Hutchinson gazette., 1900-09-27
OLD NEWaATE PRISON.
IL HAS Held Many, IliustrIous msn
Prisoners within lts Walls.

New gate prison, EnglAnds famous
dungeon Is now being demolished to
make room for more modern struct.
ure. Every reader Of English fiction,
every reader OF English history almost
every reader OF English has read Of
NewgNte, IL was from NewgNte that
jack Shepherd mnde q famous escape,
nnd II was in Newgate that pious VIII
liam Penn, the founder OF Pennsyl,
ynnin, was imprisoned for refusing to
take an oath In court DeiUe, the hi.
thor Of "lIobinson Crusoe," was Inn
prisoned there, and did some Of his
literNry work within It's walls,
The structure which Is being demol-
ished was built in 1850. The one that
stood on the site before was so small
and crowded that It became regular
pesthole, morally and physically, Not
only did the prisoners die like sheep
of "Joil fever" bu, the infectlonreached
out from the prison to the court room
and pulled the judges from the bench,
One year two judges, the lord mayor,
several Of the iurymen and sixty per.
sons visitors to the court Gs witnesses
or spectators, died of the fever with
which the Jail reeked, So they tore
down The old prison and built a new
one which they are now pulling down,
The most lllustrious part of the old
prison was the "Press Yard" where
certain prisoners were literally pressed
10 denth, While we are holding up
our hands In holy horror at the flend-
ish ingenuity Of the gentle "Chlnk" in
the manner Of dlsposng OF his prls.
Oners, II would be well to remember.
or forget posslbly-the custom Of
pressing TO death which so edited our
ancestors few generations ago. A
man convicted Of q felony who, Ia or.
der Go save his property TO his family,
refused TO plead when arranged, was
taken to the press yard and "pegged
out on the stone floor, The victims
limbs were stretched out TO the break
Ing point and then heavy weights were
placed over his body until the life was
resscd out Of him.
The old Bailey the principal Grim.
lnnl court Gf England. Is attached TO
Newgate prison, or the Newgate prison
Is attached TO the court, and the whole
"outEt Is frequently spoken Of as the
Did Bailey. Public executions in front
OF The Old Bailey began in 1888, and
were not abolished until 1868. The last
man hanged in front Of the old build
Ing was Fenan NJ. Barrett. Great
crowds used to go to see the execu-
tions.
When two murderers, Holloway and
Haggcfty were hanged in 1907 there
were more than 10000 people assem-
bled to witness them climb the gallows,
and the crush was so great that sew
eral persons were trampled to death.
On occasions when some particularly
notorious person was to be hanged
fashionable people would hire windows
overlooking the scene Of the execution
and invite their friend to have wine
and luncheon with them while viewing
the last moments Of the victims, Forg.
cry, up to ms late ns 1897, was n capital
otrensc in England and whole bntches
used to be swung Off together IN front
Of the Ncwgate. The records show
that twelve, fifteen, and sometimes
twenty people were executed together
here for that crime.
A day in the year 1860, the year Of
the restoration Ct the throne Of his
fathers Of the noble and august mon.
arch, the Merry Charles, saw in front
of the Old Bailey an execution of Brit
ish Justice which was as well attended
by the fashionable world of London
as If 1t had been the hanging Of n wife
murderer. The heretlcnl and sedltious
works Of one John Milton, a pestien-
tial writer of the day were burned by
the commen hangmagn
II would have been more enjoyable
affair had the common hangm0h been
able to operate upon Milton himself,
but as from the great height of wis.
dom and glory the august Charles had
been pleased graciously to sign an act
of amnesty the operations of which
Permitted Milton to live, the court
end Of the town had to he satisfied
with seeing tht scribblcr's writings
burued. And the running fire Of wit
whiIh passed between the gallants
with tnClf pllImeS ana curIs, nlBn'ncel |
shoes and dangling swords, and the :
ladies in patches and powder as bright
and warm rs the fire which consumed ,
paradise Lost and the "Nlaslt Of |
Comus.'
Having seen Milton done for and |
quite Gbliteratcd, the noble company |
went back to court and his grace OF
buckingham wore diamond buttons 50
loslye ultcf nqtl ,iydyug2fbySthe
loosely fastened that night that they |
fell on the floor in a glitterng shower
when he icircd in Il dance. All voted |
his grace of Buckingham the success
Of the day,
As for Niilton--why, it had been but |
a tame affair after nll-the burning Of |
those bOoks-and they quite forgot the /
fellow, several fine ladies vowing with |
lisp that they would not make the |
Journey to Newgate again unless there !
were at leust twenty felons executed
MT once.
She Got n New Pnir