The St. Louis Republic., 1900-09-16

cross standing I'm front Of the altar about
three feet above the ground. He was or
| dered to squat down. tailor fashion and his
arms were fettered To the cross behind him.
but as the strings We're not drawn tight
he could sit quite at ease.
Five minutes for refreshments" fol-
lowed. | couldn't help interpreting the
Judges orders this way. for each Of the
executicner's assistants walked I'D 10 tha
culprit and successfully stuck a lighted
cigarette between his lips. which he pufred
with seeming relish. As soon as one Gig
arctic was finished. another was offered.
and 50 forth.
Thirteen prics:s--the SiameSe won't do
, anything IL even numhe-s-row marched
up, and. covering the culprit-s head with a
! shawl, engaged in long-winded PRAYERS
> lasting half an hour. When finished. fhev
removed the shawl and withdrew. Next
the eXecutioner came forward to presenr
his excuses to the intended victim before
whom he sat down and to whom he talked
earnestly and with many sesticulations
calculated To emphasize his words In the
end the Culprit seemed to agree with him
and nodded pleasantly TO show his grati-
tude. The executiOner granted him another
cigarette Then he brought two lighted
I candies and stuck them into the ground
To the left and to the right of the doomed
man. who continued TO smile feebly That
done. he was about TO go. when he
thought of a last act of Kindness. Making
a paste of water and clay. he scaled I'D the
culprit's ears. and also marked the spot in
the neck where he intended that his sword
should strike.
Turning to put on the robes of his Office
he bsckoned his men to loosen the murder
er'S chains. The poor devil laughed oui,a
g!eefuliy. and seemed to forget his awful
position for the time being He raised hia
hands to heaven, prayed little. and then
began TO scan the faces of the soldiers and
officials guarding him.
FoOIinE the Nan to Re Executed
The executioner and his assistants having
in the meantime donned fun regalia scarlet
Overalls and jackets and ditto turban the
first sat down on the ground in the rear OF
the cross. while the assistants stood In
front of the victim threatening him with
their swords to detract the doomed mans
attention from rhe actions of the headsman
himself
Thrice did the headsman lit his hands In
prayer, then stretched them out toward.
the prisoner if to implore his pardon
As he let them sink he grabbed the sword
with two hands and jumped towards his
victim. sword in air. But at the very mo-
ment when he was about to let II descend
the culprit turned his head and looked az
the executioner with his old feeble smile,
The headsman, thereupon, threw his weapon
on the ground and SUNK back to his placa
in the attitude of defeated prize fighter
Six Strokes.
This sort of thing was repeated four times
within less than fifteen minutes. Finally,
at the fifth go. the prisoner failed to turn
his head in time. The mighty steel vhizzed
through the air. one could hear It cut
through the bone. there was han-stfied
groan from the prisoner and the head sank
forward 1t was cut. but not cut through.
The five assistants completed the decapita-
ton. Each had a whack at that poor head
until it lay quivering on the ground while
the blood sprang from the shortened neck
as from a fountain, spouting merrily.
The whole performance was remarkable
for the good nature displayed by all par
ticipants, culprit. headsman, assistants.
guards and onlookers. Though executions
are not very rare In Bangkok, they went
about this sorry business as II II were one
of daily occurrence, and each seemed eager
TO make II as easy as possible for the other.
Take some peppermint. SIR" said the
Judge. as i stood gazing -mndedly.
DOCTOR JORDAN.