The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-06
TARRING AND FEATHsR1NG.
DirefuI Effects That Result From
This Sort of Punishment
New Orleans Times-Democrat.

Q7rom the New Orleans Times DernocratN
Several guests were sitting in the cor
ner OF the Grunewald lobby the other day,
reading the papers and exchanging de-
sultoTy comments. 'Ha! ha p chuckied
one CT the party; 4 see they tarred and
feathered 4 couple of Mormon elders up
the country last night. Served EN- right,
by jovet They must have looked funny,
saunteTing out OF town, dressed IN pitch
and plumage?"
Did you ever see anybody tarred and
feathered?" asked a red-bearded man in
the next chair.
No? Well, let me- assure You it's a
pretty serious thing. / saw enc case. and
I'll never forgeti it in my life. II was in
the fail of ST." he continued, in response
TO a general request for the story and
l was running a Turkish bath house at
Pittsburg. Pa. One morning = big atk
letic man of about thirty-flve walked in
and ordered a hot bath. At little later
he rang the bell and sent for ine, and
when I entered the room l was so as
tonished l nearly toPpled over. From his
feet TO his neck he looked like a half
picked black chicken. AS il aftSrWard
turned out. he had been waylaid by
party of men at a place called SIZE ldon,
right in the heart Of the district where
the coal strike is now in progress, and
treated 10 a coat of tar and feathers. He
was supposed TO be a private detective
who had been sent to pry into the secrets
of one of the miners societies, and I guess
the suppositfon was correct Anyhow,
they did a very thorough job, and evil
IDENTIFY stepped at his neck 10 give him
a chance to get out of the district with
out attracting attention, which was really
a pretty shrewd move.
The question before the house was
how to get the stuff off, and more d-f-
fcult problem / never tackled. He had
\ !, \
the tar had become perfectly dry. In
hardening it had contracted slightly and
pulled out millions eff the minute hairs
with which all human beings are COW
cred which, of course, caused him in
tense agony. Moreover, it had choked
up all the pores, and, if he hadn't been
man of superb physique. I'm satisfied
he would have succuIlbed before he
reached the city.
Well, I put him in hot bath to be-
gin with, and set a couple of massage
operators to scrubbing him with flesh
brushes and carbolic soap. IN little
while we saw that couldn't do. They
got of few small pieces, but the skin
came off along with them, and l stopped
The fiaying and tried sponging with ben
zine. That had about as much effect as
spring water on Krupp armor plate.
Then | sent for q doctor. who had to
admit himself puzzled. He said he had
had very few cases OF tarring and fsath-
ering in his practice; but something had
to be done quick, SO he tried soaking III
warm turpentine. That proved to be the
correct thing, but it was desperately
slow work, and meanwhile the man had
to be kept up on Stimulants, for he was
getting very weak. Eventually the tur-
pentine dissolved the tar, and we got it
off with soft sponges; but how long do
you think it took? Five days-working
on and off, as he could stand it. When
we got through he was laid up for
month got s150 for the job. No, gen
tlemen, there is nothing humorous about
tar and feathers, when seen at close
range.