Rod (punishment)

“ A wooden grating from a hatchway is placed on end, resting against the bulwarks. All hands are called to witness punishment. Everybody must be present, from the captain to the powder boys. The prisoner is stripped naked to the waist, his feet are lashed to the bottom of the grating, and his arms are stretched out full [113] length and fastened. The face and breast are then close to the grating, with no chance remaining of moving the body. The ship's surgeon watches to see that the prisoner does not die while being punished. The boatswain's mate is on the left side. ”

“ At common law the master of a ship is entitled to inflict reasonable chastisement on a seaman for gross breach of duty. But such offences are now specially provided for by the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (§§ 220-238) ; and where the provisions of that statute are available, corporal punishment would probably be illegal. ”

“ Another man named Flood, for the offence of coming nearer than ten feet to the guard-lines, was pinned down to the earth. As this punishment is doubtless not understood by a [Pg 211] majority of readers, I will describe it. The person subjected to it is thrown to the ground, either face or back down, according to the whim of the punisher, and while held in this position, a number of stakes or wooden pins are driven in the earth around him, in such a manner as to bind him immovably to the ground. A more terrible punishment can scarcely be conceived. ”

“ If any man, with a knife or with any other weapon, struck another so as to draw blood, then he was to be punished by being ducked three times over head and ears by being let down from the yard-arm of the ship into the sea.
3. For all sorts of profane and abusive language, the punishment was a fine of an ounce of silver for each offense. ”

“ The crimes of murder and manslaughter, when committed on water, are also described as two distinct offences, in two sections, each containing a description of the place in which the offence may be committed, without any reference in the one section to the other. That section which affixes the punishment to manslaughter on the seas, proceeds to describe other offences which are accessorial in their nature, without any limitation of place. ”

“ For such misdemeanor the offender must take an arrow or spear in his hand, and approaching the chief in the most humble manner, beg his pardon, and when the latter is satisfied that sufficient penitence has been shown, he grants his forgiveness. Sometimes for very great crimes, in addition to the above ceremony they are required to make liberal presents of whales' teeth. This is in cases of murder or for enticing away another man's wife, which is always visited with the heaviest punishment. ”

“ The first crimes act of the United States provided, in section 8, for the punishment of murder or other capital offense committed 'upon the high seas, or in any river, haven, basin or bay, out of the jurisdiction of any particular state,' and, in section 12, for the punishment of any person who should 'commit manslaughter upon the high seas,' but not mentioning in that section any other waters. ”

“ For prudential reasons the knife and lanyard of a seaman is taken away when the sentence of cell confinement is passed. In his cell he has to pick a pound of oakum daily, which is weighed every night by the ship's corporal, and his food consists of bread and water, and for the greater part of the confinement he is deprived of his bedding. Let me give an amusing incident in connection with cell punishment. We had shipped at St. John's a young man as an assistant to the captain's cook. Departing from the naval rule of discipline, he received seven days' cell seclusion. ”

“ The secondary punishment consists in passing the culprit’s head through a kind of iron helmet, with two immense horns of the same metal, and locking it under the chin in such a manner as to render it extremely troublesome to the bearer, and to prevent him from eating or drinking, as long as he keeps it on. ”

“ And any person breaking out after sentence of death, shall be considered liable to that punishment for his original offence, which had been commuted, and shall suffer death accordingly. If he escape through the door of his prison, when left open, it shall not be felony, because it is the negligence of the gaoler ”

“ It is reported that six have been sentenced to be hung, while a good many others are condemned to lighter punishment, such as setting in the stocks, strung up by the thumbs, thumb screws, head hanging, etc. ”

“ III. The Court next turns to the most serious complaint of petitioners, namely, the infliction of corporal punishment. As administered at the Penitentiary, that punishment consists of blows with a leather strap five feet in length, four inches wide, and about one-fourth inch thick, attached to a wooden handle or shaft about six inches long. Ordinarily, the punishment is inflicted by the Assistant Warden having in his charge the inmate to be punished. A prisoner who is to be whipped is required to lie down on the ground fully clothed, and the blows are inflicted on his buttocks. ”

