The Meeker herald., 1899-08-12
CHINESE EXECUTION.
DESCRIPTION BY CORRESPOND
EMIT IN PHILIPPINES.
Th~ Victim Had slashod His Way
Through Crowd UntM Stopped by
Policemen = JusticsIs SWIFT In tho
Nowery Kingdom.


ship Coptic. just returned from voy-
age ,cross the Pacific, brings the story
Of the capture and execution Of crazy
Chinfman who ran amuck in the town
Of Kcwloon Just across the river from
Honglong. Capt. Selby tells the story
as folbws:
Have you ever seen a mad Asiatic
running amuck? A mad dog as a
harmless as house kitten compared
with ore Of these chaps. The proper
cure, of course, Is to shoot him as you
would a mad dog; but the police al
ways prefer to capture them alive II
possible. 1t saves all the trouble OF
an investigation afterward as to the
cause Of death. etc. This crazy China
man, powerfully built fellow. got out
into the street with knife in each
hand, and began slashing right and
left. He had not gone far until he ran
plump into the arms Of two police OFF,
GERS, who had come up side street
to head him of. There was swish
of the maniac's arm and knife went
straight through the heart OF one OF
the policeman. He dropped dead in
his tracks. The other officer grasped
the maniac's throat with one hand and
defended himself with the other. The
maniac was disarmed and subdued and
was lugged away to the lookup. Next
day he was turned over to mandarin.
The mandarin explained that the pris-
oner was a very bad man; that he was
charcoal burner by trade, and that
he had murdered one Of his mates
about year before. He informed all
who were interested that the man was
of no consequence anyway, as he wsa
only q Hah Kah man, and that these
fellows come of a small tribe which
has fought everything with hands and
feet for the last hundred years. Next
came the trial of the prisoner for the
murder of a police officer. 1t was a
very simple affair. Witnesses for the
defense. there were none; neither were
they asked for One or two of the
police who had witnessed the shooting
were called to give their testimony,
which they did In very honest and
straightforward manner; then the
court was cleared. Not a word about
the decision. for everybody knew what
it was to be. That night it was whis-
pered about the clubs that there would
be some fun across the bay next day.
and you may depend upon 1t every
man about town was ready bright and
early to see the fun, as they termed It..
At 10 o'clock next morning it was
publicly given out that the prisoner
was to be executed on the beach at
Kowloon at noon. About 10:30 o'clock
the prisoner was brought down to the
long pole lashed over its top, fore and
aft, with the two ends extending two
or three feet beyond the length of the
cage. SO that it could be carried by
two men. This Internal torture box
was an affair that had been used to
carry a couple of big apes up from
Borneo by one of those collectors Of
animals who are always securing the
Orient for rare specimens in this line.
It was too small for the man to even
sit upright, go he was obliged to squat
on the floor of the cage doubled up
| like a jackknife. His head was be-
tween his knees. and they had lashed
those awful thongs around his ankles,
thus keeping the wretch in about as
uncomfortable an attitude as 1t were
possible for a fiend incarnate to de-
wise. Actually those thongs were cut
ting into his flesh before the crate
was put aboard the lighter which was
to carry him to his long rest. AS soon
as the cage had been put aboard the
lighter she was taken In tow by a
small steamboat and started across the
bay. In order to make things real
comfortable and pleasant for the man
about to meet his death. the execu-
akgI<.N<.