River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-08-21
THE CHINESE HEADsMAN.
a Very Expert Parsonage With Lots
Work to do The Process.

a Very Expert Parsonage with Lots o
Work to do The Process.
Canton Letter to Inter Ocean.
| Down toward the southeast corner of
the city walls, but outside of it, there is
In Canton a short thoroughfare or lane,
about fifty yards In length and from
four to eight yards in breadth, into
which never dare to look when in that
part OF the city. 1t is the Canton exc
cution ground.
| There is no street leading directly to
it, either from the city or from the river
It is touched on every side, by the shops
and houses of natives, for it is in the
heart of the southern suburb, where the
| people abound like swarming bees.
| The whole eastern side is bounded by
dead wall of brick about twelve feet
| high, while on the opposite side is row
| of workshops for the manufacture OF the
coarsest kind of unglazed earthenware.
/ suppose there is no spot on earth
where so many tragedies have been
enacted as on this little plot of ground:
and how any human beng can endure
1t to live in proximity to the place is
more than | can understand. Isuppose
1t IS because by O merciful provision of
| nature the fear of death diminishes in
exact ratio to its increasing frequency
Here it is so frequent that the people
| laugh at its approach, and instances of
herioc death are the rule, rather than
the exception. The national sensibili-
ties seem to have been almost destroyed.
Here in one year, during the "Talping
| rebellion, | am told that so, 600 heads
were severed from as many bodies; and
| for a number of years thereafter the
average annual decapitation rate was
| ], 500 persons. Think of it 1t seems
as If the ground must be crimson with
the perpetual sacrifice of guilty and in
nocent blood and / half wonder that
the stain has not passed through this
| tiny earth to redden the soil of America
| on the other side.
While from somewhat cursory ex-
| amin alton of the penal code of China, |
am led to believe that it aims at as high
a state of public virtue and justice as
| that Of most civilized ccdntrles, l am
compelled daily to shudder at the inhu-
man way in which the enforcement of
| the laws is conducted. The torture sys-
tenn prevails, not only in connection
with the punishment OF convicted GRIM
| inals, but also a means of forcing an ac-
cused man to confess, whether he Is
guilty or not, and as means of forcing
| a witness to give the evidence that it IS
suspected he has in his possession. Ii
] we're writing for some publications in
stead of decent American newspaper,
| / might fill columns with revolving de-
tails such as any traveller may witness
here, which would not only have the
merit of truth, but would exceed IN
thrilling sensationalism any of the fic-
ton which finds its way into after dark
| literature.
The hardest feature Of it all is the un-
seemly haste with which criminals are
hustled into eternity. About an hour
before the supreme penalty is to be adj
ministered the doomed men are informed
of their fate. They are promptly es-
eorted to the yamun of the governor
(merely being allowed the privilege of a
hearty meal), where the death-warrant
is exhibited They they are pinioned,
and may be seen in the act of being
transported to the execution ground IN
baskets carried between two coolies.
Their limbs are pinioned, and their
arms tightly fastened behind their backs,
being tied with cord to their ankles.
At the back of each criminals neck IS a
stick, to which is attached a long strip
of paper, inscribed with mans name, /
age, crime, and fate. In some cases
this paper is affixed to arrows which
have been shot through the poor fellows
ears, but for the sake of simplicity we
viii take the case of those who are grant
ed the privilege of the most honorable
form of capital punishment.
Besides the coolies who are carrying
the candidates for decapitation, the pro-
eession is made up simply of two mag
istrates, who march at the head, and
take seats in front of a shop facing the
execution ground to witness the final
| tragedy.
The criminals are dumped out of the
baskets, placed upon the ground III
| kneeling attitude, and ranged in line;
or if there are a good many of them, IN
| two or three lines. The hgatures OF the |
arms and legs throw the head back into
an almost horizontal position. An as
sistant runs rapidly along the line,
snatching away the tickets with which
each man is marked, and bringing the !
head into the most effective position. |
In the great majority of cases the VIC |
Tins display the utmost stolidity it is |
said, which to my mind only emphasizes |
the sadness of this barbarous picture. |
In less than minute, it may be, from
the time whan the mournful band en-
tered the ward the magistrates on their
reserved benches will shout "Pan!"
(execute.) And with the rapidity
of an echo the dull, crash |
| ing blows of the headsman's ak are
heard falling along the line. / suppose
these imperturble heather would claim
that this way is not so barbarious as our
custom of keeping man in prison for
months of anxious apprehension, with |
only the gallows in view; but our sys-
tenn certainly gives the friends OF an IN
nocent convict the needed time in which |
to work for a reprieve, besides extend |
ing to the guilty ample time for purg- |
ING his soul of the crime he has COM
mitted
Practice makes perfect, and these
Cantonese executioners are experts in
their profession. it is rare. indeed,
that it takes a second stroke to send the
head rolling and tumbling In the gore
that saturates the ground. In quar-
ter of an hour more the bodies have been
dumped into rude eoffins and carried to
the criminal burying ground just oat-
side the east gate. The heads are oft
en- suspended in cages near where the
crime was committed for which the VIC
tim died, or placed on the city walls
over the various gates to serve as gen