Willmar tribune. [volume], May 03, 1905, Image 3

About Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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Value of the Yellow Pine in
the Southwest
The Bareaa Ferestfy 0 Stsrfyiag This lasertaat Tree
i* Celerede, Arisen* aai Ntw Mealce.
in the lumber trade is frequently called
white pine. The tree furnishes material
for all kinds of local construction the
towns of Durango, Albuquerque and
Flagstaff are monuments to its exceed
ing usefulness and value. The quantity
of western yellow pine lumber shipped
to other parts of the country at present
is small, but it is rapidly increasing.
Owing to the distance from the eastern
markets shipments are largely in the
form of highly finished.material, such as
doors and moulding. These enter into
successful competition in the Chicago
luarrket with similar products made of
white pine, which the better grades of
western yellow pine much resemble.
In the southwest this species is found
scattered over the slopes of the Rocky
mountains at altitudes between 6,000
and 9,000 feet. There are three regions,
however, where it extends over large
areas in practically pure sands.
The first of these is in extreme south*
western Colorado and northwestern
New Mexico. Here a belt of western
yellow piue forest. 25 miles wide, runs
northwest and southeast for 100 miles.
There are six important mills operating
ta this territory, supported mainly by
Denver trade and capital. A great part
of the product of these mills is consumed
in Colorado. The Denver & Rio Grande
railroad affords the principal means of
:ransportation, and is one of the largest
users of the timber for ties, bridges and
general construction work.
The third and largest region occupies'
a strip from 20 to 50 miles wide and over
300 miles long, extending from central
Arizona southeast into New Mexico.
The greater part of this tract is includ
ed within federal forest reserves. The
timber is practically continuous over
tba whole section, and is pure yellow
pine, if canyons, mountain tops, and
some dry slopes, where spruce, fir and
juniper occur, are excepted. This is the
argest area of pure pine forest in the
southwest. Owing to the varied to
pography and to local conditions, the
stand of timber is not uniform, but at
its best it approaches or equals that of
the Zuni mountains.
There are two large mills in Arizona
cutting the pine from private lands
within the boundaries of the forest re
serve.
Fire, overgrazing and drought are the
principal evils with which the pine for^
ests of the southwest have to contend.
Fires have been universal, though of
late they usually have been confined to
restricted areas. One fire rarely does
serious damage to mature timber, but
many of the old trees now standing are
more or less injured by repeated burn
ings, and where conditions have been
favorable, as in dense stands with much
undergrowth and litter, mature timber
has occasionally been killed outright.
The greatest fire loss has been through
the destruction of young pines from a
few inches in height to trees under six
inches in diameter.
3
&
OMMERCIALLY the most
important tree of Arizona,
New Mexico and southwest
ern Colorado is the western
yellow pine. It is known
locally as Black Jack, and
Tho second region is in west central
New Mexico, in the Zuni mountains.
This timber area is smaller than the
former—only 50 miles in length by 18
miles wide. The stand of pine is more
uniform than that of the Colorado for
est, however, and over a large part of
the yea it is of better development.
The Colorado timber is estimated to
yield from 3.000 to 4,000 board feet per
acre the Zuni timber will average from
4,000 to 6,000 board feet per acre.
Stands of from 10,000 to 25,000 feet per
acre occur quite frequently in the Zuni
mountains, but are rare in Colorado.
Lumbering has just commenced in the
Zuni mountains, and only one mill of
consequence is working at present. The
logs are hauled by rail over 100 miles
•.o the mill. The output will be largely
finished material, which will be con
sumed locally, or shipped to near-by
states and into Mexico.
Overgrazing is a serious hivJrance to
tree reproduction. It is an.evil of com
paratively recent development, and its
effects are most frequently seen in the
forest of the lower elevations, where
there is 'less moisture than is found
further up in the mountains. Larg»
banals of sheep passing and repassing
over restricted areas destroy young pine
seedlings in great juunber by trampling
them, and, during years of drought,
when the growth of forage is scant, the
sheep are forced by hunger to eat many
plants they would other-vise neglect.
