Morris tribune., 1897-09-22
THE MAD KILLER.
Malay Methods OF Suicide Are Picturesque
AZ Somewhat Tpoublesome.


It was thick air that hung about
the spice stalls. The smell Of cloves
and sandalwood breathed over Ba-
tavia like a sweetened cloud, and
the searching, pungent reek OF bruis-
ed pepper that hung round the inner
shops was almost painful. More
over, the Javanese is 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, prefer1ing to smoke his prey in
green wood smoke His browning
delight is the fermenting of seeth-
ing mass of fish fry and prawns in
the sun, stewed by natural heat toa
noisome mess that gladdens the
heart of Malays.
Away beyond the low houses ]
could see the long ridge of noun
tains that is the ragged backbone of
Java. Some of them are volcanoes,
extinct long cons since. Here and
there in the swarming crowds of the
town I 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 air 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
glazing noon, there sounded an an
CRY scream up the street, three Sec
onds later yell of pain and the
sobbing cry of a man cut deep
through the lungs. 1t touched off
the whole teeming populace Like a
match in a powder barrel; there
was a frenzied rush of swarthy loaf
ers for safety, and a shrieking chorus
of "Amok, amokl" the street cry
Of the far east which means many
deaths in short period. Out of a
byway 1.-the Malay tore blindly
down the road, driving his knife
into the stomach of water carrier
as he passed. The carrier fell on
his face with thick cough, and the
frantic man spun forward, with
starting, bloodshot eyeballs, foam
ing at the mouth like rabid dog, a
narrow, dripping kris in his right
hand. He dashed furiously among
the deserted stalls, and on through
the town, till a big Lascar, fresh
from his ship and hungry for
fight, sank his knife under the mad
mans ribs with the slipping up
stroke which is the legacy of all
Lascars throughout the earth.
These ten minute dramas occur 90 |
or 80 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 east city slums, or his be-
trothed through fever, he decides
on an amok. 1t is far less cold blood
ed than common self murder, and
the red, rabid frenzy appeals to the
hot blood of the ruined Malay He
buries his kris in the body of the
nearest man and keeps the line of |
a maddened jackal through the
town, killing to right and left,
till a reader knife ends him. I
have known II victims to sue
cumb to one amok, and at times
a powerful ihillman will cut down
score of bystanders 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.