The Red Cloud chief., 1879-11-27
Swearing a Chinese Witness.

The san Frenci>co Past contains the
following report Of a curious Chinese
trial.
The All PAX Chinese habca> corpus
case, on application Ia release sing
Flung, Il Young China woman from the
clutches IF a hag known a. - Que, IN
whose custody She was alleged Ia Ice,
wa resumed in the County Court this
morning. The announcement made
several DAYS ago, that the ceremony IF
swearing the witnesses would Ice per
formed in the Chinese fashion, attracted
quite crowd to the Court. T. Cum
miugS appeared for the respondent, and
W. III. Chamberlain for the petitioner.
Mr.. Cummings argued NJ length against
the barharouS method IF swearing Wit
nc>Se> proposed by counsel, and quoted
extensively from ..ChamberS's Encyclo-
pedia'' Ia show that almost every ma
tion. modern and ancient, invariably
insisted upon people Of other n%ationali-
tic> conforming Ia their mode of admin
iStcring nathS. Although frequently re-
quc<ted to confinc himself - the text, the
counsel could O be got 10 do it. Fl
nailv the Judge said: ..Mr. Clerk, en-
ter a fine of so against the counsel for
contempt of Court Mr.. Cummings
closed his encyclopedia and sat down
without uttering a word. Judge Wright
then directed Counselor Chamberlain
Ia bring on his oath or something 10
that effect, and in response the attorney
made Il dive for the rear Of the o
room, and i'm a moment returned with a
bucket, 4 huge butcher knife and a sack
made IF mating, from which emanated
a decidedly lively cackling.
Your Honor" said Mr.. Chamber
lain, ave don't want To >pattcr the
blood around. How'll we prevent
that"
~ don't know" responded the Court,
drawing away out uf range.
A lively colioquy ensued between the
Chinese Interpreter, the witness, and the
Chinaman. who insisted upon being
sworn in the Oriental fashion. What it
WAS all about was wholly Incompetent
Sible To the Court and the other bar
barianS present, but the manner of hold
ing the pullet about Ia be sacrificed in
the interests Of truth appeared to have
something To do with IL. The woman.
who n first did not van To Ice sworn in
the genuine heather style at al, finally
concluded 10 decapitate the rooster. pro-
vided one of the Cinnamon held il.
This modification Of the orthodox meth
Cd, which requires the person affirming
10 touch the chicken before the decap-
i~tarion, was accepted, and after some
further discussion and the further con.
cession that the chickens neck should
Ice held against the rim of the bucket.
the oma was sworn, the clerk pro-
pounding the following oath, which wa,
translated by the interpreter:
You do >olemnly swear that the evil
dence You will give in the issue now
pending shall be the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth, and,
if | tell a lie, may my life be As thi,
/ chicken"
The response was a stroke Of I'll,
knife, which only partially severed IN,
chickens head, ~whereupon the woman
dropped the knife. The crowd of China
men earnestly g~e>ticulated and prote>teo
that the oath wasn't properly admins
tered, and the woman was compelled Il
repeat the stroke. the second time per
forming the de~cspitstion. The China
man who held the chicken rammed
into a bucket, and held it there until !,
struggle had ceased. The woman thel
mounted the stand, but q skillful fire O
croSs-queStions failed TO elicit any thin:
more than at the previous examination
She knew nothing Of the whereabout
of Sing Fung, the missing maiden
Some Of the questions she pretended no
to understand, and in such eases she in
variably broke out with. "Me no fool
: Me take him Melica mans swearee: m
/ cuttee chickee's head off; me tell hin
lie, Inc 90 down stairs, sable" Tn
Interpreter in the case was accused b
the indignant Mr.. Cummings of being
sleuth hound. As he did % give salts
faction. ii was decided TO postpone III
: case until October Il.