The Portland daily press., 1897-08-24

hauling and Executions on Shipboard
A Captains Revenge -Punishments
That Have Been Abolished-H Humane
Methods Now.
New York sun)
Forty seven years ago the cat ceased to
be a feature N naval discipline. 1t is
no longer considered necessary to give
the morning watch dozen all around,
just to get them into working order for
the day. Paragraph 40 of the ARTICLES
for the Better Government of the Navy"
read to the crews of all warships in COM
mission on the first Monday of each
month. says:
"In no case shall punishment by fogging
or by branding, marking or tattooing be
adjudged by any court-martial, or be in
ficted by any person in the navy"
The cat, or CATO nine tails, was made
of rope. 1t was about four and one half
inches in circumference and to the ends
of the tails was five feet long. For the
first three feet it was stiffened with many
Matthew Walker knots worked on the
handle to prevent its slipping in the hands
of the wielder. The remaining length,
three feet, was divided into several hard
twisted and knotted ends, making it a
formidable weapon in the hands of a
brawny boatswains mate, especially Sc
lected, who laid it without mercy on the
back of the poor wretch dashed spread
eagle by wrists and ankles to an upright
grating. Fifty years ago bo's'ns mates
| and corporals of the decks carried rattans
and colts (the latter stiff plated rope
yarns) and any other officer not SO pro
vided, would, if the occasion required
seized ropes end and lay it over. the head
and shoulders of an insubordinate tar,
inclined to give back talk.
| In ships of the line and frigates the call
| to make sail" would be passed by the
bo s'n IS mates of each deck, and then
would follow scurrying up ladders to
the spar deck, the last man at each ladder
getting a cut from the petty officers rat
tan or colt. The same thing occurred when
after gathering at the rigging, the order
clay aloft'' was given, the last man up
and the last down, when" lay down from
aloft'" was ordered, receiving q similar
salute as warning to get some one be-
hind him the next time sails were loosed.
In those days Captains were arbitrary
and tyrannlcal. Shocking punishments
were inflicted without the sentence of
general or summary court-marshal.
Five. dozen with the cat for Splitting on
the deck is known to have been imposed.
The fear of instant discharge kept men
straight when the men-of-war was cruis-
ing on distant seas in proximity to islands
that were seldom visited. Narrowing has
been resorted to in some navies and by
buccaneers, but never in our own navy to
the extent of landing a man on an unin-
habited key or Pacific atoll. Occasionally
a man was sentenced to be logged around
the fleet. A boat rugged with platform
and upright grating and containing the
corporal, guard and boatswain's mate,
detailed to swing the cat, was towed to
the port gangways of each ship of the
fleet. Upon arriving at the first ship the
prisoner was traced up and a portion of
his punishment was given. He was then
let down, a coat was thrown over his
lacerated back and he was lowed to the
next ship. II he was sentenced to 300
lashes aud there were ten ships in the
fleet, ne would receive thirty lashes at
each gangway.
Keel hauling, very ancient custom,
must have been suggested by the old land
custom of stool ducking, only it was far
hauled under water from stem tc stern,
after having been dropped from the fly
ing boom or forward yard arm, was
nearly suffocated before he came to the
surface aft.
Sentence of death by general court-mar-
tial could, until comparatively recent
years, be carried into effect after receiv-
ing the signature of the converting au-
thority. In the case of the Somers
mutiny 1t was inflicted by the approval
of the Captain, as the brig was cruising
singly at the time. During the Mexican
war Commodore Connors hanged man
at the yardarm for striking lieutenant,
afterward rear admiral. The case was
not referred beyond the feet. Sometimes
the condemned man stood on a platform
built over gun, and at a signal from
the officer in command the gun was fired,
releasing catch holding weight suffi-
Gent in falling to run the man rapidly to
the yardarm. A heavy toggle on the rope
just above the mans head prevented the
neck from being jammed in the block.
Men hanged in this way have been
thrown over the end of the yardarm when
the toggle brought the line up short.
This of course broke the neck instantly,
but presented horrible spectacle to his
shipmates drawn up on deck to witness
punishment. 1t is said that when Mid
shipnan Spencer, the son of the Secretary
of War, was hanged on the brig Somers,
all the crew and officers were obliged to
man the ropes that drew him and his
two confederates up to the yard.
Brutal as these punishments seem, the
commanders and fleet officers acted well
within the law and naval regulations of
the day as approved by Congress, the Sec
Rotary, and President. A story Is told of
a naval commander who anchored his
ship in the harbor of Boston in the early
provincial days. Shortly after his arrival
he was arrested for walking about on
shore on the Lords day. and was SEN
fenced to the stocks. He was boiling
with rage when set free. but with great
self-control told his tor1nentors that he
had been led to see the error of his ways
and had become converted to their views
He then patiently waited until the ship
was ordered home, when he invited q
dozen of the principal magistrates, In
Guiding selectmen and ministers, to a
farewell dinner. He got his ship under
way and went down the harbor towing
their boat astern. An elegant dinner
was served and wine flowed freely, as was
the custom, even among religious people,
IL, Esva n1dep time - The Marty bana M q