charg’d with some other crime, but refusing
to plead, was press’d to death.”

It will be observed from this account that
the magistrate confined his activities to set-
ting up the “hue and cry”, which amounted
to a sort of fox-hunt, with the wanted
person taking the part of the fox and the
local inhabitants as the hounds. Those with
any common sense no doubt directed their
chase in the direction of the nearest bar
parlour, and remained there until the
excitement died down!

In the absence of an efficient police force,
it was left to the complainant himself to
publish and circulate the description of his
missing property; and it appears to have
been due entirely to these efforts on his
part that he recovered it. Much use was
made of informers and thief-takers in those
times, and they, as usual with their type,
worked impartially for either side, selling
themselves to the highest bidder. The in-
famous Jonathan Wild was the most
notorious representative of their class. For
many years he held undisputed sway over
London’s criminal classes, and brought the
handling and disposal of stolen property to’
a fine art. The thieves who dealt with him
stood in abject fear, for he would without

Telephone 241 . . Day and Night
Jlatersnon
Funeral Gome

Mrs. A. H. Paterson, Manageress
NEW, MODERN CHAPEL
Experienced Lady Embalmer
538- 8th Street
New Westminster, B.C.

P.O. Box 85

BELYEA & CO. LTD.

809 Carnarvon Street

NEW WESTMINSTER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
MOVING PACKING STORING SHIPPING
Coal and Wood Customs Brokers

“We MOVE Police”

Phones 150 and 170

FRASER CAFE

NEW WESTMINSTER

The BEST of FOOD
with the
BEST of SERVICE
J. H. MORGAN, Proprietor

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THE ELKS CLUB

NEW WESTMINSTER, B. C.

Best Wishes for the Success of

Page Fifty-six

hesitation betray them if they did not fall
in with his views as to the value or disposal
of the property they had stolen; during his
career he is believed to have handed over to
the officers of the law more than 100 persons
for execution. He came to the same end
himself, however, being hanged in 1725 on
charges of theft and receiving stolen
property. Improvements in the law put an
end to his trade—in 1691 all buying or re-
ceiving of stolen property knowing it to
have been stolen was declared to make the
receiver an accessory after the fact; while
later, under Queen Anne, the receiver was
made an accessory to the felony, which
meant that he could be hanged as well as
the thief, who was liable to capital punish-
ment at the time.

The peculiarly revolting punishment of
“pressing to death,” mentioned by Evelyn
in the above extract was reserved for
accused persons who refused to plead in
answer to the charge preferred against
them. As a person could not be tried with-
out his own consent, a refusal to plead
naturally held up the proceedings and led
to his detention indefinitely. In most in-
stances, detention with rigorous treatment
and scanty food soon led to a change of
mind, and more drastic measures would be
necessary only in the case of a very deter-
mined or obstinate person. The words of
the Court order in the case of Major
Strangeways, who, on refusal to plead to a
charge of murder in 1657, was pressed to
death, indicate what was meted out to such
obstinacy.

“That the prisoner be sent back to the
place from whence he came and there put
into a mean room where no light can enter,
that he be laid upon his back with his body
bare, that his arms be stretched forth with
a cord, one to each side of the prison, and
in like manner his legs shall be used, that
upon his body shall be laid as much iron and
stone as he can bear and more, that the first
day he shall have three morsels of barley
bread and the next day he shall drink thrice
of the water in the next channel to the
prison door, but no fountain or spring
water, and this shall be his punishment till
he dies.”

The unfortunate Major Strangeways died
after only ten minutes of this treatment, his
friends being allowed to stand on top and
add their weight to his load, in order to
shorten his agonies. It should be borne in
mind that he was executed, not for murder,
of which he was undoubtedly guilty; but
merely for refusing to repeat the few words
forming his plea. One finds it hard-to find
any justification at all for this procedure
nowadays; and one can detect the same legal
outlook which led to the extraction of con-
fessions by means of the rack and thumb-
screw. To-day, we endeavour to surround
the accused with a mass of evidence which
is sufficient to leave no doubt as to his guilt;
in contrast to the earlier method of extract-
ing an admission from the accused himself,
and very often leaving the rest of the
evidence to take care of itself.

To revert to Evelyn. Anyone who rode
the highways and by-ways loaded with

emeralds, diamonds and rubies, not to spest
of a silver-hilted sword, seems to haye hy,
asking for trouble!—The Outpost.

RADIO listeners, especially fishermen, wil |
have enjoyed the yarn told by Tom Ch
in a recent overseas programme.

A man from London who was Spending
a holiday up in Scotland wrote to his wife
about the fine salmon fishing and how i
was after a 12-pounder to send to her. We
as the days went by he didn’t catch the 1)
pounder or any other pounder; and at last
in desperation, he asked the ghillie to gy
a 12-pounder somehow or other and pare
it up and post it to his wife. And he wry
to her telling her of his “catch” that yas
now on the way. Next day he asked ty
ghillie if the salmon had been sent »
London. “Och aye,” said the ghillie, “an
the fisherman was very obleeging. He hadn:
a salmon the exact 12 pounds you wanted,
but he had a 20-pounder, and he cut it
two and sent half of it.”

DEFENDANT: “But, your Worship, |
was not speeding. I was on my way to py
my income tax.”

His Worship: “You're discharged.”

EMPRESS HOTEL
LEE McGONIGAL, Manager
*

A Modern Commercial and
Tourist Hotel

Excellent Dining Room Service

Chilliwack’s Social Centre

M
CHILLIWACK, B. C.

—_—_—_—_—_—_—_——
THE PEAKS

At the City Centre
Chilliwack, British Columbia

x
THE TWIN PEAKS

On the Trans-Canada Highway
ORIGINAL DIFFERENT

Steak Dinners—Fish & Chips—Sandwiches
Chicken Dinners

Telephones: Hardware 4211, Furniture 4341

Mc. & Mc.
McLennan, McFeely & Prior (Chilliwack)
Limited
Dealers in
Hardware, Furniture and Farm Equipment

Chilliwack, British Columbia

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