“ In our chapter on the Pillory will be found particulars of cases of mutilation of the ears. The punishment of mutilation, except to the ears of the offender, was not common for centuries before the reign of Henry VIII., but by statute 33 Henry VIII., c. 12, the penalty for striking in the King's court or house was declared to be the loss of the right hand. ”

“ Experience has shown these attempts ever to have been futile. All kinds of punishment have been tried — hanging, beheading, burning, mutilating, disemboweling, quartering, gouging out the eyes, cutting out the tongue, cropping the ears, branding, standing in the stocks, drowning, using the rack and the thumbscrew and many others which ingenuity in this direction could devise. ”

“ RIGHT TO DEMAND TRIAL.— Except in the case of a person attached to or embarked in a vessel, punishment may not be imposed under Article 15 upon any member of the armed forces who has, before the imposition of such punishment, demanded trial by court-martial in lieu of such punishment. A person is attached to or embarked in a vessel if, at the time the nonjudicial punishment is imposed, he is assigned or attached to the vessel, is one board for passage, or is assigned or attached to an embarked staff, unit, detachment, squadron, team, air group, or other regularly organized body. ”

“ The statutes, and the common law as expounded in the decisions of courts, and in the books of commentators, are express and unanimous to this point, that the captain may inflict moderate corporal chastisement, for a reasonable cause. If the punishment is excessive, or the cause not sufficient to justify it, he is answerable ”

“ In the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, a curious brank may be seen. It is not recorded in the catalogue of the collection by whom it was presented, or where it was previously used; it is described as "a gag or brank, formerly used with the ducking-stool, as a punishment for scolds." It will be noticed that a chain is attached to the front of this brank, so that the poor unfortunate woman, in addition to being gagged, had the [295] mortification of being led by the nose through the town. The gag is marked a, and b is the aperture for the nose. ”

“ Our Criminal Code describes a whipping as being a punishment of not more than 25 strokes with the cat-o'-nine-tails inflicted upon a person of not more than 16 years of age. A flogging is limited to not more than 50 strokes and not less than 25 inflicted upon a person of over 16 years. Three floggings at intervals for one offence is the maximum amount of castigation allowed. ”

“ AND when any person or persons shall be tried for the crime of murther or manslaughter committed upon the sea, by virtue of any commission directed under the said Act, and shall be found guilty of manslaughter only, such persons or person shall be entitled to receive the benefit of clergy in like manner, and shall be subject to the same punishment, as if he or they had committed such manslaughter in or upon the land. ”

“ A few minutes afterward the warders pasted up in each cage an “order of the day,” signed by the commander, wherein it was stated that in accordance with a decision of the court-martial, the four convicts who had attempted to escape in the harbor of Santa Cruz were about to receive forty lashes of the “cat.”
This instrument of torture, which is only used for the punishment of prisoners under sentence of penal servitude, is composed of five thongs of plaited whipcord, thirty inches long and about an inch thick. At the end of each thong are three knots, with small balls of lead. ”

“ BRANK AND DRUNKARD'S CLOAK, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
"He, this deponent, further affirms, that he [203] hath seen men drove up and down the streets, with a great tub or barrel opened in the sides, with a hole in one end to put through their heads, and so cover their shoulders and bodies, down to the small of their legs, and then close the same, called the new-fashioned cloak, and so make them march to the view of all beholders; and this is their punishment for drunkards and the like."
Several other forms of punishment are mentioned by Gardner. ”

“ They are mounted on horseback, with their legs manacled or bound under the horse’s belly, and a portion of their punishment is administered at several of the most public places in the town, by an executioner dressed in red, and with a veil over his face. ”

