Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-07-19
FEATURES OF CHINA.
\ VISIT TO THE INMATES OF A
GOVERNMENT PRISON.

A VISIT TO THE INMATES OF A
GOVERNMENT PRISON.
Prisoners Who Get "A Great Deal of
Pleasur, Out of LIfe-Court of Justice.
Punishment of Perjurers-Coinage of
the Empire.
Having a rainy day to spare have spent
part of II IN a viSit 10 the government prison.
Why the inmates remain here longer than
hey wish is puzzle have yet To- solve, for
getting out seems the easiest thing in the
World \ small fe,. to the man IN charge
took us all about the place | saw hut one
guard. and he WAS SOUND asleep with AN out
fit for smoking opium beside HIM. There was
one locked door, and that a hard push would
have demolished The prisoners had chains
about their feet, and were permitted 10
roam about. They were playing cards ami
smoking, and seemed TO he getting as much
pleasure out Of life did the world outside.
They all wanted ~cumShaw," and as one
can get 1850 cash" for n Mexican dollar,
one can feel like prince throwing handsful
Of money for aS little actual expense as in
any place ON earth, \ solid pocketful of
com fur an American twenty-five cent piece
Will 60 a long way in China. 4 few of the
worst prisoners We're Gagged by themselves,
with a collar made Of square planking eN-
tending three feet either way about their
necks; these were the only ones who could not
have departed when they were tired of CON
tinemeIt The women'S department was in
the same style as that of the men, and they
too looked as if they had found a comfortable
/ place and wanted to keep it. Every day or
two fewprisOners are decapitated, and thus
the prison is kept from being ovcryTowded.
IN A COURT OF JUSTICE
/ The court was in session not far away, and
We walked in to sce how justice is admins
terrell here. One man WIS being examined 10y
the mandarin and four or five more were
being tortured. The guide told us that they
no speak truth" We found that they were
witnesses with the truth of Whose testimony
the judge WAS not satisfied. A little torture
! he thought would extrart the truth This
torture was simple. a plank Is placed on end,
and at the top and bottom two other pieces of
wn"d are fastened at right angles, making
frame something Ike carpenters "horSe."
The knees of the unhappy Perjurer are first
beaten TO make the n tender: he Is then placed
in kneclng p0itiOn with the arms draw
straight behind him and kept there by 4
string which is tied about each thumb AID
then drawn up taut, the string being sus-
pended from the sticks at the top of the
plank. Other cords hold ur his feet, being
fastened tightly 10 the great toe and then
drawn up 50 that the leg Is bent behind him
and held in the air-the weight of the body
Of course coming partly on the tender knee
and partly on the great toes. A hole is made
in the plank just behind his head, and through
this the cue Is drawn and fastened to n little
wIndlass: this bcing slowly revOlved a not
too pleasant result of pulled hair is obtained.
Fearful were the wells of one of those men;
if "A half hour Of that would not bring the
truth nothing would. Two Of the men were
softly gruaning, and two others had faces like
StoiCs, and nOt-a murmer came from them.
They evidently believed that Il lie well stuck
to was as good as the truth. The sight WAS
not pleasant, and We came away with great
respect for the law aS administered in China.
This method of preventing perjury | recon-
mend u the notice of our law makers, for it
is said to bring about the required result if
kept up long enolgh. The only flaw seems Ia
be that the mandarin alone has to be satisfied,
and it is just possible that he might be mis-
taken at times.
The collecting of coins has temporary
fascination for the visiting foreigner. No
coin in China is ever called in, and the coinage
remains the same as when first issued about
six centuries before Christ The Chinese word
for current money" and the maine Of the
emperor in whuse reign it was coined are on
each piece The coin is cast, not stamped,
and has a square hole for facility in handling,
any number being strung on bit Of bamboo
Dur consul lately took about a hundred, not
picked coins-but ones with which his servants
we're buying articles from day to day-and
lad them classified by man verSed i'll the
history of the Chinese dynasties. TlleSe coins
lated from 80 b. e. TO the present reign l |
have one isSued about the time of the Ro-
man conquest hut showing little signs Of its
age. The characters are worn away on one |
idle, but the reverse Is rs plain If II had |
',e,,n only "A few years out of the mint
have lately seen something of the boat
lfe of Canton, and very queer it is. That |
such a mass Of humanity can be packed into !
the space the boats occupy Is hard to under |
,tand. They get along much better with one |
mother than one would suppose-waiting |
heir turn 10 get out Of a jam without the |
BillinESgate that u jam is apt 10 bring forth |
Elsewhere. | saw one or two cases where |
naturally sweet temper seemed to be ruffied
little, but it was soon over. A large family |
will occupy few feet of space, living, eat |
-ng, sleeping in spot too small to fairly
,reathe in. They tie a float to the boy |
.abies, and if they fall overheard they are
safe. The girls are saved if convenient, for
girls do not count for much in China; they
need civilization to learn their power. The |
BOY is bread-winner, and its life is yalu- |
lble. The smaller portion of the family they |
put along the keel under the floor at night; |
lift up board and there you'll find them,
packed in like sardines in a box. For all |
heir crowding, and what must De a life of |
hardship and discomfort, the babies looked as |
hubby, and the older members Of the family |
are a. healthy and in Us good spirits, as if |
hey lived with few acres OF green meadow
about each family.-Canton Correspondence
New York Tribune.