Year: 1874




Bailey, of the Danbury Ne,cs, writes a
follows to his paper concerning visit t
the Tower of London:


Another stair, open, brought us into ;
small room, but an apartment cOmpris
ing within its close walls much that il
of thrilling and exciting interest. AL
most the first object on reaching the toI
of the flight is central stand. The mo
ment the warder reached it he opened the
various articles ii contained and hi,
mouth simultaneously. And he didn',
close the latter till we were we'll out o
the room. 1t must have been strain on
him. But the awful contents of that
insignificant stand Not one of them he
picked up but had familiar sounding
name, and left the spine of the hearer in
an unpleasant futter. There was the
thumb-screw, small steel article i'm the
shape of an Ox-bow, each loop for a
thumb, with the open ends held together
by screw, the working of which COM
pressed the circumference of the loops
until their irresistible edges cut down
into the flesh, catching each nerve in its
cruel grasp and sending through the
body of the wretched victim torrent of
agony. Anybody who has confdingly
introduced his thumb into the crack Of a
door just as it was about to close can
form shadowy idea of the gorgeous
agony this little implement is capable of.
He showed us steel collar with lining
of jutting iron points, fastened about the
neck of the victim in way to attract
and hold his attention. The least move
of the body pressed the sensitive skin
against the sharp points and produced
indescribable pain. But it is collar
that would not suddenly collapse in the
midst of an evening party and fill your
hair with pulp. l am certain of that.
There was cOntrivance for holding the
wrists and ankles at once so as to blow up
the body as effectually as nine green APP
Piles could do it.


Several other engines of torture made
up the CHASTITY collection on the stand,
while to the left in recess stood
model of a rack, consisting simply of two
wooden cylinders opposite each other,
turned by a lever. With the victims
ankles bound together and the rope run
over one cylinder, and the wrists bound
the same way about the head with the
spare cord run over the other cylinder,
he or she was suspended horizontally,
and the levers were applied, and the
cylinders revolved in opposite directions,
taking up the cords slowly but remorse-
lessly until one joint after another of the
human frame moved from its sockets,
and inconsistencies, or the coveted con-
fession or remuneration, brought cessa-
ton of the hellish torture.


Those were the ancient modes of OBJ
tanning evidence. But they are done
away with in late years. We have law
yers now.


Near to the devil-stand is black block
of wood, oblong in shape, very simple
block, and near to it broad-bladed axe.
Standing on end it presents on its upper
surface following at one side where
the chin of one who may have had de-
sire to lay his neck across it could sink,
and a similar indentation on the opposite
edge where his breast, or his breast-pin
could rest, leaving his neck comfortably
on the surface. Such block as that
would hardly cost over dollar, and when
we consider how simple and cheap it is,
we cease to wonder at the number of
them once used in this very city of
London.


One swing of this axe in the clutch of
a man who perspired under the arms and
wore reprehensible red shirt sufficed to
sever the victims head. The block is
here, but the men and women whose
shrinking necks crossed it and whose life
blood stained il are mouldered into dust.
Here is the axe-the very blade which
did the awful work, but the muscles
which gave it force and direction are
withered into nothing


A morbid interest prompts us to close
scrutiny of the lump of wood. and we
even run our thumb nails into the inden-
tations made by the descending and
severing blade, and seem to feel better
for doing it.