Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-03-14

and unnamed rotting away in the
spanish dungeons today. under con-
ditions more horrible than that pie.
tured by Dickens In his Tale Of Two
Cities" In the character OF the old
doctor confined In the bastile for
twenty-five years Men who took part
In the previous Cuban rebellion. near
~ generation ago. may still be- living
In the dungeons Thirty years hence
some OF the men who are now nghtlng
so yaliantly I'm Cuba may be- rntfins
away In the same pest-hOles II IL this
prospect which makes them desperate
and bloodthirsty. and eager 10 accept
a thousand risks to shake of the tor.
ture that awaits them
Each week patches Of Cuban sus
poets are forwarded 10 Spain. To be
a suspect Is equivalent 10 being guilty,
and those who go will, In all proba
biiity, never return III wealthy
planter In suspected Of furnishing a.
nancial aid to the insurgents he Il
pounced upon and shipped OF. fnfn.
itely better would have been his fate
had he Joined the insurgent army and
been killed on the field Of battle
The ordinary suspect IL not exc.
cuted, but IL he be proved guilty Of
treason the garrotc will speedily end
his troubles. The garr0te Is the official
form OF punishment In Spain.
Nearly all OF the death sentences are
executed in the Pradarn de In Ysidro
In Madrid All executions are public
and are usually held early in the morn
Ing. The criminal Is always mounted
upon the back of tiny Spanish don.
key, and goes to the place Of execrt
ton In a procession which consists Of
citizens, priests and soldiers.
Prior TO leaving the prison ia which
the condemned has been confined mass
IL celebrated. and the death sentence
Is read to the guilty wretch When
the prisoner reaches the place Of ex.
ecution he mounts scaffnld. n black
handkerchief Is tied over his face. and
he IL manacled TO chair. Then
around his neck Ia placed the band Of
the garrote. Two turns Of powerful
thumb-screw brushes the neck Of the
victim and almost sewers the head
from the body.
Death In claimed to be absolutely in
Simultaneous. After the execution the
body Of the victim is allowed to re.
main for several hours In plain view
Of the crowds, which have seen tho
accomplishment of the deed Of Justice
All executions are looked upon by tho
lower Spaninrd as being excellent on.
tertainment
While torture has been nofnlnally
aboI ished, the prisons Themselves
combined with the system, are such
that the agony of the culprit Is con
tinuous and long-enduring.
As far as possible the Spanish gov
eminent sends nil OF her greater Grim.
inals to her convict colony I'm Africa
or In the Canary or Balearic islands
In the few towns which remain 10
Spain from her once conquest OF
Northern Africa she houses her des-
perate convicts. They are hardly n
fitting relic Of the once magnificent
colonial empire of the Kingdom. The
largest penal colony OF the kingdom la
on the two islands of the Baleares, slt.
uated In the Mediterranean, near The
coast Of Valencia. In Spain. There the
conyicts are housed like dogs in ken.
nels. Day and night they are forced
to wear chains foot long, which arc
suspended from glrdle.
spafn's Penal Colonies
They work In the cultivation NJ
wheat. barley, yams, dates and f,gs
and In coffee plantations, the resnlt ~
their labor being shipped to Eurona
when In African colonies, and mi liz
soil for Its products equally In the
Canary and Balearlc islands. Tho
largest penal colony In the Canarv
islands In on the island OF Fuorta.a,.s
tura, which Is sixty-three aonare
u