“ In conspicuous view are the articles for inflicting punishment; a wooden ruler to be applied to the head of the offender and sometimes to the hands, also a rattan stick for the body. Flogging with this stick is the heaviest punishment allowed ”

“ Prompt punishment follows the perpetration of crime, and from time to time the presence of a gunboat serves to remind the savages along the coast of the power of their masters. Not more than two years ago the Fort Rupert Indians were severely punished for refusing to deliver up certain animals demanded by the civil magistrate. ”

“ When the signal is made for punishment, all the ships in the fleet send one or two boats each, with crews cleanly dressed, the officers in full uniform, and marines under arms. These boats collect at the side of the ship where the launch is lying, the hands are turned up, and the ship’s company are ordered to mount the rigging, to witness that portion of the whole punishment which, after the sentence has been read, is inflicted upon the prisoner. ”

“ In the centre sits the judge with his ministers, all sabre in hand, and the guilty are dragged before them by the hair or feet. In the distance is visible a furnace and another crowd of people under punishment, being tortured in divers ways—impaled, roasted on spits, tied to trees and pierced with arrows, suspended with heavy weights attached to their hands and feet, devoured by dogs or vultures, or crucified with nails through their bodies. ”

“ Thus, if a Man dares to strike another in the King’s Court, or within two hundred feet from the Palace Gate (which kind of offence has been always looked upon by Kings as a great piece of insolence) all the different Officers in the Kitchen are to co-operate in the Man’s punishment. The Serjeant of the Wood-yard is to bring a block of wood to fasten the Culprit’s hands to: for the punishment is no less than to have it cut off. ”

“ I listened to this infernal recital of an instance of the summary punishment termed “Lynch Law,” to which the unavailability of the statute law so often drove the early settlers, and which, unfortunately for the fair character of the South and West, is not yet entirely abolished.
The sailor must again have moved his foot closer than agreeable to the snake, for his infernal rattling recommenced, and this time clear, loud, and continuous to the tutored ear, indicating great danger, the prelude to a fatal spring.
I shook off my lethargy, and shrieked out, “Don't move for your life! a light! ”

“ If it be so that the offender be apprehended for an ox, sheep, kine, horse, or any such cattle, the self beast or other of its kind shall have the end of the rope tied somewhere unto them, so that they, being driven, do draw out the pin, whereby the offender is executed."
In the illustration we give, which is a reproduction of an old picture, it will be observed that a horse is drawing the rope to loosen the pin, and to allow the axe to fall and cut off the head of the victim. ”

“ The punishment inflicted is usually a severe castigation, and the destruction by fire of his cabin. Sometimes, in cases of reiterated theft or murder, death is considered necessary; and, in some instances, delinquents of the worst species have been shot, after which their heads have been stuck on poles, to deter others from following their example. I shall give you an account of one of these desperadoes, as I received it from a person who had been instrumental in bringing him to punishment.
The name of Mason is still familiar to many of the navigators of the Lower Ohio and Mississippi. ”

“ So long as the law ordained that removal to a far-off land should be the invariable fate of every offender who escaped "vertical punishment," as hanging was sometimes styled, we must certainly find the most notable criminals in the stream setting unceasingly southward. ”

“ An attack on a servant with a knife is punished by forfeiture of the knife and a fine of half a florin, and a penalty of a florin (divided among the four victims) is inflicted for entering a house with arms and wounding the fingers of some of its inhabitants. A ruffian of noble birth, who had been guilty of gross immorality and of violence, declines to appear in the Rector's Court, and is duly sentenced to expulsion. ”

“ A punishment much in vogue during the middle ages for those who were guilty of stabbing with intent to wound, but without causing death, was sufficiently terrible. The hand which had dealt the blow was placed upon a table with the fingers spread out, and the weapon which had been used was struck violently into the back of the hand, pinning it to the table, and the criminal had to draw his hand away without removing the knife. ”