81. The pris-
oner pleads not guilty, and asks TO be tried.
A jury is drawn, the Attorney General,
VINO is the prosecuting officer in all the
criminal courts f the Stat, reads the
indictment again, and the hearing of wit
nesses egins Fhe result is generally the
same. The prisoner is found guilty, and
the dignitied Chief Justice commands the
prisoner to "stand upp The trembling
wretch stands up in the dock, and this is
what he hears:
"The sentence Of the court is that you
pay So restitution money, the cost of the
case, be given five lashes on the bare back
on Saturday next, and tuen be imprisoned
for period of nine months You ara now
delivered into the hands of the Sheriff.
That is fair sample of the kind Of work
that often keeps three Judges the Attorney
General, his assistant, the Clerk of the
Peace, the Sheriff, the grand jury, and the
petit jury occupied for four or five DAYS at
time. For some offenses prisoners are
put in the pillory only, and not whipped at
all. A very few years ago prisoner con-
victed of larceny was also, in addition to
tue specimen sentence quoted, ordered to
wear a convict's jacket for six months after
his release from prison. That portion of
tho sentence, which had really become a
dead letter, was repealed in 1888 1t is
mistaken idea that wife heaters are whipped
at the post, when, as matter of fact. only
Oifenses that relate to stealing make the
offenders liable to the pillory and the
whipping post.
The whipping post and pillory in use here
at New Castle are plain affairs. First,
there is a heavy upright post about IL
inches square and Is feet high. About
feet from the ground is a platform about
feet square, through the center of which
the post runs The platform is braced by
numerous stays, arranged somewhat like
the ribs of raised umbrella. On either
side of the post, about feet from the
ground, is an iron semicircle with flanges
ct the end. One end is fastened to the
post, so as to swing loose The other end
slips over a staple, into which q pin is
placed when the wrist of the victim to be
foggod is placed against the post and en-
circled with the iron. The portion of the
post above the platform has cross beam
about feet from the floor, and it forms a
large cross. The arms of this cross, on
either side, are cut through the center, the
upper portion lifting as hinge. Three
openings are made i'll the center of the
arms, one FOR the victims head and the
other two for his wrists. The upper portion
of the arm is lifted up, the prisoner places
his head in the lower half of the center hole
and his wrists in those at the side. The
upper pdtJ VI lll5 arm 10 lOWtISu dutt IdSC-
ened at the end, and the prisoner is secured
They are generally compelled to stand in a
STOPPING position, and not on their toes, as
some aver.
The post and pillory are used between the
hours of 10 o'clock and u o'clock, and al
ways on Saturday morning. At 10 o'clock
the Sheriff places those under sentence to
the pillory in position, the platform being
reached by ladder and throws the jail
yard open to the public AS a rule the
spectators are few, but sometimes they may
be as many as 200. They are not allowed to
annoy the men in the pillory, who never
stand there more than an hour, and who
squirm and twist with the painful monotony
of their position Tuen the prisoners not to
be logged are brought out one by one, barred
TO the waist. Their arms are fastened to
the post, and a deputy sheriff, with
a list in his hand tells the Sheriff how
many lashes are TO be given. The
Sheriff stands TO the left, and as he brings
the lash down each time the deputy counts
aloud The cat-o-'nine tails is not laid on
heavily. blood is never drawn sufficiently to
run, and the Sheriffs, as a rule are very
lenent. Nearly every blow of the leather
thongs makes welt, especially upon white
men. and the Sheriff distributes the cuts
over the entire back. When twenty lashes
are given, no matter how gently laid on, the
victims back is in a very tender condition
when the operation is over. The last blow
is, as a rule, the hardest, and generally sur
prses the victim, VINO imagines that he is
.ff oil