Cracking Point

At Millersburg, Ohio (pop. 2,203), Jesse Wynn, 51, and his brother William, 48, stole an old-fashioned ice box, sold it for $3. Brought before Common Pleas Judge Robert B. Putnam in the Holmes County court, they were given their choice of 30 days in jail or a public whipping of 20 lashes. They took the whipping.

Sheriff John Stevens, fat and fiftyish, led the petty thieves to the jail courtyard, fastened their hands over their heads to the jail's window bars. They wore their shirts as the lash cracked down across their backs. Sheriff Stevens puffed and panted. One whip was broken, then an other. A blacksnake whip finished the job. The Brothers Wynn, heads bent but not painfully hurt, walked away through a crowd of gaping country folk who had gone to Millersburg to witness Ohio's first public whipping in more than half a century. Questioned as to his legal authority to impose such a sentence. Judge Putnam exclaimed: "This court is determined to eradicate crime and is prepared to emulate the principles and policies of Thomas Jefferson and stretch all laws until they crack.''

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