Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22

be that you had a right and sufficient mo-
tive for Furnishing him." Then very sternly
and slowly, he said: No one compelled you
to take this child from the orphan asylum.
You were not required to give 1t shelter;
you went there of your own free will and
took it from a nice home to yours, and
am convinced that you have been most
cruel to this inoffensive child. You
wouldn't treat a common dog the way you
have this child. No, you would be afraid
of the dogs bite: but you beat and tortured
this defenseless thing when you should
have been building him up in mind and
body. Now. l am going to take this child
away from you. In the first place, for you
have proven yourselves unworthy. And l am
going to show you that there is another
power with which you have to deal,
power whose duty It Is to protect the weak
and helpless. and 1 am going to have In
flicted upon you, addressing the man
five hundred bamboos, and then l am
going to send you to, JAN for three years,
and when you come out of Jail l am going
to give you five hundred bamboos in addi-
ton, which will be a warning to you that
the power to infict punishment does not
alone rest with you" And then, turning
to the woman, who was exhibiting great
fear, he said: Il cannot understand how
woman could be party to a cruel assault
upon a poor defenseess little child. You
who bring them into the world should be
their natural protectors. AS a lesson to
you, which I trust will never be forgotten,
you can have three hundred reeds and one
hundred slaps" and. with a wave Of his
hand, he dismissed the trembling couple
and tenderly handed the child to one Of the
court runners.
Were Doubly Joined.
There was some comedy In the proceed
ings; in fact, come Of the cases were ludi-
crous One was strikingiy so and is suffl-
cient to illustrate how common scolds are
dealt with in China. A man and woman
who had been Joined in holy wedlock
found it difficult to agree, and their con-
slant quarrels were q source of great an
noyance to the neighborhood. Finally the
nefghbors rebelled and the offending couple
were brought into court The Judge listen
ed to the testimony with evident annoy
ance for, as he afterward explained It,
there was no exuse for people continually
wrangling After hearing all the evidence
in the case he quickly disposed Of it by
saying:
II am going to punish you by keeping you
close together for three months, and maybe
at the end of that time you will have been
convinced that whether you like it or not
the law has Joined you together and you
must live in peace. You can wear the
double collar for three months, and maybe
at the end of that time you will agree with
me that 1t is not always wise to oppose
that fate which has brought you together
and will live the balance Of your lives in
peace"
Getting at the Facts.
The last case called was one in which a
man had robbed his brother-in-law of $40
by breaking the wooden hinges of closet
door and extracting the money through
the small crack by means of pair OF
pinchers. This man was a hard case. The
circumstantial evidence was strong He
was on visit TO his sister, and when the
loss of the money was discovered he dis
appeared. When confronted with the
charge in the court he strenuously denied
all knowledge OF the money. The judge