The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1883-07-27
EXECUTION IN BURNlAH.
The Cruel Way in which Royal Per.
sonages are Put to Death. i.

sonages are Put to Death.
I asked my companion whether many
executions took place here now, and he
replied: There have been none for
several weeks. because the palace in
trigues have kept everybody in author
ity too busy scheming, plotting, and plan
ming to allow them TO get up. public
execution; but not manv months, ago I
saw band Of a score or more men and
women murdered on this sanguinary hill.
lock. Some of the victims had royal
blood in them, and they were not butch
cred in the common. way. Imagine to
yourself a princess charmingly dressed
in silks and jewels, with flowers inter.
twined i'll her jet black hair, being
pushed or goaded up this hill. The crowd
of spectators clustered in the rice
fields there, or perched upon the roofs
OF the houses you see peeping forth
among the mango trees over against us
on our extreme right, set up shout. 1t
is not a shout of pity or mercy. It is
merely one of holiday excitement. It
is Ike the murmur you might hear once
at Neweate when the felon appeasad up.
on the scaGold, or in the Place de Greve
when the victims head was laid on the
block beneath the guilt tine. The sun
is pouring downits brightest rays, which
appear to concentrate with their great
est brightness on this hillock. One ex-
ecutioner unbinds the girls raven hair,
throws the pretty flowers away, twists a
tress of it round his hands, and pulls
her head violently backward. Another
eXecutioner grasps bamboo bludgeon
with both hands. One, two, three! He
swings it in the air, and down it falls
upon that outstretched throat. One,
two. three! and again 1t strikes the poor,
gasping victim on the same place. The
body falls lifeless, though still quivering.
The princess is dead. Her body is cast
aside .disdainfully.
'Then look at this other group of
men hustlinga handsome young Bur-
mese ii their midst-hauling at him,
Juggling at him, to get him to the summit
of the mound. He also is of royal blood.
death which buovs up your true Bud
dhist as strongly as does the fatalism of
the Wahabee, preserves equanimity in
his department. He has flung some
thing away over among the crowd. It
is only his sheroot. He has done with
it, and long before the brown urchin
who has picked itup will have blown
the last embers from it, the spark oflife
of its original owner will have Joined
elements, and one more Buddhist soul
will have started off on its vast career of
transmigration. See, he stancs there
cool and collected, his profile clear,
dark outline against the unclouded sky.
A high cheek-boned executioner seizes
his long black hair in front and pulls
his head forward unit! his chin ad JOINS
his breast. The second executioner
splits on his hands, grasps his bamboo
club firmly, and-whish! whish! the
bludgeon Kisses through the air and
falls on the nape of the neck of The VIC
tim. He falls forward oil his face, the
the hair. a second blow on the back Of
the neck, while the man lies PROSTATE,
settles the matter. An experienced
touch on the red and bruised neck tells
the executioner that the vertebra is
broken and that life has fed. Once
more the body is spurned aside, and
more victims are dragged up the hill.
q But these latter are only common vic
zhms and are killed in common way"
I venture to ask my friend what he
calls common killing. He explains: SAC.
cording to the Burmese law royal blood
must not be shed. This injunction is
literally obeyed, for while the won EN-
are dubbed across the throat and the
men across the neck, no &blood is split.
The common people may be executed in
any way. On the morning of which
speak the common people were hacked
by Burmeseiwith short sword until
their heads rolled of. ,Sacrel it was, a,
terrible spectacle, but I saw no sign of
horror among the spectators. Exec,,-
tions in Independent Burmah are too
common, and have been for centuries to
excite much public feeling. Every man.
woman, and child knows that their turn
may come next, just as they happen to
encounter the displeasure of some high
official. Come, letu be moving onward
come here to provide them with feast.
Correspondence Philadelphia Press.