St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-07-10
RUFUS SANDERS.
THE MAD KILLER.

PICTURESQUE Bat troublesome Aetn<
DDS 81 Malay Suicides.
It was a thick air that hung about the
spice stalls. The smell of cloves and
sandal wood breathed over Batavia like
a sweetened cloud, and the searching.
pungent reek Of bruised pepper that
hung round the inner shops was almost
painful. Moreover, the Javanese il the
craftiest fisher round the rim of the
seas, and: glorious are the hauls he
brings ashore from the bays and rivers
that slice Java to north and south. But
he does not approve Of fresh fish, pre-
ferring to smoke his prey in greenwood
smoke. His browning delight is the
fcrmenting Of a seething mass OF fish,
fry and prawns in the sun. stewed by
natural heat to . noisome mess that
Rladdens the heart Of Malays.
Away beyond the low houses 1 could
see the long ridge of mountains that
is the ragged backbone of Java. Some
OF them are volcanoes. extinct long
aeons since. Here and there in the
swarming crowds Of the town found a
man from the hills-stark. wiry. and OF
more muscular limbs than the dreamy
lollers that love the plain. There was
the CLEAN of the higher mir ON his skin,
and his hair was short and crisp. On
his shoulders he carried salable leopard
skins, and in his eye an open scorn
for the feebler men around. This is the
way Of all mountain men, even nearer
home than Java.
By and by, in the hush Of the glaring
noon, there sounded an angry scream
up the street. three seconds later yell
Of pain, and the sobbing cry Of man
cut deep through the lungs. II touched
CT the whole teeming popuisce like .
match in a powder barrel; there was
frenzied rush of swarthy loafers for
safety, and shrieking chorus of
.Amok! amok!" the street cry of the
far east which means many deaths in
a short period. Out Of byway 1.-THE
Malay tore blindly down the road. driv-
ing his knife into the stomach OF
water carrier as he passed. The carrier
fen on hib face with . thick cough, and
the frantic man spun forward, with
starting, bloodshot eyeballs. foaming
at the mouth like rsbid dog, q narrow
dripping kris In his fight hand. He
dashed furiously among the deserted
stalls, aud ON through the town. till .
big Lascar, fresh from his ship and
hungry for q fight. sank his knife under
the madman's ribs with the slipping
upstroke which il the legacy OF all Las
cars throughout the earth.
These ten-minute dramas occur 20
or 30 times year in Batavia and in most
cities Of the remoter east. The pleasant
Malay prefers this method Of suicide to
any other. and after losing his
wealth at a gambling den in the
cast city slums, ! Or his betrothcd
through fever, he decides on nm
amok. It il far less old-blooded
than common elf-murder, and the red,
rabid frenzy appeals to the hot blood OF
the ruined Malay. He hnrics his kris
in the body Of the nearest man, and
keeps the lire of q maddened jackal
through the town, killing to right and
left, till n reader knife ends him. !
have known ii victims to succumb to
ono amok, and ut times . powerful hill
man win cut down . score Of bystand-
err before he meets the point In all
countries Of the farthest east you will
find that ruin breeds this fever for the
Running Kill.-London Answers.