The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-06-01
AN ORIENTAL HOMICIDE.
STRANGE LIGHT ON ADMINIs-
TRATIoN OF JUSTICE IN CHINA.

n NTTFUTHTTU TTIWT TOF n NIWTWET NFNFF TNfn-
United, but Which Cost n Host oil Justices
Their Onlcial Lives.
AT Yu.hang, in the province of Che
keang, there occurred, a little while
since, a criminal trial, which, while
illustrating some of the more glazing
defects in the Chinese judicial system,
displays in a marked degree the regard
for justice which distinguishes the
highest courts of appeal in the empire.
According to the Peking Gazette, from
which the following facts are taken,
there lived at the aforementioned
town a workman in q bean-curd fac
tory named Koh, who took to wife a
certain Miss Pin. Not having a pa
ternal home to take his bride to-his
father being dead and his mother
being married again-koh hired a part
of q house belonging to a Mr.. Yang, q
provincial graduate. Before long,
however. he had cause to regret his
choice of abode, for he noticed that
Yang took every advantage of his
many opportunities of fire. luenting
Mrs. Koh's society," evidently
with her full approval. His
Jealousy fairly aroused, Koh sought on
several occasions either to confirm or
dissipate his suspicious by listening at
the window-sill of his wife's apart
ments. More fortunate than most
eavesdroppers his ears were gratitied,
or should have been gratiied, by hear
ing nothing but instructive lectures
delivered to his wife on the Confucian
classics. But Yang's zeal for the
spread of knowledge did not allay
Koh's anxiety, and he communicated
to his mother-in-law his fears that her
daughter was lending too ready an ear
to the classical Establishments of the
learned graduate. A visit which this
lady paid to the house on one occasion
made her apprehensive, too, as she
told her neighbors and friends. At last
Koh determined to break Off all con
nection with Yang, and to move in 4
house belonging to q cousin Of his
wife's stepfather, named Wang. This
he did, and apparently with so good u
result that Wang, who lived next door
and kept a constant watch on. the
household, could find no fault with the
lady's conduct.
But Koh still remained unhappy and
morose, and N day, not finding his
dinner ready for him on his return
from work, he beat his wife so severe
ly that she cut off her hair and vowed
that she would go to a nunnery. By
the intervention of relatives. however,
an appearance of peace was restored
to the household. Not many days after
this quarrel Koh became unwell, with,
as was generally believed, a fit of aguc.
After eating a dumping, while he was
stD! indisposed, he was seized with
vomiting, which continued until even
ing, when he died. His mother, mother
in-law and several neighbors attended
his last moments, and believed him to
have died of fever. But before he
could be buriel there were whispers
that he had been foully dealt with, and
so his mother petitioned the magistrate
to order an inquest to be held on his
remains. At first sight the coroner,
judging from the absence of rigidity
in the corpse, was disposed to think
that opium had been the cause Of
death. But" said one of the Under
lings present, sit has been held that
death from opium only occurs when
the drug has been taken by the indi-
vidual of his own accord" True"
sad the coroner; and happening to OBJ
serve some livid blisters on the alb
domen he changed his opinion, and
jumped to the conclusion that Koh had
been poisoned with arsenic.
Now, it is authOritatively laid down
In the official direction to that
when arsenic poison is suspected the
coroner shall wash his silver probing
needle with a decoction of gleditschia,
and, having inserted it in the moutl,
of the corpse, shall Theoretically seal
up the lips. Should the needle, when
withdrawn after an interval, be much
d~iscolored, it should be washed again
with the same decoction when if
death has resulted from arsenic the
stain will remain, otherwise it will
disappear. Unfortunately, in Koh's
case the coroner omitted TO apply this
unfailing test and, therefore, not
being well assured on the point, re-
turned the ambiguous finding that
"death had been caused by poisoning"
This was the beginning Of many woes.
On receiving the %coroner's award the
magistrate instituted inquiries among
the friends and n%eighbors of the de-
ceased. and failing to obtain from
them any evidence confrmatory Of the
finding he summoned Mrs. Koh before
him.
This witness stoutly denied the pos
sibility of her husband having been
poisoned. This put the magistrate in
"A difficulty; for, when the coroner had
declared that the man had been poi
soned, it became the magistrates duty
to convict some one of the crime, but
the law forbids the conviction of any
one who insists upon his innocence.
In this emergency he determined to
try what effect torture would have on
Mrs. Koh's statements. AT first she
remained firm; but, her powers of en-
durance failing her, she eventually
affirmed that Yang had supplied her
xu.fl oa,nvta and that clo III .oA;,nAOl