Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-09-01

ably he enjoyed the good show up TO
the last and considered himself fer
tunate to have been allowed the enter
tainment Of seeing his companions ex-
ecHted.
'tSome OF the heads were chopped
OF evenly, leaving little stumps at
tached; others were cut on close be-
hind the ears, but one OF them was
sliced of at a slant angle. The Grim
inal before him had just been executed
and his feet were still kicking about
and his body writing. AS the exc
cutioner raised his ak the man who
was being executed turned his head,
with leisurely curiosity, to observe the
death throes of the former victim just
as the ak fell, so his own head was
sliced of smoothly. but in such a man
ner that it would have to be set upon
q steep incline to bring the face level.
Later relatives and close friends came
and carried away the heads of the
criminals, dangling them by means of
the cues. The bodies were consid
cred less important and were left to
the hoodlums.
More horrible even than the pirate
execution was that of two innocent
women. We did not see the execution,
but came along two days later in time
to observe what was left Of the bodies
hanging by ropes to rough wooden
crosses. A man had died, and it was
thought he had been poisoned. His
wife and his sister were accused of the
murder, and the Chinese trial was pro-
ceeded with. Instruments of torture
were brought, the principal one being
n continuance for crushing the ankles.
Two hard blocks, screwed tightly to-
gether at one end and the other ends
held loosely with a long screw, were
put around the women's ankles. Then
the screw was slowly frightened, crush
ing the ankle bone in an excruciating
grip. Tighter and tighter the merciless
blocks gripped, the women screaming
and protesting their innocence, and
when it was no longer bearable they
cried OUT that they were guilty. No
one In China is allowed to be punished
until he has confessed his crime, and
from the innocent and guilty alike con-
fessions are wrung by the cruel ankle
torture.
After the confession the women
were taken to the place of execution
and stripped nude. Their bodies were
tied upon the rough wooden crosses,
and the eXecutiOners began the process
of cutting them with sharp knives, the
object being to make a thousand cuts
upon the body before the fatal one, if
it were possible. Each joint of fingers
and toes was cut away, the limbs
were hacked, the ears clipped off in
n dozen pieces. their faces slashed and
every atrocity imaginable committed.
1t all the eXecutioner en-
deavored to cause as much pain with
as little danger as possible, to pro-
long the life of the victim, the eyes
being left uninjured until the moment
OF death approached. when they were
hacked out. Long before the thousand
cuts We're made the two delicate wom-
en- were dead, but when we saw their
bodies still hanging by ropes two days
later it was Il sight of indescribable
horror. 1t is with 4OO,OO0,OOO of such
hends or foes capable of such barbar-
tiles that the allied powers are now
trying to cope.
1T seems to me that to talk of sub
DUNG such a people by force of arms
Or any other way is arrant nonsense.
| have seen so many horrible and I'M
speakable things in the course of my
three visits to China that l have no
faith In any plan to put down their
hideOus rebellion. Whatever of law
md order the Chinaman knows is bas-
ad upon his own barbarian love of tor
ture. All about the different towns
may be seen cripples hobblirg or drag
ying themselves around without feet
and otherwise mutilated. They are
the ones who have withstood the an
1le screw and refused to confess to
.rimes of which it will never be known
they were innocent or guilty"