Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1883 — KEELHAULING. [ARTICLE]

KEELHAULING.

An Atrociously 4 Cruel and Barbarous Pan* lsliment. For untamed and disgusting cruelty : ‘keelhauling” is about the most horrible punishment that the depraved mind of man could invent. It is described as follows by a correspondent at Alexandria, Egypt: Just before noon the men were brought on deck pinioned with their arms behind their backs, their hands before them, and ankle irons confining their feet, so that they could barely walk. The crew of the ship had been called on deck. The officers stood on the starboard side, the crew on the port, the victims at the mainmast. The officers were in the flounting dnss of their service, the men wore the'r cutlasses. An officer read the findings—that is at least what we supposed they were —of the court martial. This was a long and protracted ceremony. When he had done some seamen went aloft and made fast to the mainstay near the mast two blocks. From this they rove two stout lines in different directions. These were carried over the side of the ship and weighted with a sounding lead about forty feet from the end. Then the lines were carried around the stern of the ship and brought forward, the leads sinking them under the keel. After that they were hauled on board, the leads detached, the two men were tied side by side, and both ropes made fast to them, one rope being tied to the waist of one, the other rope around the shoulders of the other. The arrangement of the tackles was to drag the men under the ship from either side by hauling on the fall or running end of the rope that'fell from the leading blooks on the mainstay. These ropes, to enable the hauling parties to ‘walk away,’ were led through a snatch block on the deck. The crew were then divided, half of them put to each rope, and the two wretches, being led to the side, were shoved overboard. They both screamed as they fell into the water, and as the distance from the gangway to the surface was quite fourteen feet, they must have been more or less hurt. But this was only the beginning of their miseries. The men on one side hauled taunt the rope underneath the ship, and then the order to ‘walk away’ was given. The band played a solemn tune, something like the “Carnival of Venice” in movement, except the tune was changed, and stamp, stamp, stamp, went the men. We saw the two wretches go under, and then the only movement was the ropes going through their blocks, one Bide paying out the other coming in, but slowly. We had no measurement of the ship, but as the rope acted directly—that is, there were no moving blocks—the distance around the bottom was exactly that covered by the men as they walked the deck drawing the rope behind them. Thus we were able to make some estimate of the distance, and we calculated it at fifty feet from surface to surfaee. Presently the two victims appeared on the other side. They were hauled quite out of the water, and the rope by which they were hoisted was made fast and coiled up ready to pay out again. An officer —probably a doctor—went down and examined them. The one upon whom the strain of the rope had fallen was apparently lifeless. His face was turned toward us; it was bleeding and torn; his clothes were hanging in shreds, and his hands were dripping with blood. His eyes were opened, but they seemed to be filled with blood, The ship’s bottom, covered with barnacles, rasped upon the poor devils like nails. The other man seemed to be conscious. His back, as he hung in the air, was toward ns, but he moved his head, we thought, and apparently to beg for mercy. Evidently the officer reported them still alive, for when he had come on deck again the two men were lowered into the water, and the crew manning the rope that led up from the other side marched away with it, and once more the victims disappeared. From the time they went under the surface of the water until they reappeared at the other side of the ship, was just twenty-four seconds. It seemed to us to have been an hour. The first frightful journey had terminated by their being scratched and torn; at the end of the second they were mutilated. The nose of one wretch was torn almost away, one ear was gone, and the shreds of the clothing lie had worn clung to him only where they were held by his bonds. He was blood literally from head to foot. His companion’s condition was equally horrible. This time they were hoisted up to the rail and swung on board. Then we could see something of the action of this barbarous punishment, for they were not held off the side, but were scraped up along the ship, striking against the ringbolts, the chains, and every cruel obstruction until they swung in clear over the deck. Then they were lowered down and released. They were both unconscious, probably even then dead. It may be hoped they were. Death must have been a welcome release. An inquiry as to the facts made on board the ship elicited the reply that it was not a matter of public concern. Nevertheless we were offered coffee and cigarettes. It is needless to say that we did not accept either. For my part, I should have rather seen the entire ship’s company shot than accepted any' hospitality at the hands of its officers.