The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1894-10-19

has bent his neck to the
& deadly cup-cup knives of
the Chinese"
The speaker was Lieutenant Cloth,
of the French Navy, now in New
York, but who was in active naval SER
vice during the Tonquin war.
every Chinese soldier" he ex-
planned, "carries a cup cup knife-a
barbarous weapon--concealed in his
trousers or his blouse. These knives
are made of iron-not steel-are more
than foot long, and fitted with very
crudely made wooden handles. They
are used for cutting, bamboo saplings
into firewood and for variety of pur-
poses, and are always extremely dull.
1t is with the cup-cups that the
Chinese behead their prisoners, an
operation that is rendered doubly
slow and painful by the blunt edges of
the knives. l have been told that it
sometimes takes half an hour of saw
ing and hacking to accomplish it,
though, of course, have no personal
knowledge on that point.
"They always expect to be behead-
ed, if captured, and the first move
made by a Chinese soldier who has
been made prisoner is to bow his head
and bend his neck for the knife. tits
not surprising that more than one
Frenchman during the Tonquin war
killed himself rather than be captured
by the bloodthirsty yellow fends, for
the cruelty Of the beheading process IS
beyond the power of words to portray.
81 never knew q Chinaman to kill
himself for fear of capture or to beg
for his life after capture. They eX-
pect to be killed, and see no use in
asking quarter. But have known
them to beg piteously for their pig
tails. A Chinaman loses the respect
of his countrymen if he loses his pig
tail, and we used to cut them off in
stead of their heads.
"The cruelty of the japanese may
be great-but the cruelty of the
Chinese is past belief. One favorite
form Of torture applied to some of our
brave fellows who were captured was
implement. They lay the prisoner
on his back, stretch his arms and legs
and drive sharpened bamboos through
his hands, feet and chest. Then they
pour quicklime on parts of his body
and leave him to a slow and awful
death. The agony of person treated
in this way is excruciating. You may
be sure that the Chinese have nc
knowledge Of or respect for the Geneva
Red Cross convention.
Lieutenant Cloth says the Chinese
are far better fighters on land than on
water. Their seamanship IS vile.
"Why," said the Lieutenant, "they
do not even know how to tack when
navigating a sailing vessel. They can
only go before the wind never against
it, | have known Chinese vessels to
remain at anchor for days because the
wind was not blowing in exactly the
direction the ship was to sail. Their
lack of knowledge of navigation will
be very disadvantageous in their naval
combats, in spite of the fact that
their ships are commanded by Euro
peans. On the land it will be differ.
ent.
"The imperial army is composed
mostly of men from the northern part
of China, Tartars, tall, strong fell
lows, not at all like the understood
Cinnamon who are to be seen in Amer
lea. They are thoroughly stoical il
their bravery, and they fight with the
desperation of demons. Most of them
are armed with first class European
rifles, though every army corps is
followed by a body of irregular
troops, who carry lances made only o.
bamboo stalks, tipped with iron, anG
bows and arrows These men are o.
no use as fighters, excepting at close
quarters; but assure you that it is
very disagreeable, indeed, to meet
them in hand to hand fight. TIL,
regular troops are as determined sol.
diers as / have ever seen. In Tonquin
which is dotted with hills and cut VI
with ravines, they would take position
on an eminence and remain there load
ing and firing with the regularity Of
clockwork as long as single man wa
left They simply could not be dis
lodged, either by rifle or artillery fire
The only way to make them fall bach
was to overpower them by bayonet
charge. Then they would run, with
out attempting to hold their ground
They are wretched marksmen.
Each soldier wears on his breast 6
round shield of white cotton, on
which is inscribed his name, the
branch of the army to which he be
lon1s his ACE. his birthplaca and the