Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-06-17
APPALLING PUNIsHnENTS.
The Horrible TORTURE Inflicted Upon Bur
mesc CIirin1IS--The OrIehtals Dsre-
gard OF DeaTh.

Philadelphia Pes says: Although
the atrocities committed in Upper
Burmah in the name of authority are
enough to scandalize civilization even
at the present day, it would be unfair
to Judge the eople by any standard
common to the civil ed races Some
thing must be allowed for the habits
of Orientals, who, for generations
past, have known the worst barbara
ties. Something, too, must be allowed
for that contempt of death which
an Oriental. whether he be Hindoo,
Mohammedan or Buddhist. has had in
stilled into him from his earliest years.
The extraof IiAary punishmentS at one
time current bll over the East. and
still I'D vogue ia places which havenot
comelunder the influence of more or
less 9nlightenT Western power, are
traceAble to that same contempt of
deatR]and to cerain familiarity with
death. Tyrants fb6R dfhat by ordinary
methods of eNecAtiea they could in
spire no tergort a man accepted
death coRplacently Us his fate, which,
lift did NOT come hter might just as
" Tl Cpllc oYOAltA' (ilt dlu hOo SoAloANNA
nat a year or two in the long cycles
of eternity made mt ch difference one
way or another, his mind projected
far beyond the thrhe-score years and
ten allotted to man by the Psalmi =
Therefore, their tyrannical rulers, Il
order to make themselves feared alh
felt, were compeMed to superadd tor3
fura- fo tho non olfxla of death
The practice of Suttee, or widow,
burning, is a strikinS( example 81 ,tneS
fearlessness of the Ilihd2o forc death,
Forty years ago a young w6mdh, whose
husband had died, would joyfully,
mount the pyre and fire the wood her
self, So that she might the sooner re-
join her lord in paradise. The holo-
caust of Chittore is one of the most
remarkable deeds of female resolution
and courage ever recorded. When the
Mogul invaders entered Rajpootana,
the RajpOOt warriors were defeated.
Then three hundred Rajpoot ladies
solemnly vowed that they would never
fall into the possession of any Mo-
hammedan. They proceeded to the tall
tower OF ChittOre, which stands a
blackened but venerated mark to this
day, and locked themselves within it.
Then when the Mogul ARMY appeared
before its gates, they sang song of
triumph andy 'defianceJ and set the
tower on fire, perishing thus CALAMITY
before the eyes of the astonished Mo-
hammedah warriors: | was talking
once with an old Anglo-Indian resident
about the apparent cruelty Of Burmese
executions. | mentioned the public
crucifxions l had often seen in Man
dalay and the number of deaths which
would be ordered occasionally 20 please
the whim of tyrant or perhaps to do
honor to such a brute as the SO-called
white elephant. He replied that he
lived in a native state of HindOStan
many years ago, when it was Gus
tomary to put persons to death with
accompaniment Of the most revolving
cruelty. SuffOcation by crOwding
m asses of human beings in a small
case of the Black Hole of Calcutta. was
common enough, but ingenuity Of the
most diabolical description was called
intoLequisition to produce death and
.fsI-in karts OF India the cactus, or
- - etpeaAM bush, is common. 1t
is very thick, nd literally covered with
thorny spinesa Y ears ago, before the
British became predominant in HindO-
stan. maharalaks and raiahs dis
covered in the Naletus an excellent in
Strument OF deab4 and torture. Strip
ping their vicUn naked, they would
cast him cleaK unto the middle OF a
clump OF cacN@ and leave him there.
\ on wouldl link he could easily
scramble ou0Rnd escape. Impossible
The momenkRhe was cast into the fatal
ped, the S. YES or thorns entered him
u a thousa directions, and every ef-
fort 4e 70 free hi nself only sank
him deeper into the relentless cactus
clump. MEANWHILE the blazing sun
beats down vi ION the miserable wretch
whose. groans and screpns arePassed
UNDECIDED by every soul who hears
them Paralysis eventually sets in.
Another HinGoo mode Of punish
ment mentioned by my old Anglo-In-
dian friend was equally horrible You
are probably acquainted with the fact
that the bamboo plant grows with
wonderful rapidity in a tropical eli
mate. That fact did not escape the
notice of Iiindoo tyrants. Sharpening
a bamboo shoot, and planting it in the
earth with the sharp end upward. they
would order the victim to be led to it.
/ onlzinr around he Would see no IN