Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-03-27
CHINESE DETECTIVES.
Confessions Elected by Torture
and Other Cruel Means
Shrewd Methods Sometimes Employed by
Monaghan Magistrates for Entrapping
Guilty Party-SuperstitIon a Pow
erful Ally In Many Cases.

shrewd Methods Sometimes Employed by
MOngOlian Magistrates for Entrapping
q Guilty Party-Superstitlon a Pow
erfuI Ally In Many Cases.
The Chinese possess no organized detect
i've force, though the officials sometimes
visit in disguise the scene of a notable
crime for the purpose of making inquiries,
and police spies are often locked up with re-
manded prisoners to try to worm out their
secrets. The lower classes being intensely
superstitious, the judicial investigation of
crime usually takes place at night The
judgment ball, as described by a writer in
Chambers Journal, Is lofty building of
wood, unceiled and bare Of furniture save
Tor the raised dais at the north end, where is
seated the presiding magistrate, attended
by his secretaries, clerks and hctors. The
only light comes from paper lanterns or cot
ton wicks in oil cups, which but serve to
bring into prominence the weird shadows
fitting about the corners and lurking
among the woodwork of the roof Silence
prevails, the few spectators watching the
proceedings standing like statues. The ac-
cuSed, dragged from the darkness and filth
Of Chinese prison, is forced to kneel be-
fore the judgment seat throughout the
trial Weakened by ill-treatment and APP
palled by his own superstitious imaginings,
he often requires only little judicious ter
rorizing to elicit full confession of his
guilt II he prove obdurate, witnesses are
called. From these no oath or affirmation is
demanded, the breaking of a saucer
and other forms for administering an
oath to a Chlnaman laid down in English
law-books being quite unknown in Chinese
courts. Any hesitation or refusal to
answer the magistrates questions-for he
is judge, jury and crown prosecutor all in
one, and no counsel for the defense is al
lowed-is punished by slaps on the cheek or
the application of the bamboo to the thighs,
and similar penalties more severely admin
istered check the giving of false testimony.
Should the prisoner, in face Of strong evil
dence, persist in denying his guilt, various
persuasive measures are resorted to, such
as forcing him to kneel on chains, hang
ing him up by the thumbs or suspend
ing him by the neck in a wooden frame so
that his toes just touch the ground. All
such fortunes are illegal, but confession
has TO be obtained somehow before sentence
can be passed, and cases are many and tn
time for settling them short. Seldom can
the stoutest rogue, or, alas innocent man,
hold out against such treatment continued
throughout the night, and renewed, if neces-
sary, again and again.
When two or more persons are equally
suspected Of theft or the hike, the mag1s-
trates often show great ingenuity in de-
tecting the guilty. In cross-examination
they are peculiarly skillful in obtaining dam
aging admissions, their suave manner de-
ceiving the accused as to the Importance
OF the point they inquire about 80 careless
ly. Two instances of extra judicial methods
for ascertaining the culprit among many
equally under suspicion deserve to be re-
corded for their cleverness. Some balls of
opium taken from piratical junk by rev.
enue cruiser myteriously disappeared while
being transferred to the latter vessel
Opium is very precious in China, and bah
Is easily split up and secreted in the
wide sleeves or the voluminous waistband
of a Chinese sailor. The commander
Of the vessel was 10th to insti-
tute search Of the ship and crew, know
ing well the craftiness of his men, and that
even if found the opium would most prob
ably be in the bundle of some innocent
man. He therefore resorted to a plan as
simple as it proved effective. In his acabin
was, as Is usual, a shrine of the Goddess
OF Mercy and of the Chinese Neptune. Be
fore these deities he instituted a solemn
service, which was prolonged till evening.
When night fell he mustered the crew and
called them one by one into the drmly-
lighted cabin. Here each man had to make
solemn declaration of his innocence, kneel-
ing before the images, and, dipping his
finger in q saucer of water, to smear his
face all over, being warned that, if he were
guilty, the divinities would make his face
appear streaked with black. When the
thief's turn came, he tried to outwit the gods
by rubbing his finger on the bottom of the
saucer; but, to his horror, when he reached
the light, his face was all over black
marks, the willy commander having held
the saucer over lamp before commencing
the experiment.
In another case, where several servants
were suspected Of theft, each man was
given bamboo of the same length, marked
with his name which had to be deposited
In an urn before small shrine in the outer
prison where they were confined. The
officer announced that the culprit's rod
would grow, by interposition of providence,
one inch during the night. The prisoners
were then locked up, no watch being kept
on the urn. On the reassembling of the
court one rod was found to be an inch
shorter than the rest, as the thief had
under cover Of the darkness endeavored to
circumvent the supposed divine power by
biting bit OF his rod.
When any article disappears from q
private house and one of the inmates is sus-
pected Of purloinlng it, it is usual, before
having recourse to the magistrate, whose
underlings exact huge fees for doing any
thing, or nothing, to call in priest and hold
a communion service. This consists in in
yoAing the evil spirits and bribing them by
offerings and music to hound the culprit to
death within the year. It continues for
three days and nights-if the terrified thief
does not confess and make restitution be-
fore that time, a result very frequently
achieved. Europeans living in China have
tried this method, but not with much sue
cess, as the gonging and other discordant
sounds which constitute the music" so
effeotually drive away sleep that the neigh
boring foreigners insist on it's being inter
mitted during the night, and, so say the
Chinese, spoil the charm.
OF late years Chinese newspapers on the
European model have been started, and are
well supported in the matter of advertise
ments. So now, the loser of bank notes or
othep portable property can, and very fire.
quently does, announce his loss in good
Chinese in the columns of one of the three
leading daiies, Offering suitable rewards
for the recovery OF his property and the de-
lection OF the thief The European settle
ment at Shanghai alone of all the towns of
China employs regular detectives at the ex-
penseof the rate-payers. When, if ever, the
Chinese Government will follow the exam
pie set them by this t'western" community
il is impossible to predict.
Wealthy American Eogns.
The wealthiest town of its size in Amer
lea lis Brookline, Mass, OF which the assess
ment valuation is S407,A L02S The distinc-