Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1873 — A Terrible Flagellation. [ARTICLE]

A Terrible Flagellation.

Welland jail on Monday morning last witnessed, for the first time we believe, an exhibition of the power of the cat-o’-nine-tails as a moral suasive agent. The victim in this case was one William Armstrong, mulatto. His age is set down in the fair register as tnirty-three, but he looks at least ten years older. He says he. used to live in Montreal, hut he came from the States here. One of his legs is of wood, having left the original away down in the Shenandoah Valley while fighting the battles of Uncle Sam. The offence by which he became eligible to illustrate the reforming influence of the many-tailed cat was that of assault upon a young girl named Sayler, at a farmhouse near Fort Erie in December last. 'l'~~ The punishment took place at the earlyhour of 7:30 a. m., in the day room of the old wing of the jail, and was witnessed by only the sheriff, the jail surgeon, and the prisoners, all of whom were summoned to have the fearful example fully impressed upon their minds. The cat consisted of nine whip cords, fastened to a staff about a foot in length. The lashes were about twenty inches long, and were scientifically adorned with a couple of knots each, for the more efficient torture of their victim. The instrument appeared light and inefficient, but the fact that its knots deeply indented a board, even when wielded by an unaccustomed arm, evidenced that appearances in its case were deceptive.

The whipping-post was the most formidable feature of the affair, and it was not surprising that the victim turned pale on being led to it, and fearfully inquired if they intended to kill him. It was a stout, upright post, with a strong crosspiece. The prisoner’s arms were stretched along the horizontal piece, and finally tied; his feet—no, foot, for the wooden Ein defied the manacle—was fettered, his ack bared, and the flagellation began. The executioner claimed to be familiar with the use of the cat, and from the artistic, regular and unremitting manner in which he laid on the stripes, no one need dispute the claim. "At the first cut or two the victim ground his teeth and convul sively pressed his head against the post, but no Other expression of agony escaped him. The knots on the lash came between the, shoulders every time, and after the few first strokes the flesh began to give way and the blood to stand out in places where the knots fell repeatedly, as well as to slightly crimson the lash. After twenty-five lashes had been -duly administered the prisoner was untied and laid down, and his lacerations washed with salt and water and afterwards with oil. He-stood the punishment well at the time, but was too stiff to get out of bed the next morning. Before his release he is to have another flogging also of twentyfive lashes. The man who handled the cat is an old British soldier, a resident of this village. —Welland (Out.) Tribune.

—The recent frauds on the Bank of England, which are said to have been committed by Americans, and amount to nearly two millions of dollars, recall to mind similar frauds that have heretofore been committed. The most prominent of these were those perpetrated many years ago by Robert Aslett, to the amount of one million six hundred thousand dollars, and that by Fauntleroy, for one million eight hundred thousand dollars, for which he was a large quantity of bank-note paper was stolen by one of the employee of the Government paper-mill. A printer at Birmingham printed notes on this paper, of which a large amount were put into circulation, but ho estimate of the loss was allowed to transpire. ■ *■;»■ ■ —A married man was recently discovered to be courting a young girl at Sheffield, England. A crowd took possession of him, carried him to a public house, tattooed him, and fined him (IMS* He was then handed over to a large number of women, who shaved the hair off his head, applied a huge treacle plaster, cut off his .whiskers, and emptied Several bags of jßonr over him.

We arc indebted to Gen. R. 11. Wili*oy, Indian Agefit in Washington Tcmtory» for late flies of the Puget Sound Daily Courier. From small-pox, without hospitals; canals, without water; ami city officers without qualifications; good 'people, deliver us!—Logansport Jotirnal. And still ho stays right there at Logansjrort where they have all llioso afflictions dad many more that he does not care to tell about. We noticed a young man sleeping sweetly in church on last Bundav evening, wlio, ibi Innately, omitted tiie nasal solo usually given by sound sleepers.T-Isrookston Reporter. That is the manner Bro. Ingritn adopts to' tell the public that lie attended church on that Sabbath evening. An anoifymous scribbler, who insults the intelligence of his neighbors by claiming to be “an ' average Remhigtqh ian’ 1 ' invites one of the editors of The Renssei.aer Union to “please sing the doxology.” All hands will join with pleasure at his funeral. The'Rensselaer tin ion calls ns its ‘‘bitterly partizan Democratic friend.” That’s unkind. We are the most non-partisan Democratic editor in the Htate. We want Democrat ie as well as Repuidicaii rogues banished from power.— Valparaiso Messenger. Then do not try to manufacture sympathy for political rogues when people condemn their acts in public meetings.

