Evening star., 1899-07-08

er or soldier stole awaye from her mai
estys service without lycense Of HIS CAM
talne, hee was to bee hanged III awe one
did mutinye aboute his allowde proportion
OF victuais, he was to be layde in the bill,
ee eoes :, curing the captaine's pleasure. As
Tor all petite piiiferings and commissioned
OF thatt knde, those were generallie pun
lshed with the whippe, the offender beange
70 that purpose bounde faste TO the cap
stan; and the waggerie and idleness of
shyppe boyes paid by the boatswayne with
a rodd, and commonlie this execution is
done upon the Monday MORNINGS. and is
soc frequentlie i'm use that some meere
seamen and saylers doe believe in goodei
earnest that they shall never have a faire
winde until the poore boyes be duelye1
brought TO the chest; that is, whipped,
every Monday morninge."
For Small Onen.es
Running the gantlet was a variation Of
the cat" The crew was mustered in two
facing rows on each side of the deck and
each one armed with colt" or single
piece of stout rope. The prisoner was
stripped to the waist. His offense read
ard the punishment declared before the
ships company, then headed by the MASTER
alarms or the boatswain's mate he was
forced TO walk-not run-between the rows
OF men, each of whom gave him lash as
he passed. If he tried to run he
brought up agar st the point of a sword
which the officer ahead of him carried
pointed backw ard. ard should he shrink he
was prodded along similarly by the ship's
corporal or soldier who followed behind.
To spread-eagle a man meant either to
stretch him standing against an upright
grating or to tie him up in the same man
ner IN the rigging, where his barred back
would be exposed to the weather's blast or
the suns scorching rays. For petty thefts
hanging up by the thumbs was quite pop
ular with US down to the time of the civil
war.
For swearing and lying tongue scraping
ard gagging aiternated. in the first case
the tongue was brutally scraped and some-
times afterward laved with strong brine,
while in gagging the mouth was closed
with mariinspike-a heavy metallic pin,
which was laid crosswise like a bit and
tied by a lashing carried around the back;
of the head. and only removed when the
poor culprit was bleeding profusey at the
mouth. goodly chaplain on board the
BRUSH man-of-war Assistance, near the
beginning of the eighteenth century, ce-
scribes this latter process as ''an excellent
cure for swearers."
FlOEgfnR I'm Our Navy.
Flogging was the common punishment
down to 1850, even in our own service, when
it was happily abolished by being surrepti-
uously tackled proviso on the end OF
the naval appropriation bill. Earnest efforts
were subsequently made to restore corporal
punishment. but the sentiment of the
masses was too strongly opposed. BY many
of the old and successful officers of the
navy it was contended that some just such
menace was needful to keep in order and
to make work those jail birds frequently
found In the service, and they said no hon.
orable, industrious seaman feared the lash
any more than a lava biding citizen would
deem the penalties of the law as so many
degrading personal threats. The Inhibition
stood for Ii was recognized that every COM
mander could not temper his justice with
mercy.
Flogging was ceremonial affair The Of
fender was brought to the mast by some
one of the ships police on the morning set
for his punishment. All hands were mus
tered TO witness punishment and drawn up
with due formality in the gar lyway, abaft
the mast and on the port side. The boat
swain's mate perhaps the ships corporal
with cat in hand. stood ready by the gang
way. The captain, the first lieutenant the
surgeon ard the officer of the deck stood
near, while the rest of the officers were
ranged in the accustomed places on the
quarterback.
Laying the Lash.
When ali was ready the offense and the
sentence were read aloud. the poor devil was
stripped to his waist and triced up by his
hands to the suspended grating. One by
one the lashes were skillfully laid on the
barred flesh, the nine tails of the wicked
cat biting their way into the creeping skin
with nasty zig-zags.Th surgeon stood ready
to feel the victims pulse while the work
went slowly on to the count of some petty
officer. To novice the ordeal was awful
and his cries heartrending, but the hard
ened OLD salts took their punishment
without whimper, even though the blood
ran down to the deck and they fell in a
limp, exhausted heap when the trial was
over. To our credit, ii may be said, our
cat was never knotted, it was in 9TH
er -navies.
With the abolition of fiogging the cum.
ming of the cruel sought such refinements
as the sweatbox-really nothing more than
an upright coffin, in which the culprit had
to stand up and swelter in a noisome part
of the ship-and confinement in an empty
coal pocket abreast the boilers. Men have
been boxed up on deck and fed through
a small aperture by spoon, so long remaining
that they died afterward in consequence
while others have been deprived of ordi-
nary rest so long that they were crazed.
Bread and water and confinement in single
and double irons was frequently continued
till the sufferer was on the verge of star
walton; but these eXcesses are out of the
question today. Five days is now the limit
for diet of bread and water, and con-
finement is commonly limited to ten days.
and the minimum size of cells for such
purpose is expressly stated in the regula-
tions
Commanding officers with us are author
lied to inflict only the punishment of extra
duties, deprivation of liberty reduction of
rating and the confinement in single or
double irons and with or without reduced
rations within the limits just mentioned. The
latest regulations give him greater discre-
tonary power, and the result is obedience
and discipline without one particle of vio-
lence other than the force needfuI to SUBJ
due very much saturated seaman.
~ III DE~rT