Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-04-06
THE IRON MAIDEN.

| back in the middle ages, so fifty called
dark" when Mercy slept and Progress
! lay in chains.
This collection of ancient instruments OF
| torture were held in in the royal castle OF
| Nuremb berg, the town where the celebrated
| Albert Durer. the inventor of wood cary
| ing. WAS born
They were purchased by the Earl OF
Shrew >bury for more than 100000 He
sent them to the Worlds fair, but as they
arrived too late to be given good accom-
modation> they were not exhibited there
In few days they leave New York TO be
held "a IL private museum by the earl I'M
til his death. when he will probably donate
them TO the English government.
The fact which first impressed me was
knowing hat these rusty. time stained de
| vices are not limitations, but the actual i'm
| plemrnt> which over and over again have
done their hideou>ly cruel work.
In Days When Scolds suffered.
Here We're pillories and ducking stools for
sco,d~. shame masks of iron that were worn
for stated pe%Ods by drunkards and ne'er-
dO-welI>, stocks TO hold the feet of gossips
when they were displayed for derision in
the market places. These are some of the
instr uments used rs lesser punishments.
There were branding irons innumerable
chains of terrible weight. blocks of stone to
be attached TO the feet of criminals when
the victims were suspended by the thumbs
and eXecutiOner'S swords from almost every
town in Germany.
These swords were peculiarly interesting.
Many Of them had the eXecutioner's name
engraved on the blade | found myself
wondering what sort of a brute face Franz
Schmidt, the eNecutiOner of Nuremberg
could have had as gingerly laid my finger
r1vOrt he s.aryaI bilr b. -, oftar, cl,
Balthaser CHASER of Thuringen must have
been proud of his position as headsman.
The sword that belonged to him was highly
carved. An admouition in big German let
tiers ran all along the blade which trans
lated, read, BE careful, do no ill, and you
won't come to judgment"
A Curious Chain.
Among the curiOSitieS | saw the wooden
chain that Baron Won de Trenk made dur
ing one of his terms in prison. This man.
remarkable i'll himself, whose only offense
was supposed treason, has been immortal
lied by the elder Dumas as Monte Crsto.'
The wooden chain which he made during
his lonely hours is pitiful thing % contem-
plate. telling mutely it does of the death
in life which Incarceration meant in olden
days. 1t l. wonderful, too, this work of
patience. for il was carved out of a plank
with no other tools than the knife he was
allowed to divide his bread with, yet ii has
no joints of any kind. is neither nailed,
screwed nor glued, but is entirely self con
tanning and cut, perfect chain, out Of the
solid wood.
Here, too. were some of the awful chains
that bore him down, above them an ancient
print showing him in his closet dungeon,
the entire body manacled. his grave already
prepared and marked by fiat headstone
in the flooring of the cell. II may be inter
eSting to state that this mans escapes
were 20 marvelOusly planned and carried
out be was at length manacled so that he
could make no movement other than the
lifting OF his arms. and for Is years he had
to re- pond to LIS name every 15 minutes in
ORDER TO assure his jailers. day and night,
that he was there. As thought Of this
and looked At MS chains, seemed 10 hear
that Oft repeated call. ''Trenk," and the
answer, "Here!' which the wretched man
uttered mechanically even during sleep
As turned away there was one consoling
thought. Poor Trenk did not die in prison.
At last-wEen youth was gone-in the
reign of new monarch he was given his
remaining years. and the grave in the
prison floor WIS cheated.
The Face Beautiful.
l found myself i'll the central aisle of the
little hall. looking at the most terrible in
strument in all this weird and instructive
col ection-the iron maiden, whose terror
inspiring embrace was one of the horrors of
Nuremberg in the fifteenth century.
This relic of ancient cruelty stood in a
large glass case and had the most conspicu-
Gus position in the hall.
Fancy to yourself great object Of wood
and iron in shape like long barrel. This
opened down the side, showing hollowinr
terror filled with iron spikes. The front oil
the instrument represented woman's
form, the face beautiful, cold, implacable.
On the night preceding execution the
condemned was taken to the tower of the
castle and placed in a pillory opposite the
iron maiden. During the long hours OF
the awful night, filled with mental anguish
and a horror that chills US even to consider
it, the wretch was forced to look upon this
instrument of his doom. In the morning
just at dawn. he was placed within it, his
body fitting perfectly into the hollow. The
front portion of the iron maiden being
closed upon him, he died lingering death,
being literally impaled alive.
Fiendish Ingenuity.
There WAS fiendish ingenuity brought to
the invention of this CHASTITY relic, for as ]
studied it / noticed that, while the sharp
spikes were many, the spot that must come
opposite the heart was bare. 50 that the vi
tai spot was untouched and the agony
prolonged. After few days the maiden
was rolled out on the bridge overlooking
the fathomless moat, and the body was ig
ANONYMOUSLY dropped into shameful grave
in the black waters. And what crimes were
punished by such deaths It is mark OF
the superstitious and imperial age in which
such monstrous customs flourished TO note
al. \ Il. n
murders of the worst sort, such az parri-
eide, were thus avenged, any plot against
the government, any avowal O. religious
unbelief. also led the unfortunate TO the
death clasp Of the terrible iron maiden