Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1894-08-07
BINDING OATH OF THE CIT NEsE,
No Monaghan WIN Lite After Swearing on
the BEAD of y Chicken.

No Mongo lian WIN Lite After Swearing on
the Head of = Chicken.
An event Of unusual interest took
place in the Municipal Court yesterday
afternoon during the trial OF Chin
Chew on the charge Of assaulting and
robbing Chin Gee Long In the Wa Chong
block, June is, says the Seattle Post
TntelljgepCGr. The truth was obtained
through the assistance of J. e. Gardner,
the missionary, who speaks Chinese
as 1uently as he does English, and
who is we'll known on the Pa
cifc coast as having been Chief Of Pc
lice Crowley's right bower in breaking
up the San Francisco organized high
binders. Mr.. Gardner introduced the
chickens head OATH" under which no
Chinaman dares tell an untruth under
penalty of becoming q walking ghost,
the greatest of Chinese horrors. The
binding effect OF the oath may De
Judged by ths action OF the defendants
principal witness, who arose and de-
cared that he would not swear by the
"chicken's head" for $4,000, and i'm
mediately left the court. Clerk Craw-
fork learned that Mr.. Gardner, who IS
now living at Victoria, was in the city,
and persuaded him TO appear In
the municipal court as interprs-
ter In the case. The defendants,
Chin Chew and Chin Dong, demanded
separate hearings, and it was decided
10 proceed with the case OF the former.
Mr.. Gardner was first sworn as inter
prefer and then as witness to testify
in
man TO tell the truth. Mr.. Gardner
told the court how the truth was ex-
tracted in China from witnesses.
He said there were three methods in
vogue, one called Swearing by
the light" which consists in burning
paper, at the same time repeating the
oath; the second was breaking a saucer,
but the best aud most binding consisted
in having the witness cut of a rooster
chickens head, at the same time taking
an oath calling on all the gods they
know TO curse them, their children and
their chidren's children IL they falsify.
Judge Glasgow inquired why it was
that the oath was specially binding,
and Mr. Gardner replied that Cinnamon
think a great deal Of being hOnored
after death. According TO the oath not
only they die if they .aIsiiy. but their
children and their chiidren's children.
This leaves no one to worship
them and they become wandering
ghosts, the most horrible thing q China
man can think OF. Once in great while
a Chinaman will falSify, but as a rule
not one out Of ten. He then spoke of a
case in British Columbia where
Chinaman took the oath, ialsi-
lied, and in less than 4 month
died from wOrriment. Chin Gee
Long, the prosecuting witness, was anx-
ious 20 have the osth administered, but
Chin Chew, the defendant, refused ab-
solutely TO take it. II was discovered
that An Kim. the States important
witness, was missing, and Detective
Corbert was sent after him with
q bench warrant. In the meantime a
tall. smal,pOX-scarred Chinaman, who
had been called by the defense, arose
and informed Mr.. Gardner that be
would not take the oath proposed for
$40. COO, and then, stating that he knew
nothing Of the case, left the room.
After the detective returned with An
Kim Mr. Gardner said il was necessary
| 70 administer the oath in the open air,
so the prosecuting witness, An Kim,
and An Gar, another States witness.
were taken into the alley at the back
of the city hall aud the ceremony
performed. An Kim didn't want to
swear, but finally concluded he would.
Chickens were brought forth, joss
sticks lighted, oaths written in Chinese
characters on long strips Of paper, and
knives with keen edges. The oaths
were taken separately, but without
variance Of manner. The China
man took the chicken in his hands,
and rs ne cut its neck repeated the
| oath. Then ne burned the paper and
| ate some Of the Chinese food. After
everything was over and the chickens
al killed, the defendant suddenly came
to the conclusion that be was mol
afraid to take the oath.