Page:The Negro a menace to American civilization.djvu/251

Rh undergoing the ordeal, he fainted, and dropped as far as the ropes with which he was tied would permit. While he hung thus against the post, the jailer con- tinued to swing the " cat " across his shoulders until the full number of lashes had been given. Spencer was still unconscious when unbound and carried away into the jail. He Danced and Screamed A slight strain of comedy was injected into the affair by the action of Theodore Walcott and Albert Turner, two negroes convicted of larceny. Walcott had stolen a pair of shoes, and his outcries and pleadings for mercy continued from the moment he was led from the jail until the last lash had fallen across his bare body. He danced and screamed as the whip struck him, calling out all sorts of promises to the jailer who was handling the " cat," and making offers of number- less compromises. His whipping was fairly light, and he only received ten lashes, but from the protests and outcries of the man it might have been inferred that the heaviest punishment of the day was being given him. As the last stroke fell upon his shoulders, he yelled : " I'll never steal another pair of shoes, mister, as long as I live." " Well, see that you never steal anything as long as you live," said the jailer, grimly. '' This post will be waiting for you all the time." Albert Turner, who received twenty lashes for steal- ing, also showed that the punishment was effective. He danced around the post so quickly that in several cases the lashes missed him and struck the post. He danced away from the warden, who was whipping him, repeatedly, and had to be driven back with cuts upon the other side. He was crying bitterly when released from the post. Still there are those who say that the American negro is a long-suffering being and only rarely guilty