The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1897-07-20
DACOITS OF BURMA.
THOUGH SOMEWHAT CHANGED THEY
STILL EXIST TO PLUMBER

the OaeO1eS--A sample CeSo OF the AneA-
ficiency OF the Police Onicers.
Burma is one of the countries that
are changing very fast, and one OF the
things that have changed in Burma is
the dAcoit. The sportive gentlemen de-
scribed by RVdyard Kipling and others
who crucifed villagers wholesale and 4
filed old ladies with kerosene were
flourishing in full vigor less than ten
years ago, but they already belong as
completely to the past as Dick Turpin
and his colleagues in England. No doubt
o fresh war or any event seriously sbak-
ing the British power or reputation
might produce reorudescence of the old
disease, but in the meantime the dacoits
have entirely changed their habits. In-
stead Of living together in bands in the
jung4t hey are scattered through sepa-
rate villages in the guise OF peaceful
cultivators. During the day each man
attends, to his paddy fields just like his
neighbors, ard it is only at night that
they meet together for the dispatch Of
their more important and lucrative busi-
ness.
Dacoity as defined by law is simply
robbery committed by band of five
men or more, and II is important only
because OF the Burman's strong natural
propensity toward it and the great diff
culties which bis national character
places In the way Of his detection. 1t
must always be remembered that Bur-
ma being in a transition stage and
much less settled than India and the
government being extremely short hand
ed, an immense amount of various kinds
of work falls upon each single English
official. Hence it is wholly impossible
for him to exercise any close or detailed
supervision over any particular part Of
his district. This Of itself renders tho
detection of criminals difficult mat
ter. When the dacoits were in the woods
1t was simply case Of turning out oc-
oasionally to hunt them down. At pres
ent the matter must necel sarily be left
chiefly in the hands Of natives
Now, the natives are for the most
part honest and tolerably law abiding,
and they have 40 sympethy whatever
with man who goes dacoiting, but the
dacoit goes armed, and the supineness
and cowardice Of the Burman in the
presence Of arms, more particularly Of
firearms, are something almost incom
prehensible to the western mind. 1t is
quite sufficient for party of half dozen
men to have gun among them-effect-
i've or useless, loaded or empty, matters
little, the mere show is enough-and
they may 60 fearlessly to work in the
midst of crowd. No one will interfere
with them. In more than one instance
bold robbers have made successful at
taoks when armed merely with their
dabs-the dagger which every Burman
carries-and with a pretended rife made
Of a stick, with which they frightened
of all opposition.
But perhaps the strange workings OF
the native character are best exhibited
in the following case, which occurred
quite recently. The facts are vouched
for by an English officer: There was u
band Of five men who were in the habit
of practioing dacoity occasionally. Thres
Of them came from the same village
not o common thing, as it makes deteo.
tion easier-the fourth from another
village, and, as for the fifth, no man
knows whence he came, for reasons that
will appear. -One night these five men,
armed with nothing but their knives
and spears, which are used for fishing
in lower Burma, entered a house, tied
up the owner and began plundering
Now, this house was In large village,
containing not only population Of
some / 400, but police post with 10
native policemen armed with sniders
The alarm was given and the house
surrounded. and then there was pause
The robbers continued their work undis>
turbed within. The villagers, some 200
or 800 ablebodied men, all more or less
armed, sat around ON the dam which
surrounds and protects every house on
the delta, looked down on the house and
discussed the question. The police stood
rather nearer the house and fired shots
into 1t through the bamboo walls, hurt.
ing ne one.
One solitary policeman after time
volunteered to advance. He crept up
quite close to the house and fred in
through an opening in the wall. Then
be went farther and actually put his
head and part Of his body through the
hole, apparently to see what execution
he had done. One Of the robbers prompt
~ pinned him to the ground with a fish
spear and killed him. By this time they
had completed their preparations: Sc
they sailed forth, each man with hi
pack of plumber on his back. Thougl
the house was surrounded, they appear
to have had no difficulty in making
their way through, only the police fret
after them with buokshot and hit thre
Of them in the back, not seriousl,
wounding them. But one of the ban,
bad the misfortune to stumble and fall
Instantly the crowd rushed upon him
and before he could rise literally hacke
him to pieces, and 80 effectively thu
not the slightest elew to his identit
remained. He was absolutely destroyed
Moo knows even what was his na
tionality. The other four got cles
away. Public Opinion.
A Remarkable Freezing Mixture.
A majority Of readers know that
...s..h.,.n nA Arnn x,nrkn Of rnnnndnd l.