The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-08-21

THE OHuGESE HEADs1EAN. 2:
1esf = De- Tas Process 49, ~
Canton Letter to Inter Ocean
Down toward the, southeast corner Of
1.-THE city walls, but outside of it, there il
! in Canton 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, It is the Canton exc
cution ground.
There is no street leading directly to
it, either from the city or from the river.
1t 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 q
dead wall of brick about twelve feel
high, while on the opposite side is row
of workshops for the manufacture of the
coarsest kind of unglazed earthenware.
l 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 being can endure
it to live in proximity to the place is
more than [ can understand. Isuppose
it is because by merciful provision of
nature the fear of death diminishes in
exact ratio to it's increasing frequency.
Here it is so frequent that the people
laugh at it's approach, and instances OF
herloc death are the rule, rather than
the exception. The national sensibii-
ties seem to have been almost destroyed.
Here in one year, during the "Talping
rebellion, I am told that so, 900 heads
We're severed from as many bodies; and
for humber Of years thereafter the
average annual decapitation rate was
| 1900 persons. Think of it! It seems
as If the ground must be crimson with
| the perpetual sacrifice of guilty and in
nocent blood; and I 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-
| ami alton of the penal code of China, [
! am led to believe that it aims at as high
state Of public virtue and justice as
that of most civilized coantries, I am
compel led 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 means of forcing an &C.
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. If
I were writing for some publications in
stead of a decent American newspaper,
I 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 fc-
ton which finds it's way into after dark
literature.
The hardest feature of it all is the I'M
seemly haste with which criminals are
hustled into eternity. About an hour
before the supreme penalty is to be ad-
ministered the doomed men are informed
of their fate. They are promptly es-
corted to the yamun of the governor
merely being allowed the privilege of a
hearty meaD, where the death-warrant
is exhibited. They they are pinioned,
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 long strip
| of paper, inscribed with man 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
will 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-
cession is made up simply of two mag
istrates, who march at the head, and
take seats in front of shop facing the
execution ground to witness the final
tragedy.
The criminals are dumped out of the
baskets, placed upon the ground in a
kneeling attitude, and ranged in a line;
or if there are good many of them, in
two or three lines. The lgatures 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 a minute, it may be, from
the time whsn the mournful band en-
tered the yard 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. I 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 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 second stroke to send the
head rolling and t1lmbling in the gore
that saturates the ground. In quar-
ter of an hour more the bodies have been
dumped into rude collins and carried to
the criminal burying- ground just out
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.
eral warnings.
British Courtesies to America
A special from London says: The