The St. Johns herald., 1891-12-24
HORRIBLE RELICS.
Instruments of Torture Used in
 the Dark Agos
A Rare Collection from the Castle of Nu- remburg on Exhibition n the City of London-Ghastiy
 Inventions

City of London-Ghastiy
 Inventions
 I The carl of Shrewsbury recently pur- chased the torture implements of the Castle of'Narcmberg, and they are now on exhibition in London. The most valuable, as 1t is the rarest of tho whole collection, is the iron maiden (1isermc Jungfrau). This terror-ilspiring tor ture instrument, says the Albany Ar gus, is made of strong wood, bound to- gether with iron bands. It opens with two doors to allow the prisoner to be placed inside. The entire door IS fitted with long, sharp iron spikes so that when the 5raoSs are pressed to these sharp pr0ngs force their way into va rious portions of the victims body. Two entered his eyes, others pierced his back. his chest, and in fact, impaled him alive in such a manner that he fingered in the most agonizing torture. When death relieved the poor wretch from his agonies-perhaps after days a trap door in the base was pulled open and the body was allowed to fall into the moat or river below. Persons were condemned to death by the embraces of the iron maiden for plots against the governing powers, parricidc, and re- ligious unbelief. The date of this rare specimen is the fifteenth century. A great number of torture machines were apparently constructed with such dev- ilish ingenuity that they would twist and rack the delicate human body to the point of madness, and yet not actually endanger life.
 The torture bench, about ten feet long, was used for stretching prisoners, the feet being fastened to one end, the ded with wooden spikes, called Q ''spillc hare"
 The torture chair, the seat being com pletely covered with sharp wooden spikes, body, arms and legs being strapped to the chair. and in some cases two heavy stone weights attached to the feet.
 The metal boots which, being placed on a prisoners feet, molten lead or boil ing oil was poured into them.
 A ghastly relic in black box of cof- fin-lil1e appearance is'thc dried head of a child-murderess still transfxed on a rusty spear-head.
 There are tongue-tearers, thumb screws, mouth gags, Spanish gaitcrs for squeezing the legs to pulp, branding irons, foot screws, iron chain gloves, to be used when red-hot; iron nippers, iron-wire whips, heavy stones to be ofal and a lal ge number of two-handled cX- ecutioner's swords. Of the humorous articleS-if, indeed humor can enter into such grim companionship-we may in- stance the shame-masks, or branlzs, worn as signs of degradation for slight offenses by men or women, those for the nobility having visors to them like helmets, so that the features were con- cealed till the penance was over; wood en collars, with bells and tassels for scolds; ducking stools and churn-shaped boxes, known as drunkards' cloalls-an uncomfortable garment fitting too tightly round tho neck to allow the head to be withdrawn, and, while too heavy to walk about in for any great length of time, yet not quite short enough to :. permit the wearer to kneel down iD them.
 Among the pictures. is one of Damien, of whom it may be remembered that, after four horses had failed to pull him asunder, he was aftcrward tortured with burning oil, and, that not killing him, was finally bound to a stake and burned to death. Appropriately enough, the instruments arc placed in q series of dungeon corridors and cells that the Messrs. Tussaud have erected in the basement of their establishment. The dungeon cell is a small room about eight feet by five, so constructed that the air in it could be pumped out, so that the inmates died slow, suffo- eating death; perhaps the refinement of cruelty was reached in the plausible escape cell. 1t was a raise beacon to an escaping prisoner, bait to poor wretch, who no doubt thought he was about to regain his freedom, maybe Q connivance bought; he would hurry down the dark stone corridor to where the rusty gate unlocked or carelessly left aiar would welcome him, to where the bit of shining sky seen through the barred window would gladden. his heart, and pushing open the gate with eager hands would at once step into a deep well of water with perpendicular sides.