Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-09-07
Decapitated BY Dozens.

| belief. At Foochow, II man, being convicted
OF kidnapping female child was sentence
| to death, having the privilege oi choosing
between decapitation and death by starvation
He chose the latter death, singular to say
and so WAS placed IN cage and publicly eN
hibited that the people might watch non
day to day the slow progress of his gradna
extinction. How long the unhappy wretcl
fingered is not stated. The decnpitations il
Canton alone are said to number two thou
sand wear to SAY nothing of those who di'
| from the effects of torture OF imprisonment
A Belgian gentleman has given long ac
count of the courts, prisons and places o
execution i'll the city, and from 1t We extract
rs follows
Nan-hni. the largest of the prisons of Can
ton, is situated in the center Of the Chinese
city. at Il considerable distance from the Eu
ropean quarter. Nothing more gloomy thar
the surroundings of this Jail can be imagined
| Round it swarm ragged, hnggard, ,sallow men,
| with iron rings around their necks, to pad
locks in which are fastened chains riveted to
iron balls or blocks ofstone which they drag
painfully over the soil ms they pass through
the throng, begging of the visitors OF offer
| ing for sale trInkets of their own manuiac'
ture. The prison is heap of rude buildings
grouped around Il large yard or ward, at the
| back of which is the door reserved Tor the
passage of the mandarins to the halls set
| apart for the administration of justice. Such
| Justice The court room joins on the dun
| geons- cages where hundreds of prisoners,
heapeG together pell-mell, await their fate,
given over to famine, hunger and vermin.
There is no imprisonment here as II punish
| ment and often those VINO are condemned to
| suffer death or stripes are LETT to depend on
| the public and scanty charity for food. Let
| those who pity scoundrels feed them, says Il
maxim.
The aspect of these dens is at once pitiiul
and repugnant. Spectral faces fit behind
the bars and heshless fingers implore for
aims you can dimly see human forms with
ing upon heaps of filth from the shadows
come the clinkinS of chains. and an odor SO
nauseous The woman's ward is not differ
ent there, too. am told, young girls, wives
and mothers are frequ ,ntly held as hostages
till their fathers husbands or sons have been
arrested or given themselves up.
In one cage | was shown woman of forty
or thereabouts. .She poisoned her husband,
and is to be cut while living into thirty -four
pieces" said L., my companion. That Is n
common punishment. She has been waiting
death for three months" He accompanied
his explanations by gestures sufficiently sig
niicant, but to which the miserable wretch
paid no attention She merely threw out
her skinny hand, into which We threw a few
cash.
The court room is square hall trayersed
by rows OF pillars. On either side were sol
diers, turnkeys and clerical attendants be-
hind a tGpestried table four maIdarins wear
ing peacocks' plumes. kneeling on the tiles
before them. naked to the waist, was man,
Ly MI, e,ll,.r xr,,h
bamboo. The prisoner was undergoing ex-
animation. He had already received, We
were told. forty blows, and his back was raw
and bloody. He was nearly ripe for confess
sion. l shall never forget the face Of the
mandarin who was conducting the examina-
ton. for never have seen one so colily
cruel. with little, obique eyes, thin and
tightly drawn lips, sharp chm, lowering
forehead, Il devilish compound of the cat and
hyena. Looking upon him. recalled the
Chinese proverb which says. "Rather than
to fall into the mandarins s hands, it is better
to cast yourself headlong from tower"
$50" said the judge. according to my
friends interpreting. lyon admit that You
were present. Who else was there at the
same time? Was so-and-so not present as
well z" ..Yes." "And who else:' 81 SAW
no one else There were others Try
and recollect." 81 saw no one else
The mandarin made a sign, and the at
tendant soldier siezed the prisoner by his
pig-tail and brought the bamboo down furi-
ously on his bleeding back. xiii me Kill
me - shrieked the wretch. al saw no one
else" ''You will not speak, them" SAID the
mandarin lcily, with another gesture, in Obe-
dience to which another attendanant step
ped forward, bearing an armful of instru-
ments of torture, pincers TO tear out teeth
and fracture jaws, thumb-screws, rattans,
mallets TO break the iingers-I know not
what.
As he approached the prisoner the latter
set himself to speak with frightfully fever
ish volubility, rapidly, indeed, that L.,
comparatively expert interpreter though he
WIS, could hardly follow him. The poor
wretch confessed, gave names grow incoher-
enf, poured out string OF other names at
haphazard, and without the slightest idea of
what he .as saying. think.
II is some distance to the scene Of execu-
tion, and we hurried into our chairs and set
out. AS We aid SO the hustle and horrid din
of the gongs announced that the procession
was forming. So great an impression had
the whole affair left on my mind this re-
voting Justice" the horrible apparatus,
the culprits lugged away like sheep in the
shambles. the masquerade upon the death
march that Bs / heard the unearthly racket
and was borne swiftly through the crowd, |
almost felt myself in the place of one of the
poor wretches in the basket being jolted to
the slaughter.
At each moment new captive wns brought
up. One 10y one police official lugged them
out of the cell each was seized and bound
by the turnkeys and placed in basket to be
carried, depending from bamboo, by two
bearers n wooden tag tied round his neck
gave his name and age. and label pasted
upon II stick announced the crime for which
be WAS to die by order of the emperor.
The execution ground is a small, triangular
space on one side is low wall, on another
are some wretched houses. The inhabitants
some potters and II carpenter pay no Tux
es. They seemed TO be miserably poor, and
altogether indifferent to the scene about TO
be enacted. They use the field to dry their
pottery ware indeed. as We arrived, an old
Chinaman was hurriedly removing pots and
jars from the center to make room for the
executioner and his victims.
At first sight nothing could be- more inno-
cent and calm than this little potter field,
but on looking along the wall-horror what
did one see =? A heap of skulls bleaching i'll
the sun, some boxes and jars OF quickhme,
IN which might lie seen scattered TUFTS of
hair, and crosses from which depended bits
Of stiiiened rope ITO those" snid L.,
they tie prisoners who are to be tortured.
A common mode of punishment lis to cut
them to pieces while alive, beginning with
the eyelids, the nose and the lips, and then
going on TO the arms and legs. There is All
Fong. the headsman." he continued indca-
ting thick-set man, with trousers and
sleeves rolled up, and bearing II saber. "lIe
is an important parsonage and leaves the
heavy work To his assstants Decapitating
il his speciality"
At this nome ut the little coricgr entered
the field the coolies, cut of breath, and
sweating. deposited their lading on the
ground the eNecutioners seized their We
tins. led them to the middle of the space
there WAS barely room made them kneel |
one before the other in two lines, twenty |
four prisoners III all stretched out their
necks by raising their pinioned arms wrap
ped around their skulls the queues that had |
been loosencd or disarranged they waited : |
The mandarin did not arrive. He had |
probably had some difficulty III making his |
way through the crowded streets, and till he |
reached the ground nothing could be done. |
While waiting for him the headsman ,Xamin-
sd critically the edge of his weapon and |
llghtenrd his girdle, and the kneeling pris-
Jners weaTlly twisted their outstTetched |
hecks. Thus ut least ten minutes passed |
Imagine what thoughts must have coursed |
through the brains OF those poor devils dur
ny these ten centuries of waiting, the men
al torture supernddcd without motive and |
by sheer negligence to their physical pun
hhment. There they were kneelmg IN