lion. John Peter C lover Shanks, Member of Congress from this State, proposes to bnil.l himself one of the handsomest private residences in Jay county. It is needless to add that the lion. J. P. C. S. voted for the salary gran, drew it from the treasury and now proposes to put it where it will do him the most good. So far twenty-seven Congressmen and Senators have refunded their share of the “salary grab” to the amount of $lll,OOO. Notwithstanding the gentle hint given o.ur Jasper Packard by the farmers ot Porter county, lie has not yet lost his grip on the swag and is not likely to, as he is anxious to expend a portion of it traveling in Europe during the coming summer. The Chicago Tribune having charged Senator Pratt, of this State, with having used his share of the “salary grab” to buy him a new house in Log an sport, the Senator writes the following to that paper:—“You do me wrong in your issue of yesterday. I never drew a dollar of the $5,000 back pay but simply took, what whs coming to me as compensation under the old - law, turning the balance into the treasury ($4,120.00). All this you could have learned, had you 'taken pains, ot the Secretary of the Senate, or Gen. Spinner.’’ And now. after all the fun we had electing a town Marshal, com.es the South Bend Tribune and shows that our “best working” legislature, who increased their pay from $5 to $8 a day and put an emergency clause to all laws, passed a law which reads as follows: “That the Town Trustees shall, at their first regular meeting held alter their election, elect a Town Marshal, who shall lioid his office one year, and until his successor iseleettd and qualiprovided, such Trustees >ruay at v any time, for good cause, remove Fueli Marshal, and appoint a Marshal to fill the vacancy.” ' • We are this week in receipt of a letter from John C. Cushman, Esq., - secretary of the Plymouth, Kankakee tfc Pacific railroad company, stating that that company “expect to be in funds soon to pay off floating debt and finish the road.”— When this road is completed it will -open to enterprise indre -'than One hundred and fifty square miles of iron ore deposit in Jasper *> county. In the Geological lit port of Indiana for 1872, this deposit is thus noticed: These ores are collected in a soluble state by the waters of sloughs and ponds, in the center or lower part of V which they are found in comparatively pure layers, deposited as the waters are evaporated in “dry seasons. The .beds are generally from one to two and a half feet below the surface of the ground, and from five to six inches thick (with a repeated thickness, in some places, of two and a half feet j. In 1870, Mr L. Glazebrook dug ami 'shipped from Ban Pierre station,”on vthe Louisville, New Albany & Chicago R. R., 600 tonaof ore, part being from Jasper county and part from Starke county- Other parties dug and shipped from the same point 500 to 800 tons. The price obtained was $3 a ton, delivered on the cars, which paid well for digging, and less than three miles hauling to the railroad.— The ore is pure and makes by admixture with the rich ores of Lake Superior, a very desirable quality of metal, and with reasonable freights, large quantities of the ore would be in demand. The area of the bog ores of iron is large and the quality good.— Means of transportation is ali that is requlred to develop large income from this nfcw profitless treasure. -, J

South llcnd is extending licv city limits. The Banner reports a case of small pox in fugouier. A sash, door and blind factory is talked of at Wmaniac. The' Topic i-ays speculation is rampant in Francosvillc. Ken timid is afflicted with mumps and pigeon shooting matches. Patrons of Husbandry have commenced' organizing Granges in Brown county. The receipts of the Fort Wayne pension agency arc said to b,odn the neighborhood oi $7,000. e Journal is, “Are car shops at Logausp’ort a hopeless impossibility‘s” The school fund of Indiana is ■bc-$2 I poo. larger~4han that, of Uny other State in the Union. Valparaiso papers say that the pin factory at that place will employ 76 hands —-men, ‘ boys and gil'Js. ! Owing to the unsafe condition of the Benton county Court House, circuit court is being held .in a private hall. Thy new Presbyterian house of 'worship to be croctfd at. Monticello this summer will cost $12,000, when completed. A number of horses are reported sick in. Porter county with a disease similar to the epidemic which' affect e d tl rctrr last winter. Terentiy paid $4 0,000 for lortV acres of ground on which to erect a nail factory and other iron works. Mrs. Clarissa 4 ** W. Thomas, has a patchwork quilt containing 13,780 pieces. Tiiisfis the biggest quilt oil record—-3,700 pieces ahead. Who call beat it?—Oxford Tribune.

Some traveled gentleman says that the Editorial Association of Indiana is composed of the finest looking men he ever saw convened in one body. The South Bend papers claim a bachelor citizen who charges ladies one kiss a mile for riding with him. He is a gay old buss manager and has a large patronage. The Pulaski county agricultural society (not the Francosville organization) recently purchased 20 acres for a fair ground, near Winamac. The price paid was S3O an acre. Burglars recently entered a store at Morgantown, drugged the proprietor and clerks sleeping there with chloroform, and abstracted about $3,000 cash from the safe. The Valparaiso District Conference of the M. E. Church will be held at Crown Point on the 24th day of June, next. The session will probably occupy three days. Six liquor firms have brought suit in tlie Noble county circuit court against the town of Ligonier, to recover $1,GG2.50, and ten per cent, interest thereon, paid as corporation license. A son of Mr. Dempsey Johnson, living near Morocco, died week ago last Tuesday from the effects of a kick in the head received .while feeding colts. lie was about seventeen years old. A woman of Beaver township, Pulaski county, recently struck believing husband over the head with a spittoon, and ho immediately struck out fqr an angel that hasn’t such strieking-ways. The Journal says there are two or three places in Loganspo'rt “where bald heads are nicely sodded.” There are said'to besevCral more where thirsty stomachs , obtain like refreshments. The counties of Carroll. Iluntiugton aiid Cass 'have refused to make appropriations of $5,000 each, asked for canal improvements, and the prospect is good for the big ditch to go dry this summer.

