The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1897-05-29
THE MAD KILLER.
Malay Methods of Suicide Are Pictur-
esQue and Troublesome.

1t was a thick air that hung about the
spice stalls. The smell of cloves and
sandal wood breathed over Batavia like
Sweetened cloud, and the searching.
pungent reek of bruised pepper that hung
round the inner shops was almost pam
full Moreover. the JavaneSe is the
craftinst 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, preferrlng
To smoke his prey in greenwood smoke.
His crOwning delight is the fcrmentIng OF
a seething mass Of fish fry and prawns
in the sun. stewed by natural heat TO a
noisome mess that gladdeAs the heart of
Malays.
Away beyond the low houses | could
see the long ridge of mountains that Is
the ragged backbone of lava. Some of
them are volcanoes. extinct long ae0ns
since Here and there i'll the swarminG
crowds of the town | found man from
the hills-stark. wiry and of more muscu-
lar 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 III
his eye an open Scorn for the feebler men
around. This is the way of all noun
tain men. even nearer home than Java.
By-and-by. in the hush of the glarins
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. 1t touched off
the whole teeming populace like match
in a powder barrel there was Il frenzied
rush of swarthy loaferS for safety. and a
shriekng chorus of ''AmOk. amok. the
street cry of the far East which means
many deaths i'll short period. Out Of
a byWay Il 1.-THE Malay tore blndly down
the road, driving his knife into the Stom-
ach of II water-carrier as he passed. he
carrier fell on his face with thici, cough,
and the frantic man spun forward, with
starting blooishot eyeballs. fOaming at
the mouth like rabid dog. a narrow drip
ping kris in his right hand. He dashed
furiously among the deserted stalls, and
on through the town, till Il big LaScaF,
fresh from his ship and hungry for Il
fight, sank his knife under the mailman :
ribs with the slipping upStrOke which Is
the legacy of all LaScarS throughout the
earth.
These ten-minute dramas occur twenty
or thirty 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 in a gambling den III the East city
Slums. or his betrOthed through fever, he
decides on an amok. 1t is far less cold
blooded than common selt-murder. ana
the red. rahid 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 10 right and
left. till Il reader knife ends him.
have known eleven victims to succumb
to one amok, and at times powerful
hillman will cut down II score. OF by
ISLANDERS before he meets the point. In
all countries of the fartheSt East you
will find that ruin breeds this fever for
the Running kill.-AnswerS.