Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-08-05
mos, intense degree, he gradually

in the most intense degree, he gradually
expired.
There was peculiar punishment, and
perhaps capital one, called crucliran-
grum by the ancients, inflicted on 10
man slaves and Christian martyrs, as
also on women and girls. Under Diocle-
tian % Christians suffered martyrdom
ia this manner. The legs Of the crlml-
nal we're laid on an anvil, and oy main
force fractured by heavy hammer,
somewhat similar TO the more modern
custom OF breaking the bones or oHend-
ers on q wheel by an iron par.
Beheadiug is OF ancient date ana was
certainly known among the Greeks ana
Romans. Xenophon says that the losing
OF the head was looked upon as the
most honorable death. The decollation
as il was called, OF St. John the Baptist,
shows the existence OF this punishment
among the Jews under the Roman gov
ernor OF Judea. Suetonius tells that
Caliguls kept an artist In 5eheaolng,
who decapitated prisoners In his pres
encs. fetched Unfortunately for that
purpose from the jails. The mode
formerly prActiced in England, by
the axe aud block (and still
In use In Germany, and that
which originated In France late In the
eighteenth century, aud was gradually
adopted 10 many other European coun-
tries. the guillotine, are described more
in detail elsewhere. Among the Chi
nese the malefactor kneeis upon the
ground, the board Of infamy" is taken
from mis- back, and the executioner, by
q single blow OF two-handed sword,
strikes off mis- head with great oexterity.
These headsmen, and, indeed, the gen
erality OF inferior officers Of justice
ia China, are selected from the soldlery,
acc lrding TO the custom OF primitive
barbarlans; neither is this employment
c, nsi Tered more ignominious than the
office OF sheriff In Anglo-Saxon coun-
tries. Decapttation Is held by tue
Chinese as tie most disRraceful KINDS
OF death, because the head, which Is
the principal part of man, is sepa-
rated from the body and that body IS
not consigned 10 the grave entire as he
received it from his parents. II great
mandarin be convicted OF any atrocious
offence he is executed in this manner
Ike the me2nest person. After tne
head is severed it is frequently sus-
pended from a tree by the side OF
public road, the body is thrown into
ditch, the law having deemed it I'M
worthy the respect of regular funeral
rites.
When the sentence is submitted to
the emperor for his appreciation, If the
crime be of the first degree of atrocity,
he orders the maledctor to be executed
at once; when IL is only Of an ordinary
nature he directs that the criminal
shall be imprisoned until the autumn
aud then executed, particular day oil
that season being appointed for that
function. The emperor seldom orders
a subject to be executed until he has
consulted with his first law officers
whether he can avoid it. without in
ringing sn the constitution OF his
realm. He fasts for certain period
previous 10 signing an order for an exc
cution, aud his imperial majesty esteems
those years OF his reign the most Illus
trious and most fortunate in which he
has had the least occasion to let fall up
on his subjects the sword OF justice.
Breaking On the wheel is a mode OF
execution that has acquired some noto-
riety from the frequency with which it
is mentioned in histories narrating the
cruelties common in the middle ages,
but it is really only one form Of beating
to death. The condemned was dashed
upon the periphery of large wheel,
which was caused slowly to revolve,
and as it revolved he received a success
sion of blows from clubs 10 the hands Of
the executioners, or from bludg-
cons worked by clumsy machinery
such as the times furnished; thus bruis-
ing the flesh, breaking the bones, and
steadily reducing the body to mangled
formless corpse. The wheel" was for
centuries common instrument Of tor
tire and death in several countries OF
Europe. IL appears 10 have come first
into use in Germany, whore IL was en-
ployed as early as the Tenth century.
Fraucis l., about 1925, introduced it
into France. IL was employed also for
a time in England. The prisoner de-
signed for death by this method was
bound to an instrument rudely reSem-
bling q wheel, his legs and arms being
separated as far as possible and attached
TO crosSbars corresponding TO spOkes.
AS the wheel revolved the limbs of the
victim were fractured by blows from a
heavy ramrod delivered below the
knees and elbows. Sometimes the rod
was held in position mechanically, the
limbs OF the prisoner as he was whirled
on the wheel coming in contact with
it. Usually, however, the rod was held
in the hands of an eXecutiODer, who ad-
ministered the blows as rapidly as he
could WELD IL. In France the torture
of this mode Of punishment was lessen
ed in many cases by heavy blows being
dealt on the head aud chest OF the vic
tim, so as to shorten life. These blows
were called coups de grace, or strokes