Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-02-21
Horrible TOrtureS.
F1ENDIsH CRUELTIES TO WHICH
CHINESE PRISONERS ARE
SUBJECTED.

IF the war between the Chinese
and japanese should result i'm the
success of the latter it is not un-
likely that a few reforms in China's
government may follow, as the Japa-
nese are rapidly taking a front rank
among the educated and enlightened
nations. One of the first results of
such enforced civilization would
probably be the abolition of the
Chinese system of torture.
The punishments now imposed on
the MOngOlian criminal or culprit in
China by Cinnamon exceed in cru
city, not to say barbarity, those of
any other civilized nation. The
fact that such cruelties are often in
fiicted for insignificant crimes, or
perhaps merely to crafty the malice
or whim of a captious mandarin,
makes them doubly heinous.
Modes of torture and punishment
in the celestial empire are of two
kinds--legal and illegal. The latter
are frequently practiced by magis-
trates and jailers--by magistrates
for the purpose of eliciting conies-
sion Of guilt, and by jailers in order
to extort money from the prisoners.
The methods of Illegal torture are
numerous, and the pain caused by
them is often eXcrutiating. Many
of them receive their specific names
from the implement or apparatus
employed in the inf1iction of the
torture.
In the form known as the "cage"
punishment the offender is placed in
cage, his head protruding through
an opening in the top, and the cage
is so adjusted az to allow the tips of
his toes only to touch the ground.
The victim is either obliged to- stand
thus or be hung by the neck if he
attempts to change his position. To
stand long on tiptOe is almost i'm
possible, and the wretched offender
is thus made to suffer inten2, pain.
Persons are known to have been
placed in such cage in puL,'o
place and kept there until death has
come to their relief.
The snake" punishment consists
in twining around the body of the
| victim snake-like coils made of some
malleable metal, in use so arranged
that the arms of the prisoner are
thrust into one set. After these are
adjusted boiling water is poured into
them through the mouths Of the SER
pents, causing the flesh Of the victim
to burn and blister in horrible
manner. This mode Of punishment
is almost exclusively used on state
prisoners. In the suspending pun
ishment the prisoner Is either sus
pended on a horizontal bar by on,
hand and one foot or else by tn,
hands tied together at the back, ant
also the feet. In either of these po
sitiOns the pain, when the tortur
Is long continued, is so great that tn
victim loses consciousness. Bot
hands and the feet are frequentl,
dislocated in this manner.
The form of torture known as fin
ger-squeeZing is usually employee
by magistrates to extort con fessions
The fingers on each hand Of the pris
oner are fixed between rods so al
ranged that by pulling cord tn
fingers are squeezed between them
The more the cord is pulled tn
tighter the fingers are squeezed. s
dreadful Is the pain caused by thi
torture that after short time almos
invariably the prisonsr Is willing {
confess almost anything his accuse
desires. There are almost numbe
less other tortures Of different d,
grees Of barharity and ingeniou
cruelty, hat the foregoing are thos
In daily public use.