Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-27

| with a piece of wood shaped like childs
cricket bat. His tortures ended for the mo-
ment while we we're looking at him. Two
attendants ioosened the cord and he fell In a
heap They rolled him off the chain and set
him on his feet The moment they let 60
be sank like q half-flled sack. So they
stretched him ont on the floor and each of
them rubbed one Of his knees vigorously for a
couple Of minutes But il was no use: he was
utterly incapable Of even standing and had to
| be dragged away. As we passed out a woman
was before the magistrate giving evidence.
Her testimony, however, was either not true
| opinion, for he had recourse TO the truth
| oompeller." This is pleasing little instrument
| reserved exclusively for the fair sex. shaped
exactly like the thick sole Of q slipper split on
the sole part and fastened at the heel. With
this the witness received q slap across the
| mouth which rang out like pistol-shot
THE CHINESE THEORY
1t 10 only fair to add that the Chinese have a
sort of rational theory Of torture, although they
are far from adhering to il. BY Chinese law
no prisoner can be punished until he has con-
iessed ms guilt. Therefore they first prove
MIN guilty and then torture HIM until he con-
fesses the accuracy Of their verdict. The more
you reflect ON this logic the more surprising it
becomes To assist in its compre hension 1
procured, by the aid of the consul and a couple
OF dollars, complete set of instruments of tor
ture-l1ght bamboo, heavy bamboo ankle
| sundry others
1t is, however, the last act of the drama of
Chinese justice that is the great revelation.
am inclined to think that nobody can claim to
nave an adequate and accurate appreciation of
Chinese character who has not Witnessed Chi
nese execution. This is not difficult to DO at
canton, Tor the Canton river swarms with pi-
ra.es, and when these gentry are caught they
generally get short shrift. A few bambooings,
70 begin with, then several months in prison
anu IL ID not necessary to explain what Chi
nese prison is-with little to eat and a stiff
course OF torture, and then one fine morning a
snort, sharp shock" at the execution ground.
Ii you care to accompany me there will try to
place the scene before you.
CHINESE EXECUTION.
The execution is fixed for 4:30 O'Clock, so at
o'clock the guide comes for us at Shameen,
the foreign quarter of Canton, and our chairs
carry us rapidly through the noisv alleys of the
native city. Until We get close to the spot
there is no sign Of ANYTHING unusual. There
suddenly we run into damned crowd at the
end OF a long and particularly narrow street.
! me char coolies, however, plunge straight
into 1t and it gives way before us till we are
brought up by huge pair of wooden gates
guarded by little group Of soldiers. To hear
these men talk you would suppose that they
would die then and there rather than let us
pass, but the production of a couple of ten
the gates for us, vainly trying to stop
tne rush OF natives that follows us in and car
ries US before 1t right into the middle of the
open space. 1t is a bare piece of ground, fifty
yards long by dozen wide, between two
houses, whose blank walls hem ii on three sides.
io,aay IL Is the execution ground; yesterday
and tomorrow the drying ground of a potter
VINO lives there. There is no platform no roped-
OH space, nothing but this bare Bit of dirty
ground SO crowded with Chinese that we are
forced INTO the middle, not more than feet
nom whatever is to take place. 1t is no use to
try to get further off-here we are and here we
must stop.
ARRIVAL OF THE VICTIMS.
Suddenly the gates are thrown open again
and, welcomed by howl of delight from the
crowd strange and CHASTITY procession comes
tumolng In. First, few ragamuifin soldiers
making a line pretence of clearing the way:
then ME OF coolies carrying the victims in
small shallow baskets slung TO bamboo poles
As soon as each pair reach the middle of the
space they stoop and pitch their living burden
out and run off. The prisoners are chained
hand and foot and are perfectly helpless The
executioner stands by and points out where
each load is to be dumped. He is dressed
exactly IKE any other coolie present without
any badge of Office whatever. The condemned
men have each long folded piece of paper in
split bamboo stuck into his pigtall upon
which Is written his crime and the warrant
OF execution. One after another they arrive
and are slung out. Will the procession never
end? How many can there be? This is more
than we bargained for. At last over the heads
of the crowd we see the hats OF two petty man
darins, and behind them the gates are-shut.
The tale OF men is fifteen, and the executioner
has arranged them in two rows, about two yards
apart and all facing one way. All except one
seem perfectly callous, and he had probably
been drugged with opium, a last privilege
which the prisoners friends can always OBJ
tain by bribery. They exchange remarks.
some of them evidently chaff, with the spec
tators, and one man was carried in singing and
kept up his strain almost to the last. The ex-
ecutioners-there are now two of them-step
forward.
ALL READY.
The younger tucks up his trousers and sleeves
and deliberately selects a sword from several
lying close by, while the other, an older man.
collects the strips OF paper into a sheaf and
lays them on one side. Then he places him
self behind the front man of the nearest row
and takes him by the shoulders. The younger
man walks forward and stands at the left of the
kneeling man. The fatal moment has come.
There is an instant's hush and every one of
the two rows of condemned men behind twists
his head around and cranes his neck to see (
will not attempt to describe the emotions of
such moment-the horror, the awful repul-
sion, the wish that you had never come the
sickening fear that you will be splashed with
the blood, and yet the helpless fascination that
keeps your eyes glued to every detail. The
knife is raised. II is a short broad-bladed two
handed sword, weighted at the back, and evil
IDENTIFY as sharp as a razor.
THE FATAL STROKE,
For second it is poised in the air az the
executioner takes aim. Then il falls. There
is no great apparent effort 1t simply falls.
and moreover, seems to fall slowly But when
1t comes to the mans neck it does not stop-it
keeps on falling. With ghastly slowness il
passes right through the flesh and YOU are only
recalled from your momentary stupor when the
head springs forward and rolls over and over.
while for fraction Of second two DAZZLING
jets OF scarlet blood burst out and fall In a
graceful curve to the ground. Then the great
rush OF blood comes and floods the spot. Az
soon as the blow has fallen the second execu
toner pitches the body forward with a loud
thought" it tumbles in shapeless heap. and
from every throat goes up loud "Ho" express
siye Of pleasure and approval of the stroke.
But there Is no pause. The executioner steps
over the corpse to the front man in the second
rank, the knife rises again, it falls, another
head rolls away, another double burst of blood
follows II, the headless body is showed forward.
the assistant shouts "Hough" and the crowd
shouts "Ho." Two men are dead. Then the
headsman steps back to the second main of the
front row and the operation is repeated.
Two things strike you; The brutal matter Of
factness OF the whole performance aud the ex-
traordinary ease with which human head can
be chopped off. As a whole, it is precisely like
drove of pigs driven into the shambles and
stuck; and in detail it is-or seems-no more
dificult than splitting turnip with a carving
kNaUfA L. - - -