Under these circumstance* young pines
are stripped of their buds and foliage,
and are either killed or badly stunted
in growth.
CHARACTER OP TIMBER IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO.
Drought is perhaps the principal fac
tor in determining the distribution of
this pine on the lower elevations. Ordi
narily yellow pine produces seed plenti
ful!/ every second or third year, but
ft*
4
in this section drought often Interferes
with the development of the seed or
prevents their germination. If a good
seed year meets a moist season excellent
reproduction results, but if drought con
tinues for several years, seeds are not
produced or very many of the seedlings
die. Yellow pine is, however, a hardy
tree, and if the seedlings obtain a year's
growth a good number may live through
succeeding droughts.
The study which has brought out
these facts reveals conditions and pos
sibilities of great importance to Col
orado, Arizona and New Mexico. The
forests of this region are a valuable
source of lumber.for home use and for
the maintenance'of important Indus
tries. The timber is good, the forests
are easily logged, and industries other
than farming and grazing are needed
for a rounded development of the region.
Without these forests the railroads also
would be forced to haul their construc
tion supplies long distances. Most of
the land in the forested area is too high
to be irrigated, but if the tree growth
is fostered the land which it occupies
may become an important factor in the
conservation of water for the develop
ment of agriculture in adjacent regions.
The rainfall in this section is largely
the product of brief, heavy thunder
storms, or it comes as snow during the
winter. Gentle, continuous rains are
rare. This condition emphasizes the
need for a forest cover on all the slopes,
for when the hills are bared by injudi
cious lumbering, fire, or overgrazing,
the storm waters rush rapidly to the
bottom bearing great quantities of soil
and rock, or the snow melts with unde
sirable rapidity under the direct rays
of the sun.
For successful reproduction of pine
on lumbered areas, fire and overgraz
ing, the two controllable agencies most
destructive at the seedling stage, must
be controlled. On the most slopes and
high elevations seed bearing and repro
duction are relatively abundant, forage
plants are plentiful, and water holes and
streams are numerous, hence there i3
little danger to seedlings from tram
pling or browsing as is evidenced by
the very excellent reproduction often
found in places which have been sheep
grazed for years. Here fires are the
greatest danger, as there is more grass
and litter to feed them than at lower
levels and on dry slopes. A very care
ful fire patrol of such territory, keeping
close watch on sheep herders and
campers during the periods when the
forest is free from snow, will insure
TYPICAL. PINE TREE IN COLORADO.
good reproduction of pine over these
moist areas.
On the lower and drier slopes over
grazing is the most destructive agent
working against reproduction. Good
seed years are less frequent, the quanti
ty of seed is smaller, and the conditions
for germir.4tion are often very poor, sc
that reproduction is meager as com
pared to other areas. Owing to the
scant growth of grass and the light
isolated litter due to the open condi
tion of the forest here, fires are infre*
quent and very restricted in extent, and
the grazing further reduces the ability
of fire to spread by reducing the amount
of inflammable material. Scant foraga
and isolated watering places cause a
closer working of localities adjacent to
such watering places. Trampling and
browsing of seedlings are the determin
ing factors of reproduction on these
areas. By regulating the number of
sheep to be pastured on any given area,
limiting the length of the grazing sea
son, keeping the bands of sheep mov
ing, and not allowing them to be held
on small tracts near water holes chosen
as handy camping places by %\xe herders,
the greater part.of the danger from
o\«rgrazing can be avoided or reduced
to a minimum, and a fair reproduction
can be secured in these least favorable
localities.
Almost.*
"Is he a finished musician?"
"Not quite he has half a
ticket leff.'"—Judge.
PV r-i-rv i£,.i
meal*
these stuffs none meet with the ap
proval given the Shantung pongees,
those rough, durable silks that come
to us from the Flowery Kingdom.
Suits and gowns, are made of pon
gee, and at the watering places there
will be seen some white pongees of
much style and beauty. For motor
coat, traveling cloak, elaborate wrap
and simple, pongee makes appeal. The
design illustrated here is a blue pon
gee trintmed with braid of the same
color. Mark the short sleeve with
turned-back cuff and lace ruffle, and
the small down-drooping hat. This
costume would be suitable for many
BLUE PONGEE COSTUME.
different kinds of social affairs, and,
minus the lace, would look trim for a
traveling frock.
