Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-10-17

was done, and fifty pirates in the tNamod'
affair, but ninety-f0ur pirates have been
already beheaded for that crime. The
trials and executions were conducted with
out any OF the laws delay BY each Of the
Ave tribunals engaged therein. Some of
the trials afforded startling glimpses of
criminal life in China
In one case a pirate was identified by
some twenty Witnesses as having been
engaged in as many piracies and as hav-
ing taken part in the slaughter Of more
than one hundred innocent captiyes.
In second trial occurred very dra-
matte event. The proceedings were at an
end and the magistrate left his throne to
kneel and praJ before the imperial tablet
which is set In the wall of the court room
and on which in heavily chiseled characters
are inscribed the words which give him
the power Of life ana death. The act is
equivalent to passing the sentence of death.
When the magistrate arose from his knees
the burly pirate, who had never moved a
muscle during the ceremony, said In tones
that could be heard through the court
room: Judge, your justice is injustice.
Under the guise of law you kill the same
as we pirates kill This trial has been a
farce. ] was not in the Namoa matter.
but am pirate. glory In it and aya
ready TO die There are three other pirates
whom you have condemned, and condemned
justly; but yonder FIVE creatures, who stand
there with ehattering teeth and hands pal
sled with fear, are not and never were pi-
rates. You can see for yourself that they
have not the courage of d small child and
they are not the stuff of which pirate are
made. OF course you will kill them, but
their killing will be none the less MUIR
der.
THE EXECUTIONS,
The executions went off in the regua-
ton oriental way. A company of soldiers
appeared at the appointed hour before
the prison; the pirates were brought out
with their arms pinioued behind them and
their feet manacled Their queues were
tied up in a curious high, hard knot, into
which was stuck bamboo skewer holding
a paper card, on which was written the
name Of the prisoner and the crime for
which he was doomed to die They were
escorted by the guard to the place of eX
ecution on the beach This at Kowlocn
is within q cabIetow's length of the ship
ping and mt Annoy directly opposite the
Windows of this consulate.
The ceremony, though public, appears
to have little attraction for the Chinese.
OF those who witnessed it the majority in
every case were Europeans. The troops
formed in line and the prisoners knelt
down upon the sandy shore The warrant
was read by an official and the executioner,
who seemed - slender stripping of is,
began his work. The sword was of
medium size, heavy, two-edged and sharp
as a razor.
The headsmen knew his profession well.
The moment the order was given by
bugle blast from the herald at the signal
Of the commanding officer the exatutloner
advanced toward the first pirates and
stepped two feet away. Then raising the
glitteriae sword he struck a blow so quick
ly that it was scarcely visible. The head
fell vertically to the ground, a column o J.
red blood shot a dozen feet into the air
and the body swayed and tell forward
over and conceaiing the head beneath it,
The next moment second head fell,
then third and a fourth; only once was
there slip IN tina antla nineteen. behead
ca on this patiCular occasion. Then the
prisoner sWeryed, and the sword striking
too low. but half removed the mead. Two
assistants sprang forward and seized the
body, then in the lhroes of death, while
sGw-lke cut of the weapon, severed the
neck completely.
A minute after the last head had fallen
the command was given and the troops
marched away, and the headless bodies
were left with the gazing crowd.
now THEY MET DEATH.
10
age and began to cry like a child The
next moment his right hand nelghbor
turned and said to him: Don't be a
baby, be man--die like pirate" In
another a powerful fellow whom the ex-
cuboner was approaching grlnned at the
Europeans who stood in front and said;
All right, foreign devils; you can say
good-by to tue boss pirate Of the gang.
But the strangest OF all was the dying
remark Of the ughess and cruelest OF the
entire band He enjoyed the singular
reputation of being fearless eut-throat
and a very pjous Buddhist. Just before
his head fell he called out in the most
solemn way: tits your turn now, but
ours is to come My soul will be back here
in eighteen years, and for every head you
take to-day | shall take one hundred of
yours then.
The bodies are allowed to lie a day or
more upon the beach and are then thrown
into the sea as food for the fishes
Their heads are gathered the same day
and put into what looks for all the world
like cigar boxes and exposed to public
view until decomposition rend7 rs them
unreoognizable
There are a number of trails vet to be
bebeaded. It's to be hoped that these
systems of wholesale determination wilt
intimidate the criminal classes and re-
store the peace and quiet that prevailed IN
1880. If ii does not we are bound to nave
very lively times and deathly one. too, at
every port on the coast of China, and
especially at this ancient and venerable
city Of Annoy. Edward Bedle1, in PhiIa
deIph Times.