Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1883 — THE WHIPPING POST. [ARTICLE]

THE WHIPPING POST.

How Justice Is Dealt Out in Delaware. Five Men Under the Lash in, Newcastle. A recent dispatch from Newcastle says: The Sheriff at this place was busy yesterday. Seven culprits, two white and five colored, were lashed at the public whipping-pOst, and one of them compelled to ao penance for an hour with his head and arms thrust through the apertures of a public pillory. The whipping post and pillory, a two-story structure, stands in the center of the jail yard. Just before the whipping began, the Sheriff opened the main gate of the yard, which leads to the street. Immediately a human flood rushed in—white and black, young and old, male and female. The Erisoners were let out, one at a time, and andcuffed to the main post in a prayerful attitude. The Sheriff then began his work If the prisoner is a hardened Criminal, the lashes are well laid on, but there are cases where the prisoner manages to get a little sympathy, and consequently the lashes are light Tne first prisoner whipped was a young white man named LtslieMarr, aged 20. He was sentenced to receive, ten lashes for stealing pistols. Lpslie did not bear' up well under the punishment The chances are that he will steal no more in Delaware. Next came Frank Mullen, white, 45 years old, charged with larceny. He got ten lashes. He squirmed and writhed in agony as the lashes were slowly but earnestly administered. He went to his cell with a sore back and a contrite .heart Thomas Mason, a darky, about 50, was then marched out He was convicted of horse-stealing, and sentenced to twenty lashes and an hour’s pillory practice. He wasf not placed in the pillory, owing to the awkward, unnatural position of his head, and the necessarily bent position 6t the body. The old man presented a pitiful appearance.' Isaac Taylor, black, 20 years of age, received a sentence of twenty lashes for stealing meat He stood Without flinching as the cat in the Sheriff’s hands descended upon his bare back. At first a white stripe w ould appear, but before long the darky s hide gave way to the torture. Nathaniel Ringle and George Robinson, darkies, 18 or 20 years old, were then brought out The former received ten lashes, and the latter five, for stealing chickens. They begged piteously for mercy. While the darkies were being whipped, William Brown was Suffering from a terrible back-ache, he having been given an hour in the pillory. He received stolen goods.