Mohair, especially in the invisible
weaves, promises to be the thing for
outing wear. Panama cloth, a cross
between canvas and wool, is advanc
ing rapidly in esteem. The shops are
full of summer suits made of this ma
terial It is rather wiry and of sum
mer'weight. ,/
Little silk jackets, long silk wraps,
frivolous boleros, of silk will again be
fashionable, and interfere somewhat
with the reign of the one-piece suit
The covert coat continues in style
there is noticeable but little change in
this garment the shoulder a trifle
shorter, the bust a trifle higher, sleeves
maybe a little fuller at the top.
,-Et-V.
ftiA#f*Siifi4mJ*p
EPARATE white waists are
to be worn the coming sum
mer, and never has there
been offered such a variety
and such lovely ones. Dain
tiness characterizes them
rather than ussiness, tiny tucks, fine
embroidered stocks, elbow sleeves of
considerable fullness distinguish the
lingerie waist of 1905.
They are just the thing to wear with
the suit costume, 'as the skirt and coat
combinations are now called. For
morning demands the strictly tailored
shirt waist is best choice, but for after
noon wear nothing can improve on the
lingerie waist. It will appear at church,
matinee, even in the evening. So count
as a necessary part of this season's
wardrobe a goodly stock of lingerie
waists.
What materials? Anythingand every
thing organdie, crepe de chine, chiffon,
plain net over thin wash silk—and this
very effective—silk batiste, silk dimity,
pongee. We must repeat that the el
bow is the popular sleeve, and announce
that there are strong leanings towards
the rather low neck.- But only those
with almost perfect throat can attempt
the trying fashion of the round neck
the average woman will have to content
herself with a sheer chemisette that
will give the effect of coolness without
unbecoming display of the neck.
When the sleeve is long, the cuff is
very deep—some one refers to it as the
jester's cuff, tight-fitting and long. Al
though dressmakers on the other side
have tried to impose on us the angular
square shoulder, they have not succeed
ed to the extent desired. For which we
may congratulate ourselves the short
shoulder would have called for tight
lacing, to give the tapering waist we
may wear the medium long shoulder
with satisfaction, and need not draw
the waist in uncomfortably, although
there certainly is a tendency towards
smaller waists.
We show a design having the St. Ce
cilia neck, eojlarless. It is of daffodil
yellow thin stuff, the yoke almost con-
s-.-i^r^
tt^w ^A**
TWO SUMMER WAISTS.
Pongee No a Favored Material
HERE are indications that
this is to be an early sea
son already on the streets
we see spring hats crop
ping out, people are buying
summer stuffs. And of
With the new style hat for spring
the short veil will be more appropriate
than the long wound-about one or the
wide flying sort. Dots, which have
been so large all winter, may continue
for Summer
cealed in embroidery In different yel
lows—golden-brown silk, gold thread
and a dull yellow. The long cuffs are
trimmed in the same manner, the seek
is finished with the embroidery, the
puffs on the sleeves are very full. This
waist is to accompany a suit of brown
voile, the whole an exquisite harmony of
browns and yellows.
The other waist is of white filmy
stuff, the trimming the revived bertha.
The bertha nowadays is not worn low,
however if we do not adopt the
squared shoulders, we have gotten
away from the exaggerated droop at
the top of the sleeve.
Crepe de chine, which cleans easily
and is a very beautiful material, is a
happy selection for one of these waists.
A New York designer displayed one
lately of unusual attractiveness. It
was of twilight blue and trimmed with
embroidery of silver thread and blue
silk floss. It was made on the sur
plice style, with a chemisette of gauze
embroidered in silver, the long fitted
cuffs having the same decoration. An
other exquisite model was of the fash
ionable conch-shell pink.
Two-piece negligees are shown for
summer wear, petticoats and loose
sacks. They are sometimes made of
China silk, and challis, which is cheap
and very pretty, is frequently em
ployed in this lounging costume. The
skirts do not trail, are made about
two inches from the ground both skirt
and sack are much befrilled and be
laced. Thin lawns would be very suit
able for hot weather wear.
