The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-24
BY A THOUSAND CUTS.
a st. Louisan Describes China's Ling
Chez Torture.


From the ST. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The promptness and dispatch with which
malefactors. traitors, and, at times. politi-
cal offenders, are decapitated in the Chi
nese empire are matters Of notoriety. II
is so well known that some executions are
attended with frightful tortures and
CHASTITY horrors almost exceeding belief.
a ST. Louisan, on returning from trip
to Hong Kong, brought with him a pho
tograph of an execution in Canton. The
Chinese do not picture these horrors to
exploit their own brutality. The picture.
was taken by Scotchman, who
was engineer on the steamer Powan one
Of the line which plies between Hong
Kong and Canton. In acquiring the pic
ture he lost his job. When copies of them
were discovered merchants were very au-
cry, and their influence was sufficient TO
secure his discharge, although the steam
ship line is owned by an Englishcorpora-
ton.
The execution took place in Canton. The
victim was young eOolie, who was con-
Victed of numbering his stepmother. The
evidence was cirCumstantial but the proof
was deemed sufficient, and, as not so much
stress is laid on reasonable doubt or
'eNtenuating circumstances" in the Flow
cry Kingdom he was condemned to die
by the Ling Chih" pronounced Ling
Chee'-which means by a thousand
cuts"
The victim is bound with ropes and
taken TO the place of execution. So as
TO prolong the agones as much as pOssi-
bic, the eXecutioner begins by inliicting
slight wounds on inVulnerable parts OF
the body, using a sword and an AK. First,
perhaps, slight sword cut is INFLICTED
on the arm, then one on the shoIider
one on the breast, the side, the legs in
succession. None of these are very dCm)
as II would defeat the ends of Justice"
to allow the poor wretch to die too quick
blood.
After a number of these cuts have been
inflicted with the sword the AK is re-
sorted to and a hand chopped off: then
in few minutes the other follows. After
an interval the feet are chopped on at the
ankles, one after the other. Later on
the handless arms are CHOPPED off at the
elbows, and the legs are reduced in
length a little at a time.
In the early stages of the torture the
numerous slight wounds, while horribly
painful, are not sufficient to produce un?
With derilish cruelty, while the gradual
Remembering is progressing, the unfor-
tunate wretch is vigorously famed to
keep him from fainting, so that he shall
escape none of the agony. Should he
do so the torture is suspended until he re-
wives. Then 1T goes on again. The cool
les standing around to see the show, VIII
ingly aid in The tanning.
When the dismembering process is COM
plete the eXecutioner makes CHASTITY holes
in various parts of the body with his ak,
a boy might chop at a fallen tree to see
the chips fly. When at last the victim has
SucCuIIBeQ 10 THESE plleu up dEOnleS, ana
it has been ascertained that not spark
of lifeTemains in the mutilated trunk, the
head is chopped off. This is done as the
final mark of degradation.
There is nothing about these executions
to impress the pOpulace with the majesty
Of the law. Absolutely no preparations are
made. There is no scaffOld draped in black
no headman's block, no paraphernalia. In
Canton the beheading is always done in
a pottery yard, and the public are free to
attend. Not even saWdust is laid 10 alb
sOrb the blood, and as the same place is
always used. il smells like a charnel house.
in the same place when the subject of the
photograph was executed, % convicted pi-
rates We're shortened a head one fine morn
ing a few years ago.
Hardened by these shocking sights, re-
peated at frequent Intervals, the coolies
stand around absolutely unmOVed by the
poor wretch's sunerngs. They even make
a fete of ii, and make Wagers with each
other on how long before he cries out, as
they make il point to endure with Spar
tan fortitude as much as human nature
can endure. Then bets are made as to how
many cuts he will stand before fainting.
and as the dismembering proceeds the
odds are shortened. Every phase is a sub
iect of betting, such as If he faints how
long viii it be before he revives, or If he
RECEIVERS consciousness a all or not, and
how much dismembering he will endure
before death ends mis- sufferings.
Besides the eNecuuoner the only legal
representative present is a mandarin. VINO
is there TO certify that the sentence Is
carried out ana perhaps to see that the
executioner does not get soft-hearted ana
end his Nlctims suHerlngs prema tureiy.
The photograph is terribly realistic. Ii
shows the look Of agony craven on the
features even after death, the severed
head, the hacked trunk, the severed limbs
piled around IL in short lengths, and the
ends Of the cords which bound him to-
gether with the chips from the FANS, cut
and splintered BY the Understanding ak.