Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-01-11

Infanticide, 50 common 10 China, Is thus Wv
Idly depicted. in al its horrors. By recent trAv-
eler. BorJing an infant alive is horrible thiog,
yet how common il is among the Celss,ials
The Pagodas. 80 often mentioned IN accounts
Of the Chinese Empire. appear 70 Re more NJ
merous Ia the mountainous districts. where theY
add greatly to the picturesque charm of the see
merry, and are believed to be connected with the
religious ceremonies Of the people. In TIE fiat
country around Shanghai they are not to be met
vith-at least 10 Was not our fortune 10 see any
during our brief STAY. The only structure Like
tower. IL We except the turrets on the city walls
aud watch towers erected within the past few
years. when the Tse Pings have threatened the
city. il tall, white monument, rising to the
height Of twenty feet. and without inscription or
distinguishing mark Of any kind. IL looks like
6ne white tomo. higher and more ambitious
than usual. aud truly IL Is "vhted sepulchre"
Baby Tower, IL IL called by the foreign resi-
dents, for 10 is filed with the bones of infants
not such as have died Q natural death, as Bayad
Taylor asserts. but which have been thrust into
this borrid mountain of heather cruelty when
bot few hours old. Humanity shoulders at the
thought These dazzling white baby towers,
with their mockerv OF purity. and openly inviting.
as il were, the most unnztnrsi and heartless OF
murders, are among the most hideous spectacle e.
10 be met with in heather land. True, river
or a pond " ia DE pointed out TO you in other
parts of China, or in Iadia. where babies are
daily drowned like puppies or kittens but they
do not affect the mind with such horrors as these
papable structures, erected with the best skill Of
their architects for this express purpose The
water closes over the murdered infant and no
trace OF the crime rem aims: bat here is a tower
IA high tover-with deep foundations filled
With the bones of murdered babes that have been
accommodating for generations
No wonder that christian mothers, resident in
the east, cannot speak of them or see them with
out shudder. and never willingly pass them in
their drives. Who knows but they might hear,
If they approached the tower. the vail Of some
poor infant Just thrown in. or meet its father
turning from his cruel errandf
At Shanghai the Baby Tower stands on the
southwest side of the city, without the wa1is, but
at Foo Chow, where the crime of infanticide is
still more prevalent, they use no baby tower, but
have provided ponds for this express purpose Ii
is the saddest part OF this great national crime of
the Chinese, that II ia sanctioned BY the manda-
rims, and viewed a dsagreeable necessity. not
a crime
II has been the fashion Of late years to deny
the existence of this abominaton-the doubters.
wise in their conceit, insisting that the crime
is TOO great for human nature.
Human nature unfortunately, has proved but
frai barrier 10 crime of this character in all
parts of the world. and the facts OF Chinese in
fanticite indisputable. The witnesses are too
numerous, the crime is too public. and the evil
dence too notorious 20 deny It's existence. The
children DESTROYED are girls; the most common
methods of destroying them are: lst, by drown
ing them in tub of water; ID, by throwing them
into some running stream; Sd, by burying alive.
The last named method is adopted under the
hope and with the superstitious belief that the
next birth will be boy. The excuse is that it is
to expensive too educate girl but if some friend
will take the child 70 bring up a wife for a
little boy. the parents will sell or give away the
infant rather than destroy it. The regular price
is TWO thousand cOppers. cash. or 81 for every
year OF their lives; for sometimes girl will be
saved for year or two, and then sold for wife
or slave
Many instances have come TO the notice OF
missionaries where large families Of girls have
been destroyed. There is one woman now EN-
poyed as a nurse In a missonarys family at
Foo Chow, who says that her mother had eight
girls and three boys. and that she the only
girl permitted by her father to live. We never
heard of an instance of boys being destroyed
at birth There is a village about fifteen miles
from Foo Chow, which is swarmlng with boys
but where girls are very scarce. The people
account for IL themselves by alleging the com
mon practice of killing the girls at brth-a
practice which is INDUCED in by the rich vel
as by the poor.