Show I 1 I 1 I 1 ea 4 t 77 I 1 F ft 5 AM I 1 1 WHIP IMER 1 1 I 1 I 1 H HE E LA S s I 1 1 WAYWARD i V l TH SINNERS P BACKS op OF 11 says he th tho I 1 ecat or 0 the tr a it of f t th he WA d bues oa tery B dy 4 chastises publicly Pub liely th w I 1 A rn EORGE WASH 3 W I 1 ington n I 1 ako U cheek aft y a hardshell colored f ft baptist pr preacher kreicher of 0 nam waycross gil ga Is a character ue be literally I 1 it 0 believes incon in controlling the spirit ual welfare id oanfa hajt flock zot irith a rod of iron but with a buggy esy whip that mat po is v he thras thrashes hes the wandering sheep into submission to hla his teachings whenever the wicked spirit in them rebels his authority tor for this comes from original sources ho he bo be baves the chosen agent of the almighty in fix that locality and has ordered that all disputes among the members bers shall be referred t to C 11 him im as a sole arbitrator his judgment is the judgment of god T this L his idea at first made him a butt tor for sc scoff offers rs the white trash roundabout regarded it as a joke but the jocose stage has now passed and the stern reality of his conviction Is every way apparent he Is a religious despot as inexorable as any sultan personally the preacher Is not the kind of a man that th atwould would be expected to wield so complete an influence 0 ver over a band of able bodied men not a male member of the congregation but could thrash the old preacher with one hand band yet his authority Is as unquestioned as if backed by a standing army cheek Is small in stature and measures two inches and a traction fraction over five feet his sixty odd add years have whitened his beard and hair and sapped the vitality of a once powerful fra frame me it Is ills his custom on each sunday to read a list of members who during the week past have strayed from the path ol of rectitude he then adds that he will meet the backsliders back sliders in the lot back of the church after the conclusion of the services the congregation is invited to rl remain main and witness the chastisement probably for the salutary lesson it will be for them A strong wooden post has been sunk firmly into the ground and to this the sinner clasps his hands he Is never tied but is merely told to bare his back and grasp the post the pastor does the rest before laying on the lash the rev mr cheek explains the culprits peculiar offense and makes plain the fact that the sin should not have been committed then he says that the lord considers ten lashes of the whip sufficient punishment for the crime and ho he proceeds to lay them on enfeebled as he Is with age the blows lack the usual strength of whippings of this kind but the venerable pastor has found this heroic method of correction an admirable one the victims could easily pick up the minister and toss him bodily over the neighboring fence but so great Is their veneration and their belief that he is in truth an intermediary specially appointed by the lord that no revolting spirit has yet cropped out in a similar way family disputes and petty differences are settled both sides are heard beard the judgment is rendered and the whip applied upon him who deserves it for r years the same blind implicit faith has been reposed in the rev mr cheek he does not possess any supernatural power he has never performed any miracles or done anything that would awaken in his bis congregation the veneration born of 0 superstition and tear fear but he has simply gathered about him a flock of devout negroes es whose religion is almost fiina fanatical and he rules roles them as a king rules his kingdom |