Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-08

tain amount of money at q certain place
the tablets would be returned to him. He
followed the directions In the note, but in
stead of carrying load Of copper cash. he
filled his bags with stones and had men In
ambush to watch the thieves when they
came to get the money. As the robbers
came forth these men sprang from their
hiding places and attempted to catch them
They did not succeed in either recognizing
them or capturing them, but one Of the
thieves dropped his pipe as he ran. This
pipe was shown about to the people, until
finally one man said that 1t looked like that
of prominent noble. The magistrate at
once arrested the suspected man and charg-
ed him with the robbery. He replied that
he had had nothing to do with 1t. He was
put to torture. His hands were tied behind.
him, and he was hung up by his elbows
while his feet were whipped He refused to
confess. The magistrate became angry,
and he had the mans whole family brought
out and stoned. The man still refused to
confess, and he actually buried the man
and his family alive. This was such a hor-
rible outrage that the people complained
istrate however, had friend at court, and
through the influence of the prime minister
nothing was done to him. 7t
Torture and the Stocks.
The torturing of prisoners to make them
confess is common in Corea, and 1t Is won
derful what inventions of torture are some
times in use. Think of tying a mans bare
his toes with powder. Think of all sorts Of
f1ogging and pinching and cutting. and you
can get some idea. Of the powers of
Corean magistrate. In the prisons YOU will
find iron chains, stocks, and all sorts of
manacles. These Coreans know how to
whip so that the flesh is raveled off Of the
bones. and I have photograph of man
tied IN a chair, with his knees bare, and a
jailer whipping his bare shins. In one Of
the prisons which 1 visited l saw three
men fastened in stocks The stocks con.
sisted of log of wood about fifteen feet
lorg and at least a foot in diameter This
had been split in two, and holes had been
bored through it tlst large enough to hold
the bare ankle of man. The three GRIM
inals each had one foot fastened in this
log, and the jailers, when 1 appeared with
my soldiers and photographer, tried to
move them out into the sun so that l might
get good photograph of them. As they
pulled them along L heard one Of them
utter a cry of pain, and I saw that the
features of all were contorted with agony
1t made me sick. and desisted. l told the
jailers to let the men be. and that would
not take their pictures. L took photo
graph, however, of one of the prisoners
who vas wearing the Corean cangue. This
Is different from the articles used in China,
and 1 have never heard 1t described, nor
read of it anywhere. You will find no de-
scription of II in the books of travel. 1 do
not suppose that many know OF Its exist
ence. The Chinese cangue consists OF
square framework or board, in the center
Of which a mans head is fixed, and which
rests upon his shoulders. jutting about two
feet out from his neck on every side. The
Corean cangue is plank, often longer than
the man himself, with a hole in one end of
1t, in which the neck can be locked. If the
man wishes to move about he must hold up
this plank with his hands, and when he
sits down its heavy weight rests upon his
neck. l found 1t in the jails Of many OF
the magistrates which / visited in the coun-
try districts, and it Is by no means mild
instrument of torture. . -..,.. .ia'. -
Horrors of Padding and Spanking.
Padding and fiogging are the most COM
mon punishment. This prevails. every
where, and the official is very low indeed
who cannot order the common man down to
be Padded. Every magistrate has ibis pro-
fessional paddlers. and many officials when
they go about, have officers who, go with
them, carrying these Instruments of torture
In passing the front gate of the palace one
afternoon 1 saw a number of these kesos,
as they are called, With their paddles beside
them. Their masters had probably gone in
to see the king, and they'were waiting out
side. These paddles are about six feet Ions,
five inches wide, and perhaps an inch thick
in the center. tapering down to a thickness
of perhaps three-eighths of an inch az the
end. They have small handles, and they
are made of a white. hard wood which is
very flexible and elastic. These padding
kesos have a regular guild of their own,
and the business often descends from father
to son. They are wonderfully expert in the