Color combinations are above every
thing artistic, the "stylish color"
seems shoved in th§ background by
really artistic sense of beauty. We
mention two of the new robes on view
a simple suit of dull gray crepe »de
chine, with chemisette of old yellow
embroidered batiste, a lingerie hat of
yellow embroidery trimmed with dull
red roses a costume of brown pon
gee with collar, cuffs and sleeve ruffle
of cream val, hat of brown corded
silk.
their present size, but the prophecy is
the other way. It is a little hard at
present to affirm what will and what
will not obtain.
With the leturn to the close-fitting
waist there returns the attempt to
bring into favor the princess evening
gown. The very deeply pointed Louis
XV. bodice that came in early in the
winter, during the summer will hold
sway, even an exaggerated point in the
front has been noticed at one of the
best dressmaking shops Old-fash
ioned ,flowered organdies and silks,
have come in and add their part to the
quaintness striven after.
Embroidered batiste is to be used
extensively, and will be liked particu
larly for chemisettes and deep cuffs.
Hats of this material will be among
the lingerie headgear which is to
adorn maid and matron as perhaps
never before. It seems as if each sea
son there is less and less difference
between the costume of child and
grown-up. Embroidered, washable
belts crept' in. last year, and this year
show more boldness, fill counters and
shelves.
Linen is to be very prominent as a
coat material, its vogue, of course, the
midsummer days. Long linen coats
are to be had, the trimming the omni
present eyelet embroidery. Deep col
lars and cuffs give the plainest linen
suit a pretty touch.
ELLEN OSMONDE.
Science Applied)to Humor.
"For Heaven's sake, doctor, give me
something quick. I'm going to die."
What have you swallowed?"
-Nearly a whole page of a newspa
per."
"What page was it?"
"The joke page, doctor. Hurry, hur
ry."
"Calm yourself, sir. We will put the
X-ray on those jokes and possibly you
can digest them then."—-Cincinnati
Commercial Tribune.
The Customary Solution.
"Why do yon have so many rattle
snakes in your village?" asked the vis
iting owl.
"Well," replied the prairie dog, "wa
can't suppress the rattlesnake evil, of
course, but we1 regulate it."
"How do you regulate it?"
"Why, we let them settle down among
us wherever they choose, and then we—
we ostracize them socially and keep out
of their way."—Chicago Tribune.
In the Duelling Zone.
Patience—How did the duel coma
off?
Patrice—There wasn't any. You see
each of the principals chose a girlfriend
for a second, but the seconds were so
long dressing that the principals got
tired and called the bbut off.—Yonkers
Statesman.
S5P^H '3w^?R
3»V
Vti#tiW»WW8!K?&
I PORTRAIT I
WO children, a boy and a girl,
stood before a painting that hung
upon the wall. The boy gazed with all
his soul in his eyes, dimly conscious,
perhaps, of what the picture would
some day mean to him. It represented
a soldier mounted on a black charger,
and the man's face was eager, ardent
and earnest. With sword in his uplift
ed hand he seemed unplng men to bat
tle.
The little girl indifferently glanced
at the portrait from time to time. She
had seen it so many times, and then,
too, patriotism had not yet awakened
in her undisciplined little heart. She
was proud in the thought, however,
that she possessed something of ab
sorbing interest to her new neighbor.
Finally, she began to relate the story
she had heard so often.
"You see, it's a really true man, and
he painted himself on papa's horse.
Those are the clothes he wore in bat
tle—"
"Humph!" said the boy scornfully,
looking at her with the superiority de
rived from his sex and his four years'
seniority. "Those aren't fighting
clothes, Lucile! He's on parade."
Lucile wondered vaguely'what that
might be and then begged him to
"come and piay."
They played for many a day to come,
and then the boy's parents moved to
another city.
Seven years later he came back for a
visit. He had now attained the great
age of 17 and when he had met his
former playmate, who had just proudly
entered upon her "teens." that long
looked-for period, he said most con
descendingly:
"Why, this must be little Lucile Fel
ton!"
