The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1878-03-05
Execution by Implement.

standing erect, but as motioniess as q
statue. while his fearless but dreamy eyes
gazod straight into the distance before
him, as if he was looking at some far-of
object looming upon horizon visible only
to his distracted vision. There was no
token of terror in his determined face, no
sign of shrinking in his quiescent but
tensely-strung body. Presently there
was movement among the little knot of
those surrounding him. His jailers moved
aside and there strobe into the circle
gaunt, repulsive-looking native, clad from
head to foot in dress Of dingy yellow.
The executioner-for it was he--was ac-
companied by couple Of assistants, who
carried some halfdozen long, round bam-
boo rods, about couple of fingers thick
at their largest end, and tapering to half
that size at the other, which was sharply
pointed. The rods were laid upon the
ground, and the trinity Of death clapped
hold of the living statue before them. In
a trice the human efhgy, who made no
attempt at resistance, and who, as far as
l observed, never even opened his lips,
was grimly dangling on the post, his arms
stretched out right and left along the
crosspiece. There was now slight pause.
The executioner dallied with the bamboos,
and the poor creature spread-eagled on the
post still looked into the shadowy dis
lance, still was dumb; but l thought /
could detect a yellow pallor stealing up
his face. Perhaps he was collecting all
his resolution to meet the terrible ordeal
he knew was close upon him. The prin-
cipal executioner, who meanwhile had Sc
lected couple of bamboos to his mind,
now stepped to the left side Of his expec-
tant victim, spat upon the point Of one
of his weapons, and with twisting, push
inc motion thrust it easily into the flesh
about halfway between the hip and the
armpit. The poor wretch upon the cross
turned his gaze slowly down upon his tor
mentor, and his lips slightly opened. But
he made no struggle-he uttered no cry.
His resolution, his courage were superhu-
man. looked at the executioner. He
was calmly continuing to push and wrig-
gle the bamboo further and further intothe
body, In couple Of minutes, though
it seemed much longer, the bloody point
of the instrument emerged from the top
of the sufferers shoulder. There was a
slight exclamation Of satisfaction from
the crowd, just the sort Of hum that es-
capes from those watching daring swim
mer when his head appears above the sur
face after long dive; and the fiend at
the other end Of the bamboo stopped
wriggling, let 60 his hold, and stepped
back. Now, thought, he is going to
give the poor tortured creature his coup
de grace. Not bit of it. He crossed
to the opposite side Of the post, calmly
inserted the second weapon in the same
spot on the sufferers other flank, and
worked away till it, too, came out above
the armpit. All this time not single
groan, not one despairing cry for mercy,
escaped the man thus doubly impaled.
His head dropped little upon his chest,
and his eyes were half closed, but he was
evidently alive and conscious. AT this
moment, to my amazement the execution.
er and his assistants, picking up the I'm.
used bamboos, began to walk away.
"What, l asked, lis the execution ended?
Are they going to leave the man in that
fearful agony?" "Oh, yes" l was told,
"all is over. The criminal is finished
with. He will die presently-in an hour,
two hours, or, as he seems very strong,
perhaps not till nightfall; but nobody
will touch him any more. The bamboos
will be left in him, and when he is quite
exhausted he will expire" I could bear
no more. was powerless to interfere,
but, sick at heart, | turned on my heel,
loathing the barbarous cruelty had just
witnessed, and cursing the damnable civ
ilization that permitted it. l learned
afterwards that the unfortunate wretch
had fingered ten long hours before Death
(Which in Japan would seem as brutal as
Justice) remembered and released him.
His slow death is accounted for by the
fact that Japanese executioner is care
fully taught to avoid the vital organs Of
the criminal he has to impalc. The more
slowly the victim expires, the greater the
reputation Of his butcher.
The Lafayette Courier relates strange
freak on the part Of a well-to-do citizen
and his wife. Both got drunk on Christ
mas Day. The house, which was their
own property, was comfortably, even
handsomely, furnished, and beautiful
christmas tree had been set up for the
children. As stated, both got drunk on
Christmas Day. 1t was something they
had never done before. The devil Of
mischief entered both their heads, and
they proceeded to make general wreck
Of everything in the house. The next
forenoon the wife was found lying on a
lounge in a drunken stupor, while the
husband, half attired, sat amid the ruins
crying bitterly. Everything brcakable
had been destroyed, even to the pictures
on the wall. The windows were broken
out, the curtains torn down, bird-cages
smashed, the birds killed, the dogs leg
broken--in short, it seemed as though
an effort had been made to effect the
complete destruction of the contents Of
the house. The man was just begin,
ming to realize the consequences Of hi