Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-07-31
japanese Executions.

Speaking about executions" said q
stranger at the court yesterday.
"as far as / can see. the mere fact of
hanging. the way il is don, here. does
not require n grea: amount Of courage
Indeed. l think man has very little
courage who could not 20 through with
the short ceremony necessary. After
the trap falls the victim. as we have
every reason 10 believe, becomes IN
conscious Immediately. and does not
suffer even IS much as the strain upon
the systems of the persons looking on
The only agony Is that borne in getting
really, and ceases when the real work
commences. When il was the custom
10 fix the rope in such a manner that
the neck of the criminal was broken.
there was more of 4 cOntOrtiOn of the
muscles Of the body. but the present
system even lessons that / happened
to get admitted TO the recent execution
of George Jones, and | must say was
impressed with the extrer.s sickness
Of the work Every thing was done
that could lessen the suffering. and the
contortion~ wero slight at first and only
lasted 4 short dime | can't help but
contrast the system here and the one
use in Japan. where / visited some
time ago Ii the people who are op-
posed % capital punishment on account
OF cruelty and suffering would witness
an execution there and compare the
two they would get an idea Of what
=. aar5ar0us execution is. Whi,e was
IN Yokohama / witnessed the public ex-
ecution Of 4 criminal. He was n fine
looking japanese. in the prime Of youth
and strength. and was standing under
huge post, in the middle Of a posse Of
guarL The post had a piece.
Nearly nude he was sttnding erect, but
as mOtiOnless as 4 statue, and gazed
straight before him. Presently his
jailers moved aside, and = gaunt.
repu'sive-lO0king native. the ex-
ecufiOner, made his appearance
clad from head to foot In a dress Of
dizzy yellow. Two assistants ac-
eomPaniei him. carrying half dozen
round bamboo RODS. The assistants
dropped the rods and stretched the
criminals hands over the crOsspleca
OF the post The eXecutioner now dal- |
lied with the bambOOs. and the poor
creature still looked into the shadIwy /
distance as though he was dumb. / /
watched him closely and thought I de- /
tected a paliOr spresl over his cOunte- /
nance The exccutiOner now spat ON !
TIE pointed end of one OF the bambOOs. |
aud with = twisting. pushing motion /
thrust It easily into the flesh about /
between the hip Snd the arm 1
pit The poor wretch turned and /
lOOkets at his tOrmentOr. and his lips 4
slightly opened but he did not stru.r- 4
gle. In n couple of minutes. though il /
seemed longer. the bloody point Of tine
emerged from the sufferers
shoulders, and 4 slight exclamation Of /
escaped the crowd Thea
he exccutiOner went TO the other side
with another bamboo and did the same
hing During all this there was not
: single groan or CRY for mercy from
he man. At this juncture. 70 my sur
prise. the eNecutiOner and his assistants
picked up the remaining bsmboOs and
walked away. l IN .uircd what they
meant and was told that the execuf on
vas over. II was customary 10 leave
he man that way, and he would die
n couple Of hours or so. The bam-
1Oos would remain in him until he had
expired \ Japanese execationer is
anght 20 carefully avoid the vital or-
,ans 50 - 40; 10 bring death too
uick- Z. and the execuiioner's reputa-
ion IS gaugcl BY the length o. time his
Ticiim lives. / tell YOU tlat Is the Kind
4 an execution that takes nerve. both
n the part of the victim and the
.rowd, and the ones Ike the last, and
IlsO that Of Tuesday next. are tame AZ
airs compared with my japanese ex-
p P.ttS5Ergh Leader.