Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-09-26
A TIGER OF THE LAW.

Never had Chi Hung Lang sat dowr
10 his cup Of tea in a more sorrowfu
frame of mind. A something wrapped
in yellow silk lay before him, which
bid fair to give the brave mandarin &
headache. 1t was an official letter
A weighty matter it was for CHI
Hung Lang-to be or not to be, in fact
In case he succeeded in doing what wai
asked of him he would receive the sec
ond peacock feather and the red button
for his cap, but if he failed the soles d
his feet would certainly become in.
timately acquainted with the bamboo.
And there were such beautiful, strong,
elastic bamboos in the town hall fol
such purposes. He had tried every stitch
with his own hands on one Of his in.
feriors in office.
For Chi Hung Lang was the highest
judge of the province and bore the title
of honor, tiger of the lawbook. .
In criminal circles and among those
learned in the law his name was great.
ly respected. He understood the law sc
well and could expound it so infinitely
that he once succeeded by brilliant
plea in having 2-hour-old infant sen.
fenced to Is years Imprisonment.
There was no one in all the land with
a clear conscience, at least no one who
felt secure, for Chi Hung Lang had once
declared that in his opinion every re-
spectacle citizen ought to sit on the
criminals bench at least once during
his lifetime, and he was just the man
to put his theory into practice.
1t cannot be denied that Chi Hung
Lang, with his method of administering
justice, accomplished great results. II
any one had the least reason to fear the
law, he moved into another province.
This solved the tramp question at least.
IT the tiger of the lawbook had not
occasionally instituted a practice law
suit, the judges of the land would have
had nothing to do but smoke their opium
in undisturbed leisure.
At this time the prison of the prov
ince of Yen-si-ling, over which Chi
Hung Lang ruled, had been without
an inmate for eight days. 1t was abso-
lutely impossible to find a wrongdoer.
The beautiful prison, with its 832
cells, electric lights, fogging machines
and torture chamber equipped with all
the modern improvements, was empty
empty as Chinese lieutenant's purse
on the goth Of the month.
: This is the reason that Chi Hung
Lang's heart qualyed and his feet tin
gled with misgiyingsi
Five years before this the above men
toned model prison had been built by
the son of heaven at an enormous cost,
and it had been made so large at the ex-
press wish of Chi Hung Lang. The vice
roy now announced that he would in
spect the prison i'll three days and hoped
to find it comfortably well filled. The
writing ended with the ominous figures
"25. " Oh, how poor Chi Hung Lang S
feet burnedi 1t was just like the Mikado
But where was he to get S32 Nanlli
Poohs without stealing them? II was
hardly to be expected that any one
would volunteer But the viceroy want
ed to see the fiogging machine and the
hydraulic gallows i'll actual operation
during his inspection. Here the terrible
number 20 appeared again. Oh, how
the feet of the tiger of the lavbcok
burnedl There was no escape. An I'M
lawful act he would not have commit
ted, and at any rate there was no time
to manufacture several hundred COM
plants and try the cases i'll the usual
way Oh, if only he had more timel
And Chi Hung Lang rubbed his head
doubtfully. He had a very long head,
had Chi Hung Lang, tiger of the law
book
At this moment his pupil and favor
tie practitioner Ka-cha-lo, entered the
room with a newspaper i'll his hand and
horror in his face.
Read, master" he said.
1t was copy of a comic paper, The
Dragon Claw, which contained "a ma
licious item ridicuhng the large feet Of
Chi Hung Lang S wife.
Ka-cha-lo had expected his master TO
dy into a passion and at least breathe
ut fire and smoke or some exhibition
u tAtt hAllO
Nothing Of the sort took place. The
mighty man of law danced around the
room in his glee until his cue upset all
the candles, crying; II am saved 1
,hall fill my prison. l shall get my S32
prisonersr Ka-cha-lo said in astonish-
nent "Only one / think--the response
Die editor Of The Dragon Claw.
Lang, what do you know about law?
How about his accomplices?"
but do you think he has 832 Of
shem?' ventured Ka-cha-lo.
"He has as many as need, " was the
wise answer.
Ka-cha-lo, more astonished than ever,
left the room, saying, "What MANI