The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1896-06-05
A TIGER OF THE LAW.

Never had Chi Hung Lang sat down
TO his cup of tea in a more sorrowful
frame of mind A something wrapped
in yellow silk lay before him, which
bid fair to give the brave mandarin a
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 was
asked of him he would receive the sec
ond peacock feather and the red button
for his cap, but if he failed the soles Of
his feet would certainly become in
timately acquainted with the bamboo.
And there Were such beautiful, strong,
elastic bamboos in the town hall for
such purposes. He had tried every stick
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
" respected. He understood the law so
well and could expound II so minutely
that he once succeeded by a 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
tn r,ur his theory into r,racrIra
1t cannot be denied that Chi Hung
Lang. with his method of administering
justice, accomplished great results If
any one had the least reason TO fear the
law, he moved into another province.
This solved the tramp question AT least.
III 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 S32
cells, electric lights, fiogging machines
and torture chamber equipped with all
the modern Improvements, was empty
empty as Chinese lieutenant purse
on the 29th of the month
This is the reason that Chi Hung
Lang's heart quaked and his feet tin
gled with misgivings:
Five years before this the above men
TONED model prison had been built by
the son of heaven at an enormous cost,
and 1t 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 in 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 burnedl 1t was just like the AIikado.
But where was he to get S32 Nanki
Poohs without stealing them2 II was
hardly TO be expected that any one
would volunteer. But the viceroy want
ed to see the flogging machine and the
hydraulic gallows in actual operation
during his inspection. Here the terrible
number % appeared again Oh, how
the feet of the tiger of the lawbook
burnedl There was no escape. An un-
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 in the usual
way. Oh, if only he had more timel
And Chi Hung Lang rubbed his head
doubtfully. He had very long head.
had Chi Hung Lang, tiger of the law
book
At this moment his pupil and favor
ite practitioner, Ka-cha-lo. entered the
room with a newspaper in his hand and
horror in his face.
Read, MASTER he said
1t was a copy of a comic paper, The
Dragon Claw. which contained "A ma
hcious item ridiculing the large feet of
Chi Hung Lang's wife
Ka-cha-lo had expected his master to
fly into a passion and at least breathe
out fire and smoke or some exhibition
of the kind
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; Il am savedl L
shall fill my prison! 1 shall get my SS2
prisonersp' Ka-cha-lo said in astonish-
ment, ''Only one. think-the response
BILE editor of The Dragon Claw
Young man." replied Chi Hung
Lang. what do you know about law?
How about his accomplices?"
but do you think he has S32 of
them?'' ventured Ka-cha-lo.
HE has as many as need. was the
wise answer.
Ka-cha- 10, more astonished than ever,
left the room, saying What a mani
Two days afterward proceedings were
begun.
Eight hundred and thirty two persons
had been accused of being parties to the
offense or of spreading abroad the con-
tents of the libelous sheet As a matter
of course the editor was first indicted,
then the assistant editors, the publish
ers, the owners of the printing Office.
the printers, the folders, the compost
tors and the proofreaders. the janitors;
also his wife, who had brought him his
breakfast and so refreshed him that he
was able to take part in such scanda-
lous doings The porter of the building
did not escape, for had he not allowed
the bundles of papers to be carried out
without protest? Neither were the
women who carried the papers over
looked, nor the postal authorities who
forwarded them by mail, nor the rail
way officials down to the engineer, for
they all had assisted in bringing il be-
fore the public.