Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1910-10-19
CAPITAL PENALTY
Some Curious Methods of Exc
cutting Criminals.
MOROCCO USES THE LASH

rlosainu 20 Death Is Still In VorHr
Among the Moors-stransulatioH Is
Employed In Austria. and sps,o
clinss 20 the carrote.
There are many curious methods %;
lpnlctinc capital punislgnent ia tl,.
various countries OF the old word
some Of them tinged with the cruelt,
Of the dark ages.
Morocco IS perhaps the most tae,il 8.
val country I'm existence. FloCging 20
death is still In vogue. II is not 50
very long ago that Mulai Ha6d had
the Shereef Kittain executed I'm This
horrible fashion.
The amcer OF Afghanistan has pc.
culiar methods Of making the punish
ment ft the crime. a baker. for Sci
ing short weight. was roasted In hl.
own oven. and a man who had started
a scare that the Russians were 10
vancing on KabuI was placed on
stool fastened on top OF tall pole
and KEEP, there on sentry go till he died
Of slecplesSness and exhaustion
Political crimes are not uncommon
in Persia and the revoiutionssts. when
caught. are dealt with summnrjlv
-Four conspirators who were recently
caught in the act OF throwing n bomb
IN the crowded bazaar at Teheran were
hanged and quartcrcd I'm the same
fashion that prevailed in England up
70 the seventeenth century. The re-
mains OF The wrctchcd men were hung
AT The city gates as horrible warning.
IN Austrian officer convicted OF poi.
soning his superior officers i'm the M.
tempt 20 win promotion was sentenced
20 be strancled.
Austria Is the only country which
employs this particular method OF OK.
ccution. but SPANS garrote Is very
similar. The original method OF rar.
roiing was. in fact. nothing but stran.
Cling The criminal was seated on
chair fixed 10 post. n loop OF rope
was placed encircling his neck and
the post, and 10y means OF a stick or
cudeel spanish "garrote') inserted be-
tween the post and the CONDEMNED
mans neck the cord was frightened
until Strangulation ensued.
The modern garrote consists Of
brass collar containing a sharp pointed
screw. The executioner turns the
screw. and its point penetrates the
spinal marrow. causing instant death.
Every civilized country does its best
nowadays TO make the dreadful task
81 execution as rapid and painless as
possible. Hanging as at present per.
formed is very different matter from
what It used 20 be in England.
TIL nearly the end OF the eighteenth
century the condemned man was made
TO stand in cart with n rope around
Ills neck. and the cart was then driven
away from under him. In 1888 parlia-
ment abolished this practice rs being
100 barharous. and a platform was
substituted for the cart. In 1874 this
method was improved by proportioninr
Tue length OF the drop TO the weight OF
the body.
The state Of New York inaururated
he electric chair many years ago. but
Us only advantage over hanging Is
mat the man who switches on the cur.
rent Is out OF sight OF the death cham.
DER and 50 escapes the grewsome title
OF public executioner.
Formerly all criminals I'm England
uied 10y the AK. and undoubtedly the
ak IN the hands OF n skillful heads.
man was as merciful an instrument of
Death as any which exist today. In
lrussia decapitation by the ax IS still
.ue recognized method Of execution.
Out the rest OF Germany follows the
example OF France and uses the guillo. .
tine.
Execution had almost become obso-
'e'e IN France until public sentiment
was so aroused by the ever increasing
number OF brutal murders that in Jan
uaFy' 1909, the widow" as the French
w'h The instrument. was dragged out
OF It's retirement and four. miscreants
were publicly executed at Bethune. In
'he north OF France.
Inc guillotine was invented by n
uoc'or named Guillotin more than n
century ago. but IL Is not true that the
inventor fell a victim to his own de
'Ce. He died quietly in his bed. The
sun'otine consists OF two upright posts
showed on the inside. An immensely
Hv"'y and sharp steel blade is fixed To
slue IN these grooves. and the execu-
uon'r mas nothing TO do but pull a
,ope' when the blade drops and decap-
TILES the victim instantly.
+nere are a few countries where
."p'tai punishment has been abolished.
"o'"oiy Switzerland. In Italy also
mere have been no executions for civil
S ~ for many years past-St. Lou
ID Post-DIspatch.