Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-12-04
CHINESE roRTURE FOR DEBT.
Second Cousin of Indorser of Note for
Man Who Died Held Responsible

@Of course. the poor man was very
sorry that he was so unfortunate as to
be the second cousin of man who was
SO unfortunate as to have Endorsed the
note Of man who was so unfortunate,
as to have died.
A. Burlingname Johnson, formerly
United States Consul to Annoy, China,
says that sentence is not Chinese YER
sion OF 'The House That Jack Built,
but only an illustration of the Chinese
custom Of holding all the members of a
family responsible for the debts or
crimes OF one member, and the evils
that arise from the treaty protection
given to the Chinese employees of Brit
ish and American commercial houses.
In order to defend them from con-
slant harasSing by their countrymen,
which would naturally result from their
service to ''the foreigners" the native
employees of English and American
houses are protected by treaty, and they
use the partial immunity very often for
purposes of eXtortion. Mr.. Johnson had
to forbid his own servants from wear
ing their uniforms, except on duty, for
he found them collecting tribute from
native villages. The game is most fire.
uScQ III CO1lOCIluS UCUtS. "A
Chinaman will give a note to some
friend who is in foreign service, and let
him use his power of protecting as
! bluff to frighten the debtor into paying.
Knowing this, Mr.. Johnson was not
| surprised to receive one day petition
from several natives begging him to
/ look into the case Of an innocent man
who was being tortured by Chinese
gigman and his crew, employed to row
10 rinf< Ofn -faiva oferT1f
back and forth from the native city to
the island where the Europeans and
Americans live. The man, it was stat
| ed, was being tortured for debt.
Mr.. Johnson sent some of his men
over to the main land to investigate.
They went into the Coolie quarters of
the warehouses belonging to the firm
that employed the accused boatman and
his crew, and where the Europeans
themselves almost never went; there
sight both pitiful and amusing met
| their gaze.
A poor Chinaman was three-quarters
sitting on a bench. He couldn't COM
pletely sit down because the end of his
pigtail was tied to the ceiling, cleverly
adjusted to support just enough of his
weight to keep him in torture, but not
enough to injure his scalp seriously. A
long pole passed behind his shoulders
and to this his hands were bound as
on a cross. To prevent his feet from
easing the agony Of his posture, bam-
boo hoops were dashed about his ankles
so that his legs stuck straight out in
front. His face was drawn with pain
and he was plainly suffering greatly.
When he was released he tainted. The
torture had been going on for three days
and the poor Chinaman had been let
down and fed with rice and water,
whenever he tainted to keep his
strength up.
The tortured man, with his torturer
and the boat crew, were brought before
Mr.. Johnson for trial. The gigman and
his crew fell on their faces in homage,
but were ordered to stand up and re-
allowed to sit down while giving his
: testimony. "He was sorry sight, with
swollen ankles and wrists, shattered
nerves and no strength left" says Mr..
Johnson. The testimony showed that
he was poor shopkeeper, and had been
kidnapped three days before by the boat
man because he was second cousin to
a man who had Endorsed a note, orig
inally issued a year before by a man
who had died. The indorser had gone
to Singapore, so the boatman, who held
the note, had bounced on his nearest
relative, the poor second cousin. On his
refusal to pay, he had been tortured.
Mr.. Johnson looked at the note. It
was originally for $50, but the interest
had accumulated till the amount was
about $50.
|'Where did you get the note?" the
Consul asked the boatman.
Il bought it from a friend" the man
replied.
The poor wreck on the bench pleaded
abjectly, 81 can't pay"
The .boatman, growing holder, dis
played his silk coat badly torn. ''He
owes me for this coat, too," he said.
'.He tore it: 1 demand that he pay"
How did he tear it?' Mr.. Johnson
asked.
"He clutched it and struggled; then
it tore"
Weren't you trying to bind him when
he did it,"
The boatman admitted that he was.
The Consul handed the note to one
of his officers. ''Take that over to the
native officers and see that it is entirely
destroyed" he said. Then he turned to
the boatman and his crew. The boat
mans face was already darkening. At
the same time the dawn of joy was Wis
ible on the yellow countenance of the
unfortunate second cousin.
Il order that you be handed over to
the Chinese authorities and receive 200
blows" the consul said to the boat
man. 81 further order that each of your
men receive forty blows
''The scene that followed" Mr. John
son says in telling the story, was one
Of the most ludicrous ever witnessed.
The poor boatman, when he heard his
sentence, utterly collapsed, starting to
fall like a damp rag. But his crew,
fearful lest he show disrespect by not
standing up, closed around him and held
him erect. Supporting his limp body,
they backed from my presence, guarded
by my officers, while the second cousin
grew visibly better, in mind, if not in
body, 1 saw to it that the blows were
given, and were real ones, not friendly
taps.