Straightway Lucile felt she hated
him and they spent a few weeks of
turbulent companionship in strife.
"I thought you were going to be a
sOMier," she said one day, "like the
man on horseback in the picture!"
"What's the use of being a soldier?"
he laughed. "There are. no wars. I'd
rather be the man that painted the pic
ture than the soldier hp represents.
Let's go and look at it again."
"Papa gave it away—to the man
who gave him the horse."
Ten years passed before Paul Willis
saw his little playmate again. It was
evening of a summer day at a fash
ionable watering place. He had just
arrived and was instantly surrounded
SHE GAZED INTENTLY
PICTURE.
AT THE
by a group of old-time friends who
claimed his attentibn and recognition
•fter his years of foreign travel. Look
ing beyond the little group about him
into the ballroom, his roving gaze was
instantly caught and held by the
vision of a girl with a pair of won
derful dark and deep eyes, an exquisite
face and a quiet dignity in the carriage
of her svelte figure.
"Who is she?" he asked of the man
nearest him, and evdh before the an
swer came he knew the name would
be "Lucile Felton."
"Look out!" he was warned, "Lucile
cannot be accused of flirting, but she
attracts all men and always turns them
down."
She saw him coming across the room
and knew him by the winsome brown
eyes that were still the eyes of the
little boy she had. played with years
before.,
"Oh, yes!" she said carelessly, as he
recalled himself to her memory. "I
remember all my old playmates."
Then she turned to a man immacu
late in evening dress who claimed ner
for the waltz.
Paul Willis stood gazing after them,
all his ardor and impetuosity dam
pened by her nonchalent greeting. She
smiled softly to herself through the
waltz. The "little" Lucile Felton at
13 had at last been avenged. All the
evening he watched her dancing and
chatting with her partners, always gay
and careless. His whole heart went
out to her!
Just before the last dance he found
an opportunity to speak with her
alone. He was tongue-tied from this
,new, strange feeling.
"Are your parents well?" he finally
asked abruptly. A shadow came over
her face. The fan she had trembled.
"Did you not know? They died four
years ago."
"Forgive me—I did not know," he
said.
"And the old home," she continued,
lifting saddened eyes to his, "burned
down and all its contents."
She was more beautiful still with this
sudden, sorrow in her eyes.
"And you—where is your home?"
"I live with my sister, Mrs. Lothrop,
in your home city."
Then others came up to her and he
was outside the little circle.
But the next day and the many that
followed showed no more of her mo
mentary softening, and she resumed
her old careless manner toward him.
The season ended, and they both re
turned to the city, where he became
a frequent caller, at Mrs. Lothrop's.
Always was the longing in his heart,
but Lucile did not relax.
Her sister chided her one night after
he had left them.
"He loves you, Lucile," she re
proached.
"Oh, I don't know," said the girl,
turning away her lustrous eyes. "They.
say he has always been sought after
by wemen. but is never serious." ,/„
"That's what they say of you,
Lucile," returned Mrs. 'Lothrop, ac
cusingly.
But Luclfe was humming a gay little
French chanson, and made no re
sponse.
Paul Willis stood before his easel,
gazing at the unfinished picture—the
picture of a fair-haired boy and a per
fect darling of a little girl, who were
both looking up at the wall. One of
his old photographs had served as nis
model for the lad's portrayal, and love
had brought to his memory her child
ish face, but the picture that was to
hang on the wall he could only dimly
recall. The subject and the attitude
of the man on the horse that had so
stirred his young fancy were in his
memory, but not perfectly enough to
transfer to canvas.
The next day, while rummaging
through the old stock of a picture
dealer's he saw a small painting in
antique frame that brought forth an
exclamation of surprise and joy.,
"Where did you get this?" he cried
"A lady sold it to me," replied the
dealer. "She had met with reverses
and—"
"Do you know where she got it?"
,v "Yes. Sl|e said the man who once
owned the original of the horse in the
picture gave it to her."
Willis secured the prize, and hast
ened to his studio, painting "the pic
ture on the wall" with haste and skill.
