The Penn's Grove record., 1884-10-11
NUMBER 10


CDluSS6 puul5nu1Sut5 are severe, nhN
in many cases inhuman, Their cruel
ties were even greater before the for
nation of a written code, which pre-
vented tyrants from exercising thetr
ingenuity IN devising methods of pun
ishment at their own free will. The
most common instrument of punish
ment is the bamboo rod, the thickness
and number of blows of which are
nicely graduated according to the hei-
nOusneSs of the offence to be expiated.
In all cases, it is, however, a painful
castigatiOn, unless the executioner has
been bribed to lay on his blows in such
A manner as to make a great sound,
but lntilct little execution. The kea
or cangue is the next form of punish
ment. This consists In fastening =
wooden collar around the neck in such
q manner that it shuts off all commu-
nication between the upper and lower
portions of the body, and, as he cannot
get his hands up to his mouth, he must
be fed by others. 1t Is often worn for
two or three months together. Every
morning the victim is taken TO a public
place and exposed to the gaze of the
world, and at night is led back to pris-
on for security. Nothing is more COM
mon in a Chinese town than to- see
these individuals, with these wooden
millst0nes around their recks, being
fed by their children, wives or other
relatives, and even by strangers; for it
is accounted a m%erltorious act to feed
a prisoner in the cangue.
In each case of a punishment tho
name of the crime for which it is in-
fiicted is fastened about the criminals
person. For "a good-humored race the
Chinese are decidedly cruel, not only
TO prisoners taken in war, but to Of
Tenders against the law. Among the
other methods of punishment for minor
offences may be Notwithstanding
on a coiled chain or on broken c1gck0
With the bare knees -or boHr
time, without being ouce alleW
change their position; aua
squeezing and finger squeezing, be
four pieces of bamboo so arranged
by pulling a string passed through
end of them they ctn he so e,
compressed as TO alnlosE crush tae aa-
fortunate limb IN their embrace. VEGA
the rascally mandarins this Is = fa
lte method to torture when they wish
to eNtOrt money from any person t1sy
suspect of %Concaaling treasurer; in other
words, when they wish either 10
squeeze the population on their oNfD
behoof, OF on the part of the govern
ment, which requires a certain sum Of
money to be made up by the mandarin
who controls every district or depart
ment. The inferior mandarins. though
they cannot infict the punishment of
death, yet exercise the utmost ingen-
uity in inhicting the greatest amount
of torture compatible with fulfilling
the letter Of tn law, and even of event
ually ending the %culprIt's life.
For, instance, a case is related ia
which a man was caught stealing at a
fire a very heipous offence. He was
confined in a sort of upright cage,
tied by the pigtail IN such a manner
that his feet could barely touch the
ground. In this gUise he was exposed
every day to public gaze until exhaus-
ton from pain, want of sleep, food and
drink for no Il was allowed TO have
acee>s to him-termiuated his life.
Another not uncommon method of
torture is TO conRue the criminal IN an
upright cage u this description, but
with his head %protruding through a
hole IN the lid OF roof, his toes Just
touching the moor, and his hands tied
behind him; 50 that if the poor wretch
Wishes for a moment to rest himself, he
must do 50 by causing the whole weigh
Of his body to- bear upon his under
jaws, at the risk Of almost tearing his
head from his body. Banishment for
mid offences to a distance not over
lfly leagues, from the offenders home,
or, in thecase OF more severe offences, to
bel ond the Chinese frontier either
temporarily OF for life, is a punishment
awarded for crimes more severe than
those for which beating with the bam-
boo OF confinement in the canPue is
considered a sufficient expiation, There
are three modes of capital punishment
lst, strangulation; I'd, deeapitation; Sd,
the punishment that Europeans IN
correctly style cutting INTO ton thou
sand pieces. This consists in the pris-
oner having his face and other parts
Of the body so slashed before the final
blow is struck that he expires not only
headless, but with his skeleton partially
Invested of aesh.