Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1880-04-24

came as is described, the scene OF
orgies, conducted absolutely with
out restraint. Recognizing, how
ever, that he had no title To the
throne, Theebau proceeded to get
rid of possible rivals by the simple
plan of killing all his relatives.
There were great many of them,
for his father had eft thirty-seven
of his wives and fifty nine of his
children living, and their massa-
ere, year or two ago, attracted
the attention of the whole world,
and was the occe sion of some in
effectual diplomatic representa-
tions' on the part of Great Britain.
The descriptions given of this
bloodthirsty performance are most
revolving. At first the victims
were led from their cells in twos
and threes to ShekhO to the Kin e,
then their heads were tied to their
respective pairs of ankles, and
blows with a heavy club on the
backs of their necks ended their
misery. But this soon proved too
mid a spectacle for the fiendish
nalignity of Theebau. One. of his
elder brothers protested utter scorn
for what could be done TO him and
was logged to death. Another,
who had looked upon the foreign
ers as the dirt beneath his feet and
as utterly unworthy TO crawl be-
tween heaven and earth, was
tainted and driven 10 madness
before receiving half-fatal blow,
and his writing body was then
thrown into the gigantic trencn
to receive the dead. A former Gov
ernor of Rangoon had his nose
and mouth filed with gunpowder,
match was applied, end he was
also flung into the trench to be
stified by the succeeding bodies.
One young girl OF sixteen was
pitched into the same heaving
grave after having suffered every
outrage which could be devised by
eight soldiers of the guard. One
princess was cut in two, and her
husband was called to see his wife
and child before he died. TIE
massacre was carried on in this
leisurely fashion until Theebau
and the executioners wearied Of
the sport, then the women were
simply battered over the head and
the children were swung against
the palace walls.
A DETEsTABLE REIGN.
This accomplis he'd, King Thee
bau settled down to business as an
Oriental despot upon grand scale.
He spent money furiously, and to
provide a royal revenue he devils
ed a system of lotteries, of which
his Ministers were the managers,
and they were given to under
stand that they must get plenty of
subscriptions if they expected to
retain the royal pleasure. This
resulted in the use of force by
them to induce investments, and
the community become so demon
allied that trade stopped, draw
ings were held even on the OOb0-
nays, or oId-fashioned sacred days,
and Damayons-a place of wor-
ship and prayer-was selected and
used as u lottery Office. Mean
while the Master of Many White
Elephants was going from bad to
worse. A correspondent who Wis
tied him year ago described his
face as pulled and bloated, his eyes
sunken and dead, and his whole
physiognomy repulslve and I'M
wholesome, giving prophecy of
his early death. Last week the
report came that this young beast
had taken the smallpox and died.
Yesterday it was said that he had
the leprosy and that the propitia-
tory sacrifice he had ordered was
designed for the benefit of his
! health. To-day a new explana-
! ton is given and there is no init
nation concerning the Kings
health or whether he is alive or
dead. 1t should be mentioned in
this connection that, in spite of
his heroic measures, three or four
of his brothers escaped into India,
where they have been under the
protection of the Anglo-Indian
Government, and it is inconceiva-
BILE that the present disturbance
may have something to do with
the question Of succession. AS
was seen in the case of the former
King, the Burmese are little
timid about announcing royal
demise. The obscurity OF the in
formation from Burmah, howev-
er, is sufficiently accounted for by
the fact that King rheebau, at the
time he was killing off his rela-
tives, threatened 10 exterminate all
foreigners as well, and the English
residents were with some Difficult
ty brought away in a gun-boat.
There thus remains nobody at