The St. Louis Republic., 1902-10-05

WRITTEN FOR rHB SUNDAY REPUBLIc
It costs the country I'VE hundred millions
Of dollars year to pay the bills OF prts-
ons and crime. The meeting OF The Ma
tional Prison Congress- just held In Phil
Rdelphia- brings the whole question Of Grim
inal reformation TO the surface again. and
many people are discussing It A prob
lem that means millions annually to every
city In the Union Is not to be coughed out
OF existence with sneers and epigramA
Does the average reader realize the vast
stupendous progress achieved by printing
and gunpowder for the man IN prison. since
Napoleon destroyed the Inquisftion one hun
dred years ago7 Compared with the terrors
T OF the subterranean dungeons and torture
chambers OF the world when Washington
and Napoleon used gunpowder and Benja-
min Franklin shot ideas from his printing
press. our modern prison system seems q
paradise.
In his recent work on Punishment and
Reformation published by CroweH & Co.
Doctor Frederick Howard Wines, son OF the
founder OF the National and International
Prison Associations, and formerly Of the
Census Bureau. shows that for acts now
innocent and committed every day men
were put 20 torture that would make burn
ing alive seems q Joy by comparison
Simply for expressions OF faith IN religion
and politics men were bolted TO floors. sliced
open, the wounds dlled with vinegar and
hot pitch: their bones broken with iron
q wheel ana slowly crushed 10 death TO be
Quartered and scattered 20 the winds
Men were spiked to plStforms IN open mir.
facing the monday slky. their eyelids cut
on and the naked eyeballs exposed 70 the
sun Then torture with spikes, blazing oil
and hot knives began
Teams OF strong horses were hitehed 70
the victims arms ana legs 10 pull him apart
after his bones had been broken and his
eyes cut out, while women cried out in hor-
IN 81 G-v
poor horses that failed to sever the ten
dona OF the dying victim at first triai-na-
ture had made him SO strong Of build.
Others were tortured with indescribable
atrocity. then smeared with sweet syrup
and. bandaEed into narrow eofinfke
boxes sfull OF holes. placed on the ground
IN open air. Insects warmed n, dlied the
man with eggs and IN q day or two the
ysrTn1n hatched out were eating him alive.
WATER PUNISHMENT PRAcTIcED
IN SPANISH POSSESSIONS.
Among the tortures OF the Inquisition was
the original water punishment. which was
evidently transplanted to all the Spanish
possessions, and finally biossomed out In
the Philippines with modern rubber hose
pipe improvements. The original Spanish
water torture is thus described by Doc
tor Wines.
'-The prisoners body was extended at full
length upon q frame so constructed as. TO
band it slightly backward and elevate the
feet above the head The face was COW
ered with cloth. kept wet by constantly
falling drops OF water. which had to be
swallowed In order 10 prevent sufocation
At the same time the cords by which the
victim was bound were constantly drawn
tighter by q tourniquet, so as to cut into
the nesh until II bled."
And all this was approved by dignitaries
Of church and State and the great men In
the politics OF the day.
Napoleon one hundred years ago ordered
the last Of the InQuisition destroyed The