“Resolved, That the signs of the times indicate the fall of the Republic,” is the subject for discussion before a Brookston debating society. In case the affirmative wins, wonder what they will do about it? Plymouth, Indiana, has decided to assfime city airs. An election was held there week before last to ascertain how the people felt about it, which resulted in 244 yeas to 86 nays. Rather a small poll'to commence a city with. A linen factory, with machinery costing $25,060 and furnishing employment for seventy-five to two hundred hands, is soon l to be in operation at Loganspert, for the manufacture of bagging, toweling, carpets, twine, tfec. J

The legal department of the j Plymouth Democrat, edited by M. A. G. Packard, calls the grand jury us Woodford county, Illinois, “A scCof asses, or .purchased knaves,” because they failed to find an indictment against Mrs. Workman. The Monticello Herald laughs to scorn' 1 ’ the buffalo fish recently caught at this [dace, which weighed 10 pounds and 10 ounces,-and says that if we want to learn something about big fish from personal observation we should visit the Tippecanoe. Mr. Daniel Sigler, of recently recovered SI,OOO from the P., C. $ St. L. railroad company for injuries received last fall while a passenger. Mrs. Hildreth, of the same place, recovered $3,000 on account of (he death'of her husband caused by the same accident.

The 54th anniversary of American Odd Fellowship was celebrated at Greencastle on the 26th of last month, in a highly creditable manner. Past Grand Representative Schuyler Colfflx delivered an address for the.occasion to an audience of not less than 2,000 peopleRepresentatives were present from the various lodges within a circuit of fifty to eighty miles. llev. Dr. Eleaz.cr Thomas, who was slain by the Modocs, at the time of the murder of Gen. Canby, was about fifty years of age, and a prominent member of the M. E. church of California. He was elected in 182 G editor of the Calitinrnia Christian 'Advocate, 'and performed the duties so well that he was re-elected editor in 16G0, ahTT again in 1804. lie was also a delegate to the general conference in 18G0. In 1868 he was elected an assistant agent of ti e New Fork book concern, to reside in San Francisco;' and serveffinrthis posi--tion about four years. His name appears on the .minutes for 1872 as presiding elder of the Petaluma district, California conlerence. — Lnporte Herald. Hpii. Washington C. DePauw, of New Albany, runs three banks, an insurance company, the largest plate glass factory in the country, one cottoji factory, one woolen factory, is connected with twelve or fifteen boards of directors, embracing banks, railroads, etc., still he finds time to superintend a Sunday school, attend all the meetings of the church to which he is a member, holds a. holy meeting once a week, and recently said in a religious meeting at Cincinnati “I am a happy man—happy in my business, happy in iny family, happy in the honorable service of my -Savior, happy all the time.” Why should not the general average of p. wealthy and successful business man be a happy one?

The Ligonier Banner advises its subscribers who live within the county' where it is published, not to pay postage under the law which; goes into operation in July, for more than six months “as Congress will, doubtless, at an early day, restore the old law so far as the free circulation «f papers within tliQ county where they are published is concerned.” Heretofore subscribers living within the county where papers were published were not required to pay postage on them although they were received from a post office outside of the county', but, by an act passed last winter, postage must be paid on everything, that passes through the mails on and after July' Ist, 1873. The postage on weekly papers is twenty cents a year, or five cents for three months, which may be paid at the mailing or the receiving office, at the, option of the subscriber. The Crawfordsville Journal talks of the salary grab in this wise:— “The press, the pulpit and the political rostrum have all, with singular unanimity, denounced the late salary grab as an act of thieving. No man has had the hardihood to attempt to publicly palliate it ‘iu tlie least degree. But, in the private circle, we now and then hear an individual say, ‘well, if I had been a member of Congress, I would have taken the $5,000.’ We have no means of knowing ho\V many men there are in the country who would have availed themselves of the fruits of this robbery' if they had been in a position to do so, but if we knew, we could tell ex- [ ..aptly how many there are whom | the fear of punishment alone prevents from stealing. The man who announces his readiness to put his hand in the public treasury and abstract $5,000 to which ,he has no' right, warns the people to keep their hands on their pocket books -j while in his presence. He advisesj all the world that nothing but the penitentiary deters him jCrom be- i comingp.a highway robber. We use plaro language, but we do it because we don’t want our remarks on the subject misconstrued.*’