The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1894-05-18

Tacoma friends before his death, bu
DIR. Bredemeyer, the assayer and min
erologist, member of sixteen secre
societies, including the A. O. U. w
which paid his wife the usual benefi
ciary of $4,000, was once crucifed. and
his SCARED hands and feet, minus the
digits, bear witness to the horror O
his thrilling experience, which i.
given as follows:
Bredemeyer was quiet, uncommu.
nlcatlve Prussian. Members of his
family and his close friends knew o.
his crucifixtion, but Tacoma people
were in absolute ignorance of the
facts until Bredemeyer's record OF
his own life was found among his
papers after his death.
He was graduate of the UNIVERSE
ity OF Bonn, and had previously quail
he'd as member of the Prussian Pho
neer Engineer Corps. That was in
1862. The next year he entered the
Dutch-India service as mining enci-
neer and expert, and advanced step
by step in his chosen profession until
in 1868, when the King of Upper
Burmah made him chief engineer of
the famous ruby mines in the north
ern part of that country.
Bredemeyer had headquarters at
Medea, in the ruby mine district,
where big sapphires are also found.
The mines are jealously guarded, and
all the precious stones belong to the
king. From the ruby and the sap
phire harvest the king realizes from
$4,000 to $4,000 year.
North of Medea in the lofty noun
tains there were some ruby mines
which the king had not had prospect
ed by such an eminent expert as
Bredemeyer. In fact, no white man
had ever ventured into the mountains
of the North, where dwell the half
civilized Singphos, who, while recog-
nizing the authority of the king, are
unruly and barbaric.
Bredemeyer's advent was the signal
for great excitement among the Sing
phos. They had never seen a while
man, and Notwithstanding Bredemeyer
proclaimed his mission under authori-
ty of the king, the Singphos were not
satisfied. Their cupidity got the bet
ter of their loyalty; they thought
more of their rubies and sapphires
than they did of their kings mandat-
es. They decided to cruelty the white
man if he did not flee from the coun-
try.
A handful of soldiers were with
Bredemeyer. In all the country,
which then had 100000 inhabitants,
the king had but 10000 soldiers. The
Singphos were not afraid of them.
Bredemeyer refused to leave the coun-
try until he had carried out the ord
ers of the king. The Singphos de-
clared war. The soldiers went into
ambush, only to treacherously surren-
der the mining experts when the
natives swooped down upon them.
While the soldiers were scurrying
about for reinforcements, the natives
nailed Bredemeyer to cross made of
two pieces of the native oil-wood.
Crude pieces Of iron with sharp edges
and slightly sharp at the ends were
brought, and, using stones for sledges,
the natives drove the irons through
Bredemeyer's hands and feet.
The barbarians were beside them
selves with fiendish fury. In their
haste they horribly mutilated the engi-
neer's toes and fingers. Before the
brutal work of mailing Bredemeyer to
the cross was finished he became par
TALLY unconscious. The shock was
almost fatal. The last thing he re-
membered was the swarming Singhpos
with their fiat faces, broad skulls,
straight black hair and deep brown
skins, grinning like demons, uttering
wild shouts and dancing and gesticu-
lating at the foot of the cross. Some
of them were entirely naked, having
stripped off their apparel in the hyst-
erical excitement of the capture and
crlcifxion of the hated vic tim.
AS a rule the natives wear linen
wrapped about their hips. These
cloths are called ingies, and as as Bre-
demeyer lapsed into inconsistencies he
remembered that the ingies of the
masters of the harbaric ceremony were
besmeared with his own blood.
When Bredemeyer had been nailed
to the cross, the natives prepared to
raise it and fasten it into the ground.
At that instant the soldiers happily
returned with reinforcements and rout-
ed the natives. Bredemeyer was car
ried back to Medea.
The crucifxtion occurred on July
16, 1869, at about noon. At noon next
day his wounds were dressed. The