It was Lucile's birthday. She was
glancing with a half pleasure and half
humor at the array of books, flowers
and confectionery that covered the
library table when a maid brought her
in a note.
"There is a great, big package just
come," she announced, "shall I have it
fetched in here?"
"Wait!" and Lucile opened the en
velope and scanned the note.
"Oh, Ethel!" she cried to her sister.
"Paul Willis has sent me a picture—
one he painted! Yes (to the maid)
have them bring it in here and opened
here,"
She was not a little excited and curi
ous. Paul was attracting notice in the
world of art and to possess one of his
pictures was a privilege. What would
the subject be?
When the final wrappings were re
moved, she stood before it silent and
memory-moved.
Her sister gave a little cry of pleas
ure.
"Oh, Lucile! I understand how he
could paint you, but how could he re
member that picture—the one we all
loved so and we were so provoked when
papa gave it away. Why, Paul was a
mere child when he saw it!"
The maid now brought in a second
package, a small picture, with explan
atory note.
Lucile unpacked the portrait—the
one thing left to her from her eld
home.
Later, when Paul Willis called, he
found her still standing before the pic
ture he had painted. He stood beside
her as they had stood in their child
hood, only now she was gazing intent
ly at the picture, while his eyes were
upon her.
She began to fear lest he should hear
her heart-beats.
"Paulj" she said tremulously, "I l^re
it so!"
"Lucile!" he said in low, passionate
tones, "Lucile, love me, too, can't you?
I have loved you so long!"
"Paul," very softly, "I have loved
you since the night at the ball."
"Lucile!"
lie gathered her in his arms.
"But you were so cold—so indifferent
—always Lucile!" he said presently.
"How could you hurt me so?"
"I was afraid," she murmured, "that
you did not really care. I hoped you
did, and then I remembered your tone
once when you said: 'And this muse
be little Lucile Felton!'" His laugh
was good to hear.
And the children so long separated
were again united.—N. O. Times-Dem
ocrat.
THE MARAUDER.
There came a beggar to my door,
A comely little lad,
With, sun-kissed hair and azure eyes.
With pensive mien, and sad.
So meek he seemed—so poor—alone.
I wept at such ill-faring—
Regardez! When he entered In
He proved a robber daring.
He barred the door, he barred the pane,
(Defenseless quite he found me),
A prisoner in my own demesne.
With braggart oaths he bound me.
He mocked my tears, he stole my heart,
With jest and gibe to flout me
With rose-leaf strung on rose-leaf red
He wove his chains about me.
Quoth he: "Such sorry garb as yours
No thief would deign to borrow!"
He stripped me of my Cynic's robe,
Of Loneliness and Sorrow.
He found my store of Doubts and Fears,
Made loot to merry measure
He scattered far to left and right
A hoard of doleful treasure.
He sealed my lips with kisses three.
And swore he'd stay no longer.
But though he made to loose my chains
I felt the links grow stronger.
Ay, strong as steel, tbese shackles sweet
I would not break nor sever—
A prisoner in my own demesne,
Love holds me fast forever.
—Meribah Philbrick-Reed. in Life.
PHOTOGRAPHING AN OWL.
Easy of Accomplishment If a Dog Be/
Brought to View of the
Bird.
The great horned owl may also be
fascinated by a dog, writes Silas A. Lot
tridge, in "The Great Horned Owl," in
St. Nicholas. And the photographing
of the great horned owl under these con
ditions is not difficult wait until the
owl seizes the fowl and stops to rest on
the return to the woods then let a dog
be led to within 20 or 80 feet of the owl,
and the bird will be all attention Jor
the dog and take no apparent notice of
the person leading it. The behavior of
the owl at such times is very amusing.
It stands motionless, gazing intently at
the dog but after a few minutes, if the
dog remains quiet, the bird seems'to
become nervous, and steps first to one
side and then to the other, hissing, snap
ping its beak, and ruffling its feathers.
After this the owl will usually try to
make off with its prey but if another
halt is made, the bird's actions show
even more nervousness. While the
owl's attention is thus attracted is the
time to approach within "photo-dis
tance" to get the "snan-gkota,"
:w%WAif^ytei
this and similar public chastisement.
