Evening journal., 1894-02-10
A FRIEND OF THE CAT"
DelawareJustice Strongly Com
mended at the Golden Gate.
CALIFORNIA WANTS CAT AND POST

ANhAAHAIs
The cat-onlne-tails and whipping post
played an important part to.day in the 4
administration Of Delaware justice. A
number of prisoners who were sentenced /
earlier IN the week. were marched 20 the
Jail yard at New Castle ard received the |
cat on their bare backs, while others /
will be whipped on next Saturday
This feature Of punishment was char
acterized as "a relic Of barbarism' by /
Colonel Bob lngersoll, and the sentiment |
he expressed WAS widely echoed Since |
that time a number Of states have made |
whipping punishment for wife beaters. |
Now California wants it for foot pads
Old Delaware Commended.
In a lengthy editorial proposing that
street robbers be fogged the San Fran
cisco ArgonRut. one Of the leading
papers on the Pacific coast, says:
Were other states as sensible as old
Delaware, we should swiftly have an end
Of the cowRrdly street robberies which
render some Of the streets OF New York,
! Chicago. San Francisco, and other large
cities as dangerous after dark as were
the streets of London in the days of jon
athan Wild And IL the hardy train
robber, emulous of the fame Of Evans,
knew that one Of the disadvantages
Of capture would be fifty strokes on his
flesh, well laid on, he would hesitate
long ere forsaking the paths Of honesty
Comparatively Free From Crime.
Delaware is singularly peaceful,
quiet state. and its comparative freedom
from crime Is unquestionably due largely
to the wisdom of its people in holding on
to the good. old.fashioned custom Of
whipping rsscals. They have declined 30
see anything neral in the notion that
tenderness to villains Is praiseworthy;
aud their recompense for the shudders, aud
exhortatious, and sneers Of more ad.
vGnced communities has besn the wide
berth the criminals Of the surrounding
states have given the little common
wealth. Mr. Evans, for example who In
the Fresno jail was treated like a state
prisoner, and allowed to walk out when
the inclination came would have been
tied 10 the post in Delaware and beaten
till the blood flowed from his distin-
guished hide-for there part OF the SEN
tence Of homicide who escapes the rope Is
whipping Our Revolutionary forefathers
had better sense than we exhibit in
handling sooiety's debased enemies The
- Virginia colonists whipped at Jamestown,
the Dutch on Manhattan Island, and the
| IulllAua ~ DuaAuh ntlAMAlts winch
began the commendable practice in 1854,
e is the only original state that q d not fall
in with the habby sentiment that holds
~ mild punishment for crime to be In some
" unexplained way beneficial 20 the com
munity and an evidence Of superior re
inement. There was so much resemblance
s. between the cat OF the sheriff and the
). plantation overseer's whip that free labor
- North and South, conceived the idea that
s it conserved its dignity by saving thieves
and woman-beaters, and child torturers
and ravishers from the post.
p Delaware's sturdy Example.
' "But since the emancipation of IN,
blacks, Delawares sturdy example has
n had good effect. Virginia and Soutl
~ Carolina have restored the lash, nnC
: throughout the country men of mascu-
line fibre are nearly a unit in the belle
that desperadoes, who are not too good q
A., put pistols TO honest peoples heads and
, rifle their pockets. are none too good FOL
4 the cat O nine-tails. Delaware, Ia eddt
! tion to imprisoning, administers the lasl
a for homicide below the highest grade
mayhem, attempted poisoning. burglary
I highway robbery, larceny, kidnapping
y. arson. and some other crimes.
ID An Advance In Civilization.
1T the Callfornis Legislature shall erec
n the post, the statute should be draw
It with intelligent care. Whenever the as
IL of the cat is recommended, the exampl
is of England is cited. Thirty years age
ot garroting became as common Ia Londo
as robbery at the pistols point now Is il
a San Francisco. Though whipping as
tt punishment for misdemeanors az commo
rs law has never been formally abolished
Of Great Britain, it has not been exercise
in late times except under special act q
=, Parliament To abate gGrroting, a stat
ute was passed in 1868 providing for th
hogging Of those who made assault
-, upon tue person for the pun
pose Of robbery. Garroting stoppe
A' Men for whom the prison an
tread-mill had no terrors quailed az th
Id thought Of the whip. Yet the law wl
N. Stephen said, it was so oaprlciousl
he worded that if man beat woma
in about the head with intent 10 rob her, /
ng might be hogged. but not II his obiei
IT, was to ravish or murder her. Hel
II. is warning to our Lawmakers. III
Dol statute should be broader than that
nj. England SO broad as to include all o.
nc fenses for which the discipline and dii
IT. grace Of imprisonment are inadequat
ue Henry Bergh, the least cruel Of men. wi
a passionate advocate of the lash +,
ed those who were cruel to animals In h
mt opinion, a good hogging is the on
is thing that will impress a human brute
and ne was right But the animals c'
30 wait until our own rights have been co
es quered. When California announces
mt tue world that every man or woman wi
ool tortures children, every man who beats
- woman, every woman who throws vitri'
lay every scoundrel who thrusts revolv
into citizens face and demands
l. money, every rayisher, every train 70
es Der, every human creature who prov
D." himself TO be "A savage offender again
sr the safety Of life and property. will
of rewarded among us with the cat-o'-ni
lay tails It will be the sian Of decided 8
A. vance in civilization
ess
Stay of Execution Secured.
.he William f. Green, shoe dealer on El
Third street, who was levied upon