Show 66TT pwwjeveewv-- ? wwww x 99FTr3 a- A s - - aL- Terrible “Instrument of treUtic!)tige Torture” Just a Greedy Joke That Thrilled Millions All Around the Globe — i- - 2Pdbu? i With Exclusive rs' Photos TW &! f xv Ar A I v X V - Y i - Av'-X:- s’ " A ’ X I C( - -- ' sw®’”"-'- ’ ' Who u ' Sjf A c ( " v ' Uk s V o' tt A h 'S' 9' 00 " ?'' A" X tk'Kt MX: V 4 I 9 V s fXV’3 - Jfc 4f6&C i4 x " ' o' maxz- - wtj ? t Ax X Jt 1 1 x i: $ I f' I : ' s ' 'O v t ' fi T X ' X J? 4 Ht - Ty &' ?' £ 1 t X V' i i ? L'iJj A m ! i '"Ssr&£t i 4 ' " n' ’ X t i sir' I HE ADMITS 1 i ! Historian and Director of th Nuremberg Municipal Art Collections Who Discredit the Old “Iron Maiden” Torture Theory when the entire collection of Nuremberg horrors — pillories metal masks spiked chairs — was presented by the owner a collector to the city The terrifying exhibition was then dispatched like a “traveling show” to many of the world’s capitals creating an indescribable impression Americans were 4 I I ? particularly thunderstruck at the “Maiden” and thanked Heaven that such barbaric practises were a thing of the past Informative light was cai® on the notorious Tower of Nuremberg by Pro- - Saga of the r vvi'vA'AV B INFERNAL INTERNALS Photo Never Before Printed Showing by Means of Diagrams How the “Maiden’s” Iron Anatomy Was Supposed to Stab Prisoners to Deth Tho Sharp Sword-Point- s Were Aimed at the Heart and Other Vital Organs fessor-Doct- Schulz historian and or di- rector of the municipal art collections when he received me “I have made a thorough examination of all the ancient records” he said “and I assure you no ‘witch’ was ever put to the torture or burned to death nere Believe me the treatment of delinquents in Nuremberg was far more humane than that accorded prisoners in the Paris Bastile or in the Tower of London” Another distinguished authority Dr von Heiligbrunner informs me that the Nuremberg ordeals were comparatively simple and were enforced only to comply with the laws of the period “The first reference to the ‘Iron "pnrelii H4 Maiden’ ” he remarked “was in a treatise published in 1792 by Professor Siebenkees of Altdorf Permit me to quote: ‘“In 1533' was the ‘Iron Maiden’ and situated for miscreants upon the Frog Tower near Seven Lines so that justice may be done and the poor sinners sent to the fishes This iron figure which is seven shoes (?) in height extends both arms toward the malefactor As soon as the executioner presses a spring she closes her arms and stabs the sinner with broad and cuts him into small pieces which are swallowed by fishes and rats in hidden waters’ ” built hand-swor- AX 'Vw MISS MATE At Left: Gloria Grey Follies Beauty Who Went Manicurist When Her Second Husband Capt Harry J Wolcher (above) Objected to Her Stage Career But He Also Resented Her Being a “Cuticle Cutie” She Charged with Results Set Forth in the Accompanying Article luteroaUootl Ffture Serrlc centuries the philosophers pondered the exasperating problem of love and selfishness' How they have asked themselves is it possible for the loftiest of the emotions to be so mixed up with one of the basest? Francis Bacon wrote that a man in love who also loved himself would set a house on fire merely to cook his eggs And something! of the sort may have operated in the curious case of Captain Harry J Wolcher manufacturer and Mrs parachute Wolcher known on the stage as Gloria Grey The Captain’s' attitude toward beautiful Gloria was all along she says one of singular inconsistency That he loved her madly it would be absurd to doubt But what strange and inexplicable forms that love assumed! Miss Grey a Baltimorean was “glorified” by Florenz Ziegfeld in “The Follies of 1926” She did not accompany the production on tour but remained in New York City and filled other theatrical engagements There was nothing in her successful stage career of which a doting husband might not well have been proud ' Yet apparently Wolcher didn’t fancy the idea of Mrs' Wolcher being in? “show business” Gloria says he repeatedly protested The result was that she reluctantly withdrew from her profession ‘and in interests of her son Gordon Grey Hope by her first mar- riage took up manicuring Now the art of cuticle-cuttin- g and is certainly an innocent enough activity and you might sup FOR 1331 x' I S ds ' ' x X x"‘ g'x': '$£ J V cSj rMy irt ViffirtiWji: CURING A SHREW Rare Medieval Engraving Showing How Cantankerous Wives Wei’s Pilloried to Mak Them More Docile This Form of Punishment Is Said te Have Originated in Nuremberg About 1500 B C When the Original “Iron Maiden” Was Made ' fact that there is no official mention of the “Maiden” in German crimiWhether there are nological records two “Maidens” one genuine one spurious von Heiligbrunner Considers immaterial “Gullible simple people” he added “are often fascinated by horrors and mysteries’ It’s possible that the counterfeiter if that’s what he was played oa superstitions of his ‘paying It looki to me like guests clever cupidity” Dr von H e i 1 i g b runner states that the photographs of the “Maiden” accompanying this article especially taken for this magazine are the first of the kind ever snapped “I regret that the reputation of our ‘Maiden’ has been ruined by your inquiry” he concluded with a twinkle “But! it Is good that the truth has been established Our city is famous for itstoys beloved in America and for its great men Durer the etcher Hans Sachs the cobbler - musician Let us open our arms— which have no spikes— to visitors from abroad showing them the true heart and soul of a German t jhfefcMfab NO LONGER FRIGHTENING Front View of the “Iron Malden” with the Flanges Closed Note the ‘ Enigmatic Expression on the Metallic Face So Cleverly Devised by the Hoaxer ‘ But Dr von Heiligbrunner thinks the author himself may have doubted the veracity of this statement The modern expert referred me to other authorities -- inviting my attention to the curious city!” ' the