Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-28

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considered so violent an
| innovation on the civilization of the time, and
as being SO much outside the pale of fair war
| fare, that its Use was forbidden by international
| agreement. This curious forerunner of the
mitrailleuse or Calling gun is now the property
Of the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, and OPP
portunity was afforded me of examining it.
| A few weeks previously had examined, at the
naval exhibition in Liverpool, the very latest
hell machine" built at the Armstrong works
and designed for the use of Johnny Bull in any
future trouble he may have with his neighbors.
| 1t was a steel twenty-pounder Of marvelously
! beautiful workmanship, manipulated by electric
with ascarcely perceptble recoil and capable
Of discharging twenty shots a minute. There
| is no international agreement to prevent the
use of this in present-day warfare. and this fact
may prove good text for the pessimists and
| croakers, who mourn for the civilization of the
| good old times, and think the world is going to
| the demnition bow-wows in the closing years of
| the nineteenth century.
| Pretty bad and fiendish old times these good
| old times were-the days of ''hell machines -
SO devilish in purpose as to almost convince one
| that they were planned in the regions Of his
satanic majesty and beside which the fifteen
| ball gun would seem as harmless to fifteenth
| century civilization as a babys pOpgun to the
nineteenth. have had an object lesson that
will tell you something about and that will be
/ tcAt Optinists, VINO KNOW tney are Nv
/ ing in the most glorious period that was ever
| experienced. Ispent day among some hun
dreds OF the shell machines of past ages COM
prised in the famous historical collection of i'll
| struments of torture from the royal castle of
| Nuremberg, belonging to the Earl of Shrews-
| bury and Talbot. but Temporarily in the pos
session of Mr.. s. Lee Bapty, F. r. G. S. This
collection is the most complete in existence and
| IL OF wonderful educational value as showing
| the progress which the world has made in the
interests Of truth, humanity and justice.
| THE CELEBRATED IRON MAIDEN.
| Its most conspicuous ornament is the cele-
brated Iron Maiden" of which all students of
history have read. To approach her makes the
blood run cold and the imagination TEEN with
horrors as one pictures the many wretches, of
noble birth or mean. God hating or God-loying
murderous or dove-like, guilty or innocent, VINO
were led up to her smiling face and inclosed in
| her stomach. in that awful embrace of death in
| its most horrible form. This iron maiden is in
| very good state of preservation and still quite
| capable of hugging an individual to death,
| though her interior arrangements are somewhat
| rusty. She is built of strong wood and iron
| and from her shoulders down stands out after
| the manner of the Old-fashiOned crinoline Two
| doors under her chin opened to admit the vic
| tim and disclosed scores of long and still very
sharp iron spikes. When the doors were pressed
to these prongs forced their way into various
parts of the victims body. Two entered his
| ewes. others pierced his chest-in fact he was
impaled alive in such . manner that he died in
the most agonizing torture.
TERRIBLE TORTURE OF INCREASING WEIGHT
The iron maiden now blinks through her bat
| tered eyes on other instruments of torture as
cruel rs herself. Near her are to be seen the
machinery for carrying out that most terrible
torture known as the ''peine forte ct dure.'
which was peculiar to England This was the
pupi ihmaDf m which fbn
| son who refused to plead to the offense with
which he was charged. He was laid fat on his
back. with his arms and legs drawn as far
asunder a. possible by ropes. Then as much
weight as he could bear was piled upon him.
which was increased day by day until he pleaded
| or died. He was given the very smallest posi-
BILE amount Of food. and the day he ate he was
not allowed to drink. Who can picture without
| a shudder the terrible agony of the victim
agony which was inflicted in the name of re-
| hgion or justice in the ''good old times"
MOUTH OPENERS.
There are in the collection several specimens
from various countries of the pear-shaped screw
gag. 1t was known in Spain as the mouth pear
1t is made Of iron in sections and can be
| squeezed together in the shape of a pear Ii
was an especially handy adjunct to the torture
OF those privately seized, as when forced into
| the mouth 1t sprang open and the victim could
| not utter q sound. There are about half a
dozen mouth openers. instruments with grada-
| tiOns to open the mouth to a certain size They
were used when it found necessary to slit
| the victims tongues tear them out by the
| roots. or while boiling oil molten lead was
| poured down the throat If prisoner fearing
| a more awful end, tried to starve himself to
death. these mouth openers were used while he
| was being forced to eat. Another mouth instru-
ment is known as tongue tearer. 1t is in the shape
Of pair of tOngs with screw. and by ii strong
hold could be taken OF a tongue. 80 that it could
be torn out by the roots. This was principally
used on blisphemers. An iron implement to be
affixed to the ears before they were cut off was
| in common use for comparativelv minor Of
fenses. MANY poor devil took ride to death
| on the "Spanish donkey" an instrument formed
with A or cone-shaped top, worked to u sharp
| point. The victim was placed straddle-legged
on this and heavy weights were hung on each
foot, until the sharp point of the donkey's back
| cut clean through his body or broke him right
| in halves. Spain is also credited with the in
ventiOn of boot made OF two strong pieces of
heavy wood. fitted inside with protruding iron
knobs or buttons and made to screw up SO as to
completely break the leg and iniict the most
agOnizing torture.
PRISON FLOOR.
ABORTION Of the flooring of prison is inter-
esting for its ingenuity. 1t is of oak, cut into
acknowledged points, SO as to be as hurtful
| to the prisoners as possible, and as in MANY
cases the walls were also of the same material
| 1t was very painful to lean. Sit lie or stand.
Another ingenious instrument is an iron Drank.
made only in skeleton, but so constructed that
parts cover the mouth. nose and eyes. 1t has a
long outstanding headtop, and was worn by pris-
oner perhaps for years. until his identity was al
most lost. The ''iron spider" was very frequently
used on women, whom it horribly mutilated. 1t
| is shaped somewhat like spider and was made
to grip the flesh Of various portions of the BODY
and then tear it away. There are in the col
| lection about dozen specimens of the iron
mail chain foot glove, which when red hot was
made to fit the victims foot. A couple of
wheels give one an idea of what "breaking on
the wheel meant This was not figure Of speech.
| but u stern and terrible reality. When the
| condemned was laid out on the wooden bed and
| the wheel brought into action upon him and
| weighted with all the strength Of the execu-
TONER and his assistants, every bone in the
body was literally broken. In some countries
the victim was tied on to wheel and turned
| round and round as the wagon moved, but
| the combination Of wheel and wooden bed
seems much more cruel and lingering.
THE MARTYR PNcERs.
pair Of terrible tongs are known as the "Old
Roman Martyr Pincers," because with them
Christian martyrs were tortured. Not only did
they pinch the skin or fay, but with them entire