The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-14
ins to poison or to kin with no1lou: gases; &c;

Ing to poison or to kill with %noxlou. ss.es: &C:
and ls practically a dead letter.
The whipping post and piiiory In use az New
upright post, about twelve inches square and
fifteen feet high. About eight feet from the
through the. centre Of which the post runs. The
rlatfoii IN 10 braced with stays arranged In the
On either side OF the post, about four feet from
the ground. Is an iron semi-circle with hanses
at the ends. One end is fastened to tho post so
Ms to swing loose. The other end alps over q
s,apie In which a pin is placed when the wrist
OF the victim to he tiogged is held against the
post and c%ncircled with the iron. The portion
OF the post above the platform has a cross beam
five feet from. the floor. The arms Ut this cross.
upper portion lifting iikea ,hinge. Three openings
nre made In the centre OF theso arms. ono for
the victims head and the other two for his
wrists. The upper portion NJ the wooden arm
T. lifted up and the prisoner is made to. place
his head In the lower half Of the centre hole, and
the beam is lowered and fastened at the end.
thus securing the prisoner; The victims stand
and not on their toes as has been said by some
writers. The pillory punishment II really worse
than, the whipping. The writer has scen men
stand for nm hour In q cold. sleety rain in mid
winter. with icicirs hanging to tile end. OF their
fingers nnd from their head. Their bodie. were
protect them with blankets when cold or wet;
The post and, plllory are used between the
urday morning. Al lOo'ciock the sheriff places
those sentenced TO the pillory in position, the
platform being reached by q ladder. and throws
the jail yard omen to the public. The spectators
are not permitted TO annoy the men In the pill
Tory. who never stand more than an hour. but
ony Of their position. Then tho prisoners to he
fogged are brought out one by one. barred to the
a deputy sheriff. with a iIst in his hand. tells
how many lsshes are to be given to each man.
The sheriff stands TO the left. and as he
counts aloud. The cat-o'nine-tails Is not
laid on heavily. and, tho shsriGs. a.
tho leather thongs. eighteen inches In length.
makes a welt especially upon the backs OF
OVER wnart th me entire drs b ,"gks When twenty Issi,e. have
been given. no matter how gently laid on. the
victim's bnck Is IN q very iender cond ition. The
surprises the victim. who imasines he Is getting
of easily. Black men pay the least attention to
imp and kick their heels. ask for a Chew, Of
tobacco, crack 2 Joke. or laugh as they arc led
With the whites It is different. They saulrm
a great deal aud frequently give vent to EN-
phatic and ~profane EXPLANATIONS. The last men
to be whipping are those who have stoud In the
piilory. 4 there happen to be any, such, They
suffer the most. their backs and limbs having
become stiffened by standing In one position.
The III st time u stranger witnesses n whipping
the scene rxcite- disgust. but after two or three
views the punishment loses its most unpleasant
features. Eight or ten years ago at II whipping
every one Of the victims was, n white man. an
event that lad never been heard ~ before In
NV h'-N't " N"N y
That all the victims are black. There. has been
hut one sheriff in Twenty-Five years who logged
with his left hand. and thus had to stand to the
right OF the prisoner.
The whipping posts In Kent and Sussex coun-
ties differ from the one at New Castle. The two
lower counties simply have posts. an arm being
fastened at the side near the top when the post
II TO be turned into n pillory whippings and
pillory punishment are com parativeiy rare In
Kent and Sussex counties. Whenever there is
a whipping the country people turn out In force
to witness. the exhibition. The most notable
whipping In Georgetown, sussex county, Tor
ni,y years took place In April: isso. Three
BEEN c"nyicted OF horso Stealing and .en.
and to receive twenty, lashes;, Only ono
the one ut New Castle will accommodate two.
The Georgetown whipping took place In the
the rmo Three hours were consumed by
the men in the pillory and the rest OF the time
WITH the prspnrations and the actual whipping.
The whippine Of white men was unusual in
tieorGetnwn n, and at least one thousand persons
from the country rnad- their way into tie town
The present whipping pos, at New Castle has
only been in use about Ave years. In 1892 the
one that had done service for perhaps ffty
years was taken down and sold as old wood TO n
sreculator In this city. He gave II ont that he
Tb,raro Thai arn9sed some I" NJ nh. p an l.,
this city. and one night the yard OF the pur.
chaser was entered ard all the wood Of tho old
hear OF again. II did not appear Mt Chicago
Since that time there has been an undsrcurren,
OF NpOOSltIon III tue post hnu plllorN. lne'e are
however, many firm belle, ers In the efficacy OF
the post. the belief being that IL serves "a
keep criminals from other States out OF
belawar That Is probably true. for 1,
Is iarc indeed that a criminal OF any note IL
found in the State. The victims OF the post are
generally poor negroes who steal n chicken nr
two ar pick up something In q house. Sneak
thraves and petty plund-rers are generally the
ones to he whipped. There have been instances
where tho same man was whipped four or Ave
tiine-, hnt such cases are rare. A man VIII" Is
once whipped does not care tn repeat the experi,
m-nt as n rule. The abolition Of the post and
pillnry will be viewed with fear by some, whC
dread an influx OF thirve- from elsewhere.
The present b-rso Of the State courts are
not on record as Ia their opiaion concerning the
whipping post, hnt the late Clirf Justice Com
egys. who died In February. 1888. was iavorabl,
to IL, and he was n kindly man. The late Judg,
John w. Housion. who was retired In 1904
after more than thirty wears on the bench. said
fve or six yenrs ago: II have never fallen In
love with the delaware whipping post, nor hav,
| ever seen any ore whipped at IT,"