fabled' frightening “Iron i Maiden” goes the way of all symbolical metal — toward the junk pile of popular consideration Yet the legend will take years to erase Very probably our grandchildren if they incline to credulity will get a shudder or two out of how men were to death hearing in Her fatal embrace pressed So i Whose “Gloria Romance” Folded Up on Him Parachute-Make- r Copyrlcht X-- j 4 Prof Dr Schulz Eminent : j iiLv 4 X vs- - o tim’s flesh When even these extreme measures were unavailing he was trussed up like a fowl and inclosed in the “Maiden” This was hinged like fold- ing doors and the metal sheath’s interior was ingeniously arranged with a series of razor-shar- p projections so placed that when the flanges were shut upon the prisoner eyes heart and other vital organs were pierced If the judges permitted a mercifully swift death the “Maiden” was snapped to instantly For more heinous cases made the a complicated clock-wor- k doors close gradually The body was finally dropped arthrough a trap onto a mesh-lik- e rangement of slender swords Chopped to bits by this infernal threshing machine it was then deposited in a trough of running water and literally “washed away” Such was the legend — and such possibly was the truth about the authentic “Iron Maiden” The young woman who was responsible for the exposure of the fraud was Fflaulein Hildegard Kartner a descendant of the enterprising antiquary of 1867 who perpetrated the joke “I call the poor old thing ‘Auntie’ ” Fraulein Kartner told me with a smile “Really the lady isn’t dangerous nor has she ever been pfit to bloody uses in spite of what mopt people believe” I realize it is going to be hard to convince anyone that is so for the traditions clustering around the instrument of “torture” have been greatly augmented since it was taken on a world tour in the Nineties Thi3 was y'k yy A t which has thrilled its V ZZ' v - I- - V vs JA “Iron thousands and horrified its millions has just been branded an ingenious fake For many years now this ghastly contrivance of rusty metal and rotting wood has bred shudders among the tender-hearte- d It has been considered the most sinister example of medieval cruelty Today it stands exposed by the very grandniece of the man who made it a3 a clever hoax copied from the 1500 B C original! Vague and persistent rumors that the “Maiden” was not nearly so gory as she had been painted brought me to Nuremberg to find out the exact truth As a result of my visit and several exclusive interviews granted me by eminent authorities I am enabled to set forth for the first time the facts in the fantastic case But first for the legends According to them in the Middle Ages this figure made in the semblance of a cloaked and hooded woman was used to force confessions from persons charged with various crimes The process of torture was gradual First the prisoner wa3 informed of the fate that awaited him by officers of the tribunal Next he was stripped and tied to an upright ladder after which candles were lit and held under his armpits If this proved ineffective the poor wretch was forcibly seated op a chair liberally studded with sharp spikes There were vents in the chair’s seat and beneath these was put a brazier of glowing charcoal Time for the burns to heal was allowed to elapse But this was merely a recess from the official ferocity which was resumed with the application of thumbscrews and the seating of the subject on the sharp upper edge of a wooden “horse” Feet and legs were weighted with iron objects which preserved the balance and forced the of the “horse” into the vic- Vv r V& X'XAAb'ttk ' v r NUREMBERG GERMANY us V t4 V X v By C DE VIDAL HUNT world-famo- - A 1 in 1867 city’s hr£Tjf 'A ! rps (ft Ji I i C v $ Designed the Spurious “Iron Maiden” Hildegard Is Shown Standing Beside the Debunked Instrument of Torment “The poor old lady was never dangerous” She Says Smiling THIS V a' JUST “AUNTIE” TO HER Exclusive Photo of Fraulein Hildegard Kartner Grand-Niec- e of the Enterprising Antiquary T ! ! nail-buffi- lac ng Great Britala Bifihtj Beaerved pose the Capiain would have been re- signed to Gloria’s participation in it But not the Captain A year ago she caused his arrest charging among other things that her irascible mate had pestered her by paying unwelcome visits to the hotel where she worked scaring away some of her most regular custoirs and even threatening to throw acid in her face and blemish her beauty) Things came definitely to a head Gloria’s instigation Wolcher whent was arraigned on a charge of assaulting her before Magistrate Jean Norri3 Wolcher claimed Gloria also had called her up on the telephone about thirty times at night The magistrate reprimanded Wolcher and suggested he get together with Gloria and try to effect a reconciliation Following Wolcher’s departure from the country before a decision in the case was reached Gloria withdrew the assault charge and cabled him to re- turn to the States She stated that she had forgiven him and that she didn’t want to see him in jail Besides she added romahce had again entered her life via another man and she might get married She had no intention of con- testing a suit for divorce that Wolcher had instituted in Paris In a letter to his New York attorney Abner O Siegal the Captain helped to explain his feelings toward his wife somewhat “Is there no way” he com- plained “of stopping her from pulling these things? (The reference was to the assault action) It’3 not pleasant to look forward tb going-tjaiL And '' ' X'i - 'i '"y Vf v o Mrs Nellie Adele Browning Wolcher Was Once Accused of Obtaining a Passport for Nellie bjr Fraud But Was Not Convicted what for? I’ve done nothing” About four years ago Wolcher was questioned at a Federal hearing when accused of obtaining a passport under fraudulent representations for Mrs Nellie Adele Browning first wife of the famous “Daddy” The case was allowed to lapse and Wolcher was never convicted j |