Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-10

III e.
ents, their superiors and interiors, with
respect. The boys and girls are edu-
Gated together until they are about 10
years old; then the boys Of the rich go
to separate school or have private
tutor, and the girls are kept at home.
1t is said that while the worship OF an
cestors and obedience to parents is the
religion of the Chinese, SO education is
their universal ambition. They pos
itfvely worship learning and have the
greatest respect for those who have
acquired it. Naturally enough, too,
Confucius is the particular god, the
patron saint, of every Chinese school,
and when boy first attends he takes
his joss sticks, painted candles and a
small packet of mock money, all of
which he burns before a strip of cloth &
or paper on which is inscribed one Of
the many titles of Confucius the boy
bowling while his offering burns before
the god. This ceremony is called EN-
| tering school" and 'worshiping the
sage"
| 1t is matter of wonder how the
Chinese children learn anything at all,
| since all the exercises are conducted
viva voce, the pupil shouting out his
lesson as loud as he can, and the more
noise he makes the more proficient he Is
supposed to become. The height of q
1 boys ambition is to take the course
i prescribed by the tsung-li-yamen, or
| central government, at Peking, and be-
| come diplomat, though to acquire a
degree one has to undergo a most Sc
we're series of examinations, and many
\ lives have been lost in the attempt.
II will hn frn,, f1,n fNraer I'M
i that the Chinese have fairly earned
their designation of peculiar" and
that, though they have many COM
: mendable traits, they have some which
they can we'll afford to do without. One
, characteristic trait of the Celestial is
his power of endurance; another is his
| insensibility or indifference to pain. He
is essentially thick skinned, or pachy
, dermatous, and not only can endure
l suffering stoically, but is also unaffect-
ed by the sufferings of others. This is
1 exemplified by the terrible cruelty ex-
e ercised in his treatment of CRIMINALS
E and of those charged only with having
S committed small offenses against the
, laws. A person without influence: if
y suspected of any crime, is tortured in
e a most revolving manner in order to
Y wiring confession. Sometimes he is
: hung head downward by means of
cords fastened to his toes; again, stood
r on his head, while the soles of his feet
a are beaten with heavy bamboos. If he
n confesses, as he generally does, under
n the terrible punishment, he is thrown
n to the ground and beaten nearly to a
jelly, or else is taken to the execution
yard where his head is chopped off.
And the Chinese mode of execution in
dicates the vast difference between
their civilization and ours, for, while we
are only moved to execute capital pun
ishment by dire necessity, and then eff
feet it as secretly as possible, the Chi
nese use every sort of brutal accessory
to make of it a sport and shocking ex-
hibition. Sometimes a dozen or moro
Victims have their heads chopped off at
a time, being arranged in rows, so that
each one can see the CHASTITY act per-
formed on the one that goes before him
The prisoners are chained hand an6
foot and are dumped on the GROUND
like so many pigs, and their heads lop.
ped off by an executioner with a keer
bladed ak or long knife until the
ground is drenched with blood. and ali
present are spattered with the blood
that spouts from the headless trunks.
Lastly the Chinese funerals, like
their executions. partake of the awfully
grotesque. AS the Chinaman has to pay
the last debt Of nature like other in.
dividuals, and cannot hire substi-
tute, as he might if condemned to be
beheaded. he accepts the inevitable
with resignation. But he has taken ev
cry precaution to fool the devil" who
he knows is lying in wait for his soul
by providing a great store of firecrack
ers, which are let off at every corner a!
the funeral procession passes in a nil
and tuck race for the cemetery. Unde
cover of the funeral Fourth of July Gel
ebraticn the just freed soul is supposed
to depart in peace. uncaught by the evi
one. TRISTRAM w. WILCOX