Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1875 — Flogging of Three Garroter in England. [ARTICLE]

Flogging of Three Garroter in England.

At the last assizes in Liverpool no less than five, men were convicted of garrote robberies, three of : whom were ordered to receive twenty lashes each, one to receive twenty-five, and the fifth—on account of his youth, we suppose— ism to have thirty strokes with the birch rod. The latter received his strokes some time ago; the man who was to get twenty-five lashes was spared the infliction on account of illhealth, and the three other men duly received their score each yesterday. The hour fixed for the flogging was 11:45. The punishment was given, as usual, in the central corridor of the prison, and, in anticipation of it, all those prisoners who are in jail, eonvioted of violence, were brought out of their cells and stationed in the circular galleries- above, from w’hich they could command a- Mill view of the flogging, the object of the visiting Justices iu making this arrangement being, as before, that it might have ai deterring effect. In the meantime the three men who were to be flogged were brought out, and each of them placed facing a wooden frame, to which lie was, after talcing off his upper clothing, securely fastened, hand and foot. The two meny Bums and Rigby, were of comparatively small stature, but powerfully built, with: plenty of muscle and sinew, and appeared to await their punishment with considerable indiiference. The youth, Wafer, was the tallest of the three, but slim in body, and seemed likely to suffer the most. As on a previous occasion, when several men were flogged on one day, the arrangement was made that the punishmsnt of the three men should take place at the same time, each man to be flogged by a separate officer; and the strokes to fall upon one prisoner at a time in succession, until each had received his quota. The .frames were numbered A, B, and C, and aa Deputy-Governor Bishop sang out A 1, B 1, C 1, and so on, the lash was brought down on the men’s backs and shoulders in regular order, until the twenty rounds had been completed. The order in which the three men were placed formed a crescent, Burns being placed at one corner, Rigby at the other, and Wafer in the center. The man who had to administer the flogging to Burns lacked neither strength nor willingness to let the lash be felt, and Burns, although he said very little beyond giving utterance to a short exclamaiioa during the first few strokes, and complaining that he was being struck too hfgli—the ends of some of the tails once or twice in the beginning catching him on the neck and chest—undoubtedly suffered most. The man who flogged certainly miscalculated his distance, and hence the cause of the complaint made by Burns, who at one time shrieked out, “ It’s all round my neck—do you call that on my back?” Rigby endured his castigation well, and said nothing more than “Oh!” once or twice, and at one time asked to be struck fair on the back. The blows in his case were more lightly laid on than in that of Burns, but they seemed to have quite as much effect, causing him to shake and shiver a good deal. He was thankful, however, when ..the end came, and when the last stroke fell he remarked that that was what the cobbler called the last Wafer was less able than either of the other two men to bear the flogging, and after the first stroke or two he began to howl and cry and continued to do so until the end. When the three men were released their backs were in a terribly lacerated state, their right shoulders being all livid, cut and bleeding. Rigby appeared to take the matter coolly when he was being released and turned round and laughed and grinned at the prisoners standing in the galleries above, but iris bleeding back belied the genuineness of his smiles. Burns marched aiWay seemingly unconcerned, chewing a piece of lead or other substance with which he had fortified himself to sustain his courage before he was tied up. Wafer was a piteous-looking object and was led away crying. The pnsoners who witnessed the flogging from above did.-not appear to be much moved by the spectacle with the exception of- one, a, youth, who was led away in an almost fainting state. The cat-o’-nine-tails used onathis occasion were much more formidable weapons than those heretofore employed. Formerly the “ cats” were made in the prison, but yesterday whips marked with the Government stamp were brought into requisition, the handles of which' are longer and thicker and the cords longer also than the old cat o-nine-tails. The flogging only occupied about ten minutes. —Liverpool Post.