The little state of Delaware—cer
tainly not in obedience to the law that
large bodies move slowly—looks with
favor on an ancient punitive form
in this day of kindergarten methods,
disapproving of corporal punishment,
makes use of the whipping-pogt, but
now surrenders the pillory. At Dover,
Wilmington and Salisbury, offenders
whose crimes seem to merit the cat
o-nine-tails get what they have given
the wife-beater is himself beaten. The
warden administers the blows, and
doubtless the punished cringes as did
his victim.
The police in Delaware towns affirm
that since the whipping law went into
effect again there has been noticed
USING CAT-O'-NINE-TAILS AT DOVER,
DELAWARE.
fewer assaults by intoxicated hus
bands, "which shows that even when
under the influence of liquor the
shadow of the pillory has an effect
upon men." s.
Other states, moved to it by the
many cases of wife-beating, have pro
posed a like return to the whipping
post. Such a bill was proposed in the
Massachusetts legislature and also in
the legislature of Connecticut. A few
years ago there was introduced in the
Maryland legislature a bill embracing
the adoption of the whipping-post as
a method for punishing wife-beaters,
which had the effect of almost entire
ly doing away with the beating in
that state.
The man that has strenuously advo
cated such a measure is himself a
bachelor, but a bachelor that stands
up valiantly for defenseless women—
Congressman Adams, of Pennsylvania.
When years ago, Mr. Adams, as a
member of the legislature of Penn
sylvania-, introduced a bill providing
for the punishment of wife-beaters at
the whipping-post, he brought down
upon himself an avalanche of criti
cism. It was contended that his pro
posed measure was unconstitutional
under the prohibition of cruel a»d un
usual punishments. Philanthropists
decried it as opposed to the humane
spirit of the age. The police and
police magistrates seemed the'only
approvers, but Mr. Adams "declared
that it would only be.a matter of time
when there would be a general dis
position to regard it seriously as the
most effective check upon a mean and
cowardly crime." ^Recently he has
taken opportunity to bring forward
in congress consideration of such a
measure, and had the gratification of
having President Roosevelt's expressed
views on the subject agree with his
own.
QueerPunishmentsObtaining
in This Country
Berrewei frea Metier EaglaaJ Tfcey Were BetafaMi ler Jfaay
Yeats—Sigas el Sem Islam te Oliem
HE agitation concerning
giving wife-beaters a
stinging taste of their own
medicine, the revival of
the whipping-post, brings
up the whole question of
The Delaware whipping-post at
Dover is an octagonal pillar, seven feet
WIFE-BEATER IN PILLORY.
in height, made of heavy boards
nailed around a post. The culprit to
be whipped is held to the post by
heavy handcuffs. The one at Wil
mington is an oaken structure, and
consists of a tall, square post with a
narrow platform which has been used
for a .pillory. When a person is to
be whipped his upraised arms are
thniijt through two straps below the
platform. The whip is a stout wooden
stock, to which are attached nine
knotty leathern thongs.
Alice Morse Earle in her book.
"Curious Punishments of Bygone
Days," tells us some interesting things
about the way our, forefathers dealt
with offenders. We are introduced,
among other modes the colonials em
ployed against refractory members of
society, to the ducking-stool, the pil
lory, and the whipping-post. Con
cerning the last the author humorous
ly remarks: "As a good sound British
institution, and to have familiar,
home-like surroundings in the new
strange land, the whipping-post was,
promptly set up, and the whip set
at work in all the American colonies.
Red skins and white skins alike suf
fered. Often the scourgings took
place on the Sabbath. Boston adopted
the post unhesitatingly, and used it
both for offenses slight and those
grievous. One man received sentence
to be whipped for stealing a loaf of
bread oue»for shooting a fowl on the
Sabbath one for swearing one for
leaving a boat without a pilot. There
is record, 1,643, of a certain Roger
Scott that received sentence for re
peated sleeping on the Lord's Day.
and for striking the person that*
waked him from his godless slumbers.
