Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-23

half sitting, half lying, their arms and
limbs being tightly bound with cords They
seemed utterly Indifferent presenting that
stoical calmness in the face of immediate
death which is SO characteristic of their
race, and which is one of the mysteries of
the Chinese nature. At cultural word of
command from the mandarin the bands
around the victims limbs were unfastened,
and the executioner and his assistants,
catching them by the arms. ordered them
to stand erect. They were so stiff from
the thongs that an erect posture was i'm
possible, and they were lifted upright and
carried a few yards from us. Here they
We're placed in a kneeling position, In row,
the assistants pressing their bodies forward
In an inclined position. the better to receive
the edge of the large, keen-edged half
sword. half knife, which the chief eXecu-
toner had held quietly In his hands.
There was no resistance, no exclama-
tons or lamentations: in fact, l do not re-
member that one of the condemned robbers
uttered word. II they made their peace
with their Maker they did it silently Their
faces betrayed no concern, and that pecu-
mar drawn, set expression which is notice.
able on the faces of the condemned at the
executions of Americans and Europeans was
absent from the features of these Mongo-
hans. They were placed about five feet
apart, and with Bonded heads and bare
necks, from which their clothing had pre-
viously been removed. they awaited their
doom with as much calmness as the Ameri-
can ofhcers. who were watching the execu-
TONER approach them.
He stepped rapidly toward the kneel-
Ing pirate nearest him. The sword de-
scrfbed a swift seTpi-circle in the bright
sunlight, and with one powerful sweep sew
cred the head from the mans body as
c,eanly and quickly If it were that of a
fowl. The decapitated head rolled a few
inches on the soft sand, dyeing it dark red
from the streaming, squirting arteries the
trunk collapsing into an inert, quivering
mass Of flesh. Without a pause or a sec
ond glance at the slain, the executioner
passed from one to the other decapitatine
each with a single mighty stroke of the
raZor-edged weapon. As he approached vic
tim after victim not one betrayed the
slightest semblance of fear or endeayored
to evade the sword which was the next
second to descend upon his neck
1t was all over in a few minutes. The
mandarin smiled pleasantly at us and en-
tered his chair. beside which his coolies
were indifferent spectators. One of my
friends had a flask Of brandy, and though
most of US had seen bloodshed and suffering
in the service. we all took good pull at it
Our curiosity was satiated."
when I was a YOUTH" said Elmer
Thomas, an artist of Philadelphia, ct was
fond of reading desert stories and would
try to imagine what the caravans and
wind storms and GASES were like. Perhaps
this picture in type will be recognized by
many American travellers:
AFTER leaving Ogden on the Central Pa
cif1c the train runs through hundreds of
miles of desert and sage brush as bleak
gray. barren and dry as any desert in
Africa, save that the topography of the
country Is different, and the desert is of
another character. The alkan dust is s,i-