A slanderer went to the whipping
post, likewise one that indulged in
love-making when because of "young
years" or "weake estate" he was un
fit for marriage. Women, too, were
given lashes—for slanderous talk, un
seemly conduct, for the gift of proph
ecy. Even under a tolerant Roger
Williams, larceny, drunkenness and
perjury were punished by whipping.
In the southern colonies the whipping
post was in common use.
Although the whipping occurred in
the colonial days with what seems to
us shameful frequency, there was soma
limit put upon it not sore than 40
stripes were permitted ^s one sen
tence, and it was decreed that no
"true gentleman" should be punished
with whipping unless his crime was
very shameful and his course of life
profligate. A man and his servant
Were convicted of stealing corn tho
former had the Mister removed from
his name the latter was whipped.
Slaves were corrected at the whip
ping-post. When the civil war put an
end to slavery, the post fell into dis
uso in the south, save in Maryland.
Delaware, too, retained it for some
time. These states have been con
demned for keeping it, but Delaware
to-day stoutly maintains that it is
the one thing that successfully deals
with wife-beaters and other cruel
criminals.
Perhaps as ignominious a punish
ment as ever was invented was the
pillory, concerning which Hawthorne
declares there can be no outrage more
flagrant than to forbid the culprit to
hide his face for shame. Forced to
stand in the most public spot in the
village, with the head held in a vise,
the culprit must have been very
hardened indeed that did not feel
broken in spirit. Often the rabble
made a target of the victim, who,
wholly defenseless, had to endure
double torture. History tells us not
only of criminals being pilloried in
England, but of martyrs of note, Pur
itans and also tnose made to suffer
during the Reformation. In New Eng
land the pillory was commonly em-
WHIPPIXG-POST AND PILLORY.
ployed, and also in the southern
states the offenses that would bring
one to this disgrace were numerous
cheating, stealing, making counterfeit
money, "regrating" (speculating, re
selling), perjury. The pillory lin
gered on in this country for awhile
after the beginning of the nineteenth
century.
We have come to regard the duck
ing-stool as a mode of punishment in
stituted for subduing women scolds,
but history tells us scolds of both
sexes were subjected to its ignominy.
Brawling married couples went into
the water back to back, wife-beaters
were cooled off by its means, and it
was used in the puishment of various
offenders slanderers, "makebayts,
chyderers," brawlers, raiders and
others. Brewers of bad beer, bakers
of poor bread, unruly paupers, were
ducked. A Frenchman, traveling in
England in 1700, describes, in spright
ly French fashion, the ducking-stool:
"The way of punishing scolding women
is pleasant enough. They fasten an
arm-chair to the end of two beams
12 to 15 feet long, and parallel to each,
other, so that these two pieces of wood
with their ends embrace the chair,
which hangs between them by a sort
of axle, by^ which means it plays
freely, and always remains in the nat
ural horizontal position in which a
chair should be, that a person may
sit conveniently in it, whether you
raise it or let it down. They set up
a post on the bank of a pond or river,
and over this post they lay, almost
in. equilibrio, the two pieces of wood,
at one end of which the chair hangs
just over the water. They place the
woman in this chair and so plunge
her into the water as often as the
sentence directs, in order to cool her
immediate heat-." New England even
tually, and. southern localities early,
made use of the ducking-stool.
The Puritans hating sin, but, being
mortal, prone thereto, sought to stamp
with publicity those that erred. We
all know of the Scarlet Letter inflicted
upon Hester Prynne. Thus New
Plymouth dealt with such as she:
They must wear "two Capitall Letters.
A. D., cut in scarlet cloth and sewed
on thetr uppermost garment on the
Arm and Back and if any time they
"shall be found without the letters so
worn while in this government, they
shall be forthwith taken and publicly
whipt" The scarlet letter was used
for other crimes than Hester's: a
woman that blasphemed had to Wear
a red B, a drunkard a D.
Time goes on and ideals change,
and what yesterday was considered fit,
to-day appears unbelievably, cruel, un
necessary. And yet we find ourselves
siding with Delaware as to the proper
punishment for "the mean and cow
ardly crime of wife-beatipg." I
CHRISTOPHER WEBSTTO.
-j